1999 Biking East Europe

Saturday, September 25 – Vienna, Austria
Distance cycled: 26.5  Maximum speed: 28 Average speed: 11

We’re in Austria on a train Vienna-bound. Welcome to the first world! An immediate and obvious difference as noticeable as the transition from Romania to the Czech Republic. We cycled in from Ceske Velenice early this morning after shopping for breakfast and lunch supplies in order to conserve our dwindling finances. The Czech border authority took ages studying and stamping our passports all the while casting cursory glances at the passports of Austrians crossing the border with empty trailers and in combi vans for a shopping spree in Velenice’s flea market, but ignoring the irate drivers in the lengthening queue behind us. The official finally and with great deliberation stamped both our passports and our visa forms (which he kept) and waved us through. The Austrian crossing into Gmund was much faster. We headed straight for the bahnhof anxious about getting a booking on our chosen train to Vienna and about our bikes. Unnecessary. The ticket salesman quickly efficiently and without fuss, sold us tickets on the 10h40 to Vienna, sold us tickets for our bikes which he said we could load ourselves (no forms to complete), accepted payment in USD, and converted and gave us change in Schillings. After which great experience we cycled back into the centre of the very pretty little town to confirm our flights via the helpful information centre and to treat ourselves to cappuccino and cake at the local bakkerei. Before boarding our train Charl popped into the station café to buy some butter for our picnic lunch – and after his elaborate hand-signs was sold instead two buttered rolls!

It is another beautiful day and the view from our train window is all green trees and hills and farms and little villages. We have, much to our amusement and delight, actually seen some of the garden gnomes on sale in Velenice gracing the homes of graceless Austrians. Our bikes are hanging from hooks in the baggage compartment behind us and we’re essentially gearing up to go home. Charl walked to another compartment during our journey to enjoy a cigarette – he is planning on giving up smoking when we arrive home and is getting in what he can now – and met there a group of rowdy Afrikaners having a drinking day off from flying relief supplies into Bosnia.

Vienna was oddly disappointing, but with highlights. For starters it is a great city to cycle in. There are cycle paths throughout reasonably clearly marked, with special traffic lights that depict someone in green cycling head on or someone in red standing with one foot on the road and one on the pedal! The buildings, though beautiful and white (on the whole) on another lovely sunshine day (in fact too hot for my liking), are enormous – stretching across entire city blocks and seeming a little autocratic, a little daunting. Surprisingly few sidewalk cafes in the old centre, nowhere to find tourist information on a Saturday afternoon. Not human-size like Prague. After an abortive search for tourist info, and photographing Charl in front of a statue of Mozart, we headed for Hundertwasser House – having been directed there by a plump young woman (wo)manning a stand at a skating whatsit.

What fun. A public housing project erected in 1985 designed by Austria’s “most famous living artist”. All curved walls, brightly-coloured tiled pillars, green trees and plants sprouting from unexpected places, and a fountain with a large mosaic snake. The inside too must reflect Hundertwasser’s imagination (and Gustav Klimt’s influence) and verve as the windows are not uniform. While there we popped into the little Hundertwasser shopping centre opposite, primarily to use the ‘modern art’ tourist-attraction toilets at 6 Schillings each. When I discovered my loo had no paper I complained to the owner of the building who immediately upon my suggestion he do so, and without complaint or unpleasantness, refunded me my money.

And so, after a pavement café dinner and a train to the airport in plenty of time to disassemble and pack our bikes, home…

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