Heading to Vienna, Austria

Welp, Monday morning i'll be winging my way to the Lomo World Congress (photo competition and fun) in Vienna, Austria. Not sure how much free time i'll have since the week is pretty scheduled out, but if there are any Empeggers in the area who know of some MUST do things. Please post and let me know!

Oh, and any frequent world travelers who have any travel tips... PLEASE post. I've only been out of the country once to Italy and that was long ago. I don't wanna be the typical American Touron. =]

Well, Loren, you probably won't get this, but Vienna rocks. Not as much as Salzburg, but it still rocks.

So, on the To Do list:

- Check out the stained glass by Alphonse Mucha in this cathedral in the South end of the city (i think).
- Get some Sacher Torte at the Sacher Hotel.
- Get out of the city to the Scholss Schunbrun (at least I think that's outside of Vienna).
- Check out the kick-ass rose garden (in the southern part of the city, I believe).
- Check out the town hall thing. It's pretty mean looking and has these cool enclosed garden areas. And if you send me an e-mail from the wall mounted e-mail terminals in the way back of the place, I'll be thrilled.
- Check out the dualing art museaums (two buildings in mirror image, and they have good exhibits inside).
- If you feel ghetto, take the U-Bahn (subway) way out near Mozart's grave and walk to the location of his grave site. It's REALLY ghetto out there and if you're lucky like me, you'll make the hour trip and miles of walking just to find the place closed.

On the DON"T Do list:

- Don't drive the Opern Ring, it's nuts.
- Don't want untill like 2pm for lunch because it's hard enough to find it when you want it, let alone when you NEED it.

Oh, and travel tips:

- Bring a digital camera and a HP Omnibook 600C laptop to store your images on.
- Take as many pictures as you possibly can.
- Bring a man-purse. Ah, just do it. In it, have your camera, maps, guide books, some granola bars, sunglasses and suntan lotion, money, id (hidden. not in suitcase. keep it with you at all times), TOOTHBRUSH and toothpaste, and other stuff.
- Be a good navigator. Don't get lost.
- Plan out your day's sightseeing route the night before. Figure out where to stop, which subway (U-bahn) stops to use, WHERE TO GET FOOD, and how to get home. Most efficient = seeing more things.
- Photocopy of ID in suitcase and anywhere else you can have it. I've seen people have their ID stolen and their photocopies got their replacement without much hassle.

Well, though you probably won't get this in time (sorry), maybe others can share their thoughts. Travel FAQ, anyone?

Rather than or besides to carrying photocopies of important bits, consider placing everything on a homepage too.

I travel a lot and have scans of my passport, driver's license, medical insurance stuff, text file with credit card numbers/details, where/what to call to cancel them, phonecard details, etc. put in a zip file with password protection.

This way, even if I'm down to only my undies with the rest of my stuff gone, I still have access to all the important stuff as long as there's internet access somewhere.

Make sure not to make the files too large, as when it comes to the crunch, you'll find yourself on the end of a thin telephone line; create several zip files if necessary.

Loren, enjoy Vienna; my only suggestion is to just walk around the town centre during the day, buildings and general atmosphere is great.

Cas.

Try some 80% rum, it's.......*strong*. Just remember that it's pretty much impossible to bring any back duty-free though - most countries only allow 40% or less. (I'm not sure about duty-paid).

Cas: Good idea. Hm... I wonder how tollerant a Austrian border guard (with a big big gun) would be of a guy in his undies asking to use the nearest komputer-machien?