Austrians are celebrating Obama's inauguration at the Vienna Marriott, while Luxembourg's inauguration fest will take place at the hotel Sofitel. For parties in other cities in Europe and around the globe, check out the homepage of Democrats Abroad and select a country. Have fun! .

A conference will be held in Vienna on 28 January on project development for CENTROPE, addressing programme partners and potential beneficiaries of the Austria-Slovakia, Austria-Hungary and Austria-Czech Republic ETC programmes.

 The main purpose of this conference is to discuss the contribution of the three Cross-border Cooperation programmes fro the CENTROPE region, to exchange experiences gained so far in the new programming period, and to take the opportunity for networking on a programme and project level.

The first day will centre around a panel discussion of the regions involved, presentations of current projects and five films dealing with the theme of "CENTROPE - Emotionally Connected".

On the second day there will be opportunities for networking, partner search and services for projects provided by the three programme authorities.

British entrepreneur Tory Molzahn lived in Vienna for three years after graduating from Oxford University before moving to France to be with her partner and set up a new hotel. The Austrian Times was invited to be a guest at the new location and delighted to have the chance to compare Austria's offerings with France's finest resort.With the re-opening of the world?s biggest cable car this December one of France?s largest ski areas, the Paradiski, is back in business and offering a range of skiing which few Austrian resorts can rival.Paradiski was created in 2003 when the huge areas of La Plagne and Les Arcs were linked by the Vanoise Express. This is the biggest cable car in the world with 200 places and spanning a vertigo-inducing 2 km without a single pylon. Sweeping across the valley 400m above the forests and small villages below the Vanoise is a breathtaking feat of engineering.

VIENNA IMPERIAL 

The new VIENNA IMPERIAL virtual piano is a class of its own. The sampled grand, a Bösendorfer Imperial 290-755, is the famed piano manufacturer's flagship piano and is certainly the Rolls Royce among all grands. It is demanded and performed by top pianists such as Paul Badura Skoda, Paul Gulda, Oscar Peterson, Tori Amos, and many more.

Like the Vienna Symphonic Library, Bösendorfer is a supremely innovative company. The venerable grand piano that the Vienna team hosted at the Silent Stage for 2 months was equipped with Bösendorfer's patented CEUS technology, which allowed them the most precise and by far most extensive piano sample recordings ever conducted in the history of music technology.