After taking the tram in the wrong direction from the train station, I decided to use this opportunity to see a little bit of Vienna; so, I simply stayed on the tram to its terminus and then back past the train station to the stop that I needed. From there, it was a very short walk along the street to the flute store to pick up the key to the apartment, and I let myself in - sorted!
In 1804, during the Napoleonic wars, Vienna became the capital of the Austrian Empire and continued to play a major role in European and world politics. After the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, Vienna remained the capital of what was then the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
Music is one of Vienna's legacies. Musical prodigies including Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Joseph Haydn, Ludwig van Beethoven, Franz Schubert, Johannes Brahms, Gustav Mahler and Arnold Schoenberg all worked here.
Apart from being regarded as the "City of Music" because of its musical legacy, Vienna is also said to be "The City of Dreams" because it was home to the world's first psycho-analyst – Sigmund Freud.
Speaking of musical legacy, the first line of Ultravox's classic hit "Vienna" is "We walked in the cold air" and that's exactly what I did today - it didn't get above about 9 degrees all afternoon, so I was quite cold (freezing actually - the wind just seemed to go right through everything). I headed into the city centre (about 20-30 minutes walk) and wandered around to get my bearings; in doing so, I headed into the St Stephen's Cathedral (which appears to be undergoing a facelift / good old fashioned clean), and the St Peter's church; a short walk later I found myself outside the imperial Hofburg Palace, but will leave entry until a day when I have more time. After finding the famous Ringstrasse (a ring road from the second half of the 19th century surrounding the historical centre, lined with imposing public and private buildings, monuments, and parks created by the start of the 20th century.
Getting colder, and deciding that I had at least an orientation, it was time to head back to the apartment and warm up, as well as work out a bit of a game-plan for the next few days.