“And I’ll dance with you in Vienna, I’ll be wearing a river’s disguise. The hyacinth wild on my shoulder my mouth on the dew of your thighs. And I’ll bury my soul in a scrapbook, with the photographs there and the moss. And I’ll yield to the flood of your beauty, my cheap violin, and my cross.” – Leonard Cohen, musician

Vienna, the capital of Austria, and once the heart of the so-called Holy Roman Empire. Its history dates back to at least 500 BC, and was named Vindobona by the Romans in the first century CE. Fast-forward a thousand years, and more settlers later, this area of the Eastern March had become Austria. It was the home of the Babenburg dynasty, and then the Habsburg emperors.

"This body which was called and which still calls itself the Holy Roman Empire was in no way holy, nor Roman, nor an empire." - Voltaire

It has been the capital of the Austrian empire, then the Austro-Hungarian empire, and during the second world war lost that status as it was absorbed into Nazi Germany. It wasn't until after the war that Vienna regained its status, as the capital of the Republic of Austria. It was however, similar to Berlin, split into four and occupied by the UK, the US, France, and the Soviet Union. The difference with Vienna was that it wasn't divided by walls, and the central area (Innere Stadt) alternated control from month to month. Eventually it was agreed all four powers would leave Austria, and they would agree to remain neutral and not part of NATO.

Today, Austria is part of the European Union, and the United Nations, but remains separate from NATO. It being part of the EU, and them having adopted the Euro would make it easier for visiting and reusing currency. It was to be my second city along the Danube in consecutive years, and the first time me and Carmen would visit an International city together that neither of us had been to previously.

Contents

• Trip Preparation
• Day 1 - This Means Nothing to Me… To Vienna!
• Day 2 - EuroGames Vienna 2024 Dancing
• Day 3 - Donaupark parkrun 135 and Having a Ball
• Day 4 - The Long Run
• Day 5 - Schönbrunn Palace
• Day 6 - Vienna to Leicester