Saturday 5 October 2019

Escape from Budapest - a proper whinge

Have I ever told you that I hate cities?  well, in case I haven't, let me just say, that I hate cities...  :)  but in some ways, they are all the same and Budapest was nice enough, but did I really see much that I haven't seen before?  and well, its more the palava of getting in and out of them... but I had the trusty guide book and the Eurovelo 6 signs have been really helpful... until today.  The guide book was printed 2 years ago and his suggestions of riding on rough cycle paths found me at first bouncing over an extremely rough cobbled road, then onto an overgrown track that totally disappeared.  I couldn't face back tracking over a km of cobblestones, so hit the main road and madly rode along the bus/cycle lane, with 2 other lanes of traffic rushing past.  I eventually made it to a place where I could cut back to the bike lane and I rode along there for awhile, until I realised that I should have turned right about 1/2km back so I turned back and looked for the sign, but nothing...  so on for the rest of the day.  I think this side of Budapest is going to be a little fraught as the most popular route ends in Budapest.  I am going to need to be more alert and not rely totally on the signs.  I had added 20km to the overall ride just pfaffing back and forth finding the path on so many different occasions.  A few strong words today!
But there were some really nice places, with the wildflowers still hanging in, autumn colours everywhere and the reflections on channel were very pretty.  the road into Rackeve was tree lined and very pretty, but the surface of the road was pretty shocking - almost on a par to the Russian roads.  And bit too much traffic as it was knock off time by then...
But I had booked accommodation ahead, so it wasn't a drama that I might be a bit later than I hoped...  of course, when I rocked up to the hotel, it was abandoned and although I tried to phone the numbers, both were disconnected...  so....  perfect ending for an already crappy day.  After more pfaffing around, I was told about this little guest house and eventually signed in and although it might only score 1 or 2 stars, its so much better than sleeping on a bench!  Its cold out there!!
I am drooping but might get a couple of happy snaps up..  that's if I actually got any...  there's always a frustrating day and today was it... But although cold when cycling along, it was a wonderful sunny days and only a gentle breeze that was of course, coming from ahead.









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