May 28, 2013
 
 
 
Ezstergom to Szentendre 54 km, total 1217 km
Cloudy 15C, rained in Totvalu.

Panzio 100
 - Double €54
 - Triple €57
    Including breakfast

 
German Wine or Hungarian Champagne?
 
At breakfast, to celebrate Dave's and my 30th wedding anniversary, Hiro and Junko presented us with a bottle of 2001 vintage champagne from this region and lovely card. Yolan had a card for us also, plus a 1983 vintage (30 year old) German wine Wim had sent with her. Very nice thoughts from all four friends. Now we had to choose, champagne, wine, or both?

 
Another Bushwhack

We caught the path to the right along the Donau, directly below the Basilica. The trail dwindled to a brushy foot path. We ended up riding through thick bush when we missed a sign that may or may not have been there. A km or so later, we joined up with a nice paved path that wound though the outskirts of Ezstergom where lovely homes backed up to the Donau. We opted to continue on an unofficial and rough path in lieu of turning on to the busy road with traffic and uphills. Another bushwhack. The trail dwindled again into a muddy bog. We pushed our bikes up a steep berm to get back on the highway and the official bike route. We followed the main road to the well signed-posted turnoff to the ferry.

 
Ferry to the Left Side
 
Dave yelled at the ferry which was waiting on the other side. After no response, Yolan asked at a house about the ferry. We had about a 40 minute wait. When two freight trucks pulled up, we knew the ferry departure time was near and, soon, the ferry pushed off from the other side. They could only take one of the two trucks. Another group of cyclists rolled down the ramp just after we pushed off. They would have to wait for the next one in one hour. The ferry men seemed to want to charge us double the rate Yolan had seen in the office. But they explained it was 450 HUF ($2) per person and 450 per bike. Okay…..

Crossed with ferry to Szob from where a good cycle trail undulated gently alternating along the river edge and the villages with red roofs. 
 
We came to a large sign along the Donau, 17 07. Only 1707 kilometers to the Black Sea from here.
 
Wildflowers abound in the meadows. Cycling through the "Donau Knee" didn't give us the perspective we had the day before from the top of the castle in Visegrád. We continued cycling and soon were directly across the river from the castle which we had visited by bus and taxi yesterday.
 

Medieval Horsemen and Women in Period Dress

At our lunch stop, we happened upon horsemen and women in full regalia. It looked like they were practicing for some function. They started to walk circles around us. A few spoke to us, one said 'hallo’ the way the Dutch say it. Another asked us humbly if they could put on 15 minute show for us for €15. We were caught off-guard and declined politely. As the troops walked off we wondered of it was per person or the show…… Maybe we were too rash.

We had few ups and downs on a fantastic bike path through many fields with wildflowers. The path passed a prison complete with guard towers and razor wire on the wall tops. We did not see and guards or prisoners though. It looked abandoned.

 
Yolan was Flirting (again)

We rolled to the ferry in Vac to see a group of women cyclist waiting. Were these the ones who just missed our Szob ferry? How did they get ahead of us? The posted schedule said we had to wait 45 minutes for the ferry departure and the ferryman confirmed he wasn't going to budge ahead of schedule. We decided to check out the large town plaza. It turned out to be a nice little town with sidewalk cafes, several impressive government buildings, a fountain and rose-garden in center. Churches lined the plaza.
 
.....We all wandered out into different direction and returned to find Yolan talking with a man on the plaza. He didn't speak English and was relentless speaking in Italian. Yolan smiled and tried to understand. He presented her with a rose which she accepted graciously. Dave sat down briefly and they ignored him. It became time to go and Dave said, "arrivederci", which seemed to work.
 

More Senior Discounts?

On the ferry, Hiro and I got on for free when we mentioned we were 65 (What about Yolan? Why not?) and we only paid for bikes. The ferry got us to Szentendrei Sziget Island. Just as we landed, it started to rain enough to cause us to don our rain gear. We didn't bother to check out the horse ranches that the island is known for because of the weather.

Across the island we crossed the bridge into Tahitótfalu and followed the busy road for few km before riding on a pedestrian and bike trail again.


Panzio 100, A Homey B&B

A few km before the tourist town of Szentendre, we spotted a sign advertising a Panzio. It turned out to be a great little find. The hospitable couple who run it made us feel at home. Our rooms were clean and spacious. The owner offered us the use of the sauna had we wanted to.
 
After we got cleaned up, we met downstairs in the piano room where we popped the bottle of Champagne Junko and Hiro had given us. We’d save Wim’s bottle for Budapest. We opened the lovely cards from Yolanda, Hiro and Junko and toasted to another 30 years. 

We continued the celebration across the main highway in a rustic Hungarian restaurant, Határcsárda. The restaurant has the décor of a hunting lodge and serves typical Hungarian dishes including great soups.They even fried the vegetables! Ouch. Musicians arrived entertain the patrons with traditional Hungarian folk songs. Overall, it was a great restaurant for a special occasion. 


Junko and Hiro Write
 
To Szentendre at Szentendre
渡し船に二回乗った。わずかな時間だがホッとする。そよ風を浴びて対岸へ。
あとはただ走り続ける。ミッシェルの妹ヨランダの強さに脱帽。写真を撮るために止まった
と思うと、すぐ追いついてきて追い抜いて行く。数日でお別れだと思うと寂しい。
彼女の写真の撮りかたは綺麗なものを撮るというより、現実を撮る。それが面白い。
夜デイヴとミッシェルの結婚30年を祝った。Congratulations！これからもいままでの
ようにずっと仲良くね、とワインで乾杯。バイオリニストがハンガリア舞曲を
ジプシー風に奏でていた。心揺さぶるジプシーの調べ。
翌日マルギットコバーチという女性彫刻家の美術館に行って、いたく感動した。
人生の情景のひとこまひとこまを丁寧に観察してそれを彫塑化する。女性ならでの優しさ、
温かさ。その感性。あふれ出る才能。情感を揺さぶる作品の数々にただ圧倒された。
又これを見るためにここに来るかもしれないと思った。

_________________________________

References: 

....1) The Danube Cycle Way; Donaueschingen to Budapest by John Higginson
... 2) Bikeline Maps & Guides; Donau-Radweg 1, (5 books in the series)

Our plan in a nutshell; 2900 total kilometers at 50 km per day - 2 days riding for 1 day off for a total of 58 riding days & 90 total days - April to July, 2013 :)