WHAT YOU WILL SEE:

Prague, Czech Republic
Viewed from high atop Vysehrad, the 10-centuries-old citadel at the city's south end, the ancient city of Prague hugs the hills rising from the river Vltava. Rows of steeples stacked on onion domes pierce the sky, earning Prague the name "The City of a Hundred Spires". Prague has stood the test of time. Here, the last 1,000 years of triumphs in art and architecture have collided, often violently, with power politics and religious conflicts. While Prague's rich collection of Gothic, baroque, and Renaissance buildings has stood stoically through all the strife, the streets and squares fronting the grand halls have often been the stages for tragedy. The well-worn cobblestones have felt the hooves of king's horses, the jackboots of Hitler's armies, the heaving wheels of Soviet tanks, and the shuffling feet of students in passive revolt. In the years since November 17, 1989, when Prague's students took to the streets to help bring down the 40-year-old Communist regime, the "hundred-spired city" has enjoyed an exhilarating cultural renaissance. Amid Prague's cobblestone streets and gold-tip spires, new galleries, cafés, and clubs teem with young Czechs and members of the city's colony of "expatriates." New shops and, perhaps most noticeably, scads of new restaurants have opened, expanding the city's culinary reach far beyond the traditional roast pork and dumplings. Many have something to learn in the way of presentation and service, but Praguers still marvel at a variety that was unthinkable not so many years ago. The arts and theater are also thriving in the "new" Prague. Young playwrights, some writing in English, regularly stage their own works. Weekly poetry readings are standing room only. Classical music maintains its famous standards, while rock, jazz, and dance clubs are jammed nightly. The arts of the new era -- nonverbal theater, "installation" art, and world music -- are as trendy in Prague as in any European capital, but possess a distinctive Czech flavor. All of this frenetic activity plays well against a stunning backdrop of towering churches and centuries-old bridges and alleyways.

Vienna, Austria
City of music, cafes, waltzes, parks, pastries, and wine -- that's Vienna. Vienna is a true cosmopolitan center, where different tribes and nationalities have for centuries fused their cultural identities to produce the intriguing and often-cynical Viennese.From the time the Romans selected a Celtic settlement on the Danube River as one of their most important central European forts, "Vindobona," the city we now know as Vienna, has played a vital role in European history. The ambience of the city is ornate and frothy: white horses dancing to elegant music; snow dusting the opulent draperies of Empress Maria Theresa's monument; lavish decorations filling the interior courtyards of outwardly severe town houses; a gilded Johann Strauss among a grove of green trees; the voluptuous music of Richard Strauss; the geometric impasto of Klimt's paintings; the stately pavane of a mechanical clock. Magnificent, magnetic, and magical, the city beguiles one and all with Old World charm and courtly grace. It is a place where headwaiters still bow as if saluting a Habsburg prince and Lipizzaner stallions dance intricate minuets to the strains of Mozart -- a city that waltzes. Like a well-bred grande dame, Vienna doesn't hurry, and, as you saunter through its stately streets, marveling at its Baroque palaces, neither should you. Explore churches filled with statues of golden saints and pink-cheeked cherubs, wander through treasure-packed museums, or while away an afternoon in one of those countless meccas of mocha (the inevitable cafés), you will feel lapped in lashings of rich, delicious, whipped cream -- the beloved Schlagobers that garnishes most Viennese pastries.

ICE (InterCity Express)
The ICE (InterCity Express), a tilting train. The German high speed train ICE guarantees quality with new, high-standardized equipment to provide travelers with a comfortable and pleasant experience. With a maximum speed of nearly 300 km/h, this service is highly efficient.

Types of Train Services
First Class:
- All seats are reclining and have an audio minijack, allowing passengers to plug in headphones and choose from about 7 music/entertainment channels and radio stations. Basic headphones can also be purchased on the trains.
- Newspapers are available. Beverages and snacks can also be purchased from the trolley cart.
- The service crew on the train takes orders for porters in the main cities in Germany.

Second Class:
- All seats are reclining and have an audio minijack, allowing passengers to plug in headphones and choose from about 7 music/entertainment channels and radio stations. Basic headphones can also be purchased on the trains.
- Newspapers are available. Beverages and snacks can also be purchased from the trolley cart.
- The service crew on the train takes orders for porters in the main cities in Germany.

On board services:
Each train has a restaurant car with two sections: the traditional restaurant and self-service bistro. Public phone booths and luggage lockers are also available on board the train. With exception of the first and last cars, the ICE train is a non-smoking area.
The latest ICE generation with tilting technology even offers a magnificent panoramic lounge at each end of the trains for a spectacular view of the landscape. With most ICE trains, there is one carriage (sometimes more) where individual seats are equipped with LCD screens. (The screens are actually built into the backrest of the seat in front.) Usually there are two video channels to choose from, which typically show feature films, like airlines would do. There are no speakers, but the corresponding audio is available via the audio minijack.
At both ends of ICE3 trains there is a passenger compartment (on one side 1st class, on the other side 2nd class) with a view on the tracks, due to transparency of the glass wall separating the compartment from the driver's cabin. In special circumstances the driver can make the wall opaque by the press of a button.

There is also a compartment with a play area for children.

All ICEs have "repeater" carriages, which are equipped with technology to enable mobile phone use (as the windows have a metal coating). Cell phone use is possible in these carts only. These carts are marked with a sticker of a symbolized mobile phone. "Silent" carriages have a sticker with a symbolized whispering sign. In these carriages use of laptops, mobile phones and other "noisy" equipment is prohibited.