From one imperial capital to another: Pip and I travelled to the beautiful city of Vienna in early 2008. It seems Vienna has three faces: from the monumental, Parisian scale of the Ringstrasse, through the gothic alleys of the city centre, to the crescendo of fin de siècle Vienna.

The Austrian Parliament, by Theophil Hansen, dominates the Ringstrasse. It was originally constructed as the parliament of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
A vast array of monuments line the Ringstrasse.
The Burgtheater was constructed in the 1880s.
The Hofburg palace sprawls across the centre of Vienna. It includes in its precincts Augustinerkirche (which contains the Herzgruft), the National Library, the state apartments and a number of museums.
Karlskirche, at the time of our visit, was spoilt by a gigantic scaffold carrying tourists up to the dome fresco.
St. Stephan's Cathedral (Stephansdom) was begun in the 1100s, though most of the visible structure dates from the 1400s. A vast crypt lies under the cathedral containing the innards of the imperial family. The main Imperial Crypt is in the modest Kapuzinerkirche.
Peterskirche is a baroque masterpiece.
The Votivkirche was constructed in the 1800s to celebrate the survival of Emperor Franz Joseph after an attack.
Vienna has two further major palaces after the Hofburg.
The Gloriette was constructed in the 1700s in the reign of Maria Theresa.
Vienna is home to a large number of art nouveau buildings, often by the architect Otto Wagner.
Zentralfriedhof (Central Cemetery) contains the graves of many prominent people associated with Vienna, such as Beethoven, Brahms and Strauss.
Otto Wagner also designed a large number of the central U-Bahn stations. Those at Karlsplatz and Hietzing are particularly beautiful.
Wagner, who was a member of the Vienna Secession, also designed the Majolikahaus and Zum Anker.
The Kirche Am Steinhof (St. Leopold) is Otto Wagner's masterpiece. It is part of a psychiatric hospital, and, following recent restoration, can (at the time of writing) be visited on Saturdays at 3pm.

We also went on a brief, impromptu trip to Bratislava (Pressburg, Pozsony), the capital of modern Slovakia, and capital of Hungary during the long occupation of Hungary proper by the Ottoman Turks.

In 2011 I made another brief visit to Vienna.