We begin our story in Vienna, where we met up with a couple of Melbournians to begin our trip down the Danube Bike Trail all the way from Vienna to Budapest, passing through Slovakia on the way. 354 kms on a bike baby!!! Some people might plan for a trip like this by training for it. And look, the thought did cross our mind, but the "she'll be right" approach seemed much more appealing, so we went with that. Riding a bike is just like riding a bike, right?? Worse comes to worst, it was just 5-7 days of pure hell and we would survive. At least we'd be spending quality time with good friends. (Note: said Melbournians are ride-to-work each day kind of people aka cycling professionals. No pressure.)
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| First day excitement; we were so young and innocent then |
Back to Vienna, where we woke up bright and early - eager to get on our way. We picked up our bikes (which did not have drink bottle holders - always a good sign), packed our panniers and got on our way. First, a ride through the middle of Vienna trying not to get caught in tram lines before finally making it to the Danube Bike Trail and putting away some kms. I was feeling good, realllll good. This wasn't going to be so bad after all!
We decided to have a celebratory beer in Schonau an der Donau, one of the small towns along the path, about 30 ks outside of Vienna. After barely any breakfast and a lot of calories burnt already that morning, the beers went down very well indeed. I was on top of the world! Bike holidays were officially my new "thing" at that point.
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| First beer stop in Schonau an der Donau, Austria |
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| Fresh faced and fancy free! |
Unfortunately, a few kms along the trail post beer, that all came crashing down when I realised all of a sudden that my body needed energy STAT and I turned into a zombie woman. Out of nowhere I felt completely drained, every pedal felt as though I was pedalling through quicksand. Conveniently, we had completely forgotten to purchase any snacks at all (maybe we should have prepared for this trip after all???). So there we were, in the middle of some nondescript Austrian flood plains, with no food at hand. I had gone from talking a million miles an hour and breathing in the fresh autumn air with pure joy to not saying a word and thinking, "Ohhh crap, not even half of the way through day one and I am already starting to flake." My heart sank. But I sucked it up like any good Aussie sheila should.
Luckily, my companions were keen to check out nearby Eckartsau Castle, which I noted with pure delight had a cafe and after a delicious lunch and a big drink of water, everything was okay again in the world.
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| Crossing the Danube at Bad Deutsh-Altenburg, Austria |
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| Happiness post lunch! |
After lunch, we powered on while Eli & George taught us a game called, "boat, goat, float". Which basically involved being the first to spot one of each of these three things and doing so before anyone else. From that moment on, the bike ride became less about looking at the beautiful scenery and more about spotting these three items NO MATTER WHAT. We weren't looking where we were going half the time, in order to be the first one to see a boat, goat or float. Any crash as a result would have been worth it for the glory alone! And I can tell you, there are not many goats or floats along the Danube Bike Trail.
We arrived into the Slovakian capital of Bratislava at around 6 pm after a gruelling 77 km day and enjoyed a hot shower and a meal out that cost us 40 euros in total! We need to spend more time in Eastern Europe, clearly.
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| The spaceship bridge in view on our way into Bratislava, Slovakia |
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| Arrived at our destination for the day - Bratislava Castle in the distance! |
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| Bratislava |
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| 40 euro dinner = not bad! |
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| Strolling around Bratislava in the morning |
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Day 1 - Vienna to Bratislava - 77kms
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With swollen knees and sore bums, we jumped back on our bikes for another day of looking for boats, goats and floats. This was another big day, riding 81 kms from Bratislava and over the border into Hungary where we stayed in the beautiful town of Gyor. Not only was the town STUNNING and the food there AMAZING, but our hotel was probably the highlight. It was straight out of the 1970s and we enjoyed every bit of it.
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| Day 2 begins! |
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| Crossing into Hungary |
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| Beautiful Gyor |
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| Where to have dinner??? |
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| Our hotel in Gyor - decor straight out of the 70s |
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| Day 2 - Bratislava to Gyor - 81kms |
From here on in it became easier (apart from the sore bums, which peaked at around day 4), the hardest part of the day was choosing which sweaty shirt to put in the morning and which delicious carb-filled meal to eat for breakfast/lunch/dinner. Luckily, there were no repeats of the zombie state from day 1, as our panniers were stocked full of yummy treats. We rode along a designated bike path for most of the way, with some moments of riding on the main roads. For us Aussies it was such a novelty to ride across a border every day!
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| Crossing back and forth between Hungary and Slovakia |
Mostly, we were riding through farmland or dry flood plains and we experienced amazing weather, which made it a whole lot easier. Day 3 and 4 were a bit more relaxed with less kilometres and more time on our hands to look for boats, goats and floats, so we took our time and enjoyed lazy lunches and photo stops along the way. It was so nice to have some friends from home to share all of this with!
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| Day 3 - Gyor to Komarno - 56 Kilometres |
One highlight was definitely on day 4 when we were able to stay in Esztergom, Hungary. There we found the most spectacular Basilica perched on the top of a hill along the Danube with views for days. We arrived nice and early, so were able to spend some time exploring, eating more delicious food and sampling Hungarian wine!
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| Someone was in need of their afternoon ice cream |
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| Views from the very top of the Basilica, Esztergom |
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| View from the Basilica, Esztergom |
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| Day 4 - Komarno to Esztergom - 56 Kilometres |
On our final day, we had the opportunity to catch TWO ferries back and forth across the Danube and this was a my favourite part of the whole trip! The day riding into Budapest was by far the prettiest, with beautiful big houses lining the Danube, and lots of pretty gardens set up out the front. We also had some good views of the river for most of the day, which was a nice way to end the trip.
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| Ferry crossing - wooo! |
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| Waiting for the ferry at the pub |
When we knew we were getting close to Budapest, we decided to stop every 6 kms or so for a celebratory beer. We were all very jolly by the time we reached the outskirts of Budapest. We finished off the trip with our biggest day yet - 84 kms - and when we finally spotted the beautiful Parliament building of Budapest in the distance, we knew we had made it!
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| Finally made it to Budapest! |
The hardest part of the whole trip turned out to be crossing an intersection in Budapest near our Airbnb at peak hour. Someone had the bright idea to take the bikes underground, through the subway (which only had steps as access). Let's just say the local peak hour commuters were not impressed when I nearly lost control of my bike completely with 40L panniers on the back as I went down the stairs. Upper body strength is NOT my area of expertise, people!!!
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| Brad's little "break" after a few celebratory beers (he fell off...) |
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| Day 5 - Esztergom to Budapest - 84 Kilometres |
We all died on the couch of our Airbnb that night and ordered pizzas for dinner as we were completely stuffed. Aaaandddd we also had to get up at 5 am to watch the AFL grand final at a pub in central Budapest. The pub was PACKED and we ended up running into someone we knew - what are the chances??? We were so glad we went to watch the Tiges claim the flag, it was a nice way to finish our adventure holiday.
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| 6am beers in Budapest |
Just in case you were wondering, Brad and George both
won a game of boat, goat, float. And it took me a few weeks to stop looking for them obsessively. Also, bike holidays are still my thing, I am officially addicted. #ENFP
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