Day 2 on the road to Gyor, Hungary

When I looked out the window this morning, the rain had gone as promised!  Great!  I got some order into all my gear before going down for the breakfast offered.  It was a really good spread with choices of cereals, yoghurts (I had a sour cherry flavoured one), followed by a slice of freshly baked brown bread with cheese, tomato and cucumber, which is a typical offering and I added a scoop of scrambled eggs...  but I couldn't go past a large crepe with blueberry jam to go with a large mug of coffee...  Now that should see me when on my way.
eventually I got all my stuff into the correct bags and loaded onto Hennie and we bade Hotel Viktor a fond farewell and headed back to the bridge to rejoin the bike path.  What I really love about these European cities is their size.  Within minutes I was leaving the streets behind and pedalling along in the sunshine on the flood levee of the Danube.  At this point, the river is blocked by a barrier of forest - which is rather nice, but its also nice to see a rushing river. I was thinking it might be blue today, with the sunshine and blue skies... But the path was smooth and rather straight and I was tempted to cross over a small canal and cycle alongside that, just to at least see some water.  I was rewarded by beautiful Mute Swans, gliding so smoothly along.  There were also mallard ducks and a cranky little coot that as usual, was whingeing about something!  I had got a bit of a scare earlier, when I was checking my phone and suddenly there was this buzzing sound, I thought I was being buzzed by a drone, but no!  It was just a low flying swan, the wind fair buzzing through its wings!
Hungary was just around a corner and I rode through a small village and went past a sign with the EU flag...  wait a minute!  Was that the border? so I turned around and rode back for a photo... and said farewell to the tiny corner of Slovakia that I had visited.
So the main scenery for today, was the open farmlands, which reminded me of cycling through Estonia and the main thing that was missing was Matias, riding bravely ahead and protecting me from a dastardly head wind that continued to get stronger as the day went by.  I was on my own!  I always say I prefer rainy days than a head wind and that still stands true!  But ever onwards being sheltered occasionally by drying crops of corn and banks of forests and on occasions, a hedge or too!  Ever corner was happily turned, if it meant that the wind would lose its kick.
There's a couple of things that I find are really different on this trip.  The Christian shrines are a fairly regular feature in the small towns and it common to come across Jesus once again, hanging sadly on a cross.  But the Harvest Festival displays of pumpkins, corn and grains seem much more appropriate for this time of the year, and each one is different but just a beautiful as the one before.
As usual, the kms clicked past and I did enjoy seeing the farmlands, surprised by a flowering crop of canola.  And as usual, there were more kms to clock over before I was riding into Gyor.  The old city centre was pretty crowded with Sunday visitors, eating ice-creams and allowing their kids to zoom crazily about on scooters, seeming out of control.  It had a feeling of a very small Gamla Stan in Stockholm, without the crowds.
I was really happy to have arrived - these old bones were just longing for a Japanese Onsen to soak in, but knowing a hot shower will have to surfice.  I had paid for dinner and breakfast here at Hotel Kalvira, so after making myself presentable, I ended another rather long day with a great meal of grilled crumbed cheese and salad, as well as a beer from the room's fridge, a small glass of a very nice white wine...  so bed beckons now!
so another 80km approx, spun out under Hennie's wheels.  Tomorrow will definitely be a shorter day!
here's some of the things I saw today!

Day 1 on the road - to Bratislava

the weather report said it would rain - and it did, but not very heavy and although it kept up a steady drip throughout the day, temp was up to 18 and I didn't get that wet.  But I kept the camera in the bag most of the day.
Once I found the bridge over the Danube and got onto Donauinsel, an island in the middle of the Danube.  Immediately I was cycling through forest with all the little birds tweeting about how nice it was to be raining.  After a couple of km, we crossed over the bridge onto the east side of the river and continued on the road alongside the flood levee.   There was a narrow dirt trail that some ride along, but ya can't see the river from there anyways, so I decided to stay on the sealed path and just pedal away.
It was an easy ride all day, even tho I clocked up 84km, it certainly didn't feel like it because there were No Hills!!  But there were forests getting ready for winter, their leaves turning various shades of brown, birds were twittering and dabbling in the swamps and there were pretty little towns to ride through and bike paths to follow. 
There was a mob of cyclists at a coffee stop, so I agreed it was coffee time too!  Then back onto the road, through farmlands with crops of potatoes and corn plus pumpkins, sunflowers already with seed set and rows of purple cabbage, looking rather more blue than purple.  There was a little bit of traffic, but all were kind.
Soon I was approaching Hainburg, where we crossed over the Danube again on a rather large and impressive bridge.  It was now only 17km to get to the Bratislava. 
What I really love about travelling overseas is the ancient buildings and just the fact that people have lived in these areas for so long.  Hainburg had plenty of history to offer for those that were pausing here awhile.  But after a bit of climb up into town, we were soon on the last section of this ride, which was really pleasant, with the Schloss Hrad Castle of Bratislava and a whole bunch of Soviet styled high rise apartments arising weirdly out of a forest ahead. 
Around a sharp corner and suddenly we were bumping over old cobblestones that after hundreds of years are still not squashed in the soil...  Thankfully it was only a short bit before entering another interesting little town called Wolfsthal. 
This lead to the border leading into Slovakia, thru an Iron Gate, brightly painted blue now, which was once the Iron Curtain... but today, its always open and after passing an old Soviet Bunker, suddenly I had arrived at the fancy bridge over the Danube into Bratislava. 
My acommodation for the night was actually in Petrzalka, but I crossed over the bridge into Bratislava.  But I didn't stay long...  There was a cruise ship in and the place was crawling with tourists and really it seemed that the historic part was really just a row of restaurants.  It was pretty, cobble stones and hanging baskets of bright geraniums and am sure a city worth exploring sometime, but not for me today.
So I turned back and pushed Hennie back up the steep ramp up onto the bridge and rode onto the Hotel Viktor, on a nice quiet narrow street.  Hopefully I will get some sleep tonight!
One thing I saw today, which I wasn't expecting, were the little Christian shrines along the way...  some had flowers planted, but all were behind fences and gates, quite inaccessible compared with the many very open and friendly shrines in Japan.  Another thing were the wildflowers - crocus even and lots of little white daisies, especially once I crossed the border.  I really thought they would have all died by now.  So that's a bonus!

Pfaffing in Vienna

So begins my latest adventure.  After breakfast, I loaded up Hennie and got Map.Me onto finding me a bike shop.  Apparently there was one just down the road about 2km.  So we headed off on a very pretty bike path that lead past a theatre, along a rushing river - but not the Danube. 
The path was lined my tall trees mostly chestnut and birch, all starting to get their leaves ready to drop.  Slight downer - bike shop no longer open, just an empty building.  Bah!  well, lets head into the city and find that Bus Terminal, so I could drop my bags into lockers there and head into the city unladen.  Well, that was still there, so I eventually found the lockers and with a little help, worked out how to open it and pack my bags in and close it.  Just hoped I can find this place again, but making use of Map.Me and it is working well. 
Next into the city and Eva had said I must go on the Historical Ferris Wheel, so away we went.  It didn't feel like I was in a city - a huge park was a joy to ride through, with autumn colours turning the leaves golden.
This lead into the Amusement park - not the travelling kind, with all sorts of traditional rides, like roller coasters, crazy flinging around things and horror houses of course.  I could see the ferris wheel, so headed towards it.  Couldn't find anywhere safe looking to lock Hennie to, so I parked her just inside the entry and waited a bit to see if anyone was complaining.  But no...  so I bought a ticket and after going thru a museum area with dioramas of a genteel time in Vienna when the ferris wheel was first built.  Eventually found the exit (bit of a maze with mirrors) and fronted up at the gate.  Now I am not usually a fan of ferris wheels, but this one was very gentle - we only had one circle and it went very slowly, giving us plenty of time to take photos of the city below. 
By now, lunch time had come and almost gone, so I decided that I would track down the Kunst Haus Wein as directed by Emma.  so after a bit of pfaffing around trying to work out how to get there, plus getting told off my an irate woman about something...  I found the museum and decided that lunch was a priority and so went into the cafe and ordered the Zucchini lasange with salad and and apple juice...  how healthy was that!  very tasty!
I really love the colourful paintings of Hundertwasser and was really impressed with the couple of tapestries woven from his designs.  its worth a google to get an idea, because no photography was allowed in the gallery. 
Already its 4pm and I have to get back to the lockers before the phone's battery went flat.  This Map.Me is really saving lotsa dramas, so I was happy once again to be reunited with my panniers and headed off to the Ibis Sank Marx for the night.  It was really not far away and luckily I arrived just before a busload of tourists! 
After a bit of a rest and a shower I went downstairs and around the corner to Billa and bought up some food for the trip, a salad and a beer and I was set for the night.
Here's some pics of things I saw today...  hope you enjoy them.

Arrived in Vienna

Sometimes long-haul flights can go so smoothly... and this time I was lucky.  apart from stressing about excess baggage charges, dear Qantas managed to ignore my 2kg over - just leaving me with a rather long shopping list now that I am here!  but that's no biggy.
Quick flit down to Sydney and catch up with Jo before climbing aboard for the flight to Dubai - 14 hours.  So the row just behind the toilets has heaps of leg room, meaning you can stand up and walk away without having to climb over people.  so after a meal, lights are dimmed and everyone goes into doze mode...  apart for a few bumps over the Indian Ocean, it was a totally smooth trip, arriving 30 mins late in Dubai...  man the dust and smog is so bad there!
so after a coffee and a bit of a look around it was time to board for the final 6 hours to Vienna.  and again smooth apart for a bit of a shake up and wobble after take off, which did make one think if Boeing have got all issues sorted, but no worries.
Then arrival in Vienna was so quick to.  Hennie was brought out of oversize and I strapped on the wheels and went down and collected my bags and out to the taxi rank.  I was half expecting that there would be no maxi-taxis but there was one there and we easily loaded Hennie into the back and away we went to the hotel.  All good!   and its still green here, yellow dandelions nodding on the side of the road and pretty little blue wildflowers.  There are some trees with yellow leaves and its all looking like autumn is about to happen.  And I saw two magpies flying away, with their long tails dragging along behind them!
I looked longingly at the bed but decided to get Hennie back together, then have a shower and go for a bit of walk down to the little Billa supermarket (there was a larger Spar one further back!) so I did.  so my first day in Austria went as smoothly as one could hope for!
Tomorrow, I load up Hennie and we ride into the big smoke of Vienna and we shall see what we shall see - even might get game and go on the ferris wheel!
sorry no photos, you'll have to wait until tomorrow!

Lift off day today - Vienna here we come!

Hennie has been safely crammed into her big box and my clothes luggage has been severely reduced but still there will be excess baggage charges ahead, I fear!

All I have to do is now change into many layers of clothes (sneakily getting some extras onto the plane) and wait patiently (is that possible?) for the taxi to arrive to take me to the airport.

First to fly to Sydney - at least giving me a chance to catch up with a dear friend until flight to Dubai and eventually arrive at midday Vienna time on Thursday. 

Am sure there will be some adventures as planning has been a bit neglected because I have the wonderful guide books by Mike Wells to guide me all along the way...  hopefully.

Cycling along the Blue Danube

Hi Ho!  time for another adventure!  This time Hennie and me are setting out from Vienna and heading down along the banks of the Danube - surely all downhill!!! 
We will briefly zink into Slovakia at Bratislava, then down through Hungary, Croatia and then thru Serbia and finally riding along the Iron Gates Gorges into Romania.  Hoping to catch a train back to Belgrade, where I will catch a flight home!
we shall see if my vague planning works, but this time I have a good guide book and I should be able to stay fairly well on track with such a large river to follow! 
so stay tuned for photos and some updates and please if you can make a comment, I am happy to read them!