Gellert Bath house where we spent time soaking in the natural mineral waters



                                                 The wave pool at the Gellert bath house

                                               Over looking Budapest from the citadel

 

Overlooking the city by night         

                            

                                          An active area in the  main square of  Budapest
All good things must come to an end sometime !!

 Our trip down the Danube is all but over. Budapest has been a wonderful experience. The weather was beautiful so we were able to walk in the warm sunshine , eat at the outdoor cafes and see the many sights. Many of the small towns that we visited along the way seem but a blur, however there are many memories of each individual place that are unique . The wonderful meals that sometimes we weren't sure what we were getting and the not so wonderful. It was quite helpful when they had a picture of the meal, that way we could just point.
Some of the trails long the route were wonderful and inspiring in the way they were built to accomodate bikes. There were also some that needed much work and you had to be a mountain goat to ride on them.The people we met were always gracious and ready to help in anyway they could, even if it was just to point as we didn't have a clue what they said most of the time. The history we learned along the way and their way of life was also an eye opener. The Danube river is part of a way of life and is used every day from just a lonely fishermen along the shore to a cruise ship stopping at the towns along its route.
After 10 hrs on the plane from Budapest to Frankfurt to Montreal we are now home save and sound with our bikes and no injuries but full of memories.
A special thanks goes out to Murray for all his planning and hard work in making our trip a memorable one.
These are just some of the highlights along the way that we were unable to post at the time. Thanks to all for all your comments along the way and sharing the trip with us.
               
 Peter,Marlene,Murray ,Marilyn

                                             Tour boats at night in Budapest

Sept 9

last 3 days in Budapest

For the last two days here in Budapest we have been exploring the inner city . The first morning out was a walking tour where we met up with approx 100 people getting ready for a 2.5 hour walk around both sides of the river. We split up into 3 groups and we were off to see and be told of the history of the beautiful city. They explained to us why the Buda side streets were never in a straight
Iine and the Pest side was designed as square blocks They told us how they were still trying to free themselves from the old ways of communism and it would probably take 2 more decades for this to happen. We were shown the highlights of the city and given an overview of the must see areas along with many do's and don'ts and tips within the city..
While we're in Budapest we had to try out one of the ancient Roman bath houses. A short walk from our hotel is located the Gellert Bath house so not to be unlike the locals we had to give it a go.
The Baths at the Gellert are delightful from the entrance hall on. Once you enter, your first stop is a large pool surrounded by columns surrounded by a Solarium overlooking from the second floor balcony. These baths are rich with mineral waters and are situated in magnificently high ceilinged tile rooms. These areas are definitely a bit more interesting and relaxing.
In the warmer months there are three outdoor pools; one of them being a wave pool. They were not Hawaii waves but were enough to entertain us for quite awhile.
That evening we enjoyed some of the local foods and wines.
Our last day in Budapest ,we decided to hike to the top of the citadel and visit the military fortress which was still rattled with bullet holes from WWll . It is the highest point in the whole city and gave us an unparelled vista of the whole city.
Tonight will be early to bed to catch a plane at 6 am but only after endulging in some more fine foods.

Sept 6
Our last ride and our last packing up clothes in panniers. Today we get to our final destination,Budapest which was once two cities on each side of the river and back in 1872 when one side was called Buda and the south side called Pest they join to be one city called?
You guessed it; Budapest.
We left Viserad by 8'30 in the morning ,a little later than normal as we found Marlene had a flat tire in the morning  when we were getting ready to ride. We started out on a busy highway and then decided do an extra few k's down the center of a pretty little island and take the ferry back to the main road,little did we know that we think the ferry was built  in the same year that Budapest was amalgamated .

                                                             In front of St Stephens church

                                            WW11 bullet holes in the national security building

                                           Budapest Parliment Buildings on the Pest side

                                            A church inside a limestone mountain side

As we cycled further the road was good but busy and then we ended up on another dog path for several k's only to arrive at another section that was all patio stones through the middle of a forest. Who would have guessed. We finally arrived at our destination Budapest - a very beautiful city . As we biked  up the Buda side of the Danube  the Hungarian Parliament was very impressive to say the least. Tomorrow we plan to start playing tourists in Budapest with a guided 2 1/2 hour walking tour.

Sept 5
Tata to Visgard
This morning we left Tata with the expectations of some major hill climbs but thanks to our fearless guide (Murray) who stayed up half the night to figure out a new route and thanks to him we cut off 5 k's of hill climbs and discovered a new closeness with traffic. However we stayed alert and after several K's came upon or desired route once again. We left the busy highway to connect with the tranquil Danube. Slovakia on one side and Hungary on the other. Upon arriving at our final stopover before Budapest ,
Visgrad is a small tourist town with most of the tourist gone for the summer. We enjoyed some of their  fine wine for supper and visited some of their  little shops. Some of us wanted to climb the
 5 k hike to the top of the mountain to visit the old ruins but was quickly voted down in favour of another glass of wine . Tomorrow is our last day of biking  as we ride into Budapest.

                                                      Just have fun in Btarislava

                                                       A street in Bratislava

                                                       The old watertower in Gyor

                                           One of the bike paths in Hungary as we near Tata

                                                  The paths are getting narrower

 In Bratislava the dancers celebrate with dance and song


As we prepared to leave Bratislava our next destination we are heading for is Gyor in the country of Hungary. As we entered Hungary we expected to see some evidence that we would be coming into what was once a communist country,but there was no indication of this.. We were pleasantly surprised to see bike paths that were freshly paved and more of them being worked on.. As we biked deeper into Hungary we started to see some changes in the economy , in that their homes were neat but showed a lack of upkeep.
When we arrived in Gyor we soon found our pension(hotel) . It was clean but had only the bare essentials - however for 35 E a night we can't complain. We ate supper at the pension and had a delicious meal and fine wine for only 25E . We are seeing more game meats and goulash with lots of potatoes as a favourite.
The next morning we left for Tata . As we biked out of town we met up with an Aussie who was biking from England to Australia. He had been on the road since April but he was hoping to be in Australia sometime in 2014. He was riding for cancer and hoping to raise money (www.cycling4cancer.com). He was a great guy and had lots of stories . He had pics of himself in the alps in snow and even had to pitch his tent on snow one night.
As we went deeper into Hungary the roads got worse quite quickly. Our back lane ways in the fields at home look like highways compared to some of our terrain today. For a short distance we needed a machete but the road soon smoothed out and we arrived unscathed in the town of Tata where we look forward to having our first swim and maybe another bier.

It rained hard all night Friday but we didn't want to waste our last day in Vienna. So it was back into our yellow bike jackets and off to explore the metro system. We headed out of the city to the Schlofs Schonbrunn -the country palace where Emperor Franz Joseph and his wife Sisi made their home. (the parents of Marie Antoinette)It was a  huge estate with acres of gardens. Because of the rain we toured the palace and then wandered through the massive park and gardens. It's always interesting to follow the history of royalty in another time period.
The afternoon was very low key with time to catch up on the internet, reading, etc as Sunday morning would see us heading out for 5 straight days of biking.
This morning we headed out under heavy clouds but they eventually turned to a beautiful sunny day.We had  a wonderful day of biking mostly along raised dikes, well paved and often through a nature park. One of the fascinating things was the number of mistletoe balls growing in the trees. Some teees would have one or two, others were dead with 10 or more balls living in them.We travelled through Hanesberg, the last large town in Austria and soon we were crossing beside the old border crossing into Slovakia.Our destination for tonight was the capital of Slovakia, Bratislava. We lucked in as this weekend is Bratislava   days so we were treated to. Street activities with local costumes, dancing , singing , local artisans and foods. A great way to see the culture of another country. Tomorrow we head off on the  final stage of our journey - 4 days biking through Hungary to reach Budapest.

                                                      Ferry from Passau to Linz

                                          Where Richard the Lionheart was once in prison

                                                       Terraced vinyard  near Krems

                                                         Statue outside of Vienna

                                                        St Stephens church in Vienna

                                                        A busy street in Vienna

                                                        Vienna Opera House

                                                           Jesuit church in Vienna


After a night in the only hostel on our trip we staarted off on our final biking day to Vienna,or Wiens as the locals call it.  Our day was sunny and we travelled right along the Danube until it turned into a canal running into the city. We are staying at the Pension Dr. Geissler right on the canal and just on the edge of the Ringstrasse, a route that circles the old city.  Vienna  is a beautiful,old city with high buildings,narrow streets and modern day shopping under architecture that is timeless.
     The easiest way to get our bearings was the city bus tour where we say St. Stephens  Cathedral, the Vienna Opera house ,the Hoffburg Palace  where the imperial apartments and silver collection are housed, and the list goes on.
    This is the city of composers so we spent some time wandering through Stadtpark looking at statues  of Josann Strauss and others.
     We decided a trip to Austria wasn,t complete without a real a snitzel dinner ,so off we went to a restaurant where the snitzel was so large it hung over the edge of the plate.  A real meat eaters delight.
     It is the city of gourmet delight----- gelatto,pastries and street venders everywhere we look.   We bike hard all day to deserve our treats but  we can,t understand why the people here are not obese.  Every cafe is full at all times.
     Peter wanted to see the Lipizzaner stallions while we were here so this morning we took in a morning practice- interesting to see the expertise of their training but a real show would have been more impressive.
    One more day in Vienna and we hit the trail for Bratislava,Slovakia.Till then

Today we biked 85 k's from Greins to Krems. It was one of the more interesting rides . We biked through many small towns and one of the most interesting spots was in the town of Dunstien. This is where Richard the Lionheart was actually imprisoned for a period of time. We saw the actual building where he was placed.
Through out that region there is nothing but grape vines and more grape vines terraced as far up the mountain as one can see. Every possible corner is planted with vines. Within the orchard there were plum, apple,pear,lime,and elderberry trees . Most were just hanging ready to be picked or were being picked at the time. When we arrived at Greins we were early as the Hostel only opened at 5pm so we had to waste some time and what better way to do it but drink more beer after a hot ride.( You know beer here is actually cheaper than water, $2. For .5 L). Supper was Asian food for a change, sausage does get kind of tiring after awhile and then off to an early bed time. One of these days we'll actually have to stay up until dark. Tomorrow we're off to Vienna for another 90K ride.

Aug 27/2012



 Today was an early start to the day as we left Linz to head to Greins . Linz is  a very industrial modern town as towns go here and was all but closed as it was a sunday but we did visit a very large church and actually heard part of a mass in english. Today  was only a 65 km ride and with a stiff wind to our backs it was smooth sailing until we hit one of our planned destinations along the route. It was the concentration camp in Mauthausen which held up to 200,000 people during the war. Words cannot express the emotions. It was a somber ride for the rest of the day and we spent most of it reflecting back. Tonight we are in Greins having some local foods we purched in the grocery store,althought it is a guessing game sometimes as to what we buy as everything is in German. Tomorrow were of to Krems were we,ll have more beer after another 90k's.Till then.

August 26/2012


  Today was a much quieter day as we stored our bikes on the main deck of a river boat and decided to take a very scenic ride  on the Danube instead of beside it. The river boat was long and narrow with all the elegance of any cruise ship. Or maybe not!  After having toured Passau for a day we were ready to move on. The hike up to see the Veste Oberhaus fortress from medieval times was a workout in itself. From the top of the hill we were able to see the whole town along with the three main rivers that flowed together to make up the Danube. We also listened to the largest pipe organ in the world which was amazing to say the least.The boat took us from Passau to Linz with many castles  and small towns to view from the water.  It took us through 3 sets of locks which desended by 11 meters each time.  Peter said he will have to stay away from the pastries for a day as he said it wasn't much of a work out.(sitting for 6 hrs).It was a good day to take a break as it was cool and wet to start the day but soon became just overcast.

acThe last two days of biking have been amazing. We got away early Wednesday and arrived in Deggendorf in the early afternoon. We had enjoyed our "rest day" in Regensburg as it gave us a chance to explore a true Medieval city.St Peter's Cathedral sits in the center of Regensburg and the architecture is amazing with every wall of the church is stained glass . We were fortunate to arrive near noon time and attended the fifteen minute meditation which was wonderful pipe music. After seeing so many ornate churches ours at home will look rather plain. The paintings on the ceilings are works of art along with the statues , often of cherubs.
Deggendorf was a much smaller town but we again wandered in and found a beautiful church. They seem to all have an open door policy and even with all the gold around everything is untouched.

 

Yesterday we covered different terrain with vineyards off in the distance and potatoes being harvested beside our route. We also biked along with herds of sheep. I have looking for bratwurst and saurkraut since we got here and yesterday we finally found it in a famous sausage kitchen at the foot of the Old Stone bridge , one if the wonders of the world. One of the highlights of the biking is stopping late morning for a coffee and pastry. Peter thinks he has gone to dessert heaven - every town no matter how small has at least one cafe and they are full of fresh breads and rich pastries. Then every evening there is a required trip to a gelatto(icecream) stand. It's a good thing we bike hard all day and eat light on the road.

Aug 19/2012


We have now left the towns of Ulm ,Donaworth, Ingolstadt . Behind us we have left the rolling hill and the many acres of corn and wheat fields.  As we traveled between these towns there were even smaller villages with more dairy herds  located within, and to our surprise we biked by  several atomic energy plants so if you think we have a slight glow on in the pics that's the reason why.. Nearly all the towns we bike through seem to have some form of the original walls that were built around them for protection in the medieval times and the houses are all painted in pastel colors.
Between the towns of Ingolstat and Regensburg we took a river boat ferry to take a different view from the water, it also cut off 15k's of grinding hills.. Apparently it has been dry here as the Danube river was only 1 meter deep in places as we watch the boat pass over the gravelled river bottom .
The river here passes through a deep gorge with massive limestone walls to each side and the captain had to manoeuver the boat between the shallows and the walls that jutted out.. As we head down river, the river is getting much wider now as we now see large river barges and ferries with many smaller pleasure boats inbetween. Apparently the river must be cleaner than the Chateauguay river as people seem to be swimming anywhere along as we bike by.  The biking here is a major form of transportation as people and bikes are everywhere and the cars give the right of way to them all. Some people even bike with their dogs on the back baskets.
 Today we are touring Regensburg which is Germanys only surviving mediaeval city, a UNESCO world heritage site.

                                   view from the ferry as we sailed down the Danube gorge

                                                             Catheral in Regensburg

                     Entrance to the city of Regensburg where it was untouched by bombing in ww2

                                              An outside pic of the Audi museum and what is inside

   We seem to be having trouble posting some new pics so when we get it figured out we'll send them along.  Till then !!!

                                  The start of the Danube bike trail on the first day that is wet and rainy

                                                      Homes  along the Danube in  Ulm

After 8 months of planning we are finally on our way to bike the Danube through Germany,Austria,Slovakia and Hungary.We flew overnight to Frankfurt with our crated bikes hoping they would be waiting for us in the airport which they were. We found a quiet corner and Peter and Murray reassembled them. It was then off to the connecting train station where we wheeled the bikes onto the train and headed into the hub of Frankfurt to catch our main train to Donaueschigen 3 hours away.We got our first view of the beautiful countryside with wheat and corn fields in the distance. That night we saw the Danube spring in the center of town which is the beginning of the Danube river.
     Thursday we were up,packed and in the saddle for a 95km ride to Sigmaringen. The bike trail started in town ,it was about six feet wide and paved.Wow!Impressive.We spent the morning weaving through lush farm fields (literally)and saw a town every 2 to 5 km. The towns are beautiful-built on hills with orange roofs,window boxes with lush flowers hanging from them and the very specific German architecture. Everything is very neat and clean. The towns have very narrow streets with some cobble stone  areas.When we are in town the drivers are very considerate.
     Everybody here bikes -from young to old -often with paniers to shop.Peter is very impressed as every town has at least one cafe with pastries.He is in dessert heaven.
In Signaringen we got a taste of our first German beer -in huge steins and as Kim our daughter told us -cheaper than water.I left my wine glass in Quebec and will enjoy the local beers.What a way to rehydrate after a day of biking.
    Our second day was 110km to Ulm, a beautiful city right on the Danube with an amazing church - the tallest in Germany.We again biked through farm fields and small villages often sharing the bike path with farm vehicles.Peter has even seen the occasional John Deere .The sunflowers in sections of many of the fields are in full bloom.Obviously lack of rain is not an issue-everything is lush.We have seen a few castles in the distance but nothing up close.
    Today is a rest day in Ulm-laundry and bike cleaning and tuneups. Our first day we awoke to rain so started out in full rain gear but it didn't last long but our bikes got gritty.Since then it has been beautiful-temps similar to home.We are in a beautiful hotel In Ulm right on the river and plan to spend the afternoon sightseeing.