28 July 2014
Vienna, Austria (0 miles; Total = 324 miles)

This Vienna is overwhelming. There are huge buildings everywhere, there are imposing churches everywhere, there are museums everywhere, there are trams everywhere, there are people everywhere, and luckily for us, there’s a beer garden over here in front of the Rathaus (City Hall).

I think it’s highly possible that a city as cultured and steeped in artistic ambience and history as Vienna gets partially lost on people like Gina and I. It’s not that we aren’t interested, per se, but rather that we find it to be too much to take in, particularly on cycling trips such as these when we are more focused on the daily journey (is it a good route? is it quiet? is it quaint? is it cute?) than on the daily destination – unless, of course, that destination turns out to be a dump, at which point you will hear about it.

This is not to say that we aren’t very good at wandering around and admiring the architecture, and we have our moments of actually going inside and touring some of these amazing man-made structures (hello Melk Abbey), but here in Vienna today, we are finding ourselves ambling about, indecisive, hot, tired, and, truth be told, more happy than not to just sit for awhile and simply stare at the Hop-On-Hop-Off Bus map without either hopping on or off. Cousin Cynthia would not approve.