The sun came out to play in Vienna, which really helped show the city off at its best. Apparently there are over 100 museums, which wouldn't surprise me - I only managed to hit three, so lots more culture vulturing to be done! I got a feel for the place in 24 hours, but could easily have spent longer there. Another one to revisit in the future. Next up...Croatia!

Flights

Outbound: Saturday 14 April, British Airways, LHR-VIE, 7.50am.
Return: Sunday 15 April, British Airways, VIE-LHR, 7.35pm.

Airport transfers

Outbound & Return: V ienna City Airport Train (CAT) (€19.00 return). Quick and easy to find at Vienna Airport (10 minutes from passport control to train platform) and only 16 minutes into the centre on a double decker train. Perfect, except for the guy slurping his Starbucks so loudly in the seat opposite you could hear it back in London. Manners maketh man!

Hotel

T he Guest House. Not long refurbished (by Conran & Partners no less) and in a perfect location - next door to the Albertina and Opera House. I made them tell me twice - I’m still not sure I believe them - but all the soft drinks, beer and wine in the mini bar were free. Not just one bottle of each either - had my liver been up to it I could have polished off two bottles of white, two bottles of red, with beer, Pepsi and fruit juice on top. The only thing they charged for was nuts and chocolate. Incredible value, and the room itself was spacious and well designed. The only downside was a firm bed and pillows that seemed to disappear to nothing, but you could ask for firmer pillows at reception. More first world problems...getting picky in my old age...

Activities

St Stephen's Cathedral - you can't miss it, crazy roof tiles and horses & carts congregating around the bottom for the tourists (but not me, thanks).
Big Bus Tour - red and blue route. Compulsory now, innit!
Wiener Konzerthaus - a short concert but included Sibelius, Langgaard and Elgar - beaut.
Schonbrunn Palace - well, a drive-by at least...
Secession - the outside is currently under refurbishment, so you don't really get to appreciate the incongruous sarcophagus style design, but my main reason for going was to see the Beethoven Frieze by Gustav Klimt from 1902, which is inside anyway.
Mumok - Museum of Modern Art, with Bruno Gironcoli and some other weird and wonderful stuff on offer.
Albertina Museum - this might have been my favourite. Fantastic building and a real mix of exhibitions - Monet, Picasso and Keith Haring side by side. I recognised Keith Haring's work, but didn't know anything about him or his art. There was an old memory jogged by the exhibition, which turned out to be a Christmas album from the 1980's which he'd done the cover art for. Random.

For some reason there have been peaceful, but very visible, protests in every city I’ve visited so far this year - Paris, Madrid, Helsinki and Vienna. All of them about different issues, but encouraging to see.