Vienna, Austria

I arrived in Vienna in a thunderstorm of Highlander proportions and pitched up at Aktiv Camping Neue Donau, a good campsite just on the east side of the Danube River. The vast majority of the city is located on the west side though so my cycle rides to and from the city often meant getting soaked as the rain continued for most of my stay in the capital.

The city centre is radiates out from Stephensplatz and the Stephensdom Cathedral sits right in the centre (currently under plenty of scaffolding on two sides). The big gothic building has gothic spires and a tiled pattern roof which have become a symbol of the city. Inside, it is just as grand with a total of 18 altars.

A little walk north of the cathedral takes you to the former apartment and practice of Sigmund Freud, the "Father of Psychoanalysis", which is now a museum dedicated to his work. Inside, there is actually very little to see though - other than a selection of photographs and a few left-behind belongings like his hat and cane.

Heading south from the centre brings you to the Belvedere Palaces, two buildings set across a big royal garden. The main palace (Oberes Belvedere), further uphill, is certainly the bigger and more spectacular though. This one is now a renaissance art gallery with the likes of Gustav Klimt's "The Kiss". The smaller palace (Unteres Belvedere) is now a baroque museum. The gardens are full of exquisite fountains and loads of statues of half-woman half-animal creatures with their boobs out.

In between the pristine Belvedere Park and the city centre is the war memorial and a cool sculpture which plays different industrial sounds as you move around it and get different perspectives.

After biking around in the rain all day I was in need of a drink and what better place to go than the 7-Stern-Brau Brewery. This bar/restraunt/pub/brewery serves 6 of its own brewed beers including a hemp-beer (with no associated side-effects) and a brilliant chili-beer which certainly has a kick. There are also beers brewed to traditional Austrian methods and tastes which are otherwise lost to history. It will go down as one of my favourite drinking establishments of the trip, a great place and away from the tourist crowds.

The city is a mix of old and new with great renaissance buildings in the centre now forming an abundance of museums and art galleries to such an extent that it is hard to know where to go and what to see. As a result, I spent more time marveling at the exteriors and wondering how I would ever get round them all and less time getting lost in the huge metropolis of exhibits.

Out of the centre, the city becomes increasingly modern and can been thought of as a major hub between Eastern and Western Europe. Add to that, big areas of public parkland and the city increasingly gives off the same vibes as Berlin - no bad thing at all.

Outside of the centre is the one building which defines Vienna, and maybe Austria too, more than any other - the Schonbrunn Palace. The sheer scale of the Hasburgs summer home defies belief (now I know what it feels like to be a midget) and as you move inside some of the palace's 1441 rooms you get the impression that each room is more spectacular and intricate than the last.

Outside, the huge gardens (the oldest Tiergarten in the world) are both vast and manicured to perfection with their own zoo and maze incorporated around the outskirts. The Gloriette viewing platform at the top of the hill, which itself is pretty special, is the only place to take in the whole view of the palace and gardens - as well as half of Vienna too.

South of the city lies the Zentralfriedhof Cemetary. Here, and within a few feet of each other in the "composer" section, are the graves of Beethoven, Schubert, Brahms, Schonberg and a handful of Strauss's among others. There is also a big memorial to Mozart although his body is not actually buried here. The cemetary has a big domed chapel in the centre and it seems that everyone close to the middle is split up into a grid depending on their job title.

 Here Lies Beethoven

 Here lies Brahms

 Here lies Strauss

 Here lies Schubert

 ...but not Mozart

One thing that really intrigued me in the ciy was the design and architectural work of Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser (try fitting that on a grain of rice). The Hundertwasserhaus and Kunsthaus are topsy-turvy multi-coloured buildings with uneven floors, random balconies and wonky pillars. Considering they are sat amongst simple grey housing blocks, I think they look fantastic.

I ended my stay in Vienna with a trip around the Reisenrad Ferris Wheel as the rain began to, well, rain and the dark of the evening began to, well, get darker. The ferris wheel is famous for Orson Welles' speech in the film "The Third Man" and gives a reasonable view of the city as well as the lights of the Prater Themepark below.

Vienna is a place which is grand in style and huge in scale but most of all it has left me with one feeling... I must return to see more of Austria.

Until then, Bratislava awaits.

Brno, Czech Republic

After heading south to Brno, I pitched up at Obora Camping on the edge of the Brnenska Prehrada Lake, to the north-west of the city. the lake is superb with a big castle/stately home overlooking one side and a few bars and swimming areas on the other.

The campsite is pretty big and definitely cheap although it's in need of a little maintenance. For whatever reason though, the whole place was empty so I had the pick of their huge camping field to myself. At least right up until my final night...

The first thing on the cards was a new bike and after some shopping around I decided to go for the cheapest option at under £100. With seat and grips made from sandpaper, frame and brakes made from soft cheese, and lights and gears which simply didnt work at all, it was just 48 hours before I was pushing it back to the shop in the rain with a bent wheel and one remaining pedal for a refund.

I replaced it with what I should have got in the first place, a solid medium-range mountain bike - you can't go wrong with that.

Out with the old (new)...

 ...and in with the new

Brno is a great cosmopolitan city somewhere in between easy-going Olomouc and bohemian Prague. The centre is based around the old town while new tower blocks on the outskirts are built in a number of cheerful colours, not just concrete grey (Warsaw take note). The main square is nothing special, a mix of nice old Czech buildings but the occasional new glass structure kind of spoils it. It is certainly a place best viewed when strolling down the winding back alleys and little side streets instead.

Back on the square there is The House Of The Four Mamlases, an odd building with four troll-like blokes trying to hold up the pillars and their robes at the same time.

Just off the main square is the Town Hall with a bit of the city's history on show on the way up to the tower viewing terrace (better views are available from the castle and cathedral). At the bottom is a stuffed crocodile suspended from the walkway ceiling (no idea why), while on the front of the building the middle stone tower is deliberately carved wonky (allegedly because the craftsman wasn't paid the agreed fee).

Just across from the Town Hall is the Cabbage Market. This big square becomes a local fruit and veg market around the outside of the fountain while fish used to be sold from the fountain itself.

The first thing you notice as you head into town from any direction is the huge gothic St Peter And Paul Cathedral on the top of the hill and it makes it simple to get your bearings. As well as the main hall, you can visit the dull and preachy crypt underneath and the two bell towers above.

On the way up to the towers is the treasury but there is something wrong in my mind about showing off the gold thread woven into the old bishop's gown while there are people sleeping rough in the cathedral doorway. The bell towers themselves are quite good but the main reason to go up is the view down on the city below. Just down the hill is a cafe serving the monks' specially brewed beer.

The other big hill near the town centre is where the Spilberk Castle stands. The castle itself is alright with a look-out tower and a set of bells in the square which play different tunes at random on the hour. The best part to view however is the "Casemates", a network of prison tunnels under the castle foundations which you can walk around. Some of the tales are rather brutal while the tunnels were later adapted by the Nazi's to shelter troops at the end of the second world war.

Probably the weirdest thing in Brno is the Capuchin Monastry, and not so much the monastry as the crypt underneath. It contains over 40 bodies (originally there were over 200) which have been neither preserved or embalmed but left as they were to decay naturally and mummify over time in ventilated rooms.

Some of the monastry's benefactors and wealthy locals have glass coffins while the bodies of the former priests lay, en masse, in big chambers side by side. It is a bizzare thing to witness a body hundereds of years old where it has had no interferance except to be carried to the crypt and left. The chimney-sweep is still in his old boots.

I decided to stay an extra day in Brno (sorry it is at your expense Bratislava) in order to attend the Bohemia Jazz Festival that eveving. In the morning though, I took a day trip to the caves of the Moravian Karst. About an hour north of the city, near Blansko, are a number of caves, the largest and most popular of which is the Punkva Cave. This limestone metropolis of stalactites, stalagmites (and plenty which have joined together to form something completely different) is nothing short of breath-taking and a really different experience - something my naff camera fails to capture.

Where the cave emerges into the light of the Macocha Abyss sinkhole, there is also an underground river which you can ride back in a boat for over a kilometre. It has to go down as one of the best daytrips of the journey so far - and you don't mind the rain so much when you are underground.

That evening, I braved the elements for the Jazz festival in the city square. Having caught the end of The Ploctones, I waited patiently in the rain for John Scofield (who has played with the likes of Miles Davis and Charles Mingus) and his jazz quartet. The old man didn't dissapoint and that guy can still play!

When the music finally stopped and the crowd of umbrellas cheered and then departed, all that was left was for a long dark cycle home in the pouring rain. Luckily the rain didn't matter as I could refect on a great final day in one of my favourite countries.

When I returned to camp, it was suddently full and bustling (well, full compared to the previous days). A group of caravanners had formed a big ring, my my van included in it, and had very courteously decided to box me in to such an extent that I couldn't open the back doors of the van enough to get in. After one rather angry rant, one very apologetic Frenchman moved his caravan down the hill a few inches (with his family still inside watching TV) so that I could at last find shelter from the heavens.

After moving!

In the morning, I packed up and broke away from the circle to head south to Austria with a smile on my face.

Thanks Czech Republic.