Vienna is one of my favorite cities, but 2017 is a really special year to visit.
1. The 150th anniversary of the Blue Danube Waltz - Strauss changed dance forever with the waltz. It was at the beginning very scandalous as "ballroom" dancing did not require partners to be that close together for the entire song.
2. The 180th anniversary of the birth of Empress Elizabeth. The beautiful unlikely wife of Franz Josef was not the bride intended for him, it was planned he would marry her older sister. But on meeting Elizabeth, he picked her over his mother's objections. Her life as Empress was not easy, dealing with stiff court formalities, her mother in law raising all her children but her youngest, having her only son commit suicide and ending in being assassinated by an anarchist in Switzerland. Books, movies and mini series have been made about her. Visit the Sisi Museum at the Hofburg Palace dedicated to her. Don't forget to look for the Winterhalter portrait of her.
3. The 300th anniversary of the birth of Empress Maria Theresa. Unlike Elizabeth, she was the ruler of Austria not just the wife of the Emperor. Builder of Schonbrunn Palace(pictured above) and mother of Maria Antoinette. Numerous exhibitions in Vienna will be open this year to celebrate her life and times.
Of course don't forget to check out the Spanish Riding School, a performance of the Vienna Boys Choir, stop for the Original Sacher Torte at the Hotel Sacher and have coffee at Café Central.
Ready to have some Sacher Torte, let's talk?
