Across Croatia

We spent two days cycling across Northern Croatia, close to the Hungarian border. They were very hot days and most of the distance covered was over almost totally flat countryside. It was all on ordinary roads, and they all had an excellent surface. Even the main roads were not particularly busy, so cycling along was not difficult. But it could be boring, just trudging along through vast fields of corn or sunflowers or (occasionally) tobacco.

Each day had a particular feature that belied boredom. On the first day, we stopped at a bus shelter for a snack, when a woman invited us to look round a wildlife and conservation centre next door. It was about conservation areas by the river Drava, which is slow flowing and has a considerable flood plain. A sideline was that they look after wounded storks who had fallen out of their nests when too young to fly.

We stayed in an appartment on Domji Miholac after the first day. The next day, crossing the Drava was impressive. But the feature to remember was an exhibition in a little village church about the expulsion of German people after the 2nd world war. They just were kicked out with only a suitcase each.

Later that day we had to cross some hills before crossing the Danube. We started on the wrong road that took us to a hillside shrine. On the right road police waved us aside and a peloton of a bike race shot by in the opposite direction. The descent to the Danube was disappointingly cobbled; no going fast!

Crossing the Danube took us into Serbia. Passport checks and a HUGE river.

Duplication

I have done two accounts of "after Nagyvasony". I have not yet compared them. Seems rather silly when the entries are coming so late anyway!

After the diversion; into Croatia

We left Nagyvasony after 5 days there. We retraced our way over the mountain to the lake, taking an alternative path at lake level towards the ferry. This started as a lovely lakeside path, but soon put us through our paces in coping with very steep climbs on narrow paths. It was as well we had left on good time; we made it to the ferry and the station at  Zamardi on time for our train to Nagykanisza.

Was this the last time we will have the ecstacy and the agony of getting fully laden ebikes on to a Hungarian train? Anyway, we did it and after arrival on Nagykanisza, carried on South on EV13.  Not far to Zakany and overnight in a panzio

The day had been extremely hot. Cycling from Nagykanisza had been later in the day through lovely rolling countryside. The next day was equally hot and the terrain became more and more flat. We finally arrived in the town of Barcs and soon after entered Croatia: passport checks in Hungary and Croatia reminded that the Schengen zone stops somewhere. Then over the Drava river, on about 8 km and to hotel in a lovely restored mansion.

Out of order

By now, some of the blog entries are not in the time order they ought to be. This is partly because I cannot keep up with brilliant minds in Google who designed blogger and the blogger app. On other words I cannot get it to do what I want.

The entry "A diversion" should be one place earlier. A previous version of this sits in drafts and refuses to budge.

The photos do not always come in in the right place, in terms of the text entries.

Still, I hope the broad sense of it all comes across.

A diversion

We diverted off the EV13 route for 5 days to visit our friend Anna and her family, in a village called Nagyvasony. To get there, we took a train to Zamardi on Lake Balaton, a ferry across the lake and a bike ride of a couple of hours beyond the lake.

It was good to see a bit of central Hungary. The scenery and countryside is peaceful and beautiful, with rolling hills and forests and woods. The village has a medieval castle which we visited.

There is also a medieval church, which was opened once a year, and we were at the opening. Most churches are much more recent, maybe 17th century or later. The reason this was the day it was opened, it was the national day for the foundation of Hungary. There was also a carriage-and-pair horse competition which we were late for, but saw the prize giving. How did they do these parades before the Raditski March?

We also went on a walk to a ruined monastery. We made a short trip to the regional capital, Verzprom. But actually the diversion was about chatting with Anna.

Lake Balaton seems to be a major holiday place at this time year. We saw it only from the ferry, the train (briefly) and cycling along the lakeside for a few km.

On and on. (By train to start with)

We left Nagyvasony 5 days later. It was back on our bikes and back to pedalling. Comforted a bit by the whirr of the electric motor - well, a quiet whirr.  An ebike won't go without some input from the rider, so you have to do some work to which the electric motor adds something more.

We rode back over the hill, only this time not so much climbing, and down to the lakeside. We went round the Tihany peninsula the other side from last time. This started on a good cycle path, then when one had gone far enough not to turn back, it turned into a less than ideal rough track with really steep bits. Kept going and eventually arrived at the ferry. Over the lake and up to the station in good time for the train back to Nagykanisha.

Then no more assisted travel, except for the ebike motor. Back on the EV13. It led us South through lonely rolling countryside to Zakany where we had accommodation booked

Kormend to Nagykanizsa

Trying to cover two days cycling.

Kormend is about 10km off route and the first thing was to get back on-route. This was level cycling, but once on the route again, it was another matter.

The uphill started in Heilingenbrunn, where we asked the way in a hotel and were both told the way and given coffee on the house. We went up and down on a string of very neat and tidy Austrian villages, with EV13 clearly signposted, until we ended up on a dirt road through a forest that took us to the church of St Emmerich in a clearing, exactly on the Austrian-Hungarian border, with evidence of when it had been closed. The church had been partly destroyed but later completely restored. The whole area was moving. Several groups, by bike or by car came by. In the last one we talked a bit and were told that earlier in the history of the closed border, the main church entrance being in Hungary and the sacristy on Austria, quite frequently people escaped to the West by going in the main entrance and leaving by the sacristy door. This stopped when an exclusion zone began on the Hungarian side.

After the church, EV13 took us on a remote forest trail for some distance, eventually to Szengotthard, where we paused for iced coffee.

Finally that day, on to Apatistvanfalva, where we stayed in an excellent hotel. We are going up-market this year with (so far) no camping but always overnight in a guest house, hotel, etc.

Next day took us into Slovenia, soon after starting off. It also took us steeply down hill, which was nice. Ebikes are making uphill much easier to cope with, but nothing beats a good downhill!

It was only a day in Slovenia. It included a visit to an old mill, and lunch in a churchyard in remarkable heat, opposite a bee tenement - a stack of hives - across a small stream. Then we arrived in Lendava and into a total middle looking for a bike shop and also somewhere to stay, in both cases with no success. We continued on the route, finding nowhere: even a campsite was defunct. It got dark and we trudged on and came to a roadside hotel a bit before Nagykanisza, where we could stay and did. Good supper

Photos Sopron to Koszeg

On the Hungarian / Austrian border 

On the Hungarian side was a monument to the 1956 uprising and on the Austrian side an art installation of the separation. The sun was extremely bright so photos of the art were difficult.

To Kormend

After Koszeg we felt we were getting into it. We were also aware of forecast rain. Rain was needed, if only to relieve the heat but cycling is nice without it. Anyway it was not raining yet and we set off.

The road was not excessively up and down, and after a while quite straight and level. And still no rain. We then got into some climbing into the village of Felsocsater (I bet I have spelled that wrong) where a border museum had been advertised. The museum was actually further on and up a big hill. The advantages of our ebikes were really coming out. We have seen a lot of border museums by now. This one had its own interest and gave more info about landmines. It seems there had been a definite death rate among border guards when they had to remove these. Also when a flood had washed away some mines, they were found later by children who touched them and were killed. This led to UN pressure on Russia and commands to remove certain mines. There was also an example of the modern fence against Serbia and Croatia, which we may see later. It is forbidding.

Then on. It came on to rain but we cycled on, passing between Hungary and  Austria several times. We went to Kormend in Hungary for b&b. It was off-route but cheaper than places in Austria. At least the rain had stopped long before we got there

Sopron to Koszeg

So, we left Sopron in good time, though I cannot recall when. We cycled through some suburbs on the South side of town, and joined a main, but quiet road to Harka a village and on to Nekenmarkt in Austria. No sign of a border when we crossed it. Through endless vineyards and we missed a left turn to follow EV13 to Deutschkreutz. But we recovered from this quickly. In Deutschkreutz there was an ebike charging point that was locked but we did not need it anyway.

On due South, quite level at first then through some forest, back over the frontier with a guard who waved us through, and we arrived at some border artwork, rather corroded, near Lutzmanburg. Noticed here several thousand crossed to Austria in ,1956 before the border was more completely sealed.

We then found a big-big climbing affair and a clubhouse where kids and older kids were kitted out with safety gear before going on high. We had our lunch here and could buy some alcohol-free beer: most welcome as it was getting hot. Then on and we found EV13 extremely well signed along some excellent cycle paths, leading into a village called Klostermarienburg. Here excellent progress rather fell to pieces. It took a short while to realise the trail went extra-steeply out of the village. We took this using our electric power on "high".  This road ended up in rough tracks in some woods. Back to the top of the village where our track went off to the left. We took it. To start with steep but OK. But soon got to a place where they seemed to have needed to get rid a loaf of railway ballast. Had to walk over this then could ride down to the village of Olmod.

From here, there was a decent road towards Koszeg. But this ended in ornamental gates with a railway-ballast path climbing steeply on the right. Nothing for it but to push up, for at least a km. But at the top it became a good dirt road going down into Koszeg.

Found our pension. Into town which was most impressive with old churches and a castle and old streets, even a procession carrying a statue of the Virgin into yet another church. We ate in a restaurant, a reasonable meal

Sopron: a memorial to sadness

Just outside our apartment was this reminder of a divided Europe. 1946 brought peace to many, but for some it meant leaving the homeland that they had known for generations, leaving family and friends. Before long a wall would also divide these communities.

Sopron: photos of the old town

Photos of Sopron

View from our window

A lazy Sunday

The building where we stayed 

Adding photos

This is an attempt to add photos taken on the iPad. For some reason it will no longer let me do it which is irritating.  Any ideas let me know!

Sopron

The rule is that we spend the first day not cycling anywhere. We rented an appartment in Sopron old town. The only bit of tourism intended was to see the old synagogue, which turned out to closed. A nice atmosphere and really peaceful; it is so good to be away from traffic and not under a flight path. Tomorrow we start. The weather is wonderful.

Getting going again

I think the various posts in the last few days have become chaotic. This is partly because working on it all now has to be on a mobile since trying to do it on my laptop produces instructions in Hungarian and I find these hard to follow, partly because there is large amount of techie stuff surrounding "blogger" that is doubtless meant to be totally intuitive, and anyone over, say, 60 knows what that means.

Anyway, I will now try to resume on the subject of our cycle journey.

The last sectors

We must finish this thing! Various reasons, it cannot go on for ever, it has come to dominate, but most of all no-one has said the European health card will still be available after March next year to UK citizens and one rather suspects not?

ll, we have started - or re-started.  It is Tuesday 14 August and we have cycled for two days from Sopron. The  first was very hot, against a hot wind and the second was in the rain, at least for the second part.
Left Sopron with some regrets; it is a lovely place, but the essence of long tours by bike is one leaves places, lovely or ugly, behind. Uphill then downhill out of the town, past many hectares of vineyards, and into open countryside in the sunshine. Now we appreciated our electric bikes; it was quite hilly, but we took this in our stride in a way that Tom, anyway, could not have done. A twisty route at first to Deutschkreutz, which is where the trains from Vienna via Sopron end up. We took over an hour to get there.....  But comparing with train timings is it not what it is about. The EV13 route has beeen re-worked at this stage, as far as I can see to keep it closer to the Austria-Hungary border. After Nikitsch, in Austria, we crossed to Hungary again and came to a small commemorative display aboUt the closed border. Then an extradinary recreation place with lotus of high-up climbing rigs up high poles. There was a sort of clubhouse where they sold us a couple of nonalcoholic beers and we had our pack up (lunch). Nonalcoholic beer round here is infinitely better than what you can get in England, where they seem to think it is for sissies, and of course not compatible with brexit.
The route now went along excellent cycle paths on a river valley, ending up in a village where a sharp left took us to a really tough path which was gravelly, like a railway track without the rails and sleepers but with the stones.  So rather a lot of tiring pushing. Finally, at the top of a hill, it became a decent levelled dirt track and one could appreciate th lovely wooded Hill scenery, descending into Koszeg, where we had booked into a guest house.
Koszeg turned out to be an impressive old place with a good atmosphere. Our guide book says it has suffered from economic decline and is trying to build up its tourist activities.

THe next day rain was forecast for 11.00. We had gone some way by 11.00, and light drizzle began exactly on time. It was. later it became continuous. Out of Koszeg, the route red quite hilly. It was cooler and cycling more pleasant. In a while we were going along a level and well-surfaced road gently downhill, which could have been described as bliss.  Then up hill to Feltosocsatar where there was a diversion to a border museum, up another steeper hill. THe museum was a private one, graphic about the minefields that had been there and about people killed in them. There is also an example of th modern fence, put up in 2015, against Serbia and Croatia, which brought home aspects of the current refugee situation. As we left ththe museum, the real rain got going; not heavy but continuous. During a break in the rain we stopped on a bench in a churchyard for lunch. The route went in and out of Austria and Hungary. IN an Austrian phase we stopped for coffee and totally cream-based cakes.  Soon after, we diverted from EV13 to go to our next lodging in Kormend in Hungary; EV13 at this stage is in Austria where places to stay are very much more expensive! And here we are.
Next entry will have some pictures.

Tomorrow we start

We have spent much of today trying to get the blog to work. Maybe my iPad is just too old. Then I had the bright idea of trying my phone. This message is to see if it works. The main problem will be photos, which are on my iPad. This might mean photos are published separately, or perhaps someone out there can solve our problems.

Tomorrow is a short day of 45km hopefully.

2018 Year 5

We are now in Sopron, Hungary, where we finished last year's ride. It took us 2 days, 11 trains and one boat to get here because you can't take bikes on high speed trains.  Today is a hot Sunday.  With nothing much happening, it is a suitable day for recovering from the journey. A memorial opposite where we are staying reminds us of the sadness and cost of people divided.