Special Ride Report - Vienna-Budapest Bicycle Ride, 23-29 September 2010 -By Gabi Raanan
A thoroughly International crew of 15 bikers undertook a couple of weeks ago to discover the mysteries of the path leading along the mighty Danube river from Vienna, the shining capital of Austria, through Slovakia and all the way to Budapest, Hungary’s historical capital.
The brave team comprised bikers from 4 continents, as it was composed of 8 Israelis, 5 South Africans, 1 Australian and one from the USA. Only Europe itself was not represented, perhaps because its inhabitants have already discovered their own continent’s deepest mysteries.
The distance of close to 400 Km was undertaken with the firm belief that we will be riding downhill all the time, as the path leads along the Danube and rivers usually flow downhill. This assumption was soon to be discovered to be grossly wrong.
This trip was of the “self-guided” sort, meaning that the organizers laid out the recommended paths to us, arranged for our hotels for every night, and transported our luggage from one hotel to the next every day. However, we did not have a guide riding with us and telling us where to go and when, and to my taste this is the perfect way of undertaking such a trip.
Everyone was free to ride at their own pace and route. The local organizers, Special Tours Ltd., were extremely friendly and helpful, solved every problem quickly and efficiently, transported our luggage faithfully from one hotel to the next one every day and gave us useful guidance about our trail. The hotels we were booked into were all very good, clean, and pleasant to stay in. I can only recommend Special Tours for the wonderful job they have done in organizing our trip.
We started off from the western side of Vienna towards the Danube in the city’s eastern side, on a sunshine filled morning under David’s GPS’s leadership, and soon some of us got lost in the winding paths of the Prater. However, with the aid of a couple toy walkie-talkies we got reunited soon. After burning rubber on 3 different bridges, we found the bike path and it was smooth sailing eastward on the beautiful path crossing the green riverside. Our ride was made even more interesting by tens of totally nude people basking in the sunshine alongside the bike trail. Interestingly, however, it seems that in Austria only retirement-age people can afford to bask in the sunshine in the morning; the young fashion models and rock stars were painfully missing from the nude fauna.
After a couple of misdirected efforts to continue along the suddenly ending trail, we all regrouped and penetrated into the wilderness of a thick forest. Here the paved path gave way to natural gravel and some mud, and the superiority of the XC bikes - brought along by some of us - over the rented hybrids was clearly demonstrated. This leads me to recommend that in future trips we all bring along our own bikes. Nothing beats the feeling of a familiar seat under you during the long rides. However, no type of bike could overcome the fact that we got thoroughly lost in the thick woods. Several attempts to find our way out of the jungle were foiled by the path disappearing from under our tires.
Just as we were resigning ourselves to the fact that we will have to bivouac in the woods and hope for rescuers to come to our aid, David found the way out from the forest and the relieved - but very hungry – group emerged into the sunshine and reunited with the beloved asphalt trail. Soon enough we were rewarded with a typical Austrian trailside buffet where hunger and thirst were overcome with the aid of wurst and beer.
After this welcome rest, the way was clear and straight to the destination, and our group broke down into smaller parties each traveling at its own pace. We all found the hotel in Hainburg around 5 in the afternoon, tired after some 70 Km of riding.
However, things turned a bit ugly when it was found out that there were not enough rooms reserved in the hotel “Zum Goldenen Anker” for us. Some members of the South African contingent were directed instead to a 3-rd grade bordello, and having refused to stay there were taken to a third hotel, where they spent the night sharing double beds. The dark rings under they eyes the next morning raised some silent questions about the quality of sleep they had that night. This was the only hitch throughout the entire trip.
The following days were less eventful, as we all settled down into the rhythm of breakfast, packing up, saddling the bikes and riding on towards the next day’s destination. Our leg muscles got used to the several hours of daily pedaling and our behinds got used to spending most of the day on the saddle (well, the behinds of the most of us).
On the second day we rode in the morning into Bratislava (in Slovakian), nee Pressburg (in German), nee Pozsony (in Hungarian), depending upon the rulers of the place at the time. After exploring the old city and the castle, and cheering a very good-looking bride who came to the castle to have her photos taken, we continued to Hungary and to the hotel in Dunakiliti. It is noteworthy that there are no visible signs of borders anywhere – no passport checks, no customs, no border posts, even no “welcome to …” signs. We rode from Austria into Slovakia and from Slovakia into Hungary and noticed that we are in another country only by the changing language of the street signs.
In this second day we rode 55 Km and found ourselves in a first-grade hotel and spa, where we enjoyed hot water Jacuzzi and warm indoors swimming pool. The evening was crowned by a late but very satisfying Hungarian dinner in the hotel’s newly opened neighborhood restaurant.
Next day we rode in two groups, roughly divided to the "South African early risers" and to the "lazy others", with some members of the second group changing alliance from time to time. This continued in the same fashion till the end of the trip. We finished in Gyor, a relatively big town, after having pedaled again some 55 Km, and just beat the rain which started to pour down.
By the way, a few days after we passed near Gyor, the Alumina pond’s dam burst and Hungary’s worst ecological disaster took place very close to our riding path. We are lucky it happened after we were there, not before.
The forecast for the next day was of a heavy rainstorm, and we were prepared to take the train to the next destination, but in the morning it turned out that the eye of the storm has already passed us. Here we split again into two groups – those who took the train and those who braved the elements and rode their bikes. In the end, the riders got to Tata, the next destination, completely dry while the trainees got soaked on the way to the railway station. Heavenly justice, I call that. This day’s ride took us for a total of 60 Km.
It was on the 5th day, riding from Tata to Esztergom, when we discovered that the Danube does not always flow downhill. Or maybe we did not follow the Danube’s trail too closely. This was a day with some serious mountain climbing. However, we all made it - sooner or later – in one piece and good spirits to Esztergom, which houses Europe’s second largest Basilica with an enormous dome on its top. This place has been throughout the centuries – and still is – Hungary’s spiritual and Catholic religious center. It was in the Cathedral in Esztergom where most of the Hungarian kings were crowned by the Church’s representative.
Under the Basilica there is a maze of underground tunnels and a domed cellar, which has mostly been converted into a photo and arts exhibition and more interesting for us, into a very good restaurant. This was the destination of our outing that evening, and a good meal was had indeed.
Next day was a very short ride – from Esztergom to Visegrad, which lies smack on the Danube’s bend. The huge river leaves here its eastwardly direction and turns sharply to the south, crossing Budapest further downstream and continuing into Serbia, and again eastward through Rumania into the Black Sea. After crossing the Danube twice on the ferry, we landed in Visegrad, after a meager 24 Km ride. To make up for the lack of exercise, we climbed up via a forest path to the historic citadel overseeing the Danube Bend. The climb definitely made up for the missing exercise on that day. Having been the instigator of this climb, I could feel the silent curses aimed at myself throughout the trip. However, arriving at the top of the hill, the effort proved to be worthwhile, owing to the magnificent view of the Danube Bend and to the interesting exhibition inside the medieval Citadel.
The 7th day was the last riding day, 64 Km to Budapest. In its second half, after customarily taking the wrong turn, we found the right one and we rode through maybe the most beautiful scenery of the entire trip. The path winds through a dense forest alongside the Danube, from Szentendre all the way to Budapest. Szentendre is a very picturesque little artist’s town, abundant with small art galleries and small restaurants (with very slow service). Here is the place where for the first time in 32 years of marriage I hit bulls’ eye with the presents I bought for my left-behind-at-home wife.
At the entrance to Budapest David’s GPS again proved the superiority of machine over man. At the turn to a small bridge leading to the Shipyards Island it was been rudely overruled by myself, the native who knows better. Consequently we rode a long ways alongside a dangerously bustling highway on a 40 cm wide sidewalk, strewn with electric poles who took half of the 40 cm away. Having (barely) survived this section, we finally found the correct bridge and triumphantly rode through Margit Island and the famous Chain Bridge into Pest, where the GPS, the faith in whom having been reaffirmed, led us directly to our hotel. Needless to say, the South African contingent has long been there, awaiting our arrival.
That evening we all went to have a farewell dinner at Budapest’s most famous ethnic Hungarian restaurant, the Matyas Pince (King Matthias’ cellar). The two Special Tours people, Annamaria and Ferenc, were invited along, to show our appreciation of the great job they have done in organizing all the details of our trip. We had not only a very good dinner, but a show of authentic Hungarian folk dancing and Gypsy music too.
Next morning we all separated – some of us had to leave in the morning, others had a couple of days left to tour Budapest, and the Israeli contingent caught a late night flight home. This was a free day where everybody went wherever they wanted. I personally visited the apartment where I spent my first 9 years of my life. I found it locked and the sign “for sale” still perched on its window, just the way it was 2 years ago when I took my family on a “roots” trip. I also visited the school to where I went as a child, and the photos of both locations are posted on the Picasa album, under the caption “Day 8”. It was an emotional visit for me; I guess it’s a sign of age. As a child I never felt deep emotions towards school; but perhaps that is just me.
This was the story of a great trip which – if I am to believe what I was told – all of us enjoyed. We rode through beautiful, pastoral landscape and through quiet and small villages, in big cities and alongside rural roads, and on dedicated bicycle paths perched on the Danube's dike. We were blessed with good weather. We breathed a taste of the rich Central European culture and tasted the excellent Hungarian food. The trip brought together people from various countries and backgrounds and this made it even more interesting and unique for all of us. And nobody ran into a lamppost, nobody broke a leg or a shoulder, nobody's bike broke down seriously, and not even one piece of luggage was lost. It definitely left a taste for more. I am already beginning to contemplate where to go to next year.
Photos I took during the trip were uploaded to Picasa, broken into 8 albums, corresponding with the 8 days we spent riding and sightseeing. The link to the albums is:
http://picasaweb.google.com/118111417707761891552.
And all participants of the trip were made "contributors", meaning they can upload their own photos into the same albums, in order to generate one gigantic album, recording everyone's photographic impressions.
Raanana, June 13th, 2010
Special Comment from David Lewis: Thank you Gabi for a comprehensive, interesting and well-written report (readers
may be forgiven for believing English to be your mother-tongue!). Thank you for conceiving the idea of the Ride, for all your research, for the
meticulous and detailed planning, for bringing it to fruition, and translating into an unforgettable biking experience for us all.
©
