If you’re looking for fashionable shopping, fancy cafe’s, fantastic museums, opera and theatre all wrapped up in some amazing architecture, then Vienna is definitely the place for you. A more refined and polished atmosphere by comparison to Prague but in our opinion, at the expense of some earthy personality. Great shops, great streets, great buildings and great branding… with prices to match all that grandeur. We did a lot of walking and exploring and found lots to do in our 3 days including a trip to the opera on our first night. I would love to report that we got all dressed up and sat in wonderful comfortable seats, but that would be stretching the truth just a bit too far. On our subway ride into Vienna we got talking to a wonderful young lad from Argentina that was on vacation with his family and he told us about the best deal in Vienna. It turns out that the renowned Vienna Opera House puts aside about 400 “standing room only” spaces for the jaw dropping price of 4 Euros (about $6) 90 minutes before each evenings performance. Considering that some legitimate opera patrons can pay 200+ Euros for a performance that sell out months in advance, how could we turn our backs on such an opportunity. We got in line for our tickets about 2 hours before the show and then ultimately stood for the entire 3 hour production of “Eugene Onegin” (A Russian Opera). I know it sounds like torture (the standing part) but the fact is we sat and visited and the time went by very quickly with virtually zero pain. Our actual viewing location, with it’s padded leaning rails, was fantastically located on the main level, dead centre of the house about 20 rows back. All-in-all, it was great fun and a great experience that we will never forget. The grand tour of the Royal Hofburg Palace with all it’s splendour was a wonderful way to spend the better part of a day. Topping the day off, Margot got her chance to take her mom’s advice and sample authentic, world famous, “Chocolate Sacher Torte” from the actual Cafe Sacher where it was invented in 1832. Off we go to Salzburg.