Social Events

The Welcome Reception will take place on August 28th 17:00

The reception will be at the conference venue: Gußhausstraße 27-29, Wien, Austria (Getting to the Conference)

The Wiener Musikverein is home of the famous Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra. The tour is organized in groups of 40 persons at the most and lasts about 45 minutes. The Musikverein is within walking distance of the conference venue (max. 10 minutes).

The mayor of the city of Vienna invites all conference participants to a cocktail reception that will be held on Wednesday evening in the City Hall of Vienna. It is located a few stops by underground from the conference venue (underground line U2, station "Rathaus"). Alternatively, it can be reached via a nice 30-minute walk along the Ringstrasse (flanked by many monumental buildings such as the opera house, the Austrian parliament, some of the most prestigious museums, etc.).

The conference banquet will take place at one of the top-class hotels in the city centre: The Imperial Riding School Renaissance Vienna Hotel, an imposing classicistic 19th century building.

The social trip will take us to the Wachau region (about 80 kilometers west of Vienna), where we will visit Melk Abbey and take a ship tour on the Danube.

Melk Abbey is one of the biggest and most beautiful European Baroque ensembles. Its splendid architecture is famous worldwide and part of UNESCO’s world cultural heritage. The Baroque building situated on a rock overlooking the Danube, in the Wachau region, ranks as one of Austria’s most visited art-historical sites. Since 1089, Benedictine monks have continually been living and working in Melk Abbey. Following the rules laid down by St. Benedict, they try to translate into action the words ORA et LABORA et LEGE (pray and work and learn) by working in pastoral care and education (Melk Abbey Secondary School) as well as organizing cultural events. http://www.stiftmelk.at/englisch/index.html

The Wachau is a famous, 30 km long valley formed by the river Danube, located between the towns Melk and Krems. It is recognized as one of the most beautiful river valleys worldwide, known for vines on stone terrasses, high quality wine and a unique cultural landscape. It ranges back to the earliest traces of modern humans in Europe (Venus of Willendorf), remains from the Roman and medival ages all the way to impressive Baroque abbeys in Melk and Göttweig. The Wachau is a UNESCO world heritage site and attracts many visitors by a wide range of hiking and biking trails, ship tours, cultural events or a visit to the "Heurigen" (local wine tavern).

Kloster Schönbühel - (c) Donau Niederösterreich Lachlan Blair	Schönbühel im Sommer - (c) Donau Niederösterreich	Stiftspark Melk - (c) Donau Niederösterreich	Stift Melk im Frühling - (c) Donau Niederösterreich