Day 42 - Utorok 21. mája 2013

From - Bratislava
To - Gyor
Distance - 79km
Time - 5 hours
Total - 3016km

Last night wasn't such a big night out. The Aussies were a builder called Dave and an Insurance Agent who worked in Manchester called Tristan. The Yank was Dawson, an engineering student. It was a strange combination as he ages in reverse order were 21, 31 and 41. I was the old man of the group. We had just got chatting sitting at the bar in the hostel and decided to go out together for a drink. Dave was keen to find somewhere lively but it was a bit of a challenge on a Monday night. We went to the bar that I didn't go to last night and it was actually a pleasant cellar bar playing a mix of soul and hip hop music. One rap track was being played and I asked Dawson what it was and he told me it was a rap artist called Ice Cube and looked at me as if everyone should know. So, every time a rap song came on I said 'this is Ice Cube' of course i was totally wrong and they all fell around laughing. I left them as they went in search of somewhere busier. I got to bed by midnight and was surprised to find that no-one in my room was asleep. The room now had five occupants. At least I didn't have to worry about disturbing people.

I was still up and ready to go by 8am. I had to nip into a supermarket for some breakfast breads and fruit. It was a nice sunny day again with a light breeze. I motored on into Hungary. They call themselves Magyars which takes me back to being a young boy collecting stamps. I liked my Hungary stand and they always had the word Magyar on them. There were lots f hem and he had all sorts of bright pictures on them. Talking of stamps, I know so much about Hungary that you could probably fit it on the back of a postage stamp! My brother Peter told me that it was a good country for tanks! At least the Russians thought so! I think it is a reference to the fact that most of the country is fairly flat.

At one of the first villages I went through there was a little bank with a cash machine. I took the opportunity to get some Forints, the local currency. I think it is the only country that I am travelling through that doesn't use the euro. Anyway the best way I can calculate the exchange rate is that its about £3 for 1000 forints. I could easily be a millionaire! I also quickly checked out a supermarket and things seem nice and cheap. I bought a few things for lunch, including two bread rolls, one tomato, sliced cheese and salami style meat. I was conscious that a nice tin of sardines in tomato sauce would be very nutritious and would go nicely on a bread bun. I checked the tins of fish and the ones in olive oil had the ring pull openers, I found the ones in tomato sauce and they were in a cardboard wrapping. Of course when I got it out at lunchtime I needed a tin opener that I hadn't got! I managed very nicely with the cheese and salami on bread with the tomato. I think I spent about £4 on what I bought, not bad. I could probably afford a tin opener but I don't want to carry the extra weight!! I have the essential bottle opener already.

I went through small towns of Mosonmagyarovar. It isn't yet twinned with any British town so if any town has room on their signs for the long name they could consider twinning! Also Hedervar had a nice Castle. It's been converted to a Hotel so I didn't ask for a look around although I could have posed as a prospective customer. A little bit upmarket for me I think.

The signage and the cycle tracks probably weren't as good as the German and Austian sections of the Eurovelo route. There were some crumbling sections and a few potholes. I think I have been spoilt over recent days. I didn't get lost anywhere though so the signs were sufficient.

The 3000km kilometre stone had completely slipped my mind till I arrived at Gyor. That's quite an achievement even if I say so myself. I think the routes will start to get tougher after Budapest i.e. hillier and possibly no cycle routes at all.

I was at Gyor in good time and had a look around. I climbed the Bishops Tower and got a great view of the city. The Cathedral is lovely inside and out. The Main Square, (it has a name but like all Hungarian words they are very difficult to spell!) is good with another church and some public buildings looking good. It has one of those modern floor level pulsing fountains that I think are great fun.

I found the Hundari Panzio, which is where I am staying. It's a small hotel but very nice inside. They wanted me to pay in Euros but gave me change in Forints. That tells me something! I suspect that is going to happen everywhere I go. My accommodation is now sorted till after Budapest. That's when it will get tricky because I will be off the tourist track. I could nip back over to Slovakia tomorrow to get more euros if I think I need them!

I haven't got a lot of Hungarian themed songs up my sleeve but I think you will all know today's song....Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. We are in the right part of the world I think! Quiet night tonight. A walk around town, I nice meal and I may finish the Jack Reacher book. About time too, I hear you say. I'll let you know what happens. I will also let you know if I can get into my tin of sardines!

Photo 1, Hungarian entering Hungary!
Photo 2, Flat countryside, not a tank in sight!
Photo 3, Ovar Castle at Mosonmagyarovar. Quite a mouth full! It's now part of an Agricultural University.
Photo 4, It seemed a bit rural. I saw a couple of horse and carts.
Photo 5, Hedervar Castle. The oak tree on the left is reputed to be 1000 years old.
Photo 6, Kilometres on the clock.
Photo 7, Cathedral in Gyor.
Photo 8, Main Square in Gyor.

Day 40 - Sonntag 19 Mai 2013

From - Vienna
To - Bratislava.
Distance - 82km
Time - 6 hours
Total - 2935km

I have had a tie for the guess the food competition. Sian guessed the Schnitzel correctly and Janet guessed the Strudel. Well done, i will have to think of prizes. First prize a fitness session with me, second prize two fitness sessions! it wasn't too difficult was it!

You will by now know thar contrary to the title of the Blog, i am going along the Daube further than Vienna. this because I am cycling further and faster than I had first thought I would. Back on the bike and travelling from the capital city of Austria to the capital city of Slovakia in one day. Winding my way out of Vienna was the first task but it was helped by the fact that it was a Sunday morning and it was extremely quiet, even in the centre. It is a holiday weekend in Austria where they have a public holiday tomorrow. It may be the same in Slovakia?

Once I had got back to the banks of the Danube families were already staking their claim to a picnic spot by the river. There seemed to be a lot of Balkan type people, I can't be sure. It is getting increasingly difficult to tell what nationalities people are. I guess there could be any Balkan country or Turkish or Hungarian or Slavic. I can't tell the languages apart. I travelled a bit further and after the picnicking families there came the naturists! Not a pretty sight. One man crossed the cycle track in front of me. It boosted my ego no end! He looked like he had stuck a piece of 'road kill' to his front! Sorry for that thought.

I bumped into a couple of young Spanish cyclists who were coming in the opposite direction. They told me that the track came to a dead end. I turned around and we travelled together for a while. I may not have made the mistake with the route if I had taken the basic precaution of having the map open at the right page! I will have to stop getting competitive. The Spanish lads were moving a a decent pace into the wind and seemed to get a little faster. I put in a bit of effort and left them behind. What a terrible person I am, competing against total strangers. I wonder how Freud would explain it?

Some might say that this whole journey is part of a mid life crisis of a man who trying to find himself in challenging times. Well if that's what you're thinking, you can mind your own business! I'm just having a great adventure with a bit of personal challenge thrown in.

Todays weather was glorious sunshine with a good head wind. I made a little detour to Eckartsau Baroque Palace. It was a lovely little interlude. It reminded me of Eckerslike Hall, near Oswaldtwistle in Lancashire!

I stopped for lunch at Hainburg which is a pleasant small town with old fortifications. The fountain and church looked good in the square. There was some kind of old festival taking place where people dressed up in medieval costumes. There was a 6 euro charge to enter and skinflint Vernon didn't fancy paying. I was told by the waitress who served me some food that it involved some tournament style fighting (no horses, just the swords etc). Anyway, I gave it a miss.

For my lunch I had the Austrian version of Black Pudding sausage on bread. It was called Blunz'n. it came with some shredded white stuff which the girl told me was 'grein', I told her it was horse radish and that confused her. I didn't know why we called it horse radish, so I couldn't explain either. It is certainly nothing to do with horses (or is it made by Findus?).

A nice easy arrival in Bratislava. Of course there was no-one checking at the border. i w a big area though fora checkpoint because it was the border between 'east' and 'west'. the young man at the hostel told me that people were regularly shot at the border, presumably trying to get o the west. On a brighter note, the old town looks nice. I enjoyed an ice cream cone with two scoops at 50 cents less than anywhere in Austria or Germany and the hostel I am staying at is cheaper although there is no breakfast. I will do most of my sightseeing tomorrow as I am staying two nights. I will have a walk around the town tonight. There is a chance that a Manchester band is on in one of the bars although my Internet search didn't seem to identify them from Manchester.

I nearly forgot the song of the day. It is 'Vienna' by Ultravox but then I heard 'Lazy Sunday Afternoon' by the Kinks. So, I think we should have two songs today.


Photo 1, As blue as you are going to see the Danube. How do you fancy one of those river cruises?
Photo 2, Eckartsau Palace.
Photo 3, Fountain and Church at Hainburg.
Photo 4, Richie"s Studio has seen better days. It's not the only one!
Photo 5, Austrian version of Black Pudding with horse radish.
Photo 6, First sight of Bratislava City Centre. Very nice.
Photo 7, Honorary Slovakian.
Photo 8, Grand building. I'll find what it is tomorrow.

Day 39 - Samstag 18 Mai 2013

Rest Day in Vienna.

No cheating! You are not allowed to look at the photos of my evening meal until you have given me your answer.

I've had a bit of a rest this morning. I've done enough dashing about. I need a bit of time out! It's no good calling these days 'rest days' if there is no rest.

At 10am I am a move with my plan to see the Sigmund Freud Museum. It is a little bit outside the city centre but a nice ride on the underground. Like some of the other Museums for composers the outside is nothing particularly special. I had to press a buzzer to get in the front door, climb to the First Floor and then press another buzzer to be allowed entrance. This was a good museum though. It was the place he lived and worked and where he had his family until he evacuated at the time of the Second World War. It had some genuine furnishings of his time but sadly the original psychoanalysts couch was not there. I was also surprised there was no mention of adverts for dog food! Only people of a certain age will understand this joke!

You know what's coming next..... I will give my potted version of Freuds theories. He coined the phrase and methods of 'psychoanalysis' by getting people to lie on a couch and talking freely about themselves, their emotions with emphasis on their childhood sexuality and dreams. He divided human behaviour into the id and the ego.The id is the unconscious and the ego is the conscious behaviour. The id cannot be recalled it is inside each of us from our early formative years and this is also where the emphasis on sexuality comes in too. According to Freud lots of behaviours are closely linked to unconscious early childhood sexual experiences. He spawned the term 'Oedipus Complex' which reflects the sexual bond of a child and its mother. You may be thinking various things at this point. You could think, 'I didn't realise the fact that I can't control my own personal behaviour is because my mother didn't breast feed me!' or more likely you could think 'what a load of old tosh'! More people probably fall into the second category.

On my way back I managed to miss a heavy shower by extending my time in a coffee shop. I belatedly had a Linzertorte, famously from Linz but I missed my chance. It is quite cakey and raspberry centre with a sprinkling of hazelnut crumbs.

I travelled back to the hotel for a lie down but never actually fell asleep.

In the evening I was going to Schonbrunn Palace for another classical performance in the Orangery. However, I wanted to go and see the Palace itself. I checked the opening times and the Palace itself closed at 5.30pm. I managed to get there for 4pm and took one of the cheaper tours at 11.50 euros. I thin you will see how spectacular the Palace is from the photos. I wasn't allowed to take photos inside but I managed to sneak one of the Grand Hall (if they find out and try to catch me I will flee across the border to Slovakia tomorrow to avoid prosecution). I was one of the last people on the tour so there was hardly anyone about and those that went in with me zipped through like amateur tourists but I've been doing this so long I must classify as a professional tourist! The Palace was done in the Rococo style that was popular around 1740-80. It sounds like I know something about it (in contrast to the vast amounts i know about psychoanalysis) but I don't know what it is really. It looks more gold and ornate than other styles and there was an explanation that the word derived from the French word for 'shell' but I'm still not much wiser!

The earlier rain had given way to a beautiful blue sky and warm sun. It was an absolute pleasure. The gardens were open till late so I went for a walk through the very large gardens with a massive building on top of the hill facing down towards the Palace and the city. Wat a grand life the Hapsburg's had. Royal families across Europe were obviously competing with each other to build sumptuous summer palaces.

The concert wasn't the same music, except for the Blue Danube Waltz Nd one rousing Mozart piece. It was full of Japanese people. If you wonder why they are not visiting Beatrice Potters house they are here in Vienna instead. I sat right at the back but the good news was that I could easily see over their heads! The Orangery isn't quite as grand as last nights venue but on the plus side I had a more comfortable seat with better leg room. Whilst at the ticket kiosk I managed to step back onto a woman's foot! Se gave me a mouthful of some language that wasn't English and wasn't German and she certainly wasn't Japanese. She understood my English when I said that I didn't know she was there and I didn't do it on purpose. I did say 'sorry' but in a manner which showed I didn't mean it. She glared at me on the occasions she walked past me later. Stupid woman, she was right behind me I only took one step back. You can tell she annoyed me and I don't often get annoyed.

There were singers and two ballet dancers as well tonight. I wanted to ask them if they were available for Grange Opera later this year. The Orchestra would have been a welcome addition to the Summer Bandstand Concert Programme. They may have other engagements though!

I dashed back to the hotel to see if I could catch a TV channel with the Eurovision Song Contest on, 'what fun'!

Photo 1, Wien Schnitzel.
Photo 2, Apfel Strudel. It's not rocket science!
Photo 3, Volivkirche.
Photo 4, Sigmund Freud's waiting room. Original furniture.
Photo 5, View of Schonbrunn Palace from the front gate.
Photo 6, The Orangery, where the concert takes place.
Photo 7, The Grand Hall.
Photo 8, View in the rear garden of the fountain and monument.
Photo 9, The Orchestra at the Orangery.

Day 38 - Part 2

Before I went to the concert I had a meal in the city and I am going to give you one more chance to guess what I had! You need to apply some thought as to what a tourist would eat for a main course and pudding when in Vienna for the first time.

I walked past the Opera House again and they were showing the live performance of La Traviatta on a big screen outside. It looked fantastic.

I moved onto my concert at Musikverein. It was very much a performance for the tourists. There was a massive mix of nationalities. The venue was the star of the show although the orchestra and two opera singers couldn't be flawed. I won't waffle about it too much. It was mainly Mozart compositions several were familiar. The tenor and soprano were excellent, particularly the girl. They finished with the Blue Danube Waltz by Strauss.

It was raining when I came out. A bit of a shock but not far from the underground station.

Photo 1, Main course?
Photo 2, Pudding?
Photo 3, La Traviatta outside the Opera House.
Photo 4, Musikverein.
Photo 5, Ceiling.

Day 38 - Freitag 17 Mai 2013

Rest Day in Vienna.

Nice breakfast. Including pesto sauce with the meats and cake to follow as well as all the other normal breads, cereals and fruit.

I got a 48 hours underground ticket. Nice and easy from the ticket machine. I headed for St Stephens Platz where the Cathedral is. The photo I took yesterday thinking it was a Cathedral was actually the Rathaus! I had a look at the St Stephens Cathedral briefly, I could get into the back of the church but to go past a certain point I had to pay, so I put up with looking from the back. Of course it was very grand. My plan was to go to Mozart's house first but it didn't open till 10am so I went through a nearby park and returned a bit later. The house isn't particularly grand. It is on 4 floors but he actually only lived on the second floor. The other floors have some other exhibits about the period he lived there and some of his contemporaries and his history. The rooms were not furnished, they had exhibits so I had to use my imagination about him actually being there and composing.

I then headed for Prater, which is a big funfair. Guess what it was like a big funfair with all the normal rides. Fairly quiet I think in the daytime on a weekday. I had an picnic lunch and then went to the Musikverein to see the Golden Hall. The Internet said there were no tickets for tonight's performance of the Vienna Mozart Orchestra. I had missed the only guided tour of the day but they did have a few tickets available. So I booked one on the balcony. I am quite excited.

I found the Opera House and I was in time for the guided tour. It was good. The most interesting thing is that this is the place they have the Vienna State Ball each year where debutants dress in their finery. It is the biggest Ball of the year. I had heard of it before because a certain number of foreign couples can attend.

I had a walk through the centre of the city with grand buildings coming at me around every corner. I stumbled across the Spanish Horse Riding School. No chance of a ticket for their performances.

They seem to make a lot of Mozart but not much about Beethoven. I was determined to balance the situation by visiting Beethoven's house. This was a little bit out of the centre and hidden away. It turned out to be a bit crumby. I had to climb four floors to the apartment and pay my 4 euros, which was fairly cheap. It was cheap because there was very little to see. The rooms were bare with pictures of people I had never heard of but I suppose they must have had a link to Beethoven. The only good bit was being able to put some earphones on and listen to some music by Beethoven.

I made my way back to the hotel to shower before the concert tonight. Hope it's good. Hope I don't fall asleep in the middle of it!

I will go and see a Sigmund Freud museum if my ego allows me!

Photo 1, St Stephen's Cathedral.
Photo 2, Inside the Cathedral.
Photo 3, Johan Strauss.
Photo 4, Big Wheel at the Prater.
Photo 5, Musikverein Building, where I am going tonight!
Photo 6, Couldn't miss this photo opportunity in the Opera House.
Photo 7, Opera House.
Photo 8, Burghaus.
Photo 9, National Library.
Photo 10, Parliament Building.

Day 37 - Donnerstag 16 Mai 2013

From - Melk
To - Vienna
Distance - 124km
Time - 9.5 hours
Total - 2853km

I just don't believe !! Just mention that I have not had any punctures and what happens - I had a puncture after 10km in the back tyre and then at 22km the same tyre punctured again!! I probably hadn't changed the first puncture very well, I don't know. It wasn't the tyre itself. I checked it, twice. I had carried three spare inner tubes so I had one left. Needless to say I was going over cobbles and bumps very slowly after that. I only had a small pump with no gauge so my next job was finding a cycle shop which i did in the town on Krems. They were pretty good with me. They tried to sell me the wrong size inner tubes but I wasn't having any of it. They did let m use a big pump with a pressure gauge. Whilst in the process of pumping up the back tyre to a high pressure I pulled off the connector too quick and banged m thumb on the derailleur and split the nail, blood again. What a plonker! Anyway my tyres are sorted for the time being. I have a black thumb to go with my black finger. It will be like black nail varnish soon.

I knew the day was going wrong at breakfast. It was like an omen of things to come. There were eggs available and I presumed that like everywhere else I've stayed that the eggs would be are boiled. You know what's coming. I picked up two eggs, one for breakfast and one for later. The one for ater was slipped into my pocket and I firmly tapped the one I was going to eat now so that I could peel the shell off. However, it was raw. Thankfully on.y part of the egg went onto the table, the school child opposite must have thought I was an idiot. I quickly fished the other egg out of my pocket before I broke it. I had to ask how a little egg boiling machine worked. I hadn't even seen the boiling device before I picked the gigs up?

Despite my bad fortune I wasn't going to let these set backs get me down. They did make me a bit behind schedule and I did have to battle the wind all day. It was bright but not sunny but the wind was always against me. I cycled along the north bank of the Danube to start and the wind was vicious. I did eventually think about changing to the south bank where I got a bit of shelter. I am normally very good with wind! Plenty of it I hear you say.

Lets get a bit more positive. The scenery through fruit orchards and vines was lovely. The small,towns were pretty. The valley opened up again and there was a period of power stations and hydro electric power stations. Then towns of Durnstein and Stein were very quaint. Krems was a bit functional. Tulln looked good too but because I was a bit late I didn't do the tourist bit.

The route into Vienna was by the back entrance. I think I travelled on the graffiti route. It wasn't so bad, it was the sort of aerosol graffiti that is considered to be art. I probably didn't see the best of the approach to Vienna. I did skirt around the city centre on the way to the hotel. I was very much focused on getting to my destination. There were some lovely buildings (not sure what they were) I will do the sightseeing over the next couple of days.

The accommodation is very nice. It will need an underground journey to get into the centre but it is very comfortable.

The song of the day has to be 'Rock me Amadeus' by Falco.

Photo 1, Durnstein.
Photo 2, Statue of Marcus Aurelius, very much admired by Gluteus Maximus in the film Gladiator!
Photo 3, I guess it's the Cathedral in Vienna. I'll check tomorrow.
Photo 4, Not sure what building this is either!
Photo 5, Fields of Fruit and vines.
Photo 6, Here's the meal that I had yesterday! It was like a meatloaf with some egg in it with rice. Not sure of the German name for it. Not sure this game will catch on! No winners so far.

Day 36 - Mittwoch 15 Mai 2013

From - Linz
To - Melk
Distance - 115km
Time - 10 hours
Total - 2729km

Yes, last nights accommodation was dodgy! It was a good job the mattress was covered because I don't think I would have liked what I saw. The was mould on the wall near the Windows's and the picture on the wall had fallen within the mounting and it had no glass front. The chairs and the carpet were worn. I did sleep though and wore early before anyone else and got on my way.

It was wall to wall sunshine all day but with a strong breeze that was a nuisance whilst riding but probably kept me cool, so no complaints.

My major stop of the day was up a hill to the Mauthausen Concentration Camp! Apparently it was worse than Aushwitz! Over 123,000 people were murdered by the Germans here. Much of the camp is intact. I have taken a few photos. The ritual dehumanising of the inmates and the different methods used to kill people were horrendous. I won't go any further in trying to describe what happened but you may get an image from the photos.

The visit put me a bit behind on the cycling front, so it was a long day in the saddle. I met a local man cycling called Conrad. We had a reasonable chat with his limited English but he told me about a big Danube flood in 2002 when local villages were washed away and the water rose 5 metres higher than it is currently. More importantly he pointed out a food restaurant for my lunch.

I am starting a new game where I show you a photo of a meal I have finished and you have to guess what it was. The next day I will show you what the original meal was! I'm sure you will agree that it is a really good game.

My next place was Grein. Especially pretty town with nice Schloss. I got a little ferry across the river again and carried on on the other side. This avoided cycling alongside a busy road so was well worth it. During all this time I had been trying to organise accommodation in Vienna. The Vienna Tourist Info offer a service to find accommodation and I had phoned them and they were trying to contact places that suited me and had vacancies for the following three nights. The lady was going to ring me back. Of course whenever she rang back the phone call died. These of course are all classed as international calls and must have cost her, and me a pretty penny. When I got to a sizeable town I called her back and rejected her first suggestion and we went through the whole process again with the failed calls. Eventually I called her back when I got to Ybbs and agreed on her second offer. I am staying for 3 nights so I may have to try some waltzing.

The Benedictine Abbey dominates the approach to Melk. It is massive and its a cross between a big yellow church and a palace. With the sunshine it looked gold. You will know what I mean when you see the photo. Overall Austria is a beautiful country. The people so far have been friendly and a couple of people have started conversations with me whilst cycling. The cycle routes are pristine and well used (but it was a sunny day).

No mechanical problems, so one more long push to Vienna and I can have a rest from the bike for a few days. The back tyre is showing signs of wear but (dare I say it) I haven't had any punctures yet!! I hope that statement doesn't put a curse on me.

It must be getting warmer, I heard crickets in the fields and I have just been bitten by a mossie for the first time whilst writing the blog!

Photo 1, Mauthausen Concentration Camp
Photo 2, Ditto.
Photo 3, The Gas Chamber.
Photo 4, Can you guess what the meal was. You may need to zoom in for clues! Answers tomorrow.
Photo 5, Town of Grein.
Photo 6, My best side.
Photo 7, Benedictine Abbey at Melk.
Photo 8, Same place but taken from within the town.
Photo 9, There were 4 in a box but they go off quickly. They were beautiful and moist and had a little alcohol in them as well!