Dep 10.00 Arr 8.00 Dist 110.2 km Total 1782.5 km
I had a great breakfast in this beautiful hostel and set off quite late in warm sunshine. I rode through the tall buildings and turned right onto the river with trepidation, wondering what wind would I have to contend with along the river for the first part of the day. I felt the occasional gust and wasn’t sure what kind of day I was going to have. I then noticed that cyclists coming towards me were grimacing slightly and realised the wind was in my favour for once.
There had been times on other days when things were going well when I thought, “Just a couple of hours like this and I’ll be halfway there”. Before, that is , someone ‘played the double nine’ and I had to get off the road. No, not this time. I bombed along and reached the outskirts of Vienna by mid-day. I missed the track along the Danube and followed a canal into the city, which wasn’t a bad thing. I came across a cycle shop and bought a front light. The other one had fallen off on day 1 in Oldham because some pillock hadn’t fitted it properly. I then saw an internet cafe and spent the next couple of hours updating the blog and checking my route over the next couple of days. It was a tiny place but it was even smaller with my bike inside.
I had a bite to eat and got going again in mid-afternoon hoping to get to Hungary that night. The wind turned against me and I knew I wouldn’t make it to Mosonmagyarovar which was just over the border. I was going through some small towns and wasn’t confident about finding a bed so was checking out the landscape for a stealth camp. I then saw a few ‘zimmer’ signs and enquired at one advertised at an Italian restaurant. He wanted 40 euros which was ridiculous. I kept on with my shadow stretching out for miles in front of me and got to Nickelsdorf where a very small and seemingly nice lady put me up for 30 euros.
It was very late but I got settled and wandered out to find some grub. I walked past a small restaurant which was empty and looked a bit posh. The other side of the establishment, though, was full of chaps watching Bayern v Real Madrid so I joined them. I asked about food and got the nod. The menu of the day was minestrone soup with goulash main course. The soup nearly filled me up and the main course was fabulous, all for less than a fiver. I had a couple of beers and wandered back. I had a text from Daniel confirming that he and Ben would be coming to Budapest, arriving at 1925. I replied saying I would text them the address of the accommodation and crashed out.
Today's Route
No comments:
Post a Comment