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, Bohemi...