Dull residents visit Vienna to prove it's anything but dull

Residents of the Scottish village of Dull have enjoyed an all-expenses paid weekend in Vienna as part of a stunt to prove the Austrian capital is anything but dull.

All 84 residents of the Perthshire hamlet were invited to Vienna by the city's tourist board, with 33 villagers taking up the offer.

The tourist board chose the village near Aberfeldy for their tongue-in-cheek January marketing campaign as part of a new cultural initiative.

During their trip, the residents received guided museum tours, took part in private waltz lessons, went ice skating and attended the Vienna Ball of Sciences.

Every household in Dull received a hand-delivered, wax-sealed invitation and Viennese goodie bags from the tourism board in November.

"We thought it was a prank at first," said Kirsty MacBey, who travelled from Dull to Vienna last weekend with her husband and 10-year-old son.

"We had to do research and convince people the invitation was definitely legit.

"The next thing we knew we were on a flight to Vienna."

According to the tourism board, January is the city's "liveliest season" and brings experiences not possible in the Scottish countryside.

The selected weekend for the trip fell during Vienna's ball season and the annual reopening of one of the world's largest ice rinks.

Kirsty told the BBC's Radio Scotland Breakfast programme the "close-knit community" had an "amazing time staying at Vienna's renowned Hotel Imperial, which has previously hosted Queen Elizabeth II and the Rolling Stones.

"You name it, we did it while we there," she said.

"We get some great perks being dull."

Norbert Kettner, chief executive of the Vienna Tourist Board, said: "January is often considered the dullest month of the calendar, which is exactly why we wanted to bring Dull to Vienna.

"Vienna never hibernates, not even in January.

"The residents of Dull experienced this first-hand."

Dull is well known for forging ties with the American town Boring in Oregon in 2012 and then with Bland in New South Wales, Australia five years later.

And Kirsty hopes a trip across the pond could be the next village outing.

Dull's name is believed to have come from the Gaelic word for meadow, with its sheep-scattered hills and historic former monasteries.

But others have speculated that the origins could be connected to the Gaelic word "dul" meaning snare or "duil" meaning a leather strap on a stretcher.

St Adomnan of Iona, who passed a law forbidding women from combat and confirming their safety, is said to be associated with the 8th Century monastery in Dull.