Austria

Austria extends roughly 340 miles from east to west. Austria has an area of 32,378 square miles. It is bordered on the west by Switzerland and Liechtenstein, on the northwest by Germany, on the north by the Czech Republic, on the northeast by Slovakia, on the east by Hungary, and on the southwest by Italy. It is at the centre of European traffic between east and west along the great Danubian trade route and between north and south through the magnificent Alpine passes. Together with Switzerland, it forms what has been characterized as the neutral core of Europe. The establishment of permanent neutrality in 1955 enabled Austria to develop into a stable and socially progressive nation with a flourishing cultural life that was reminiscent of its earlier days of international musical glory.

The capital is Vienna. Vienna has always been a crossing point – a whirlpool that mixes the waters of east and west. Diverse languages are heard on the streets. Restaurants offer everything from sushi to Middle Eastern and South American cuisines.

Vienna

Vienna is among the least spoiled of the great old western European capitals. Its central core, the Innere Stadt, is easily manageable by foot and public transportation. A visitor can take an architectural tour through the city, rest in one of the city’s numerous parks and gardens, or work up a healthy appetite strolling through the Vienna woods – an oasis of nature not 30 minutes from the city centre. Or spend an evening at the Prater, a pulsating amusement park with the famous Riesenrad, or Big Wheel. The street names alone prove that Mozart is the city’s most famous son. In addition to the traditional cultural offerings of the famed Opera or the Vienna Philharmonic, the city hosts modern dance and jazz festivals. Art lovers can wander for hours through the Art History Museum’s impressive collection of paintings by Brueghel, Velazquez, and the Venetian School of artists. The paintings of Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele, whose works are currently enjoying a renaissance, can be found in the Belvedere palace.

The main seat of the Habsburgs was the Hofburg palace in the city centre. The Vienna Boys’ Choire, when not on tour, performs in the palace chapel.

Belgium

One of the smallest and most densely populated European countries, Belgium has been, since its birth in 1830 and 1831, a hereditary, representative, and constitutional monarchy. Its area is 11,787 square miles.

Belgium today is one of the most heavily industrialized and urbanized nations in Europe. It is a member of the Benelux Economic Union (with the Netherlands and Luxembourg), the European Union (EU), and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Belgium’s long and rich cultural and artistic heritage is epitomized in the painting of Pieter Bruegel the Elder, Jan van Eyck, and Hans Memling; the music of Josquin des Prez, Orlando di Lasso, and Gezar Franck; the dramas of Maurice Maeterlinck and Michel de Ghelderode; and in the many palaces, castles, town halls, and cathedrals of the Belgian cities and countryside.

With the exception of a small German-speaking population, the nation is divided between a French-speaking people, collectively called the Walloons, and the Flemings, a Flemish-(Netherlandic-) speaking people.