Yes... I am an enormous bird that could eat your head! Come closer...
Hard-packed dirt levee... Bring it on!
Day 29: Bumping Out of Budapest
Thursday July 25 - Day 29 - 56 miles - Total 1119miles
Most of this morning was spent getting a new cell phone handset. The dual-sim card phone we were carrying bit the dust, and although it still receives (and possibly even makes) calls, the screen is totally blank so we can’t tell what we are dialing or whether it needs charging etc…
We first went to a Vodafone store we had seen last night in Deak Ferenc square. It didn’t open until 10am, so we grabbed some breakfast and waited for them to open. Unfortunately they only sold locked cell phones with Hungarian sim cards, which clearly is no good to us. However, the very nice assistant directed us to a Hungarian version of Best Buy about 10minutes away that would sell unlocked cell phones. So we traversed central Budapest on our loaded touring bikes. They did have separated bike lanes which was nice though, so it was mostly just inattentive pedestrians rather than traffic that we dealt with!
The store was in a fancy new shopping mall called “West end” so Bruce went in and bought the new handset while Andrea waited outside, guarding the bicycles. The mall security guards started circling around her as they thought she was bringing down the character of the place! I mean, she did look like a gypsy with a caravan, but she spoke English and agreed not to sit on her flowery sarong making origami, but rather stand with the bikes and look bored. This made the security gaurds slightly happier, although the circling continued until Bruce returned. Bruce succeeded in buying an unlocked phone, but they only had single sim card ones. Once the sim card was swapped over, the phone was tested and it worked! Yay!
It was now about 12noon, so we thought we should get on the road out of town. We headed back down through town to the river. Bruce had fun intimidating stupid pedestrians who thought they should walk in the bike lane (even though it was painted and had a metal guard rail). He made some silly Asian tourists and young teenage boy jump pretty high when he rang his bell and they looked up to see a yellow clad Scotsman and very laden down touring bike bearing down on them. Good times!
We followed the left bank of the Danube (or Duna as it is currently called!) down through the city and then made our way out of the city following the Eurovelo 6 route. It twisted and turned a little getting out of the urban area, and definitely took us through some random and sketchy places on some less than perfect surfaces. We dealt with a few types of cobblestones, rutted asphalt, single track, dirt, gravel and sand, all within a five mile stretch south of Budapest. Hopefully, however, the overseeing authority of this route will try and improve this stretch as it is not easy to cycle on. The signage was fairly clear, however, so at least you know you are heading in the correct direction.
We took a break on a grass verge by a very ripe plum tree near the M0 motorway bridge (which we drove over in the big blue bus a couple of years prior). Andrea liberated some damson plums from the tree and we incorporated them into our snack, which was very tasty!
We crossed over the motorway bridge (on the bike path!) and were now on a large island in the centre of the Duna. We followed the river south through some fancier villages as well as some not so fancy areas. The route was now mostly on road and we stopped for lunch in the town of Rackeve. We ate on a bench in the shade of the town hall and were duly stared at by the locals, which we are well used to by now. This bench was opposite the Post Office and the Hungarian posties have these awesome bikes that they ride to deliver the post. They have two huge panniers on the rear and then a small front wheel with a huge basket above – quite a sweet set up. We watched them coming and going from the Post Office while we munched on our cheese sandwiches. Unfortunately, our container of orange juice ripped open slightly against the rear rack on the bicycle as we were trying to remove it and so we were stared at even more as we are trying to hurriedly decant orange juice into smaller containers and supping from the hole at the same time. I am sure we make quite the impression in Southern Hungary….
From Rackeve, we cycled to Makad then back to the levee, so we could cross back to the mainland on the left bank of the river. Due to the recent flooding, the levee was under construction and we had to divert to a track along the base of the levee for a couple of miles. The path on top of the levee was beautiful and paved, but the diversion track was exactly that….a bumpy track over grass, hay, stones with sand underneath. Not much fun and Bruce fell off once, which left him with an overall sheen of Hungarian silt mixed into the yellow of his shirt.
We finally were allowed back on top of the levee and we crossed a lock back to the mainland and asphalt again! However it was short lived as the road veered east and we continued south on the levee top, which was hard packed dirt. The surface was actually pretty decent though, and we made good time. Andrea saw an ostrich farm and a black asphalt road though as it cut across the levee so we abandoned the top of the levee to hang with the ostriches for a while!
We followed this side road to the main road, Route 51, and at the intersection there was a small gas station. It sold cold Fanta, so it got our blessing! Route 51 was a bit busier but still easier than most roads in the States, and we now had a bit of tail wind, so we were cruising along to the next town of Dunavecse. The asphalt surface was variable and because it can get really hot in this area of the country, there are ruts in the asphalt caused by heavy trucks on warm days. The drivers were very respectful though. Just as we entered Dunavecse we saw a sign for Cyclists Motel and we thought that was too good to give up!
As we were coasting through town towards our Motel, Andrea’s mother and aunt called us. It was great to hear from them and further confirmation that the new phone handset works just fine! Now that we are out of the urban area, the countryside is a lot poorer and we are seeing a lot more older communist cars (old Trabants, Skoda and Wartburgs)
Unfortunately the one room in the “motel” was full, but she did have a caravan in the garden. So we are now staying in a caravan in the yard of the “motel” run by a funny little old lady who could kick my ass (saw her haul a bike into her house... do not mess with Granny III). The caravan even has a British license plate on it…..very strange. After showering and rinsing out clothes we had dinner at the restaurant across the street. We ordered the traditional dinner for two but when it came out it was more like dinner for 6. It had fried and battered cauliflower and mushrooms, two types of pork cutlet, fried cheese and French fries. We persevered though and washed it all down with a couple of the local brews – it would have been rude not to! A lovely older German cyclist couple was sitting at the next table and they were the ones were staying at the motel. They were cycling from Budapest to Belgrade – hope we are still doing this when we are their age!
Overall a great day cycling, considering we cranked out over 50 miles in an afternoon. Andrea feels stronger and is also getting more comfortable on non-asphalt surfaces.
The World is Ours!
Thursday July 25 - Day 29 - 56 miles - Total 1119miles
Most of this morning was spent getting a new cell phone handset. The dual-sim card phone we were carrying bit the dust, and although it still receives (and possibly even makes) calls, the screen is totally blank so we can’t tell what we are dialing or whether it needs charging etc…
We first went to a Vodafone store we had seen last night in Deak Ferenc square. It didn’t open until 10am, so we grabbed some breakfast and waited for them to open. Unfortunately they only sold locked cell phones with Hungarian sim cards, which clearly is no good to us. However, the very nice assistant directed us to a Hungarian version of Best Buy about 10minutes away that would sell unlocked cell phones. So we traversed central Budapest on our loaded touring bikes. They did have separated bike lanes which was nice though, so it was mostly just inattentive pedestrians rather than traffic that we dealt with!
The store was in a fancy new shopping mall called “West end” so Bruce went in and bought the new handset while Andrea waited outside, guarding the bicycles. The mall security guards started circling around her as they thought she was bringing down the character of the place! I mean, she did look like a gypsy with a caravan, but she spoke English and agreed not to sit on her flowery sarong making origami, but rather stand with the bikes and look bored. This made the security gaurds slightly happier, although the circling continued until Bruce returned. Bruce succeeded in buying an unlocked phone, but they only had single sim card ones. Once the sim card was swapped over, the phone was tested and it worked! Yay!
It was now about 12noon, so we thought we should get on the road out of town. We headed back down through town to the river. Bruce had fun intimidating stupid pedestrians who thought they should walk in the bike lane (even though it was painted and had a metal guard rail). He made some silly Asian tourists and young teenage boy jump pretty high when he rang his bell and they looked up to see a yellow clad Scotsman and very laden down touring bike bearing down on them. Good times!
We followed the left bank of the Danube (or Duna as it is currently called!) down through the city and then made our way out of the city following the Eurovelo 6 route. It twisted and turned a little getting out of the urban area, and definitely took us through some random and sketchy places on some less than perfect surfaces. We dealt with a few types of cobblestones, rutted asphalt, single track, dirt, gravel and sand, all within a five mile stretch south of Budapest. Hopefully, however, the overseeing authority of this route will try and improve this stretch as it is not easy to cycle on. The signage was fairly clear, however, so at least you know you are heading in the correct direction.
We took a break on a grass verge by a very ripe plum tree near the M0 motorway bridge (which we drove over in the big blue bus a couple of years prior). Andrea liberated some damson plums from the tree and we incorporated them into our snack, which was very tasty!
We crossed over the motorway bridge (on the bike path!) and were now on a large island in the centre of the Duna. We followed the river south through some fancier villages as well as some not so fancy areas. The route was now mostly on road and we stopped for lunch in the town of Rackeve. We ate on a bench in the shade of the town hall and were duly stared at by the locals, which we are well used to by now. This bench was opposite the Post Office and the Hungarian posties have these awesome bikes that they ride to deliver the post. They have two huge panniers on the rear and then a small front wheel with a huge basket above – quite a sweet set up. We watched them coming and going from the Post Office while we munched on our cheese sandwiches. Unfortunately, our container of orange juice ripped open slightly against the rear rack on the bicycle as we were trying to remove it and so we were stared at even more as we are trying to hurriedly decant orange juice into smaller containers and supping from the hole at the same time. I am sure we make quite the impression in Southern Hungary….
From Rackeve, we cycled to Makad then back to the levee, so we could cross back to the mainland on the left bank of the river. Due to the recent flooding, the levee was under construction and we had to divert to a track along the base of the levee for a couple of miles. The path on top of the levee was beautiful and paved, but the diversion track was exactly that….a bumpy track over grass, hay, stones with sand underneath. Not much fun and Bruce fell off once, which left him with an overall sheen of Hungarian silt mixed into the yellow of his shirt.
We finally were allowed back on top of the levee and we crossed a lock back to the mainland and asphalt again! However it was short lived as the road veered east and we continued south on the levee top, which was hard packed dirt. The surface was actually pretty decent though, and we made good time. Andrea saw an ostrich farm and a black asphalt road though as it cut across the levee so we abandoned the top of the levee to hang with the ostriches for a while!
We followed this side road to the main road, Route 51, and at the intersection there was a small gas station. It sold cold Fanta, so it got our blessing! Route 51 was a bit busier but still easier than most roads in the States, and we now had a bit of tail wind, so we were cruising along to the next town of Dunavecse. The asphalt surface was variable and because it can get really hot in this area of the country, there are ruts in the asphalt caused by heavy trucks on warm days. The drivers were very respectful though. Just as we entered Dunavecse we saw a sign for Cyclists Motel and we thought that was too good to give up!
As we were coasting through town towards our Motel, Andrea’s mother and aunt called us. It was great to hear from them and further confirmation that the new phone handset works just fine! Now that we are out of the urban area, the countryside is a lot poorer and we are seeing a lot more older communist cars (old Trabants, Skoda and Wartburgs)
Unfortunately the one room in the “motel” was full, but she did have a caravan in the garden. So we are now staying in a caravan in the yard of the “motel” run by a funny little old lady who could kick my ass (saw her haul a bike into her house... do not mess with Granny III). The caravan even has a British license plate on it…..very strange. After showering and rinsing out clothes we had dinner at the restaurant across the street. We ordered the traditional dinner for two but when it came out it was more like dinner for 6. It had fried and battered cauliflower and mushrooms, two types of pork cutlet, fried cheese and French fries. We persevered though and washed it all down with a couple of the local brews – it would have been rude not to! A lovely older German cyclist couple was sitting at the next table and they were the ones were staying at the motel. They were cycling from Budapest to Belgrade – hope we are still doing this when we are their age!
Overall a great day cycling, considering we cranked out over 50 miles in an afternoon. Andrea feels stronger and is also getting more comfortable on non-asphalt surfaces.
The World is Ours!
1400 kilometers to Istanbul from this Motel... See it! Believe it!
Home Sweet Home for the night! Hope Bruce fits...
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