We landed in Vienna at about 5.30 in the morning and everyone was immediately surprised with how bright the sun already was – it felt like it should be about 9.30 in the morning instead. There is a severe heat warning in place as the temperatures are expected to get up to 34 degrees today. We had been worried about the new immigration system in the EU for non-locals but given the time of our arrival it all went very smoothly and we were out of the airport in under 30 minutes. Unfortunately our car never showed up so we just took a taxi into town to our hotel.

The goal for today is to try and keep everyone awake till after dinner so after checking in we decided to go for a long walk. Quite near our hotel there is a monument to the soldiers from the first world war called the Deutschmeister-Denkmal. It was created by Johannes Benk who was a local monumental artist and this is one of the few monuments of its time to focus on the soldiers rather than a specific commander. From there we walked along the Danube canal, where we saw a few locals sunbathing, while others were taking advantage of water sprays that the local council had installed everywhere. Thomas found a little exercise bike which used the energy to charge your phone. We ended up at St Stephen’s Cathedral which was built around 1450AD. The North Tower currently houses the Pummerin which is the largest free-swingling bell in Austria.

For lunch I had booked us a table at the Figlmuller which is famous for its massive and traditional Viennese Schnitzel. They are too big for the plate and hang over the edge and have been made the same way for the past 120 years. It is still a family run business and just 2 schnitzels was more than enough for the four of us.

After lunch we visited the House of Music which is an interactive sound museum focussed on the rich musical history of Vienna and Austria. There were a number of hands on acoustic interactions that kept the kids entertained. We got to create our own Waltz, write our own music and to top it off conduct a full orchestra – which performed as per the baton swinging. They had a section dedicated to the Great Masters – Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn, Schubert, Strauss and Mahler as well as sounds recorded from space. We easily spent almost 3 hours there and it was a great way to keep everyone entertained all afternoon.