For the return trip to Vienna from Melk, I decided to ride on the right (South) bank for a change. The road that took me to the Abbey is the same one that took me out of it. Instead of crossing the bridge over Danube, I simply turn right and got on Donauradweg again. It started with a slightly steep climb that was not long at all. And that's the only climb of the whole 75 mile route. From that point on, it's all flat. There were a few detour because of construction but the signs were quite clear. And when in doubt, just rode towards the river to get back on track. The first milestone was Krems at the 20 mile mark (since I stay on the South bank, I didn't actually reach Krems. The town on the South roughly across from Krems was Mautern) and I arrived in 2 hours, which was on schedule. The next one was Tulln 30 miles further. And I felt fatigue before that (around the 40 mile mark) probably because of the 75 mile work the day before. I still haven't regained my strength completely. I stopped and took 5-10 minute breaks almost every 5 miles :( My breaks took longer and longer and I was clearly struggling until I passed Tulln and there was only 15 miles to go. I finally felt the finish line was near, especially when high rises of Vienna were in sight. The reason I tried to maintain a good pace was that the forecast said bad weather would be in Vienna in the afternoon and I tried to beat it. Well, even though I was slow, fortunately, the bad weather was there 1 hour after I arrived at the hotel! It was so windy when I headed to Wienerwald for dinner (rotisserie chicken, its specialty) And it started raining after dinner. I had no energy left for night activity anyway. There were many sports channel on the hotel's TV. I was really surprised during channel surfing when I saw American Football. It's AFL (Austrian Football League) final: Vienna Vikings vs Swarco Raiders Tirol! An interesting game. This Raiders played like its name sake: lots of penalties and turn overs killed it chances for victory. Of course, I watched some Olympics.
The next day, Sunday, was the last sight-seeing day of this trip and I dedicated it to the museums and landmarks of Vienna. Pedal Power's guide had some good directions to Haydn's old house, now a museum. I don't listen to that much Haydn but I still went because one room was dedicated to my favorite composer, Brahms! In fact, like Haydn, Brahms spent the rest of his life in Vienna. Unfortunately, the place he stayed at no longer exists so some furniture and personal items used by him were moved to a room there. This house was actually not very far from my hotel but the next one was. I played it safe and rented the bike for 3 days rather than 2 by paying ~30 euro more but I'm glad that I did. I rode for ~25 minutes to Schonbrunn palace instead of taking bus/subway (to be honest I would have skipped it) It's yet another Summer residence, this time of Austrian monarchs. It was orginally built to be on a par with the Palace of Versailles in terms of Baroque beauty as well as cultural and political significance, but the House of Habsburg did not have the resources to outdo its French rival. I guess it's not a big loss for me not going inside. Most museums close at 6pm so I have to use my time wisely!
After grabbing a quick bite (baquette with salami) at Schonbrunn, I rushed back to the city center. While cycling around looking for a few landmarks, I stumbled upon the entrance to the museum of Vienna Opera and of course I had to pay a visit. Special emphasis were put on two of its most well-known conductors: Mahler and Karajan. I am a big fan of Mahler because of his symphonies. Back in those days he was known more for his conducting though. It mentioned his biggest contribution to Vienna Opera: implementing the idea of "total art work" first pioneered by Wagner. The Opera was not about individuals (e.g. prima donna singers) anymore. The program, the music, the performers and so on altogether produced the complete art experience for the audiences. It's very informative.
The landmark I was specifically looking for was the Stephansdom, of which I've seen a great picture in the cycling book. The real thing was just as good. (Oh yeah, I had to take care of some non-spiritual business, i.e., getting euro from ATM. The exchange rate/transaction fee was much better than the foreign exchange in the States)
Finally I arrived at the Albertina museum, a bit behind schedule. This museum has a bit of everything: the top floor hosted the current exhibition of impressionist/modern works by Monet, Matisse and Picasso. The 2nd floor showed several state rooms of Austrian monarch. The 1st floor had a collection of expressionist pieces. Finally, the ground floor was for contemporary artists. It's a very balanced and interesting collection.
After taking care of souvenir shopping nearby, it's 3pm already. I returned to the hotel and parked the bike (rental was due) Took a quick break and headed to the museum I really wanted to go to in Vienna: the Museum of Art History. Its focus was basically the combination of Munich's Glyptothek and Alte Pinakothek, i.e., Greco-Roman sculptures and 14-15th century masterpieces by the likes of Reuben and Durer. In addition, it also showed an Egyptian collection. Again, that's what I learned from my art history class. The buildng itself was very special too: great classical architecture, and the space between inside columns was decorated with fresco painted by Austrian's most famous artist: Gustav Klimt. The museum built a podium so that visitors could climb stairs up to it to get a closer look of these paintings, which were great work in their own rights. I enjoyed the museum so much and I bought a book on Klimt there. It was a guide to where to see Klimt's work in Vienna (his works could be found at many venues) It also provided the social, political and cultural background of Klimt's time and stories of his life. Written by Michael Schmid and translated to English. Highly recommended.
I stayed there 'til it closed at 6. Then walked around the nearby MQ (Museumsquartier) to take in more trendy and artistic vibe so to speak. This is basically the Viennese version of the yet-to-be-built Kowloon Cultural Center in Hong Kong: a group of diverse museums plus working spaces for artists. For example, there was an exhibition on fusion of technology and fashion (one of the pieces was a dress made with circuit boards that made sound)
I went to Wienerwald once again (3 times altogether :P) for dinner and this time I had a wiener schnitzel (veal coated with fried breadcrumbs) and a beer to celebrate the end of this awesome trip. More olympics, motorcycle racing (ironically, the race was live at Laguna Seca in Monterey California!), formula 1 racing then a quick nap before I woke up at 4am to catch a taxi to airport for my flight back to the States. It was the first and only time I got in a car in Europe (the other transportations I used were train and bicycle)
I have so much yet to see in all 3 cities (more museums in Vienna and Munich and more music in Salzburg and Vienna. Performances indoor outdoor or even by street musicians were everywhere everyday) Hope to be back someday.
Here is the link to my pictures.
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