Arrival - I flew into Vienna with nary a place to stay after yet another interminable international flight. 9 hours to London, 5 hour layover (forced to wait in one stuffy, smoky, crowded waiting area, perhaps worse than being on an airplane where they wait on you at least. Then several more hours to Vienna (Wien) at 9:30 PM with very little sleep. Where to stay? Simple: at the Hotel across the street from the airport. Expensive, yes, but worth it. I was able to wheel my boxed bike over there in a dolly, then assemble the bike at my leisure in my semi-delirious state in my hotel room. Hot shower, toilet, TV, buffet breakfast, what luxuries... but not for long.

Most exciting moment trying to assemble my bike was when I discovered that the piece that holds the handlebar stem in place was missing. Luckily I found it under a flap in the box, but it easily could have fallen out.

In the morning after a hearty breakfast, I hopped on my bike and pedalled the 19 km into town. Completely flat the whole way. No problem except that I had no map so I didn't really know where to go once I got there. Along the way I passed a huge graveyard and lots of places to buy gravestones. As if that weren't enough stone, soon the road changed to stones too. This led to a very bumpy ride for a couple of miles (at least it seemed like a couple of miles). Bricks laid out like this (curved arch pattern). Somehow this pattern, when repeated, overlaps so that you can't see where one arch begins and the next leaves off. Maybe I'll take a picture.

Anyway, the reason that all this scribbling is on this particular card is that the very first interesting building I found is the one on this card: the St. Charles. I just rode into a nice looking courtyard, and there it was. Next, the wild bike paths...do they, or don't they?