Budapest - Bratislava - Brno
Budapest – Bratislava – Brno
From the 22nd of May until 24th of May I went in three quite easy stages from Budapest to Bratislava. And the bridge at Esztergom is also the border crossing with Slovakia. So after a mere 50 kilometres I slipped silently into another country. No moody border patrol officers, and the currency was to my surprise the much unloved, but oh so nice, Euro. A bit of a hollow victory for the European Union, I must say. One would expect the re-entry into the Euro-family more festive or celebrated. Like ‘Welcome to the European Union, we’ve missed you so much!’, or something along those lines. No such thing. Crossing the border here was like going to the grocery store for your daily shopping.
But the first stage, was pretty. The Danube can be considered to be one of the prettiest, if not the prettiest river in Europe. The part I rode along has UNESCO World Heritage written all over it. It should be preserved and cared for as an example of how great nature in all its glory can look and feel like! I already mentioned earlier the disturbing littering and polluting of this big river. Here in Slovakia people seem to be more responsible. Hardly any visible littering or waste tipping. Great to see that a nation seems to understand the value of one its greatest features. It looks promising, and other countries like Serbia, Rumania and Bulgaria should follow this example. Easier said than done, I know. But regulated waste disposal, governmentally initiated should be the first step to take. My observation was that the man in the street doesn’t seem to care where he disposes the left overs of this consumer aimed society. Also, the plastic bottles and aluminium cans as beverage containers should be looked at. Bloody waste of energy and resources they are.
Anywho, I am not a environmental activist nor do I lobby for some political movement. But riding along this beauty made me want stress the need to pass it on to the next generation in the nicest possible way. I observe and see the beauty and can’t look away from the ugly.
Riding the dikes on narrow unpaved tracks is a joy, even with the Parcycle. Hardly any climbing made for a fast ride and a long haul the first day. 107 kilometres. Stopped over at a ‘Penzion’ in a small village Radvan Dunajon. A motel like construction, great room for only €16,-. Again a newly finished feel and smell to the place. And I think, the unfamiliarity with the Euro, or what to charge for the newly finished accommodations, must have kept the price that low. Clearly some things weren’t done yet, but I could live (or sleep) with that easily. No Wi-Fi in the room, but they had at the restaurant, and the restaurant also provided for a nice juice steak and excellent beers. So, all good!
Second stage, was an attempt to go to Bratislava in one go. But that plan went out the window pretty fast. A rusty and late start, is age finally catching up on me? The tracks on the dike were nice but put up a fight. Stone slab, made the bike uncontrollably swerve out at times. Average speed dropped, and sometimes I rode to the left or to the right of the dike, on more solid tracks. But progression was slow and an upcoming cold was blasting through my nose violently. I sneezed as if I had an allergic response to the oncoming weather change. Then the Danube transformed into a straight as an arrow like canal. A steep climb onto the bordering dike, and the scenery looked like a landscape straight stolen from the Netherlands. Seeming endlessly the road stretched out into the horizon. A mental challenge, for sure. And I must say, it got a bit to me. The monotony was at first a welcome reconnection with something familiar. But as the hours went by, and the surroundings didn’t really changed that much, it seemed like the world was spinning in front of my front wheel faster than I could ride it. Like a hamster in a treadmill, exhausting and no progression to speak of… This had to stop. So I steered away from the route, looking for a place to stay. I found a room in a hotel/ restaurant in Bac. Paid more than usual for the room, but the food coming from the kitchen was tops! Apparently a real chef was behind the pots and pans. Best chicken in butter pepper sauce of this trip with boiled sweet potatoes. Tuna salad as a starter was the omen to this treasure of gastronomy. Well, it’s gonna be real sobering once I’m home and have to prepare my own meals… Maybe I will become a culinary journalist? Hahaha!
The day after, after breakfast (again a triumphant piece of ‘cuisine’), it was on to Bratislava, airport region. DHL main office is located there and so was my hotel. In theory, only a mere 32 kilometres. Well, that remained to be seen. Hard Dutch wind in the face. And with this Dutch like scenery, I almost felt at home. Bad tracks beside the dike though. Decided to do the climb up the dike, face the wind full front, but at a much better road. No potholes, puddles or mud tubs to swerve around.
Soon enough, Bratislava was within the grasp of my hands. Then it was time to whip out the ‘old’ mobile and fire up the ‘Maps.Me’ app, to direct me to where I wanted to go. Great app, but it doesn’t recognize closed gates or unnegotiable cross sections. So, long story short; I ended up at a gas station along a highway, calling for assistance from DHL. Gladly Barbora arrived in a car to direct me to the DHL main office and warehouse. I was at my wits end and desperate for guidance to the ‘mothership’.
A short ‘meet and greet’ followed with staff and personal, and an appointment was made to have a tour around the warehouse later that evening. The warehouse where shipments were prepared for a DHL Airbus that was due to take off that very night. Operations manager Pavol was in charge of this tour and he picked me up from the hotel at eight o’clock sharp. And as Filip from Belgrade did go ‘all-in’ on his knowledge of the city Belgrade, Pavol went ‘all-in’ on his knowledge of the process of the shipment handling. He extensively explained how the ‘hand like build’ conveyor belt machine operated. Inbound and outbound shipments went their separate ways on the ‘finger like’ conveyor belts. The machine had a huge computer for a ‘brain’ that directed each parcel to the right conveyor belt. The crew that fed the machine and worked around it to stack the pallets and parcels in the special designed crates for the Airbus fuselage, was multi-disciplined. Each crew member was able to perform several tasks. So, no ‘one-man-one-job’ rule here. Not a day is the same, and there’s no time for loitering either.
At the runway we went to the Airbus 636-600. I got to meet the pilots and also saw how the plain was loaded. To witness such a process this close and being at this proximity to a fully functional and operating airplane was a sheer privilege. One can only watch these sort of things on the tube, by Discovery Channel for example. But then you’re seated on the couch, and you don’t see and feel the stress that comes with such a complicated process. And although many parts of this process have the outlook of a routine, everyone involved performs their task at the highest professional level. Pretty amazing stuff!
So, that took care of the first day and part of the night in Bratislava. Next day, Barbora had arranged for a lunch at the office. An informal event where co-workers could ask questions about my journey and the Parcycle. Very enjoyable and I got a new DHL cycling shirt as a present. Nice to a have a fresh one at last, hahaha! Maybe they smelled the bad odour that came from the other one, the other day? Took a rest and a beer at the hotel, and later that afternoon Pavol arrived in a cab to take me to the city for beers and ribs. An interesting evening followed. A lawyer friend of Pavol joined us and the evening progressed into something similar as in Kolkata. Good thing to have a lawyer present though, hahaha!
The next day it was time to say goodbye to all the people at DHL Bratislava. A sticker on the hood of the Parcycle and I was good to go. Great visit and with some great memories to match!
Bratislava – Brno 26th May till 28th May
The route I had mapped out on the Garmin was a real beauty. Through nature parks, riding on tracks solely reserved for cyclists. Along the Danube I mostly followed the Eurovélo 6, now it was ‘Iron curtain route’, Eurovélo 9 or anything else but it avoided the motorways as much as possible. It was the prettiest trip through Slovakia by miles! The good weather did do a lot for the sometimes breath-taking sceneries. In Holland on such a day those tracks would be infested by cyclists and pedestrians, because we don’t have so much space for recreation, and few real nice spots of untouched nature. Here I could enjoy those sites almost alone. Some cyclists and people that went for a walk, but not in those huge quantities as in my overpopulated area. Makes a real difference and a lot more enjoyable, I tell yah!
I ended up in Hohenau, Austria close to the border. Done a respectable 97 kilometres, all things considered. A pizzeria rented out rooms at a very affordable rate. A basic room for a basic price, but the food was off course really nice. I didn’t have a pizza, that huge mega sized pizza monster from Hungary still haunts me in my night mares, but a pork steak with rice.
The next day, after breakfast, it was onto Brno. A long ride, that wearied me down. Already after 60 or so kilometres I was ready to call it quits. Dry, hot day with an imminent gradient upwards. Uninspired I slowly powered on. The scenery of yesterday couldn’t be matched by far. A ‘humdrum’ stage, so to speak. Nice lake halfway through, though. The more I progressed towards Brno the more cyclists and roller blading people were populating the tracks. Apparently some sports event was taking place and as it so happened it was parallel to my route.
Eventually I entered Brno. Looking for an affordable hotel proved to be quite a task. I was directed to a hostel, but that was fully booked. Another I couldn’t find, and clueless I wandered Brno’s streets. A hotel, way out of the city centre was also fully booked, but the girl at the reception directed me to this place. A hostel for students and low budget travellers. Excellent. For a fraction of the cost of a hotel room I now got similar accommodations. Breakfast costs a mere €2,50 and can compete with some I had in far more expensive places! 107 kilometres on the odometer made for an easy decision, next day would be a day of rest. Cheap accommodation, but good and some writing and a town to visit are amongst of the possibilities…
From the 22nd of May until 24th of May I went in three quite easy stages from Budapest to Bratislava. And the bridge at Esztergom is also the border crossing with Slovakia. So after a mere 50 kilometres I slipped silently into another country. No moody border patrol officers, and the currency was to my surprise the much unloved, but oh so nice, Euro. A bit of a hollow victory for the European Union, I must say. One would expect the re-entry into the Euro-family more festive or celebrated. Like ‘Welcome to the European Union, we’ve missed you so much!’, or something along those lines. No such thing. Crossing the border here was like going to the grocery store for your daily shopping.
But the first stage, was pretty. The Danube can be considered to be one of the prettiest, if not the prettiest river in Europe. The part I rode along has UNESCO World Heritage written all over it. It should be preserved and cared for as an example of how great nature in all its glory can look and feel like! I already mentioned earlier the disturbing littering and polluting of this big river. Here in Slovakia people seem to be more responsible. Hardly any visible littering or waste tipping. Great to see that a nation seems to understand the value of one its greatest features. It looks promising, and other countries like Serbia, Rumania and Bulgaria should follow this example. Easier said than done, I know. But regulated waste disposal, governmentally initiated should be the first step to take. My observation was that the man in the street doesn’t seem to care where he disposes the left overs of this consumer aimed society. Also, the plastic bottles and aluminium cans as beverage containers should be looked at. Bloody waste of energy and resources they are.
Anywho, I am not a environmental activist nor do I lobby for some political movement. But riding along this beauty made me want stress the need to pass it on to the next generation in the nicest possible way. I observe and see the beauty and can’t look away from the ugly.
Riding the dikes on narrow unpaved tracks is a joy, even with the Parcycle. Hardly any climbing made for a fast ride and a long haul the first day. 107 kilometres. Stopped over at a ‘Penzion’ in a small village Radvan Dunajon. A motel like construction, great room for only €16,-. Again a newly finished feel and smell to the place. And I think, the unfamiliarity with the Euro, or what to charge for the newly finished accommodations, must have kept the price that low. Clearly some things weren’t done yet, but I could live (or sleep) with that easily. No Wi-Fi in the room, but they had at the restaurant, and the restaurant also provided for a nice juice steak and excellent beers. So, all good!
Second stage, was an attempt to go to Bratislava in one go. But that plan went out the window pretty fast. A rusty and late start, is age finally catching up on me? The tracks on the dike were nice but put up a fight. Stone slab, made the bike uncontrollably swerve out at times. Average speed dropped, and sometimes I rode to the left or to the right of the dike, on more solid tracks. But progression was slow and an upcoming cold was blasting through my nose violently. I sneezed as if I had an allergic response to the oncoming weather change. Then the Danube transformed into a straight as an arrow like canal. A steep climb onto the bordering dike, and the scenery looked like a landscape straight stolen from the Netherlands. Seeming endlessly the road stretched out into the horizon. A mental challenge, for sure. And I must say, it got a bit to me. The monotony was at first a welcome reconnection with something familiar. But as the hours went by, and the surroundings didn’t really changed that much, it seemed like the world was spinning in front of my front wheel faster than I could ride it. Like a hamster in a treadmill, exhausting and no progression to speak of… This had to stop. So I steered away from the route, looking for a place to stay. I found a room in a hotel/ restaurant in Bac. Paid more than usual for the room, but the food coming from the kitchen was tops! Apparently a real chef was behind the pots and pans. Best chicken in butter pepper sauce of this trip with boiled sweet potatoes. Tuna salad as a starter was the omen to this treasure of gastronomy. Well, it’s gonna be real sobering once I’m home and have to prepare my own meals… Maybe I will become a culinary journalist? Hahaha!
The day after, after breakfast (again a triumphant piece of ‘cuisine’), it was on to Bratislava, airport region. DHL main office is located there and so was my hotel. In theory, only a mere 32 kilometres. Well, that remained to be seen. Hard Dutch wind in the face. And with this Dutch like scenery, I almost felt at home. Bad tracks beside the dike though. Decided to do the climb up the dike, face the wind full front, but at a much better road. No potholes, puddles or mud tubs to swerve around.
Soon enough, Bratislava was within the grasp of my hands. Then it was time to whip out the ‘old’ mobile and fire up the ‘Maps.Me’ app, to direct me to where I wanted to go. Great app, but it doesn’t recognize closed gates or unnegotiable cross sections. So, long story short; I ended up at a gas station along a highway, calling for assistance from DHL. Gladly Barbora arrived in a car to direct me to the DHL main office and warehouse. I was at my wits end and desperate for guidance to the ‘mothership’.
A short ‘meet and greet’ followed with staff and personal, and an appointment was made to have a tour around the warehouse later that evening. The warehouse where shipments were prepared for a DHL Airbus that was due to take off that very night. Operations manager Pavol was in charge of this tour and he picked me up from the hotel at eight o’clock sharp. And as Filip from Belgrade did go ‘all-in’ on his knowledge of the city Belgrade, Pavol went ‘all-in’ on his knowledge of the process of the shipment handling. He extensively explained how the ‘hand like build’ conveyor belt machine operated. Inbound and outbound shipments went their separate ways on the ‘finger like’ conveyor belts. The machine had a huge computer for a ‘brain’ that directed each parcel to the right conveyor belt. The crew that fed the machine and worked around it to stack the pallets and parcels in the special designed crates for the Airbus fuselage, was multi-disciplined. Each crew member was able to perform several tasks. So, no ‘one-man-one-job’ rule here. Not a day is the same, and there’s no time for loitering either.
At the runway we went to the Airbus 636-600. I got to meet the pilots and also saw how the plain was loaded. To witness such a process this close and being at this proximity to a fully functional and operating airplane was a sheer privilege. One can only watch these sort of things on the tube, by Discovery Channel for example. But then you’re seated on the couch, and you don’t see and feel the stress that comes with such a complicated process. And although many parts of this process have the outlook of a routine, everyone involved performs their task at the highest professional level. Pretty amazing stuff!
So, that took care of the first day and part of the night in Bratislava. Next day, Barbora had arranged for a lunch at the office. An informal event where co-workers could ask questions about my journey and the Parcycle. Very enjoyable and I got a new DHL cycling shirt as a present. Nice to a have a fresh one at last, hahaha! Maybe they smelled the bad odour that came from the other one, the other day? Took a rest and a beer at the hotel, and later that afternoon Pavol arrived in a cab to take me to the city for beers and ribs. An interesting evening followed. A lawyer friend of Pavol joined us and the evening progressed into something similar as in Kolkata. Good thing to have a lawyer present though, hahaha!
The next day it was time to say goodbye to all the people at DHL Bratislava. A sticker on the hood of the Parcycle and I was good to go. Great visit and with some great memories to match!
Bratislava – Brno 26th May till 28th May
The route I had mapped out on the Garmin was a real beauty. Through nature parks, riding on tracks solely reserved for cyclists. Along the Danube I mostly followed the Eurovélo 6, now it was ‘Iron curtain route’, Eurovélo 9 or anything else but it avoided the motorways as much as possible. It was the prettiest trip through Slovakia by miles! The good weather did do a lot for the sometimes breath-taking sceneries. In Holland on such a day those tracks would be infested by cyclists and pedestrians, because we don’t have so much space for recreation, and few real nice spots of untouched nature. Here I could enjoy those sites almost alone. Some cyclists and people that went for a walk, but not in those huge quantities as in my overpopulated area. Makes a real difference and a lot more enjoyable, I tell yah!
I ended up in Hohenau, Austria close to the border. Done a respectable 97 kilometres, all things considered. A pizzeria rented out rooms at a very affordable rate. A basic room for a basic price, but the food was off course really nice. I didn’t have a pizza, that huge mega sized pizza monster from Hungary still haunts me in my night mares, but a pork steak with rice.
The next day, after breakfast, it was onto Brno. A long ride, that wearied me down. Already after 60 or so kilometres I was ready to call it quits. Dry, hot day with an imminent gradient upwards. Uninspired I slowly powered on. The scenery of yesterday couldn’t be matched by far. A ‘humdrum’ stage, so to speak. Nice lake halfway through, though. The more I progressed towards Brno the more cyclists and roller blading people were populating the tracks. Apparently some sports event was taking place and as it so happened it was parallel to my route.
Eventually I entered Brno. Looking for an affordable hotel proved to be quite a task. I was directed to a hostel, but that was fully booked. Another I couldn’t find, and clueless I wandered Brno’s streets. A hotel, way out of the city centre was also fully booked, but the girl at the reception directed me to this place. A hostel for students and low budget travellers. Excellent. For a fraction of the cost of a hotel room I now got similar accommodations. Breakfast costs a mere €2,50 and can compete with some I had in far more expensive places! 107 kilometres on the odometer made for an easy decision, next day would be a day of rest. Cheap accommodation, but good and some writing and a town to visit are amongst of the possibilities…
You're doing big distances with the Parcycle (100+). How would that translate to a normal roadbike? Anyway it must be pretty tough! Good luck and stay strong!