slovakia bike tour

Komárom to Nagymaros

October 7, 2019 by admin

I woke up at 7:30 am, so I don’t think Budapest is gonna happen. I decided to explore Komárom and Komárno instead of pushing hard to make it to Hungary’s capital.

Komárom and Komárno are on either side of the Danube, one in Slovakia and the other in Hungary. Komárno is the bigger city and sits on the Slovakian side. Both towns have interesting histories as shifting borders for various empires, kingdoms, and countries. Komárom was the last stand in Hungary’s 1848 uprising.

I visited Fort Monostor, a sort of Hungarian Alamo, where the last stand…stood. Fort Monostor has a dark history too. It was taken by the Nazis and used as a concentration camp for the Roma.

From Fort Monostor it was off to the other side of the river back into Slovakia. I spent a good 40 minutes tooling around in Komárno where I found a redeveloped old-town. Someone must have put some serious dough into this square. There are restored buildings, statues of local historical figures like Maria Theresa, hotels, and restaurants.

Just outside the square, I met two American bike tourers from DC on my way out of Komarno. It is nice to stop and talk with other cyclists as I get lonely after a few days of not crossing paths with another English speaker.

Soon after Komarno, there is this really cool viewpoint. It’s a wood-paneled stand-alone spiral staircase with a fitness park at its base. You have to go up to the top of this tower where you’ll get panoramic views of the Danube.

Today’s ride was a mix of great paths, more sand, a scary highway called The 11, and a delightful ferry ride. I got a beer, peanuts, and some cookies while I waited for the ferry. The cookies were good as hell and the Czech IPA hit the spot.

There was a split second here where I thought I’d have to swim across
Ferry snacks

After the ferry, there was still 15km to the campsite. This was some of the best riding so far on the trip. All downhill, a bike-only path, along the water, a fitness park, deep greens and blues, good looking people everywhere, and a clear line of sight up to the imposing Visegrád Castle (the former summer residence of King Matthias). I’ve taken to calling Hungary, Hungary the Beautiful. The country has amazing natural beauty.

Some of my family members are Hungarian, so it has been a little weird seeing people who look vaguely like my relatives. I saw one kid today who I swore was a carbon copy of my little sister at 10 years old. I’ve seen about five or six versions of my grandpa too, despite him being Transylvanian.

One last note from today: there is a group of German ladies I’ve been trading places with since yesterday. I caught up to them today while they were picking fruit and veg along the side of the trail. They kindly picked me some baby corn, a fruit I don’t remember the name of, and some apples. Delicious!

After I set up camp, I ventured back along the path to find some dinner. I ordered a veg burger from a kiosk and to my surprise “veg burger” meant a huge slab of grilled cheese in place of a patty. I must admit, it was tasty.

Today’s Miscellany

Bridge views of Esztergom Basilica as I crossed back into Hungary

Esztergom Basilica is probably worth visiting. I was over-eager to finish the day’s ride so I skipped it and missed out

Pullup challenge #1
Pullup challenge #2

Bratislava to Komárom

October 6, 2019 by admin

This marks my first day in Hungary. The ride out of Slovakia was frustrating despite its gorgeous scenery. I pedaled past adolescent sunflowers eager to outcompete each other for the sun’s rays like newborn puppies blindly in search of a teat. The roads were so full of sand and gravel though that I couldn’t look away from them to admire the sunflowers’ glow for more than a just couple of seconds at a time.

Perhaps the prettiest invasive species on the planet apart from people

I’m spending tonight at a campsite here in Komárom called Hotel Thermal on the recommendation of my Polish friend, Simon. Thermal baths included in the price of admission.

Once I checked in and set up camp, I headed straight for the baths to relax. Today’s sandy ride was especially hard on my knees.

After returning shivering from the baths to my tent, I met a nice family from Belgium who offered me a chair in which to read and a beer to drink. Both of which I gladly accepted.

Tomorrow it’s on to Budapest (I hope), one of my favorite cities.

“Sunflower fields forever.” – John Lennon, first draft

Today’s Miscellany

America’s cultural contribution to this part of Slovakia is the name of a 24-hour roadside strip joint called the Hollywood Club.

Bratislava Continued

October 5, 2019 by admin

Our weekend in Bratislava was wonderful. Bratislava is a well-kept secret to most Americans. Anyone going to Vienna should consider at least a couple of days here in Slovakia’s capital. It’s a day’s bike ride and an hour or so bus or train ride from Vienna.

Bratislava is home to plenty of good vegan food, cheap local beer, a fantastic selection of local wines for less than two euros per glass, a depressing but “nice” American styled mall, a charming old town, and Soviet-era buildings still in use.

Abby and I stayed at the Marrol’s Boutique Hotel. This is a great place to stay in Bratislava because it is walking distance to anything you’d want to do here on a 4 day trip. Plus it has a more than satisfactory hotel breakfast replete with veggies, sweets, unlimited espresso drinks, filter coffee, and the like.

I’m not one to shop except out of necessity, but even I must admit that Bratislava has a nice assortment of boutique stores with quality clothes at unbeatable prices. I picked up a linen shirt and fall jacket.

Just past the Aupark mall lays the city’s collection of dense soviet prefabbed housing. They’re called panelaks and they are bleak.

This neighborhood is among densest in Eastern Europe. It has thousands of units tucked beneath and along the freeway leading into the city center and feels more like public storage for humans than a neighborhood. This is no knock on the people who still live here. Mistakes in urban planning are hard to reverse. One generation’s fuck up can keep screwing people long after the builders die.

Abby and I had so much fun in Bratislava that we realized she needs to visit me in Budapest next weekend too. We bit the bullet and bought her plane ticket.

Bratislava

October 4, 2019 by admin

Abby arrives in Bratislava in just a few hours. In the meantime, I’m relaxing in the only open cafe here, Káva. Today’s a bank holiday and Slovakia is taking it very seriously, as they should.

I’m sitting here re-reading Letters to a Young Contrarian and Hitchens is urging me “travel as much as (I) can.” I am, I promise. The more I travel the farther I want to go. And with this thought, I took his advice and travelled across the street to a French-style bakery called Le Miam.

I stumbled into the best almond croissant I’ve ever tasted. The bakers at Le Miam are dedicated professionals, croissant craftsmen.

I finished Letters and my croissant then walked over to a bus station to wait for Abby, the wrong bus station as it turned out. On the way, I stopped to have some fun on a swingset. Pure enjoyment. What is it about whooshing back and forth and up and down that’s so fun?

Vienna to Bratislava

October 3, 2019 by admin

I awoke at 6:48 am to the loud sound of a Serbian guy snoring in the bunk across from me. But it wasn’t until 9 am that I’d managed to pack up, eat the hostel breakfast, and start riding.

Today’s ride was pretty boring. The normal route was under maintenance so there was a large detour that took me on some busy roads past endless and uninspiring wheatfields. The highlight of the ride was meeting an Australian family that was on a day trip from Vienna to Bratislava. The dad and I rode together for 3km or so.

Ok, “uninspiring” might have been a little harsh

He told me how he’d spent four years straight traveling overland around the world. He saved up as a bartender (he even lived above the bar) in London for a year, then off he went for the next four to slow travel and work. He talked about being in Ireland for the end of The Troubles and having experienced other world events at a personal scale.

Returning to the humdrum of one place after four years on the move must have been quite the shock. I didn’t get to ask him about it though because he decided to hang back with his family – fair enough – and I zoomed onward toward city center to find a room.

A warning to riders who are sensitive to loud noises: the way into Bratislava is, mercifully, separate from cars but holy shit is it loud.

I was hungry as hell so I fired up my HappyCow app as soon as I made it into Bratislava. Lucky me, a spot with rave reviews called Vegan Kiosk was nearby. I had the Tempeh Burger. Yuhm. I ended up back there for dinner too and had the Classic Cheeseburger, and a slice of their sweet bread. Yuhuhm. This place gets 10/10 from me. I recommend their Tempeh Burger without reservation but I’d avoid the panini, it does not compare to the other items on the menu.

Between meals, I found a craft beer pub where I thought I’d sit down for a pint and search the internet for a room. €23 and a couple hours later I had made four Slovakian friends and drank a lot of really good Eastern European beer. One of the two couples were into cycling. The guy was a bike messenger and the woman a photographer. They suggested my next tour should be around the Baltic Sea. I’m in!

I rode with this couple for a few minutes toward my hostel then said goodbye. My first night in Bratislava was a success.