Cycling Passau to Budapest - June 2023

 We began our marathon flight home today. We took a taxi to Budapest Airport, and caught a plane with Fly Dubai, to Dubai Airport. We were transported from the plane to the main terminal by bus - and it took 10 minutes!  Our next flight was with Emirates and, after a couple of hours spent cooling our heels, we were boarding the plane and on our way to New Zealand.  We arrived home to our apartment in Pukekohe  -  and I slept for 3 days!!

Had a late breakfast again today! (8.00am) Organized a taxi to take us over the river to the Houses of Parliament.  Wonderful sculptures everywhere! Some even peeping over a temporary billboard! Suddenly thick mist began pouring out of vents in the pavers, in front of a building. Unsure of why, but Del had to get amongst it, of course! Below the Parliament buildings was a display of dozens of bronze shoes on the river bank. It was a memorial for the Jewish citizens, children and adults, who were shot  and fell into the river during WW2. Before they were killed, their shoes were removed. They were valuable and could be sold on.  We decided to walk back to our hotel. We walked to and across a second bridge then back along the river bank towards our hotel. It was lunch time so we stopped at a French Cafe for a Croq Monsieur and a cappucino. There was a Spar superette near the hotel. We bought sushi, crea...

 We were keen to make the most of our stay in Budapest. The Danube divides Budapest into two areas, the Buda and the Pest. Bridges cross the Danube to connect the two parts. Buda Palace, on Castle Hill, dominates the landscape.  To reach it we had the choice of climbing steep steps up the hillside, taking a bus - or taking a less strenuous alternative, the funicular railway. We took the latter! The palace grounds were full of tourists.  Tour leaders, with their raised umbrellas, gathered up their listeners.   Hundreds of cameras took photos of visitors against the backdrop of views, statues and buildings.  And we all witnessed the ritual of the changing of the guard. After enjoying a coffee at one of the many cafes, we returned, via the funicular railway and had a leisurely walk, to our hotel.      

What a challenging day it's been! We decided that, rather than following the route that had been set for us, we'd take a more direct route, get there early and enjoy Budapest.  Using our route map in combination with signage along the way, all went swimmingly.  We cycled on cycle paths, through quiet villages, along woodland paths, following the Danube as we went.   Our plan to dip our feet in the famous, not-so-blue Danube was abandoned when we discovered that the mud at its edges was thick and quite deep. Then, WHAM! We hit the outskirts of Budapest! We were dismounting and checking our position every few minutes.  We had to negotiate city traffic,  had a 700m tunnel to walk through,   a flight of steps to haul the bikes up and train lines to cross. A helpful man eventually led us to our hotel, Hotel Mercure Castle Hill. It had taken all day to reach our destination and we were "over the moon", until the receptionist told us that we didn't have ...

 We left Komarno around 8.00am and were soon on the flat cycle path again.  We cycled past more sweetcorn and wheat fields and haymaking was in progress between the crop fields. There's plenty of  green native bush - separating farms, fields and growing abundantly on the roadside. Following our route map has its moments.  Spark Roaming, on my mobile phone, hasn't worked since we arrived in the UK.                    Del is our navigator and, using his map, cycling signs along the way and his 'inbuilt GPS', he's always found a way to each day's destination. Having no local language to ask for directions and with no clear street names, it's been quite time consuming - with lots of stops to consult the map, especially in larger towns and cities! By the time we reached our hotel, Szent Adalbert, we were relieved to be there. 

Once again, our exit plan went smoothly. It's always challenging to exit a city, especially when road signage is poor. Few people seem to have enough english to be able to help.  We cycled on the road and were relieved when we reached the cycleway. Not many cyclists today. The weather was fine - a clear sky and 27degrees C. We had an enjoyable ride through native forests, industrial areas and flat, agricultural landscape. So far we've seen no livestock, just mainly sweetcorn, wheat and green vegetables.   Lots of poppies and thistles, though, and long grass cut for hay. We arrived at our hotel, Hotel Bow Garden, by 1.30pm. It is quite quirky.  It has very ornate furniture - - a magnificent, wooden  garden  setting -   - and a small Ten Pin bowling alley in the bar!! Apparently it's full of locals on bowls night! We had dinner at our hotel but were again disappointed with the mainly deep fried menu.  Still, "When in Rome, do as the Romans do!"...

We were promised a bit of everything on our ride today - fields of crops, woodland (inhabited by deer the signs said), quiet villages, cycle paths by lazy waterways and others on busy roads. We were off to Mosonmagyarovar in Hungary, to catch a train to Gyor. We stopped many times to compare our route maps- Del with his guide book and me on my Rad Reisen app. The app was pretty quiet except when we took a wrong turn. Then it let out a loud alarm! After several stops, we arrived at Mosonmagyarovar train station. Del had to manoeuver the bikes up and down flights of stairs to get to our platform Imagine how we felt when another couple of cyclists arrived and simply walked across the railway lines! A 20 minute train ride took us to Gyor and our hotel, Hotel Ibis Gyor, was just 5 minutes away! We were surprised to find a bottle of wine waiting for us in our room! It was a peace offering from our trip organiser, Micklos, for the mix-up of our hotel booking in Vienna....

 We woke at 6.00am. We dressed, packed, delivered the suitcases to reception, ate out breakfast and were on our way by 8.00am.  Del was in charge of navigating us to our next destination - he's pretty good at it, too - carefully following our route map and reading the Rad Reisen Cycle signs along the way! We even arrived at our hotel before our suitcases - at 12.30pm! Our hotel, The Park Inn, is large and modern and at the entrance to central Bratislava.  The city is a mixture of modern and classical architecture.  Old historic churches and modern buildings stand side by side. Trees line the cobble-stone patterned, wide roads and dozens of cafes with outdoor seating are everywhere. Electric trams and small red tourist buses share the road with the traffic.  Bronze statues, dotted about everywhere, entertain visitors. Our suitcases arrived mid-afternoon and we made ourselves at home in our hotel.   

We took the cycle path along the Danube and out of Vienna. We cycled on the top of 15m broad and 10m tall stop banks which protected the land from flooding. The path quickly led us inland, taking in wetlands, a large gas works and  through hectares of market gardens interspersed with minor creeks and ponds.  A windmill farm (in the distance) provided power for the growers, and the creeks and ponds provided the water. We continued for miles.  Younger, fitter riders overtook us. Eventually we caught up, feeling a surge of energy. The trip from Vienna to Bad Deutsche Altenburg was fairly short- 48 kms. It took us away from the usual river scene, which was an interesting diversion.  Bad Deusch Altenburg is a small village with narrow cobbled streets and old, neatly kept buildings decorated with colourful pots of flowers. We arrived at our hotel soon after lunchtime and were welcomed by the hostess with a cheeky grin.  Our energy was beginning...

Yesterday we were so pleased to find a Westfield Mall right next door to our hotel. Today, being Sunday, it's CLOSED, as are most of the shops. To familiarise ourselves with tomorrow's exit route, we walked a while along the Danube.  Sail boats and row boats were everywhere. Fishermen had found their favorite spots and walkers and cyclists were enjoying their day off. As were the birds! Our hotel, the Arcotel Donauzentrum, is well away from the city centre. We came across a McDonalds on the way home and had a coffee and a Macburger for lunch! In the afternoon,  at the hotel, we packed our suitcases ready for tomorrow' get-away.  The temperature is rising. It's 30 degrees C already!

We set off fairly early today, hoping to make the most of our 2 day stay in Vienna. A Dutch couple had worked out the quickest route to take and agreed that we could follow them.  We headed for the local railway station, produced our train vouchers, and had a 45 minute ride to Tulln.  There we found a coffee shop and, after a cup of the local brew, we followed our Dutch friends along the cycle path towards Vienna.  Ravens were gathering in a field. They must have known it was Saturday and all the fishing enthusiasts would soon be setting their rods up, ready for "the big one." Dozens of serious bike riders were heading out of Vienna at great speed, hunched over their bikes and with grim expressions on their faces.  We continued to follow our cycling buddies, on cycle paths, along the Danube and on busy city streets, until we reached our hotel, Roomz. Imagine our surprise when we learned that although our friends were expected, there was no booking for US,...

After a continental breakfast, we were on the road again by 8.30am and it soon began to rain! Luckily the route took us through woodland which offered us some protection, but soon we were back by the river again. We criss-crossed the river by ferry to Melk. We saw 7 river boats struggling against the river current and making slow progress. 8 Melk's 500+ year old abbey dominated the landscape. Several cruise ships had deposited their customers on land and, with dozens of people walking on the cycle path and around the abbey, we decided to leave them to it and cycle on. We rode through small, seemingly isolated villages, each with cobbled streets and all with a church at its centre. The remains of a castle appeared on a ridge. Then suddenly we were in WINE country! Every bit of the hillside had been planted in grapes. Religious grottos were dotted about the vineyards. The small town of Wachau offered ...

 Woken at 6.00am by an Austrian "Umpah" band playing outside the hotel and then moving on to the next street! This small village boasts a Music School and a Sports School.  We delayed our cycling today as we only had a short distance to go. We were told that there would be a special church service today and that the congregation, dressed in traditional clothes, would be parading round the village. We found a great spot outside the church and took lots of photos. After the parade, we cycled on to Marbach along the cycle path. Being a holiday, the path was quite busy with cyclists, in pairs, groups and the odd solo cyclist. We got to Marbach by 1.45pm and checked in to our hotel, Hotel Landgasthof Zur Schonen Wienerin. We then explored the little town. Being a one day holiday, everything was shut so it looks like another hotel dinner tonight!!   

We were up at 5.30am to pack our suitcases for transfer,  dress, breakfast at 6.30am and get on the road to escape Linz by 7.15am. We avoided the peak of the city traffic and got to the cycle path, following the Danube for 80% of the way to Bad Kreusen.  Half way to Bad Kreusen it poured with rain and continued, with accompanying thunder, until we arrived at our hotel. The town is inland and on a hillside. We used our power to get us up the steep hills and, as I was riding behind Del, spray from his back wheel stung my eyes, so we had to stop several times to clear my vision.  The view from our hotel room was idyllic and we took the opportunity to dry off our wet clothes. We'd missed lunch so we had dinner at the hotel. So far, dinners have been quite disappointing. We'll consider buying something at a EUROSPAR (supermarket) in future, if we can find one. We noticed that all the houses were decorated with silver birch saplings. It was a public holiday tomo...

There was heavy rain overnight. We woke to a mist over the Danube and obscuring the hills either side. Luckily for us, the rain eased and finally stopped by 8.00am. We had a lovely cycle on a concrete cycle path. We passed tiny villages, quaint houses sparsley scattered about the hillside, with the Danube always at our side. We began to see groups of swans, mostly near the river banks. The Danube hills are very rocky and bad weather had obviously caused risk of slips. We cycled past an area that had been protected. Not pretty, but if it works!!!  As we approached Linz, Austria's capital, we saw the signs of a major city ahead. Road signs were difficult to follow, so, with my phone's Roaming not working, we had 2 hours of guessing our map's directions.  We finally arrived at Hotel Prielmayerhof, on the outskirts, by 4.00pm. We bought basic food from a nearby Eurospar supermarket and ate our dinner in front of TV, not understanding a word of it! We spent 1.5 hours planning an...