Budapest. Rest day. 27 June.

Slept in - breakfast at 8.30 in hotel. At ten am joined with Janice, Jos and Karen to go on the hop on hop off sightseeing bus. We went through over to Buda and right up the hill to the citadel, from where there were great views over Buda and Pest. There was a commentary all along the journey, and so all the interesting buildings and statues were pointed out. A number of souvenir stalls around the tourist places. Down back over the river into Pest we wandered around the shopping area, then visited the church (St. Stephens) - another Baroque cathedral. Lunch was a smorgasbord of Hungarian food. Then the boys returned to the hotel and the girls walked to the famous Gellert thermal baths. There we bathed for a while in the different temperature pools. Afterwards we walked back through the market, a very clean and tidy place with foodstuffs on the ground floor and souvenirs on the upper level.

We then headed back to the hotel, but were soon hit with heavy rain as a thunderstorm passed over. So we passed the time at a coffee shop until it passed, then caught the tram back to the hotel. Dined at a Lenanese restaurant with Janice, Karen, Stewart and Garis. Back to finish packing to be ready for an early start tomorrow. Budapest is a city undergoing many makeovers and in another ten years or so will be a beautiful city. There are many lovely buildings from the mid-late nineteenth century showing signs of wear after years of communist rule. There is quite a lot of graffiti around. Unfortunately we did not get to see any of the 233 museums!
It was 32 degrees until the rain fell, when it dropped to 27.

Esztergom to Budapest. 26 June.

The day dawned bright and sunny. We were up at 6 to pack the tent and have breakfast at 7. Phoned Matthew at home before breakfast, he is on holiday for a few days. It was great to talk to him after six weeks. Left camp about 7.30 and headed for the hills. The day started with a short (less than 1 k) trip through town and then a 15km hill climbing 500m. It was through open forest on a narrow sealed road and was followed by gradual but fast descent over 20ks through villages and crop fields.

Lunch was at 35ks, which we reached at 9.10am!! After lunch -at brunch time- we relaxed and waited on all the others to arrive. About 11am we headed off in two groups with a leader each. It was 24kms to the hotel from lunch, and we went with Olivier. There were a good number of potholes on the roads into Budapest - it has been quite noticeable since leaving Western Europe that the condition of the roads is much poorer.

We were on and off the bike path, through the traffic, and over the Danube into Pest. Budapest is comprised of Buda on one side of the Danube, and Pest on the other. We are staying in the Mecure Hotel, as tomorrow is a rest day. Once showered and organized, tent hung up to dry, we headed for the laundromat. It was a half hour walk, and once we dropped off the laundry we found others from our tour having a beer at a cafe around the corner so joined them. Well deserved with the temperature still at 35 degrees!

The laundromat charge was 2500HUFs, or $22NZ. Some things are not cheap! We usually do washing at camps or in the hotel and string a line across the room but decided the clothes needed a proper clean this time. We have reached the halfway stage of the trip. Almost 2000ks on the clock, and at the half way stage in days. On Saturday we leave the Danube. We returned to the hotel for a rest before meeting a group of others in the lobby at 7. Walked to a restaurant about 500m away for dinner. The menu was in both Hungarian and English, and the waiter was very helpful as he spoke English also. We had a selection of Hungarian foods, pork loin, steaks, goulash, and they were all very delicious. Payment could be made in Hungarian florins or Euros. It was a farewell dinner for Charles and Leslie, as they finish their ride now and return to South Africa.

Returned to the hotel at 10pm and ready for bed. We are all very early nighters due to being up so early in the mornings. It was still very warm outside. Travels today were only 56ks in 2 hours 52, ave. 19.4.

Györ to Esztergom. 25 June.

The morning dawned bright and clear. We breakfasted and left camp at 7.30am with Jos, Carl and Rita. The route was through the industrial area of the city, and Olivier, our mechanic, had been through the day previously and flagged the route with pink tape. After the taped route finished we carried on and at a roundabout turned left. There were no road signs anywhere. So we travelled on and crossed a new railway line and eventually hit the end of the tarseal. We asked the chaps doing the road works which way to go. One pointed ahead, the other back the way we had come. It was impossible to have any type of discussion with them. So we retraced the last 2.5ks to the roundabout and turned right instead of left. Eventually we found a sign which informed us we were on the correct route, so we carried on to lunch at Tata.

Once outside the city, the countryside opened out to rolling corn/wheat/barley fields and fields of sunflowers. About 9.30 we stopped for a drink at Babolna, coke being the best solution. From there it was on roads, increasingly picturesque. There were some rough patches on the roads, bit generally good and the traffic was very considerate. The country was becoming obviously drier and hotter. At morning tea time it was 25 degrees, rising to 37 this afternoon.

Lunch was at 55ks at Tata. The bread was stale, only tuna filling which did not appeal to John. From there we headed for Szomod, climbing a 200m hill towards a hilltop winery. At the bottom of the hill were two lots of army sentries, as there was obviously an army exercise in the nearby bush. We heard machine guns and small arms fire. We rode with another group to camp, and after a steep descent on a somewhat rough road stopped for an iced coffee at Labatlan. There appears to be some problems with the charging regime. Some paid 400HUFs (Hungarian florins) - about $1.60, for their iced coffees. John paid 450 for two- so they were really tasty. From there it was a quick ride on a well sealed bike path to camp at Esztergon.

The Danube runs by the camp and forms the border between Hungary and Slovakia. It is an open border. Once camp was set up we had a very refreshing swim in the free camp pool. Then a group of us walked into town. Had a stop at a supermarket, then at a cafe for a cold Austrian beer. The city is reasonably neat and tidy, there were flowers in the gardens and it was busy with shoppers. Later, we walked up a short hill to the castle and the Cathedral sitting at the top of the hill overlooking the Danube and the city, with views into Slovakia.

It is the main Catholic Cathedral in Hungary, and is a beautiful building dating from 1862. While we were there someone was playing the organ, a magnificent sound from a large organ. The sound filled the very large dome. There were frescoes on the walls of the church. Back to camp for dinner at 7.30. We were served a tasty pasta with plives and lots of veges. After dinner John cleaned the bikes. A very humid evening, not a breath of wind. Still 30 degrees at ten pm. Through our tent door we have a view of the Cathedral, all lit up with lights. Around 12.30am we woke up. There were a few flashes of lightning, then very strong wind. The storm came on very quckly, with the thunder and lightning intensifying before the wind dropped and the rain started. Thanks to John's diligence in banging in the tent pegs every night we were safe and snug.

Distance covered was 112ks in 5hr 20mins. Ave. 21.1km per hour. We are half way through our trip in days, and tomorrow will reach the half way point in miles.

Bratislava to Györ, Hungary. 24 June.

Up and packed for breakfast on the top deck of the botel. It was a cooked breakfast so we were well filled by the time we left. Departed 7.30am with Jos. Rode back over the Danube and turned left to head east. We were riding along the stopbank for most of the time. The Danube had been dammed in 1992 in this area and there were lovely wide well-paved stopbanks to ride on. There was evidence of the pre-flood trees, they poked out above the river. We rode past poplar and willow trees along the sides, no houses of places of note. Not a lot of houses when leaving the city and very few places along the way.

After 20ks we were joined by the tandem ridden by Rita and Karl, and Jaco, Jurg, Terry and Jim. We made great progress travellling down the river on flat, well-sealed track with a tail wind. There were very long straights of up to 10ks on length. . We reached the lunch stop at the 50k mark at 9.50am. Teresa had only just arrived to prepare lunch - it was more like morning tea time. After lunch we travelled the last few kms to the border. Again, crossing the border from Slovakia into Hungary was a non-event. We cycled through the posts but there was noone there to check anything.

After that we turned and followed a sign for Györ which led to a stopbanks and a few kilometers riding in thick gravel in the hot sun on top of a stopbank. After a while we turned off the stopbank and went into a town. We managed to get the young lady who was cycling past to show us where we were and so we could ascertain where we wanted to go. We headed off to Györ along roads through small towns. When we reached Györ we had a few stops while people sorted out directions. It was a bit of an adventure to find the camp but we finally arrived about 1pm. Tents up we braved the showers: the amenities look like they were built in Soviet style in the 1950s and nothing has been done since. So the doors do not close, tiles are cracked, wiring exposed, showers work if you hold the hose nozzle all the time ... But there was water and it was warm! In fact the campsite was appalling. We should not have to stay in such conditions, but we are told that it is an adventure trip.

There was a lovely swimming pool but they charged €4 ($8) for a swim. We sat in a big group and had a cold beer at the camp store. It was around 37 degrees. Watched others turn up- some up to 3 hours later. It had been lovely and sunny all day, but around 4.30 the clouds started to appear. At 5.15 there was thunder and lightening, then the rain started to fall. After about an hour it had all cleared up again, but the temperate had dropped to 24 degrees, so will be much more pleasant for sleeping. Instructions for tomorrow were given, then dinner time. After dinner we talked for a while, but by 8.30pm people were heading for bed.

We travelled 87ks in 3 hours 48, average speed was 22.8.

Vienna to Bratislavia. 23 June.

We were up and ready to go early but had to wait till the bike shop opened at 8.30 so we could get a couple of new tyres. John's new Armadillo on the front wheel had a bulge which started appearing 10ks out from Vienna. So we were late to leave Vienna waiting for the shop to open.We crossed back to the northern side of the Danube and headed east. We did not realize that the first few kms were through a FKK area - Austrian nudist area. So there were many specimens to see on the way, though we kept our eyes on the road. Many others in the group made the same mistake and travelled through the FKK area!

The major part of today was on straight paved canal sides. Some of the surfaces were a bit rough so Liz's bell started ringing spontaneously quite frequently. It rings whenever the surfaces get a bit rough so cobblestones and such uneven surfaces set it ringing! The long straight stretches were easy cycling but VERY long and straight. We were following the northern stopbank which in several places was up to two kms away from the actual river through scrubby forested areas. There was no-one else in sight for most of the way.

We stopped for a coffee at Stopfenreuth, just south of Hainberg, the last large town before the border in Austria. Soon after we crossed a bridge nearly two kms long over the Danube and rode the last 14ks to the border between Austria and Slovakia. There were no checks at all at the border and we cycled straight through. There was definitely a different -harsher - look to the buildings as we approached the border. Even the dogs seemed to be more aggressive! In the distance we could see Bratislava, lots of Soviet style apartment blocks.

Lunch was waiting just inside Slovakia. It was then a short 5km ride to the hotel in the capital Bratislavia. We crossed the Danube again on the special cycle lane on the bridge, then turned left for a short distance to reach our botel. A botel is a boat hotel, so we are tonight sleeping on the Danube. It was very warm - 37 degrees in the centre of town. After a shower we went into town with some of the others. Wandered around the streets looking at the old buildings, then stopped for a beer. So many tourist groups in town, and people sitting outside having a drink. The old part of town was late 18th century traditional. Romantic-style buildings. They were all in good repair and there were many expensive brand shops.

Returned to the botel, and we had briefing for tomorrow at 6.30 before all walking into the town to go to a local restaurant for dinner. The soup was beans, sausage and pasta, in a dark saucy brew. Mains were either crumbed chicken or crumbed schnitzel. We walked home and were in bed after a cold shower to cool down by 10 pm. It was still over 30 degrees outside.

Today was a short ride. We covered 73kms in 3hr 33 mins, ave. 20.5.

Vienna. Rest day. 22 June.

We woke to a lovely sunny day. We are in Vienna! After a hotel breakfast on coffee and croissants we left in a group of 15 to catch the underground to St Stephens Platz. There we attended the Mass at St Stephens Cathedral with the 42 person choir singing in Latin. It was a unusual church - a Gothic church with later Baroque additions, it had some large white modern sails hanging all around the altar, presumably for acoustic purposes. There was a priest celebrating the Mass, with one assistant priest. Lots of incense, the priest chanted the normally spoken Eucharistic prayer.

After Mass we went along the main pedestrian street towards town. The city was full of thousands of football supporters dressed in Spanish or Italian colours for the forthcoming match at night. Great whistle blowing, singing, chanting and processing. Police teams were at every corner.

We had lunch at a Cade with lovely big umbrellas under which we could all sit. Lunch in France, Germany and Austria is not our usual light snack of a panini or similar but a full course main. There is no such thing as free water on the table, you have to pay for everything! At tourist prices!

After lunch we all went our separate ways. The temperature was 28 degrees and climbing. It was busy atmosphere, and many of the shops had opened in the afternoon especially because the soccer fans were on town. So it was much busier than usual. We caught the underground unit back to the hotel mid- afternoon to have a rest and change into our best gear - which for campers with limited luggage capacity was not high society garb! Together with Maureen and Glenn, Fred, George, and Monique we caught the underground again and went to dinner at the Johann Strauss Restaurant. It was a lovely three course meal; white asparagus soup or beef broth, salmon or steak, and a desert.

Then we all crossed the road to the concert hall for a concert of Strauss and Mozart music. There were galloping gallops, prancing polkas, many waltzes and a selection of arias by Mozart and dancing to Strauss music. It was performed by at 13 person orchestra, and was a very pleasant, enjoyable concert. Afterwards we caught the two subway lines back to our hotel and wrote up the days instructions for tomorrow. It was well past our usual bedtime when we went to bed at 11pm.

Emmersdorf to Vienna. 21 June.

An early start as there was open breakfast and lunch so we could eat whenever we wanted to instead of waiting for 7.30am. People left camp from 6am, we were up and away at 6.45. Breakfast was muesli, lunch ingredients were out unrefrigerated all night - so being shrimp salad and such most people did not take any.

The first 30ks of the trip was through little villages. It was fairly quiet as was Saturday morning. The villages were really quaint; cobblestone roads which are not the easiest to ride on. There were lots of vineyards on the hillsides. Many religious memorials all along the route. Houses were well-kept with lovely shrub gardens. It was getting warmer as the day went on with the temperature at 32 degrees when we arrived in Vienna.

We stopped at 35ks in Korneuburg, where we had morning tea with Jim, Don, Terry and Jako. We had a delicious apple strudel with our coffee. John and I set off while Terry mended another puncture. It was a little tricky getting out of Korneuburg as some signs had been covered up by road work signs. We rode along the river stop bank for 57ks from camp where we crossed the river to the south side over a large hydroelectric dam. Lunch was at Tulln, 20ks further on. We wandered into the town and brought some pastries which we ate under a tree beside the river. There was a big screen set up on the edge of the river and lots of tiered seating on the riverbank for the soccer games this weekend. Saturday is Holland playing Russia and tomorrow is Italy and Spain - both games in Vienna!

After lunch we carried on along the side of the river right into the centre of Vienna. We crossed the river again to the north side at Tulln and from there the route was mostly flat, straight, wide and lovely to ride on. There were some interesting sights to see, including fishers, in-line skaters and many nude sunbathers. There is an island in the Danube for the last 10km the which we crossed and rode. It was very warm by this time.

We finally found the bridge we needed to cross over on and rode off the island, straight down the road to the hotel. When we arrived we heard that Don, the Canadian with whom we had had morning tea, had fallen off his bike around lunchtime and broken his collarbone. We had been wondering why his cycling group had not caught us up. So Don is no. 3 to be going home, hopefully the last.

The hotel rooms are built like a ship cabin with a separate room for the toilet, a sink for the electric jug, and a separate shower and bath. There are a number of strange design flaws, such as the shower doors hanging round holes for handles and not closing together - so the water gets out! However it was a large room and very quiet. There is a washing machine available so a queue formed very quickly. Drying was a bit tricky but we had the overnight shift on the clothes aired and so the clothes were dry by morning.

It continued to get warmer through the afternoon. At around seven pm a large group of us (16) went a 100 metres down the road to an Italian beer garden where we had a lovely Italian meal. Pizza, pasta, etc. We were back in the hotel at ten, though a few stayed to watch the surprise 3-1 victory by Russia over Holland.

So we have cycled into Vienna! We covered 117kms in 5 hours 57 - nearly 6 hours. Ave 19.6.