Vienna is a new adventure

Guten Tag, meinen Freunden!
Today is the big day when I flap off to one of the great capitals of the world.
Vienna's reputation for standing on the heights of civilization is well deserved, but hard won. Vienna has always been on one frontier or another. First the Romans settled it as bulwark against the barbarians, then the city held Charlemagne's eastern borders against Magyars and Huns. The city was repeatedly besieged by Ottoman Turks. Most recently it was an outpost of liberal democracy overshadowed by the iron curtain of communist totalitarianism. It's not all been waltzes and strudel!
So I am sitting here, still in San Pedro, amid a welter of guidebooks and suitcases already feeling overwhelmed. Vienna is such a rich city, and I am wondering what I can see and experience in one go.
All that mere research can tell has been absorbed. Now it's time for the experience.
If you are looking for learned dissertations on Wittgenstein and Freud you have come to the wrong place. I won't be able to prevent myself from talking about history and art, but the goal here is to share the experience and try to convey what city looks, sounds, smells, and tastes like.
I hope you will join me. Glucklich Reise!