Vienna

The Austrian capital of Vienna (Wien) is a city forever implanted into the international imagination as a dreamy place of cream-filled pastries and angelic choir boys, of prancing white horses and swirling Strauss waltzes.

It is a city where legend overrules reality - the Danube River, which flows through Vienna, may not be true blue, yet, the "Blue Danube" waltz has permanently painted the waterway that hue in the mind's eye.

Music is the soul of Vienna - the great composers of Europe, from Mozart to Beethoven, Haydn to Schubert, Strauss to Mahler, called the city home.

And at every opportunity, from the grand Opera Ball to the smallest of musical gatherings, Viennese swoon together in the city's famously romantic waltz. Or they gather for dramatic musical stagings at the Staatsoper (State Opera House), one of the world's great opera venues.

Vienna celebrates its well-composed heritage with numerous festivals and concerts, as well as well-preserved landmarks such as Schubert's birthplace and the homes of Mozart and Beethoven.

Art and architecture are also Viennese trademarks, and with 90 museums, many devoted to art, the city is awash in great works. Art Nouveau (known locally as "Jungendstill", or Young Style) took hold here, born of the Vienna Secession which straddled the turn of the 20th century.

The movement's most famous member was Viennese painter Gustav Klimt, and his work, as well as that of other secessionists, is showcased at the Secession Pavilion, desighed by Josef Maria Olbrich. Vienna's most famous art museum, however, is the Kunsthistorisches Museum, housing works by such greats as the Dutch master Pieter Brueghel the Elder.