Things rarely go as planned.
Koszeg to Sopron
A warm, damp morning greeted us today as we set out for Balf and the thermal baths. The plan was to go to Balf today and take a rest day tomorrow and enjoy the healing waters. Things started out fine as we rode through farmland interspersed with forest and naure preseves. In the small village of Sopronhorpacs we decided to have lunch in a small park at the crossroads of town. After lunch the heat was on and and the wind was a bit pesty as we made our way towards Balf. Just befoe Rojtokmuzsaj John stopped to adust his gears and along came Richard from the Netherlands. He started his trip in Dbrovnak and is heading home. We chatted about bike adventures, exchanged contact info and then parted ways. Maybe we will cacth up with him when we reach the Netherlands. We cruised on stopping several times in what shade we could find to keep filling up on water. When we reached Balf we checked out the camping place and didn't think we could spend a whole day in this small village, and !
the map showed thermal baths and camping in Sopron only 8 km's away, so we headed there. Sopron is a much bigger town and we had wanted to miss it but we figured hey we can navigate it. Hah. After getting lost trying to find the info center we chanced upon Thomas who drew us a map of how to get to the campground about 5 km's out of town. Even though there was constuction blocking his route, we managed to find our way to the cmpground only to find it closed. Of course it was up a hill. We had spotted a Gasthaus on the way up and figured we would book in there for 2 nights. Instead John spotted a zimmer so we booked in there instead. We were told that there were a couple of mormom missionaries from Alaska staying there also and just before we were going to eat they stopped by and invited us over for dinner. We spent a wonderful evening exchanging travel stories with Jamie and Janelle.
Kms 68.6
Time 4:45:19
Avg 14.4
Max 46.1
Total 653.7
Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Monday, May 21, 2007
21 May 2007
We said our final farewell to Eva and her husband, ate our breakfast on their porch and then headed out of Oriszentpeter yet again. After the hill out of town, it was pretty smooth sailing for quite a few kms through farm fields and forest.
After riding for a while without much of a break, John was getting hungry, so we detoured into Kormend and happened upon a Konditerei (quickly becoming our favorite German word - cake shop) where we enjoyed 3 pieces of delicious bakery and a cappacino. From there we continued north taking many small breaks but not really an official lunch break. We stopped in Jak and looked at a large church with some beautiful stonework on the doorway.
We could see the much higher hills of Austria on our left and John kept singing the "Sound of Music". We found ourselves confused as we followed the bike route to Narda at one point and were suddenly facing those big hills of Austria. We knew that going in that direction couldn't be correct. We used our map to ask a Hungarian gentleman on a bike and he pointed us to the right. We started down that road which soon became very narrow and eventually became a gravel path through a small gorge. Needless to say, at this point we weren't sure where were. We stopped for a snack and could hear the hum of insects filling the air. After about 2 kms we came to a paved road, took another right and we on our way to Narda.
The heat and sun were taking their toll on us at this point. We stopped at a bar in Narda to buy some potato chips. The joint was hoppin' for a Monday afternoon. We spoke with one character in German as well as we could and would have liked to stay for a beer and more merriment, but a beer would have put an end to our riding for the day, so we pressed on.
We were really doggin' by the time we arrived in Bozsk, the town with the first camping opportunity of the day according to our map. We probably would have spent the night there if we would have seen a sign for a campground, but we didn't and we didn't have the energy to look on. We both felt that we could make the 13 kms to Koszeg for the next campground. So after a snack and some cold water from the town well pump (we've finally caught on that just about every town has a blue pump with nice, cold water somewhere - you just have to spot it) we climbed the hill out of town and had to stop at the top because Marie had a flat rear tire. John fixed it quickly in the heat and found a thumbtack stuck in it. Bad timing since we were both tired and wanted to get the last 13 kms done with.
Shortly afterwards we stopped at a site with some Roman ruins. It was a section of the aqueduct they built in 41 A.D. It was interesting to read about the engineering it took for this project. There were some hills in this last stretch that seemed to revive both of us a bit. The flat stretches seem to tread heavily on us.
As we got into Koszeg we searched for the campground sign but didn't see one. We asked a man on the street in German and he said there wasn't one in town. We asked about the visitor info center and he directed us to the city center. It was now 4:45 and we figured it was already closed, but it was our only thought at the time. As we were riding through the town square John spotted a bike shop and said we should ask them if they knew about camping. The sales guy didn't but he asked the guy in the back, he came out with a bike and gave us an escort to the campground which was only about .5 kms from the bike shop. What service!
The campground was behind a penzio, which is sort of like a hotel. They have many different room rental types here such as zimmers, penzios and apartments. We don't really know the difference yet, but I'm sure that by the end of the trip we will have experienced them all.
We set up and showered. At one of the previous campgrounds we saw that they had a clothes spinner. We figured this would be perfect for us since we usually wear our riding clothes into the shower, soap them up, rinse and wring them and then hang them from the bikes to dry if the sun is still out. There was a wringer here and it worked great. The clothes were dry in no time. We could cook here in their small kitchen, so our plan was to walk back into town and get some chicken to add to our noodles. Well, unless you are at a fairly large supermarket, salami is really your only meat choice. The store closest to the campground was fairly small, so we would again enjoy Hungary's official meat for dinner.
After dinner we walked back into town to have a look at this classic European town. There was a large square with a very tall church on one end. All of the buildings were attached to each other and the little, narrow lanes were textbook Europe.
Kms 95.85
Time 5:23:00
Avg 17.2
Odometer 585
After riding for a while without much of a break, John was getting hungry, so we detoured into Kormend and happened upon a Konditerei (quickly becoming our favorite German word - cake shop) where we enjoyed 3 pieces of delicious bakery and a cappacino. From there we continued north taking many small breaks but not really an official lunch break. We stopped in Jak and looked at a large church with some beautiful stonework on the doorway.
We could see the much higher hills of Austria on our left and John kept singing the "Sound of Music". We found ourselves confused as we followed the bike route to Narda at one point and were suddenly facing those big hills of Austria. We knew that going in that direction couldn't be correct. We used our map to ask a Hungarian gentleman on a bike and he pointed us to the right. We started down that road which soon became very narrow and eventually became a gravel path through a small gorge. Needless to say, at this point we weren't sure where were. We stopped for a snack and could hear the hum of insects filling the air. After about 2 kms we came to a paved road, took another right and we on our way to Narda.
The heat and sun were taking their toll on us at this point. We stopped at a bar in Narda to buy some potato chips. The joint was hoppin' for a Monday afternoon. We spoke with one character in German as well as we could and would have liked to stay for a beer and more merriment, but a beer would have put an end to our riding for the day, so we pressed on.
We were really doggin' by the time we arrived in Bozsk, the town with the first camping opportunity of the day according to our map. We probably would have spent the night there if we would have seen a sign for a campground, but we didn't and we didn't have the energy to look on. We both felt that we could make the 13 kms to Koszeg for the next campground. So after a snack and some cold water from the town well pump (we've finally caught on that just about every town has a blue pump with nice, cold water somewhere - you just have to spot it) we climbed the hill out of town and had to stop at the top because Marie had a flat rear tire. John fixed it quickly in the heat and found a thumbtack stuck in it. Bad timing since we were both tired and wanted to get the last 13 kms done with.
Shortly afterwards we stopped at a site with some Roman ruins. It was a section of the aqueduct they built in 41 A.D. It was interesting to read about the engineering it took for this project. There were some hills in this last stretch that seemed to revive both of us a bit. The flat stretches seem to tread heavily on us.
As we got into Koszeg we searched for the campground sign but didn't see one. We asked a man on the street in German and he said there wasn't one in town. We asked about the visitor info center and he directed us to the city center. It was now 4:45 and we figured it was already closed, but it was our only thought at the time. As we were riding through the town square John spotted a bike shop and said we should ask them if they knew about camping. The sales guy didn't but he asked the guy in the back, he came out with a bike and gave us an escort to the campground which was only about .5 kms from the bike shop. What service!
The campground was behind a penzio, which is sort of like a hotel. They have many different room rental types here such as zimmers, penzios and apartments. We don't really know the difference yet, but I'm sure that by the end of the trip we will have experienced them all.
We set up and showered. At one of the previous campgrounds we saw that they had a clothes spinner. We figured this would be perfect for us since we usually wear our riding clothes into the shower, soap them up, rinse and wring them and then hang them from the bikes to dry if the sun is still out. There was a wringer here and it worked great. The clothes were dry in no time. We could cook here in their small kitchen, so our plan was to walk back into town and get some chicken to add to our noodles. Well, unless you are at a fairly large supermarket, salami is really your only meat choice. The store closest to the campground was fairly small, so we would again enjoy Hungary's official meat for dinner.
After dinner we walked back into town to have a look at this classic European town. There was a large square with a very tall church on one end. All of the buildings were attached to each other and the little, narrow lanes were textbook Europe.
Kms 95.85
Time 5:23:00
Avg 17.2
Odometer 585
Sunday, May 20, 2007
20 May 2007
There seems to be a pattern starting with some light rain in the wee early
morning hours then clearing by 8:00am. We took full advantage of the buffet breakfast at the campground, along with stocking up for later in the day since most places close early or are not open on Sunday. By the time we got rolling the sun was out. Our route passed through many small villages with fantastic views of the country side. We could see the hills of Slovenia off to the left but no road to get there. So why Slovenia? Well, we met a couple from there in New Zealand and we didn't have the slightest idea of where it was until we looked it up when we got home. So for Jurnai and Laura's sake, we had to pay a visit to your country since we were so close. Besides how many of you can say you have been there. So our plan was to get to the village of Oriszentpeter and drop our gear at the campground then ride a loop through Slovenia back to camp. All well and good except that there was no campground anymore. Our conversation with the three men digging in the cemetery (none s!
poke english) netted us a name of a possible place at a woman's house (we later found out) that might provide camping. The three stooges plus 2 bewildered Americans. We stopped at the church in the village and scouted out a place to camp upon return of our now expected loaded tour through Slovenia. After filling our water bottles from the pump at the church, we flagged down a woman riding by on her bicycle. She spoke English and invited us to camp in her backyard. So we dropped our gear there and headed out. Well it looked like we would have to backtrack 6 km's to get to the road into Slovenia so John thought he scoped out a small road that would be a short cut. As it turned out the road was gravel and passd through a forested area and came out to what we thought was where we wanted to be. We met a couple more people out cycling and they showed us that John had miscalculated. We were now north of Oriszentpeter by 5 km's and would have to go back through Oriszentpeter and do!
the back tracking. A mere 12 km's of extra riding. We were also told
that the reentry point into Hungary would not be open and that we would have to come back the way we came. Oh well, we went into Slovenia 5 km's to Salovic, had some ice cream and came back out. Back at Eva Koszegi's we freshened up, had some tea with real honey from the neighbor, some cookies and chatted the night away. Eva's email has the word angel in it and that she surely is.
Kms 83.97
Time 4:55:47
Avg 17.0
Max 46.4
Odo 489.5
morning hours then clearing by 8:00am. We took full advantage of the buffet breakfast at the campground, along with stocking up for later in the day since most places close early or are not open on Sunday. By the time we got rolling the sun was out. Our route passed through many small villages with fantastic views of the country side. We could see the hills of Slovenia off to the left but no road to get there. So why Slovenia? Well, we met a couple from there in New Zealand and we didn't have the slightest idea of where it was until we looked it up when we got home. So for Jurnai and Laura's sake, we had to pay a visit to your country since we were so close. Besides how many of you can say you have been there. So our plan was to get to the village of Oriszentpeter and drop our gear at the campground then ride a loop through Slovenia back to camp. All well and good except that there was no campground anymore. Our conversation with the three men digging in the cemetery (none s!
poke english) netted us a name of a possible place at a woman's house (we later found out) that might provide camping. The three stooges plus 2 bewildered Americans. We stopped at the church in the village and scouted out a place to camp upon return of our now expected loaded tour through Slovenia. After filling our water bottles from the pump at the church, we flagged down a woman riding by on her bicycle. She spoke English and invited us to camp in her backyard. So we dropped our gear there and headed out. Well it looked like we would have to backtrack 6 km's to get to the road into Slovenia so John thought he scoped out a small road that would be a short cut. As it turned out the road was gravel and passd through a forested area and came out to what we thought was where we wanted to be. We met a couple more people out cycling and they showed us that John had miscalculated. We were now north of Oriszentpeter by 5 km's and would have to go back through Oriszentpeter and do!
the back tracking. A mere 12 km's of extra riding. We were also told
that the reentry point into Hungary would not be open and that we would have to come back the way we came. Oh well, we went into Slovenia 5 km's to Salovic, had some ice cream and came back out. Back at Eva Koszegi's we freshened up, had some tea with real honey from the neighbor, some cookies and chatted the night away. Eva's email has the word angel in it and that she surely is.
Kms 83.97
Time 4:55:47
Avg 17.0
Max 46.4
Odo 489.5
Saturday, May 19, 2007
19 May 2007
The rain began at about 6:00 A.M. It was light and luckily ended by about 7:30. We packed up under cloudy skies and rode only about 2 kms before stopping at a small grocery store for some breakfast. We had 2 delicious pastries, chocolate milk, bananas, yogurt and strawberries while sitting on the curb.
Just a few quick kms up the road we arrived in Keszthely, a fairly big town. We were looking for hwy. 75 but weren't really sure where to find it. We were following the signs to the towns we wanted to head toward, but then suddenly hit a one-way street, had to turn around and then weren't sure where to go. We headed toward the city center and found the tourist info office hidden in a pedestrian mall. The woman there spoke very little English, but she gave us a map of the town and pointed us in the direction we told her we wanted to go.
Well, hindsight tells us that we must not have been specific enough when we told her where we wanted to go because the direction she sent us was wrong. Eventually, after a bit of a "scene" made by John on the side of the road, he logically figured out which way he thought we should be going, we backtracked about a half a km and found hwy. 75.
As all this drama unfolded, the sky began to clear a bit and it was warming up nicely. It was now 10:30. We had left camp at 8:45 and had covered only 10 kms in that hour and 45 minutes. I guess that's the price you have to pay for traveling in unfamiliar territory.
We rode through rolling hills and farmland with poppies, lavender and daisies blooming all over. By noon we were already hungry again and stopped for some groceries in Pacsa. We sat on a bench by a fountain and enjoyed lots of good fruit and some bread. We bought a small plastic bottle of what we thought was lemonade (it was right next to the Lipton ice tea on the shelf) but seemed to be unsweetened lemon juice. It was too sour to drink. We tried to water it down but that didn't even work. We still haven't been able to find anything comparable to what we know as lemonade here.
The hills came next. The road went through some pretty forest areas and more farmland and the hills got much longer and steeper. It was still quite windy today but nothing like yesterday. We flew down hill after hill only to find an even longer uphill on the other side. It took us 3 hours to cover 32 kms where we stopped in the town of Nova for a very substantial snack - yes, hungry again. Here we had our first potato chips of the trip, Lays, which tasted exactly how we expected them to. We ate on a bench watching a big bird's nest on the top of an electric pole. The mother bird (it was a large one that looked like a stork) stood up and the father bird flew away. We didn't see any chicks.
The remaining 14 kms into the town of Lenti flattened out fairly nicely which was a break for our tired legs. Signs led us to the campground. It was like all the others with hedges separating the sites. This one was quite crowded, though, while the others were empty, probably because it's Saturday. John fixed a problem with his bike. He somehow bent a tooth on his big chain ring. He bent it back with a pliers and we'll see how that works.
We walked into town for dinner. John got some honey mustard turkey & french fries and Marie had beef goulash. We had the German phrase book out because the menu was in Hungarian and German only. We were pleasantly surprised that the food we were given was actually what we thought we ordered! You have to watch it around here. Every menu has brains on it in one form or another.
Kms 72.08
Time 4:13:34
Avg 17.0
Max 48.4
Just a few quick kms up the road we arrived in Keszthely, a fairly big town. We were looking for hwy. 75 but weren't really sure where to find it. We were following the signs to the towns we wanted to head toward, but then suddenly hit a one-way street, had to turn around and then weren't sure where to go. We headed toward the city center and found the tourist info office hidden in a pedestrian mall. The woman there spoke very little English, but she gave us a map of the town and pointed us in the direction we told her we wanted to go.
Well, hindsight tells us that we must not have been specific enough when we told her where we wanted to go because the direction she sent us was wrong. Eventually, after a bit of a "scene" made by John on the side of the road, he logically figured out which way he thought we should be going, we backtracked about a half a km and found hwy. 75.
As all this drama unfolded, the sky began to clear a bit and it was warming up nicely. It was now 10:30. We had left camp at 8:45 and had covered only 10 kms in that hour and 45 minutes. I guess that's the price you have to pay for traveling in unfamiliar territory.
We rode through rolling hills and farmland with poppies, lavender and daisies blooming all over. By noon we were already hungry again and stopped for some groceries in Pacsa. We sat on a bench by a fountain and enjoyed lots of good fruit and some bread. We bought a small plastic bottle of what we thought was lemonade (it was right next to the Lipton ice tea on the shelf) but seemed to be unsweetened lemon juice. It was too sour to drink. We tried to water it down but that didn't even work. We still haven't been able to find anything comparable to what we know as lemonade here.
The hills came next. The road went through some pretty forest areas and more farmland and the hills got much longer and steeper. It was still quite windy today but nothing like yesterday. We flew down hill after hill only to find an even longer uphill on the other side. It took us 3 hours to cover 32 kms where we stopped in the town of Nova for a very substantial snack - yes, hungry again. Here we had our first potato chips of the trip, Lays, which tasted exactly how we expected them to. We ate on a bench watching a big bird's nest on the top of an electric pole. The mother bird (it was a large one that looked like a stork) stood up and the father bird flew away. We didn't see any chicks.
The remaining 14 kms into the town of Lenti flattened out fairly nicely which was a break for our tired legs. Signs led us to the campground. It was like all the others with hedges separating the sites. This one was quite crowded, though, while the others were empty, probably because it's Saturday. John fixed a problem with his bike. He somehow bent a tooth on his big chain ring. He bent it back with a pliers and we'll see how that works.
We walked into town for dinner. John got some honey mustard turkey & french fries and Marie had beef goulash. We had the German phrase book out because the menu was in Hungarian and German only. We were pleasantly surprised that the food we were given was actually what we thought we ordered! You have to watch it around here. Every menu has brains on it in one form or another.
Kms 72.08
Time 4:13:34
Avg 17.0
Max 48.4
Friday, May 18, 2007
18 May 2007
The plan today was to get a fairly early start but the howling wind and rain last night kept us up most of the night. At least we know the tent can take a good rainstorm and keep us dry. The morning wasn't looking too promising, but John walked to the store and bought some breakfast food and we consumed it in a little stage area protected from the still howling wind. We were pretty set on not riding today because of the wind so after breakfast we walked into town and did some email stuff and discussed what we might want to do. It got to be about 11:30 and we decided to brave the wind and see if we could make it up into the hills to Tapolca where we wanted to visit a cave. The sun was starting to peek out, but the wind was still blowing as we mounted the iron donkeys. Our route took us away from the lake, through farmlands and vineyards with the wind buffeting us mostly from the side. There were a few stretches where the road turned to an unfavorable direction and we took th!
e wind head on. In Gyulakesz we took a break outside a bar for a snack, bought a drink and used the facilities. Luck was on our side as we entered Tapolca and found the cave right off. The cave was really an underground river. The tour consists of getting in a small boat and looping around the cavern for about 15 minutes. Kind of hokie, but, hey we were there. When we set off today we thought we might get a room tonite depending on the weather and how we felt. Well, we were feeling pretty good and the wind was in our favor back down to the lake so off we sailed. Ha Ha. We made it to Gyenesdias, found a campground and called it a day.
Kms 52.70
Time 3:14:35
Avg 16.2
Max 38.3
e wind head on. In Gyulakesz we took a break outside a bar for a snack, bought a drink and used the facilities. Luck was on our side as we entered Tapolca and found the cave right off. The cave was really an underground river. The tour consists of getting in a small boat and looping around the cavern for about 15 minutes. Kind of hokie, but, hey we were there. When we set off today we thought we might get a room tonite depending on the weather and how we felt. Well, we were feeling pretty good and the wind was in our favor back down to the lake so off we sailed. Ha Ha. We made it to Gyenesdias, found a campground and called it a day.
Kms 52.70
Time 3:14:35
Avg 16.2
Max 38.3
Thursday, May 17, 2007
17 May 2007
We had a late start this morning and didn't really have a set plan, but the sun was shining and it was warm, so off we went. We rode the cycle path 12 kms to Balatonfured and managed to find the tourist info center with a little help. There we found out that not all of the campgrounds along the lakeshore are open yet. There are many, but some don't open until late May. The woman called a couple of the places we had in mind and the results limited our choices. We decided we would probably set up camp in town here and then ride our bikes out onto the Tihany peninsula with no gear to make it easier. But first we found the bike shop where we wanted to pick up a few things, but it didn't open for another hour. So we went on to the famous Kossuth Lajos spring. Supposedly the heart patients in the hospital right across the way could drink their way to health with this water. We each took a gulp and figured that was enough to take care of our health since it tasted like sor!
t of fizzy iron water. Those poor patients!
We made our way to the campground and went into the reception area which was huge. The woman there was very nice, but the place was just too big for our liking. She suggested that we ride in and check it out before deciding if we would stay. We did just that, used the bathroom and left right away.
On to plan B. We would ride out onto the peninsula and back and then go the 12 kms to the next open campground down the road in the direction we were heading. As soon as we turned onto the peninsula road we were glad we did. Since we arrived at the lake and rode the cycle path along the shore, we had hardly seen the lake because there is so much development. There are campgrounds and private beach areas with buildings everywhere. But here we were right on the shore and could see everything. There were many people fishing and we saw a few brave souls swimming. At the first fork in the road we were confused because the brochure we had from the info center wasn't very helpful. We took the shoreline branch and ended up at the ferry terminal where we decided to get some lunch. We chose a little outdoor restaurant that had gyros listed on their banner. There were no prices or menus anywhere and the waiter didn't speak English, so we ended up having a huge gyro lunch alon!
g with a huge bill, but it was tasty.
We followed the signs to the city center which took us up some pretty good hills to the abbey. The view of the lake and surrounding area was great. There is a nature trail that goes all over the peninsula and we tried to get some info on it at the info center, but it was of no use. It was interesting, though, to watch some workers putting on a new layer of thatch on the roof of the info building. It was a totally manual process, but it looked like they had it down.
On our way out of town we saw a parking area for the hiking trail. We changed our shoes and headed up for some more nice views of the area's wetlands and the Inner Lake. We only walked about 15 minutes and then sat next to a small vineyard where we watched some big herons flying and a colorful lizard nearby. We felt at home walking on the trail and enjoyed it even though we didn't walk the whole thing.
Back on the bikes we rode off and on the cycle way into the campground in Balatonakali. The reception office was closed and we were about to just go and find a site when a man drove up in a car and explained to us as best he could in German and English that we had to go up the campground path another km to the second reception office. We did just that, registered to stay in another huge campground, rode 150 meters to the grocery store where Marie's German paid off for helping us find some things that we wanted, set up camp and cooked up an omelette. No, we didn't cook on our stove. We still haven't found gas. But this campground had a few gas burners to use which was helpful.
After eating we strolled through the campground along the lakeshore and watched one of the fishermen for a while. We saw the lights that flash in certain points around the lake that alert boaters and swimmers of approaching storms. We noticed some not-so-friendly looking clouds to the west and hoped that tomorrow wouldn't be a rainy one.
Kms 44.40
Time 3:03:27
Avg 14.5
Max 45.1
t of fizzy iron water. Those poor patients!
We made our way to the campground and went into the reception area which was huge. The woman there was very nice, but the place was just too big for our liking. She suggested that we ride in and check it out before deciding if we would stay. We did just that, used the bathroom and left right away.
On to plan B. We would ride out onto the peninsula and back and then go the 12 kms to the next open campground down the road in the direction we were heading. As soon as we turned onto the peninsula road we were glad we did. Since we arrived at the lake and rode the cycle path along the shore, we had hardly seen the lake because there is so much development. There are campgrounds and private beach areas with buildings everywhere. But here we were right on the shore and could see everything. There were many people fishing and we saw a few brave souls swimming. At the first fork in the road we were confused because the brochure we had from the info center wasn't very helpful. We took the shoreline branch and ended up at the ferry terminal where we decided to get some lunch. We chose a little outdoor restaurant that had gyros listed on their banner. There were no prices or menus anywhere and the waiter didn't speak English, so we ended up having a huge gyro lunch alon!
g with a huge bill, but it was tasty.
We followed the signs to the city center which took us up some pretty good hills to the abbey. The view of the lake and surrounding area was great. There is a nature trail that goes all over the peninsula and we tried to get some info on it at the info center, but it was of no use. It was interesting, though, to watch some workers putting on a new layer of thatch on the roof of the info building. It was a totally manual process, but it looked like they had it down.
On our way out of town we saw a parking area for the hiking trail. We changed our shoes and headed up for some more nice views of the area's wetlands and the Inner Lake. We only walked about 15 minutes and then sat next to a small vineyard where we watched some big herons flying and a colorful lizard nearby. We felt at home walking on the trail and enjoyed it even though we didn't walk the whole thing.
Back on the bikes we rode off and on the cycle way into the campground in Balatonakali. The reception office was closed and we were about to just go and find a site when a man drove up in a car and explained to us as best he could in German and English that we had to go up the campground path another km to the second reception office. We did just that, registered to stay in another huge campground, rode 150 meters to the grocery store where Marie's German paid off for helping us find some things that we wanted, set up camp and cooked up an omelette. No, we didn't cook on our stove. We still haven't found gas. But this campground had a few gas burners to use which was helpful.
After eating we strolled through the campground along the lakeshore and watched one of the fishermen for a while. We saw the lights that flash in certain points around the lake that alert boaters and swimmers of approaching storms. We noticed some not-so-friendly looking clouds to the west and hoped that tomorrow wouldn't be a rainy one.
Kms 44.40
Time 3:03:27
Avg 14.5
Max 45.1
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
16 May 2007
Bakonyszentkiraly to Balatonalmadi
The storms that forced us indoors yesterday brought a cool change for today. After making sure we didn't leave anything behind, we saddled up the bikes ready to ride in tights and jackets. Johann sent us off with a hand drawn map so we could ride the scenic route out of the village and see the castle to boot. Well, we have come to know that scenic means hilly and Johann's route was just that. The climb to the castle was steeper than the 10% signed grades we rode later on. This castle in Csesznek was your basic castle ruins but the view overlooking the countryside and the two small villages was just amazing.
Riding from the castle to the main road was quite challenging at times with a few of those 10% grades thrown in. Once on the main road we cruised with a tail wind to Zirc where we had brunch. We didn't have breakfast and it was 11:00 A.M. We found a restaurant and Marie had 2 scrambled eggs while John enjoyed 2 crepes filled with poppy seeds and cherries topped with almonds and honey and powdered sugar. Since it was a bit chilly still we figured it couldn't hurt to split a bowl of soup for dessert. Have to love dessert.
With a tailwind still blowing and a 10% downhill grade to help us along, we were soon in the bigger than expected town of Veszprem. The rolling green hills of the countryside just went flying by. We have come to notice that the only time you see a speed limit sign is when you are entering a city. The cars seem to just fly by at excessive speeds but for the most part are giving us plenty of room even when a car is coming the opposite way.
Trying to find the info center in Veszprem proved fruitless so we continued on, after a bakery snack (we never have a problem finding those), to Balatonalmadi. It was an effortless downhill cruise the whole way with bike paths in a couple of places to help us avoid the city traffic. By this time the clouds were clearing and and the tights were off. It is a good thing we missed the info center in Veszprem because the one we found in Balatonalmadi provided us with the same cycling map as the one we have but in English. Now we will be able to read about the places we will be passing through. Lake Balaton is a very popular place in the summer, so we figured camping would be expensive and we weren't disappointed. The rest of the day was spent taking care of chores and business.
Kms 48.76
Timed 2:59:33
Avg 16.2
Max 50.3
The storms that forced us indoors yesterday brought a cool change for today. After making sure we didn't leave anything behind, we saddled up the bikes ready to ride in tights and jackets. Johann sent us off with a hand drawn map so we could ride the scenic route out of the village and see the castle to boot. Well, we have come to know that scenic means hilly and Johann's route was just that. The climb to the castle was steeper than the 10% signed grades we rode later on. This castle in Csesznek was your basic castle ruins but the view overlooking the countryside and the two small villages was just amazing.
Riding from the castle to the main road was quite challenging at times with a few of those 10% grades thrown in. Once on the main road we cruised with a tail wind to Zirc where we had brunch. We didn't have breakfast and it was 11:00 A.M. We found a restaurant and Marie had 2 scrambled eggs while John enjoyed 2 crepes filled with poppy seeds and cherries topped with almonds and honey and powdered sugar. Since it was a bit chilly still we figured it couldn't hurt to split a bowl of soup for dessert. Have to love dessert.
With a tailwind still blowing and a 10% downhill grade to help us along, we were soon in the bigger than expected town of Veszprem. The rolling green hills of the countryside just went flying by. We have come to notice that the only time you see a speed limit sign is when you are entering a city. The cars seem to just fly by at excessive speeds but for the most part are giving us plenty of room even when a car is coming the opposite way.
Trying to find the info center in Veszprem proved fruitless so we continued on, after a bakery snack (we never have a problem finding those), to Balatonalmadi. It was an effortless downhill cruise the whole way with bike paths in a couple of places to help us avoid the city traffic. By this time the clouds were clearing and and the tights were off. It is a good thing we missed the info center in Veszprem because the one we found in Balatonalmadi provided us with the same cycling map as the one we have but in English. Now we will be able to read about the places we will be passing through. Lake Balaton is a very popular place in the summer, so we figured camping would be expensive and we weren't disappointed. The rest of the day was spent taking care of chores and business.
Kms 48.76
Timed 2:59:33
Avg 16.2
Max 50.3
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)