VIENNA

 Vienna: 

• Early on was a Celtic settlement, and became Roman in the first century AD.  Has a metro population of 2.9 million, nearly one-third the population of Austria and the 5th largest city in Europe.
• Lies on the Danube, on the eastern edge of the Vienna Woods.
• 582 miles from Amsterdam and 152 miles from Budapest.  7616 miles from Honolulu.

• 
  I was first in Vienna nearly a decade ago and toured Shonbrunn Palace (above--a stop you should make if you ever get here), hearing about Maria Theresa who once lived there, and a person I claimed to be the Most Extraordinary Female in History.  Why?

• Was active around the time of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.
• Blond, blue-eyed and short, at the age of 23, pregnant with her fourth child, her father, Emperor Charles VI (right) of the House of Hapsburg, suddenly died.
• The emperor not having a son, Maria Theresa became the first female ruler of the empire, which included Austria, Hungary, Croatia, Bohemia, Transylvania, Mantua, Milan, Lodomeria, Galicia, the Austrian Netherlands and Parma.
• 
  Mind you, her husband, Francis I, Holy Roman Emperor, was not exactly a liability, although he was known to have mistresses.  However, he was not involved at all with running the country, but instead, became quite a successful entrepreneur.  To the right are Maria and Francis, with son Franz Joseph.
• THEY HAD 16 CHILDREN.  

• 
  Franz Joseph became Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, Croatia and Bohemia, and was President of the German Confederation from 1850 to 1866.  Incredibly enough, he was still running things in 1914 when his heir apparent, Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife, were assassinated, and Joseph's staff essentially sent the ultimatum that sparked World War I, resulting in 9 million deaths.  He died at the age of 86!

• 
  Youngest daughter was Maria Antonia (Marie Antoinette, right), who became Queen of France and guillotined by revolutionaries.  With husband Louis XVI.
• Maria Theresa was hardly perfect, for she was a bigot and had a dislike of Jews, but allowed them flexibility at commerce.
• A devout Roman Catholic, she found a way to tax the clergy and introduced secular subjects such as law into their universities, initiating the decline of theology as the main foundation of higher education.
• Reformed their educational system and improved medical care.
• Outlawed witch burning.
• Not an intellectual and was smart enough to recognize the mental superiority of her advisors.
• Earned a ton of titles, but was never made Empress.
• Marie Theresa ruled for 40 years.  
• The country was on the verge of bankruptcy when she took over, was challenged by several nations who wanted to test her mettle, but she persevered, and her territories, and Europe in general, prospered for more than a century after she passed away.  Overcoming economic turmoil, though a series of wars and all the politics associated with her job, she continued bearing children to the age of 39.
• Surviving smallpox at the age of 50, she lived to the ripe old age of 63, when the life expectancy in Europe in the late 1700's was around 33.
• I had a weiner schnitzel and beer.

With that major diversion, back to Vienna today.

• Is called the City of Music, for composers Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms, Haydn, Mahler Schubert and Strauss II lived and worked there.
• So did Sigmund Freud.
• The Tiergarten Schonbrunn is the world's oldest zoo,
• This where Snow Globes were invented...in 1900 by Erwin Perzy.
• There are 1730 acres of vineyards within the urban boundary.
• 
  The Economist rated Vienna as the Most Livable City, for the third straight year.  #2 is Copenhagen, and #3, our final stop before returning to Hawaii, Zurich.  The highest ranked U.S. city in 2024 was Honolulu at #23.  Damascus, Syria was listed as the least liveable city.

Our view of Vienna, a photo collage with no words, beginning with my Blue-Bar Pigeon(s) greeting.  Should you ever come to Vienna, you will want a guided tour.

Tomorrow we will be in Budapest.

-