Keeping on a positive note, we were also big fans of Demel's, a touristy uberfamous bakery. Austrians are probably the world's best pastry and cake makers and Demel's is the oldest of these, operating since the 18th century. The cake displays in the entrance are crowded all day with gawkers, and the unhappy salespeople do their best to discourage purchases, but to no avail as the sweets fly off the shelf. There's a very busy restaurant in back as well, in 200 year old surroundings, where you can get the same rude service as in the takeaway counter up front. But the food is actually pretty good, and much lighter than the schnitzel and sauerkraut we've been eating for two weeks, so we stopped by pretty regularly. And once you become a regular, service doesn't improve a bit. And one final happy memory for us was Schonbrunn Palace, the summer palace for the Hapsburgs outside of Vienna, pictured here. It's the usual enormous, opulent palace with acres of gardens, all of which is enjoyable. But we also "met" one of our favorite historical characters, the Empress Sissy (her nickname, her real name was Elizabeth). She was a crazy girl, with hair down to her ankles, and she kept all sorts of wild animals in the palace with her, the Michael Jackson of her times. But the coolest thing is she was a fitness fanatic, and there are all sorts of weird gym machines in the palace, where she'd push and pull and lift herself into shape, making sure to keep her huge head of hair out of the way. We still use her name as shorthand for working out, like "don't lift so much, Sissy, you're getting old!" So with Demel's and Sissy and people waltzing and twisting New Year's Eve away, how could it be a depressing place?