Stampin’Up! Incentive trip Vienna_Day 3

Hello there hope you had a good weekend, this is quite a long post but I started it two days ago and kept adding to it as day three was such a full day.
So here it is  day three of our trip and this was hands down the best day out of them all. After breakfast we took to the shops. Walking past the famous Opera House, my only regret was the we didn’t get to attend a performance in there. The buildings had amazing details

The shopping looked like heaven with every designer you could wish for and the shoes in all the shops we passed were ah mazing (pic curtsey of Jo D)

It was very hard resisting but my baggage allowance was at its limit already . The boys Robin and Pete were very patient…
We stopped for a break and a photo opportunity, Julie, Pete at the back, Natalie,Zoe and myself, and Jule’s Robin. Jules and Jo were in shop heaven buying fabulous accessories and Vic was taking the photo (cheers honey).
        
We had a quick lunch near a fountain and before we knew it it was time to take a tour round the city using a different kind of transport.

The lovely Jo did such an amazing job arranging the guided tour for 13 of us. I wasn’t going to join them but Pete really wanted to give it a go so it was only fair I joined him. Let me tell you I am so glad I did, it was AMAZING!!! definitely my highlight of the trip at that point, note I said at that point .
safety first! helmets for everyone

Suits you sir,
    
All lined up,  ready and waiting …
One by one we all climbed onto our own named Segway. And it literally took everyone a couple of seconds to get the hang of it, very soon we were whizzing up and down the pavement outside the hire shop in a orderly line. Look at these smiles, my husband was like an excited little boy he kept saying, I WANT ONE !!!! Sadly at 9000 Euros I cannot see it happening, sorry iubi.
 
I love this picture of Julie what a lovely lady she is!!  Julie is Jo’s downline and guest on this trip she had a fabby time. Hubby very confident and waving already.
 
Lovely Jo D  who tested the poor concierge  patience arranging this perfect tour for so many of us.  And my sweet downline Jules with our mascot good ol Frank Manou, or Fr’o’nk as my friend Zoe calls him.
And just like that we were off

Facing this..

Thank the Lord  for the dedicated bicycle lanes all across the city.
We had Charles as our guide for the day and he was amazing!! He wore a shiny gold helmet and we found out that he is the fastest Segway driver in Vienna. I think he explained that the gold helmets are being sold and proceeds go towards the renovation of the Museum of Fine Arts(below). We were going to see this impressive landmark twice on this particular day.

The weather was unbelievable and touring the city on the Segway was remarkably cool, the beautiful buildings looked so good  against the blue sky.

We were at the half way point and boy my calves could tell, everyone was relieved when we stopped for a break, then it was back on for the other half of tour.
        
Found a floating swimming pool on the Danube which I can’t imagine ever been Blue *wink*. It looked very inviting on this hot day but I have a feeling it can’t have been very warm as there was only one person in it, spot the tiny head on the right of the pool, inspite of the sun loungers to the left being full of people enjoying the sun.

And soon the three hours were up my feet were killing (I completed my second half of the tour bare footed) but I was a very, very happy camper, I loved every minute of it and what I loved even more was seeing my hubby so happy, he had a great time, everytime I clapped my eyes on him during the tour he had a big smile on his face..

And here’s our last shot of the whole group in front of the Ferris Wheel (never made it up there either)

Fabulous group of people who helped us make memories we will never forget.
Back to the centre to drop the Segways and just before we set off back to the hotel I spotted my husbands helmet hair

What was even funnier he wasn’t the only one sporting this look

Then by the time we got back to the hotel we had less than one hour to get ready for our gala night, thank God my hair is shorter now, I would have never made it with my long locks.
And just before 6.30 we joined the whole group  in the Hotel Reception. Everyone looked amazing the guys looked so smart in their suits and of course all the ladies made such an effort.
Here I am with my lovely, the sun was still shining (I wore purple shoes and a purple amethyst ring so Pete had to wear a purple tie )

And here we are with the lovely Martin Tant

what’s that saying again? like a rose between two what?
What came next took me by complete surprise, the whole street was lined with lots of  horse drawn carriages. I get emotional as I think back, a beautiful warm evening all dressed up, travelling across the city enjoying the views and feeling very much like Royalty because everyone looks on.

We shared the carriage with my sweet friend and Convention buddy Zoe and her fabby husband Doc Martin, I love these two.
it wasn’t a long ride and once again the Museum of Fine Arts was in our sight

As we approached the building the excitement grew even bigger
 
Livered footmen were waiting and helping everyone off the carriages, oh my

As you can see we definitely needed the footmen as before one of us was off the carriage , the husbands were nowhere to be seen(thank you for the pic Michelle)
And one carriage at a time and the whole group were arriving, I was to far to get a decent photo but here’s the Last family and the Fowler’s.

And once we got inside my jaw dropped, the building is impressive very detailed and very beautiful and it was opened just for us!!
And all I had to do to enjoy all this was CRAFT with some of the BEST craft products out there, SHARE IT with everyone. In return I got to enjoy wandering round one of the most famous museums in the world with less than 40 people, ermm that just doesn’t add up in my mind somehow.
 
fabulous background music while yummy canapés and refreshments were served
 
and a very imposing Master of Ceremony which guided us and announced every course impeccably. But before that it was picture time
We do love our pictures LOL

Here are the UK achievers with our lovely Country Manager Paula Gorry minus one lovely lady who for the second year in a row achieved the trip but was unable to attend. Jenny Moors who’s name I am sure you know well, she is a fabulously  talented demo. We missed her this year as well, but the good news is she achieved the 2013 trip to Utah USA and she will definitely attend that one.
Next all of us again with the lovely lady that started it all, Shelli Gardner Stampin’Up! CEO

And one more with our French and German achievers, I consider so many of these fabulous women my friends .

soon after this shot we were called to dinner.
We climbed the stairs to the Rotonda hall where the most beautiful laid tables were awaiting us.

The surroundings were spectacular every detail perfect, I wish I took a photo of the beautiful table linen, it had sparkly thread running through the weave, very gorgeous.
 
We were soon asked to be seated and our Special Guests were announced. 
Incredibly  we found out that we were being treated to a 30 minutes concert by the famous Vienna Boys Choir.

Now allow me to tell you something, no amount of words or pictures will translate how I felt for the next 30 minutes while these talented and very professional boys performed for us. I took a short video while they performed my favourite piece of classical music Carmina Burana. I had tears in my eyes hearing their sweet voices. Is only short but I know you will enjoy it and recognise the piece instantly.

Stampin’Up! Incentive Trip Vienna 2012

Absolutely amazing..I felt so grateful for experiencing this and for having Stampin’Up! in my life.
Not only did we get to pleasure to hear the Choir sing for us live we all received a signed CD, below you can also see our fabulous place card *grin* and the menu.

The food was DE LI CI O SO, here’s what we had

But our evening of surprises didn’t end here, before the dessert was served we were invited to a private tour of  the art gallery.   
It was such a special experience to get to see the works of art of the great masters I have learned about in school, without having to fight a massive crowd of people for a precious glimpse.  Amazing and so special. We also got to visit a special part of the Museum (not yet opened to the public) built  to commemorate 150th birthday of Gustav Klimt.

Thank you Steffi for your photos
We enjoyed our very yummy desert and soon after our amazing night came to an end. But the evening was young and we finished off with a glass of champagne on the hotel’s terrace.
And just as every night prior to this a lovely gift was awaiting me. Oh yeah baby and we got the matching stamp set as well.

thank you for putting up with this long post and THANK YOU to all my fellow demos who allowed me to use their photos to better illustrate my experience.
See you tomorrow with day 4, till then big hugs xxx

CLICK HERE for Day 4

Technorati Tags: stampin+up+demonstrator+uk,vienna 2012,Stampin Up incentive trip,Segway city tour,classes and tutorials,vienna boys choir,monica gale,stampin up demo