Returning to Europe was on our mind as we sat in the Little Tibetan Guesthouse while looking at the Fishtail of the Annapurna Range.

Photos of the short stretch through Austria can be found here: The return: Austria

When and why? We had a hard time deciding, then we thought of Thomas and Tina and their wedding in Vienna. They gave us a date and a place, this was what we needed and who can say no to a party with some of our best friends. So Thomas and Tina thank you! We had already missed a few special occassion of friends in the Netherlands and Denmark so it was really nice that we could be present this time.

Cycling into the city of Vienna and there it was for the first time since returning to Europe, the developed and strictly organized western society. We took a wrong turn in the busy traffic of Vienna and without really thinking about it we drove up a one way street. As a result we were met by an elderly man who directly started yelling in our faces. Also he was then asking where we came from and if we did not understand traffic rules! He left and soon we were greeted by smiles and questions from strangers as we are used too. We looked at each other and without words we laughed and thought welcome to western Europe…

We found our Warmshowers host, or to be more precise his apartment, as he was out cycling. He had arranged that we could pick up the key at the local bike shop. The bike repair shop Das Radhaus is a collective and the people there are really cool. Luckily they could also help us out with a new bottom bracket while we were there. At the apartment of our host we really felt at home and the decoration with bicycles was totally cool because he has more than 10 bicycles on the walls.

The big day for Tina and Thomas had arrived and of course we enjoyed being a part of it. They had their ceremony in a Russian Orthodox church and the party in the Palais Pallavicini. Really a change of scenery for us, we did our best to fit in. The day was really nice, having a great time with all the people and a good party in the evening!

Photos published with permission of Thomas and Tina.

After a great party and some good days in Vienna it was time to say goodbye and hit the road again. We cycled north along the wine region of the east of Austria. Home to many nice cycle routes and nice old castles.

Finding wild camping spots were not too difficult in the north east of Austria.  There are plenty of small areas where camping is great and therefore we found a great great spot on our last day in Austria. During the day we passed a field of hemp used for insulation material.

This was the small stretch of Austria and furthermore a great event in Vienna. Below as always our cycled route.