Hungarian….

My goodness me, Hungarian is a tough language. Ildiko is a wonderful teacher at the summer school here in Budapest, but our class of seven or eight (from the US, Canada, Iran, Germany, France, Italy and the UK) is struggling something rotten with the indefinite and definite aspects of the verb. One verb form for … Read more …

Angels on the Danube Road in Hungary

I said there’d be no more blogs for a while, as Hungarian gets learned, but after two fabulous days, in terms both of weather/cycling and encounters, the temptation is too strong. Today’s pictures illustrate how setting off on a big cycling journey alone doesn’t mean cycling alone. And also how similar we cyclists in Europe … Read more …

Raven and Crossing Danube

Getting out of Budapest to the south yesterday was a bit grim, on heavily-trafficked and rather badly-surfaced roads, but once into the flat Hungarian countryside along the Danube, the cycling has been glorious. Here, Raven and I crossed the river today, Friday May 2, near Szekszard, about 100 miles south of the capital on the … Read more …

Budapest – and Going Offline for a While

OK, so I cheated a bit today. Taking the train from Vienna to Budapest (see luggage taking a break too), where I’m going to lay up for a while, see old friends and make a serious attempt at learning Hungarian. The Hungarians are so keen that foreigners should master their imposssible, upside-down but fascinating language, … Read more …

The Ultimate Mobile Office

And while I have access to a decent, real computer here in Vienna, able to post serious photos taken with a serious camera, here’s a shot from back in France, on the Loire at La Charite (once a major stop on the Camino to Santiago), of my mobile office. O2 Stellar Blackberry-enabled mobile on the … Read more …

One I took earlier…

These three cheerful types were spied rather earlier on the trip, back in Paris almost a month ago, where I stopped to take some photos, in the rain of course, of self, Raven and the Arc de Triomphe. The two on the left started eyeing the bike with clear expertise, and when I greeted them … Read more …

Vienna. And Why Blog?

Beware, this is a long blog. Take a deep breath, jump in, but be prepared to navigate in manageable segments. Yes, the tent last night stayed dry inside, as did the sleeping gear, and I even dreamed of warm and snuggly sleeping bags. OK, I have had to wear my socks and expensive 100% waterproof … Read more …

The Danube cont. And rain. Lots of it.

The less said about today’s ride the better. Eighty-four hard, and for the second half spectacularly wet miles (see grey pic above), the last 30 slogging through a succession of thunderstorms in a vain search for a warm dry B&B. I’ve ended up having to put up the tent anyway, in Tulln on the Danube … Read more …

The Danube and Pilgrims

The banks of the Danube, which I reached today and along which I ploughed for a healthy total of 83 miles into a ferocious headwind, are indeed flat, as expected. But they’re also, to be honest, a bit boring, despite the last couple of days’ fabulous explosion all around of tree blossoms in this very … Read more …

Salzburg and The Sound of Music

Now into my fifth week on the road since leaving home on Easter Day, this was one amazing day’s ride. 64 miles heading east from Salzburg through Austrian pre-Alpine landscape for which the word idyllic was invented. Stayed last night with Dart Centre friend and colleague Susan Moeller at the Schloss Leopoldskron in Salzburg, home … Read more …