A check of the Internet today showed Romanian Customs released my package. In a fit of excitement, I started checked trains and flights to Romania from Vienna. 20 hours by train. As plans go, shipping the replacement gear should have worked. Even leaving Brasov, I had five days of cycling directly along the rail line back to Brasov. Crossing the Schengen line I suspect causes part of the problem, and getting train transfers to line up causes the rest. Given that leaving today/tomorrow puts me in Brasov on Sunday (with the Post Office closed) and the package still isn’t actually at the final destination, moving on.
I received advice from a friend in Vienna on sites to visit, and spent the day wandering the city by Metro (and adding yet another mode of transportation to the trip). While I always have misgivings about transport via any method but bike, the Metro makes navigation easy. Signs clearly mark all the roads, so readily able to surface from my Morlockian travel and visit sites around the city.
Both Schonbrun Palace and Hoffburg Palace sprawl as only the residence of an Emperor can. Both visually stunning, still palaces, not castles. After that I worked my way through the cathedrals and churches throughout the city, adding in the occasional opera house or Parliament building. Church generally have no admission cost. While the increased civilization makes travel easier, that comes with a direct physical cost in both general living expenses and tourist admission prices.
Along my wandering today I found a movie festival outside the Rathaus Plaza, so I ventured forth and watch a movie on a big outdoor screen. Not what I expected, a video short about dancing with Nachos, and then a full-length feature of a re-interpretation of Swan Lake as the making of Swan Lake. Very strange.
I still need to pick up maps and some other shopping, so a late start and planning a short day, with the main goal just getting away from urban sprawl and back to the countryside.