Europe 2018

Some photos of the Schwebebahn…

More fun in Wuppertal today. The sculpture park, botanic garden and Von der Heydt museum. Photos below. The sculpture park was good; a lot of works by Tony Cragg (unsurprising really, as he founded it and lives in Wuppertal). Not as good as the Yorkshire Sculpture park, but OK. The VdH museum was good; no…

An afternoon in Hannover, en route to Hamburg.The Sprengel Museum of Modern art was OK; lots of works by Picasso. A lot of the collection is Sprengel’s private collection. It did start to feel a bit samey after a while, but was a nice enough few hours.After that it was the Altes Rathaus, which has…

  Several friends had enthusiastically recommended Minatur Wonderland as soon as I’d said I was going to Hamburg. It didn’t disappoint. I seem to have taken several hundred photos, so just a handful are here. I was very glad I’d booked the “behind the scenes” tour in advance (there are only a couple of tours…

After Minitur Wonderland I headed to the Rathaus. You can only see this with a tour. Sadly all the English tours were booked out. After a bit of indecision I decided to see how much I could follow on the German tour; it turned out about maybe 1/2 to 3/4, which was pleasantly surprising. I…

I’m sure the first couple of parts of this post will be of *zero* interest to almost all my friends 🙂 A very pleasant trip down from Hamburg on the train. Had a nice (albeit rather slowly served) meal in the dining car: The 6.5 hours flew by, with some lovely views at points; The…

Had a full day in Slovakia, having arrived on (one of) this morning’s sleeper services from Prague: (which also carried cars!), and was met by Ferenc and Ferenc. We headed off to a treetop walk in Bachledka, which seemed to be extremely popular. Good views from the top. The top of the viewing tower had…

Off to the High Tatras today. We drove to Tatranska Lomnica, and got a couple of cable cars half way up the mountain. From there we were going to get another (somewhat scary looking – there were no supports between the top and the bottom of it) cable car to the top of Lomnicky Stit,…

Forgot to post this before. I finished off my water at the top of the mountain (2634m). This is the bottle back at the flat (it’s warmer in the flat than the top of the mountain too). Apparently water boils at (if I remember correctly) 87 degrees up there, so no chance of a decent…

Another trip to the High Tatras today; this time towards the western end of the range, at Strebsk\'{e} Pleso. Had a lovely walk up to lake Popradske Pleso, and back round the lake in Strebske Pleso itself (there’s supposed to be an upside down ^ on the S, like in Skoda, but I can’t work…

We kicked off our day with a trip to Dobšinská ice cave in the Slovak Paradise national park. The cave is filled with ice (some of it up to 2000 years old). Essentially it seems to work like an insulated frost pocket. Interesting ice stalactites and things in there.

The final stop today was Tesco, to get some supplies for tomorrow’s journey to Budapest and then Zagreb. Rather expensive English specialities Bizarre chocolate display Some rather, erm, interesting cheese. The local liqueur is “Tatratea”, which is a tea based spirit. It comes in a bewildering away of flavours and strengths, of somewhat varying niceness.…

The (almost) final stop on our trip today was the town of Levoča, which had a beautiful (Unesco listed) town centre. (the town hall) (the cage of shame – for women who stayed out unaccompanied after dark. It was locked) (view from the city walls)

After the ice cave we headed to the Slovensky Raj (Slovak Paradise) national park. This is full of deep limestone gorges, some of which you can walk up with the aid of fixed ladders and other gear. We did a short and simple route (suitable for children according to the person in tourist information), which…

Getting a bit behind here… spent all of Thursday travelling from Slovakia to Zagreb. Ferenc drove us all to Budapest, through beautiful (and hilly) countryside. From there I caught the direct train to Zagreb, which took 5.5 hours. No buffet car, or even a trolley, so just like the UK really. Except it cost 9…

After a good night’s sleep I decided I would spend the whole day in Zagreb and get the sleeper as planned. Annoyingly you can’t book beds online, so this involved a trip to the station. Fortunately there was space (as seat61.com promised). A bargain at 44Euro (for a twin bunk, not a triple – though…

After the train museum I went for a wander round Zagreb. I was slightly worried about filling the whole day, as my sleeper wasn’t until 23:00. It turned out there was plenty to do. I really liked Zagreb; it didn’t feel wild, but felt very pleasant. There was lots going on. TBH I’m not that…

I arrived in Split quite early off the sleeper. I hadn’t had a very good night’s sleep; there was something squeaking on the train all night, and the track was rather bumpy in places. Split itself was very pretty; the old town especially. There’s a small hill at the western end of the town, which…

A successful day’s swimming. We headed to Zlarin Island (just to the north of where we’re staying), and did two costal swims, each of ~2km each. Feeling rather sore and achy now. Weather was excellent, though it looks set to turn a bit tomorrow The photos are of the boat journey – wasn’t chance to…

Headed south down the coast today. Did two swims; the first of 2km, the second of 3.5km. The weather has taken a turn for the worse; was heavy rain and a little thunder at lunchtime. Much windier this afternoon – a rather interesting boat trip back to the hotel. Had a little wander round most…

Headed north today. The weather was better than yesterday afternoon, but it’s still rather windy, which meant some fairly lively boat journeys, with quite a lot of getting splashed. In the morning we swam ~1.5km on the SW side of Privc, and had lunch in the bay. The swim was noticeably colder than yesterday, but…

Still rather windy this morning, so we went to the lake to the east of the hotel, on the mainland (the arrow on the map below is the hotel). Did a 2km swim there; the conditions were good, but the water was much murkier than in the sea proper. We had lunch back at the…

We had an evening outing to Sibenik yesterday, for a brief look around the town and a meal. It has a very attractive old town (better than Split’s IMHO), and a large fort on top of the hill. This hosts music concerts; the orchestra was rehearsing for a gig of songs from the movies this…

Our last full day of swimming. The weather has improved; the temperature is back up to mid 20s and the lighter wind feels much warmer. We did three swims today. The first was between two islands near the hotel. We did about 1km along the coast of the first, and then swam ~400m to the…

Today’s swim was a circumnavigation of the island. Before breakfast. We set off early, at 07:30, which was a bit of a slog. The light was beautiful at that time (though my phone was in my room – sorry). Anyway, we headed anti-clockwise round the island. The swim was about 3.5km in total (you have…

We had a full day in Zadar today (I’m currently waiting at the airport for my flight back to sunny(??) Manchester. I’m still feeling a bit ill – sore throat and cold, so didn’t do that much sight seeing. To be honest, there doesn’t seem to be all that much in Zadar (a day is…

Went for a test ride with all my stuff yesterday evening. Ended up going 40 miles. Went up to Pucklechurch then east until reaching the Fosseway, which I followed into Batheaston. From there it was through Bath and back home along the railway path

Took the train down from Mums to Harwich yesterday evening, to catch the overnight ferry to Hook of Holland. I’d semi-planned to cycle from Wrabness, where Grayson Perry’s “House for Essex” is, but couldn’t get off the train there as the short platform meant the doors in the bike carriage didn’t open. The boat was…

I’d (optimistically) planned to cycle to Baarle-Nassau today.  I did about 55 miles, but the heat was getting too much.  I saw a sign to camping at Liesbos, a couple of miles away, and decided to call it a day. There were a lot of cyclists on the ferry, and I’d got talking to another…

I’m into my second country… Belgium. I’m not sure how many times I crossed the Belgium Dutch frontier today, but I suspect it’s in double figures. I did about 75km today , and am camping just west of Eindhoven. The campsite I was aiming for is currently hosting a (free) festival, which I may cycle…

Cycled to just outside Venlo, via Eindhoven and Helmond, today. This was about 70km. I was curious to see Evoluon in Eindhoven; I’d been there as a child, but it was derelict at the time. Sadly I was there a bit early to see the exhibition on retro futures. It’s certainly a striking building. The…

Just a short post today… cycled from Venlo to north of Cologne. Was about 85km in total. I encountered my first hill just outside Venlo, before the German border. For Bristol readers it was about 1/3 of a Park Street. There was some Sunday morning Greyhound racing in the park after the hill. Then it…

A rest day in Köln today. I got the bus and train into town – it was about a 10 minute walk from the campsite. I’d planned to head into Bonn to do some sightseeing too, but realised I’d bought the wrong ticket, so will save that for when I pass through tomorrow. There was…

72km today. Headed south through the rather industrial north of Cologne (past a huge Ford plant), then along the riverfront through the centre. After the centre there was a more recently (re?)developed waterfront. All very nice, but somewhat soulless. Then it was on to Bonn. This was further than I was expecting. I was there…

Lots more river riding today. I think it was about 70km, but something went wrong with the trip recording. The first major stop was Koblenz, where the Mosel joins the Rhein, at Deutsches Eck. After an indifferent Currywurst and Frites (insert joke about it being the worst), I headed out south along the river. There…

I’d expected today to be fairly gentle, but it turned out to be quite tiring. It was about 65km, but the heat made it very difficult Then it was on to Mainz. I’m staying at a nice campsite just on the other side of the river. After setting up camp I took the bus into…

Quite a long day today – 101km. The weather was much cooler and I had a tail wind, which helped a lot. I was slightly dreading the navigation for this bit, as it was a bit off piste, and not following the River Main (essentially cutting the corner off and avoiding Frankfurt. I’m sure it’s…

~80km today, again rather unpleasantly hot, but nice scenery, and some hills. Last night’s campsite was part of a Canoe club, where they were holding a birthday party for (I assume) one of the members. So it was a bit noisy, but luckily I had ear plugs with me. They seemed to sing happy Birthday…

85km today. A very early wake up call from the church in Laudenbach, which started ringing its bell at 6am. Was on the road by 8. A steady but rather long climb to start with; went on for at least a mile. Saw what was either a very large slow worm, or a silver snake…

71km today. I started off quite late today, and began by following the Altmuehl, to Altmuehlsee. After this, I was following what I think is a water supply canal. At one point this disappears into a tunnel (built in the 1980s), and the path goes through the woods. Eventually I joined the Brombachsee – this…

~90 km today. I woke up very early, given the traffic noise at the campsite, so was on the road by 07:30. The first part of today’s ride closely followed the motorway, so I didn’t get to avoid it even then. My path headed off east along the Altmuel after about 10km or so, where…

105km today. This was a little more than I was planning, owing to some diversions on the Danube trail. Firstly, a nice view of Regensburg as I left this morning: It was a little fiddly leaving the city, but once I was out of it the river widened quite quickly To be blunt, a lot…

102km today.  Warm, but (fortunately) not quite as warm as it has been.   I set off from the small campsite and rejoined the river.  The start of the day was similar to yesterday – flat (presumably floodplain) farmland and flood protection banks. The path was soon following the river more closely giving nice views The…

Another ~100km today (though the track stopped recording at one point, so I’m not quite sure how far). There was a little bit more of yesterday’s gorge before the landscape opened out again Went past a hydro power station shortly after setting off, and then reached another about 20km further on. There was a drop…

110km today. I’m about 30km before Vienna. A damp start, which turned into rain shortly after setting off. A mixture of flatter and valley landscapes today, with plenty of nice churches and castles on the way Camping in Tulln tonight. They were setting up for a concert on the waterfront when we went past, so…

A short ride today – 40km – got me to Vienna for lunchtime. Having been cycling with someone for the last two days, it was strange being on my own again, though I bumped into someone from last night’s campsite on the way, and we cycled together for a bit before our paths diverged. When…

A relatively short day today – ~60km. Vienna and Bratislava are apparently the two closest European capitals. Not much to say about the ride – most of it was pretty samey: The flood wall was completely straight for maybe 5 miles or so. Some nice flowers in the borders though, and lots of birdsong and…

A day of sightseeing today. I’d had a good explore and wander around yesterday while hunting for a tent pole, so decided to see a couple of the less well known attractions. First stop today was the transport museum. This had a good selection of cars, trains and other vehicles. Most of the labels were…

Just over 100km today. Not the most exciting day today. Most of the riding was very dull. A long stretch of the river is essentially canalised, and rather samey. The landscape gradually became more interesting. These water towers(?) were everywhere and looked kinda futuristic Spotted a swallowtail butterfly on the path too Eventually I reached…

105km today. From the campsite I crossed back over the river into Slovakia. The path was excellent to begin with. Passed some ruins from the 1500s Unfortunately, after a while, the path turned from smooth tarmac into this: And got somewhat worse. There must have been about 10km like it – was hard work, and…

A short 30km today (which felt surprisingly tiring) to take me to my friends in Budapest. I headed into Szentendre before taking down the tent to check out a couple of museums. First up was the Retro Design Museum. This was full of artefacts from the 70s and early 80s There was also a good…

After a lovely few days in Budapest with friends I’ve decided to take a break from the bike for a bit. It’s been very hot the last few days, and this is forecast to continue. I’ve also been getting pain in my wrist from holding the handlebars all day, so a change will hopefully do…

I’ve got a bit behind on the blogging, but am currently travelling Back to Budapest from Ljubljana, which is a 7.5 hour journey, so plenty of time to catch up.   I’m on what looks like a small suburban train, but have been assured it’s the right one.  No announcement, nothing on the display in the…

I had 4 nights planned for Slovenia, arriving Wednesday afternoon. I decided to spend all of them in Ljubljna and take a couple of day trips to Postojna caves and to Lake Bled. It was significantly cheaper and quicker to get to Ljubljana from Graz by Flixbus. This was actually OK, but I don’t think…

Still in progress… Caves and Bled posts to follow. The final train of the day, which picked us up just before the Hungarian border has no air conditioning and is running late. Too hot to write blog posts. At least the windows open

As the forecast was for rain, I went to Postojna caves. This was about an hour away on the bus. I’d paid for the combined vivarium and caves ticket, as I was curious to see the Olm, which is a weird cave dwelling amphibian. I did manage to spot a couple in their aquarium, but…

The second of my day trips from Ljubliana was to Lake Bled. The hostel owner had also recommended Vintgar Gorge, which is nearby. I got the bus to Bled, which took me through some lovely scenery: Bled is at the eastern end of the lake, and was the tourist honeypot I expected it to be.…

I headed back to the UK on Tuesday. I’d set Monday aside to get a box to pack my bike in, and to actually get the bike in the box. It was too hot to do much else. From reading online and asking friends who’d done similar, it’s supposed to be quite easy to get…