At the UN

Our last day in Vienna, Andy went for a 13 km run and I followed as support rider - not that I had much to do except concentrate on not getting lost. Sadly today was the day we had to return our bikes. I thoroughly enjoyed the freedom of walking downstairs, unlocking our bikes and heading out onto the streets of Vienna.

Our last outing in Vienna was a guided tour of the United Nations Building.

The United Nations Office at Vienna (UNOV) was established on 1 January 1980 as the third United Nations Headquarters after New York and Geneva (and before Nairobi).

In 1966, the Government of Austria made an offer to the United Nations to construct in Vienna an international centre to be used by organisations of the United Nations system. The Austrian architect Johann Staber was designated the winner of the competition to design the complex. The cost of constructing the Vienna International Centre (VIC) was approximately €640 million.

Most notably the VIC is home to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on our tour we saw the Nobel Peace price that was awarded to IAEA in 2005.

The VIC also is the home for the Office for Outer Space Affairs.  We saw a 3D print of the space suit worn by Neil Armstrong; a full size replica of a Chinese lunar rover; a moon rock which was on loan from NASA and Andy in a space suit.

The tour was only 1 hr, the time flew by, we even saw a UN meeting session in progress.

Fun Fact : There are 195 flags in the courtyard of the VIC - 193 UN member states and 2 UN observer states - Vatican City and Palestine.