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Tour date: 1-17 June 2005. Total distance: 1400 km.
Bicycle Tour: Eastern Europe (Italy - Slovenia - Croatia - Hungary - Slovakia - Austria - Czech Republic)
Thomas Driemeyer2005-10-16 14:37:51
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renovated. Pest combines the worst of the old, run-down socialist maintenance, with the worst of the new, choking traffic, transients sleeping in subway stations, and junk tourist traps.
The next morning was cold, 11 degrees C, and seemed to be reasonably dry. But as we left it started raining, and didn't stop for the next 50km. The traffic was also pretty bad as well, and so narrow that we got regularly splashed as cars ran through large puddles so deep that the spray reached two meters high. There are occasional bike paths, sometimes quite scenic close to the Danube river (which is rarely visible from the road), but they can be very misleading. Once the bike path signs led us 4km into a maze of dead ends, and another time the signs reappeared after a long absence but led up a hill. We gave up and backtracked after several km on a mud path with sharp stones, having gained about 150m altitude. After these experiences, we ignored all further bike path signs and stayed on the highway, route 11.
About 40km from Budapest, where the Danube river starts a series of bends, route 11 becomes quiet and scenic, running through forests with many views of the river. The rain stopped shortly after too, but by that time I was fairly wet despite two layers of rain gear and rubber boots. We were actually hoping to find the well-known Danube bicycle route, but the paths we saw were inadequate, and at some point the signs gave up all pretenses and declared route 11 to be the bike path. Well done guys, signs are sure cheaper than paths. The whole day was basically flat terrain.
Finally we reached Esztragom, a town located at a bridge across the river. It's also a border town since the river is the border to Slovakia. We stayed at the Hotel Esztergo near the shore and the bridge; the rooms are small but modern. In the evening we wandered around town, and took pictures of its unlikely monumental basilica on top
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See photographs from:
Slovenia Gallery
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Slovakia Gallery
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Italy Gallery
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Hungary Gallery
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Czech Republic Gallery
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Croatia Gallery
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Austria Gallery
