Chris Solo Central Europe, Fri Jun 23, 2023

High speed blast across Hungary to Bratislava Slovakia (day12)



TimeMinuteskmkph avgComment
7:41am3.2 getting ready to leave Casa Transilvania
7:44am11.111 km58
7:55am6.5 Rompetrol gas stop right before the border crossing, used up almost all my cash Lei
8:01am1.20 km22
8:02am50.5 almost and hour to cross the border
8:53am122.8210 km103
10:56am30.5 highway rest area gas stop plus coffee and pastry and curious trucker
11:26am55.0106 km116
12:21pm2.5 Turning up into Duna-Ipoly Nemzeti Park (Traffic stop, not a rest break)
12:24pm25.024 km58
12:49pm11.5 Photo stop in the woods of Duna-Ipoly Nemzeti Park
1:00pm10.010 km57
1:10pm3.7 Shell gas stop before leaving Hungary
1:14pm3.52 km38
1:17pm2.8 photo stop pics of bridge to Slovakia on the Danube
1:20pm59.168 km69
2:19pm30.7 COOP jednota food and drinks break
 
8h29m5h59m moving513 km85.8 kph70% moving, 150 minutes of breaks

Border crossing Romania → Hungary


Bought gas with the last of my Lei at the border inside of Romania, then got in the "all passports" line, not the EU,EEA,CH line.
The line was moving extremely slowly. Only 5 cars in front of me, but it still took 50 minutes.
The first booth was leaving Romania, and that went quickly. But the second booth was entering Hungary and they couldn't fathom how I started in Vienna, had a motorcycle from Switzerland, was leaving Romania without them being able to find the stamp in my passport for entering Romania.
Remember that Romania isn't Shengen and Hungary is Shengen. And, I guess, USA isn't Shengen either.
I had no stamps for entering Shengen because Vienna didn't stamp my passport either.
With lots of walking around and consulting everyone under the sun, they finally let me in.
I wonder if they were waiting for some acceleration money. I just relaxed and waited for the inevitable to finally happen.

Highway gas stop

Duna-Ipoly Nemzeti Park

North-East of Budapest is a national park with beautiful forest roads. This Duna-Ipoly Nemzeti Park forest was a nice break from freeway blasting. Temperature was up to 33°C, so I took off my suit in the forest and kept it off for the rest of the afternoon. Hot. 29°C in the forest was a relief, but it was back up to 31 for most of the ride into Bratislava.

Border Crossing Hungary → Slovakia

This border crossing was uncontrolled

Playground Steam Locomotives

Slovakia has them too!

Lunch Break

Bratislava Slovakia

I stayed at City Center Best Apartments which is an interesting hotel/hostel catering to bicyclists and families. It has kitchens, laundry facilities, and lots of rules. The check-in line was long, but eventually I was in and sorted out.

Parked outside the apartments (creatively) mimicing what other motorcycles seem to be doing.
Tried to buy parking from a lot across the street, but the attendant is an ass-hole. I think it's 1.5 euro per hour or 42 euro for 24 hours (1.5*24 = 36 so that's a shitty deal). I'd like to buy 14 hours for 21 but he doesn't want to deal with me. And his handwriting is unintelligible. Maybe it's 12 euro for 24 hours. But he won't attempt to understand the question. He won't read a translation from my phone. OK fuck him, I'll park for free. Hope it's OK.
After an hour or so of hotel checkin process, I rolled my bike down the sidewalk to a place where hashed lines on the pavement indicated no (car) parking in a triangular gap at the end of a row of parking spaces. I'd seen scooters parked in those areas elsewhere, so it looked good to me. Made me a little nervous that it was so easy for me to just roll the bike a block or so to another place. Made me think of a couple of guys rolling it into a van. Also made me a little nervous that all the scooters were gone later in the evening and my motorcycle was the only one parked like that. But, it worked out OK this time. The bike was there in the morning.


Walking Bratislava

As I went out for a walk it was raining just a little. By the time I got back, it was raining rather a lot.
Bratislava is the capital and largest city of Slovakia with a population of about 660,000 and prices quite a bit higher than the rest of Slovakia. It has a very rich history influenced by many nations and religions: Austrians, Bulgarians, Croats, Czechs, Germans, Hungarians, Jews, Romani and Slovaks.

Dinner at Milea

I have a dinner receipt and know the exact GPS location where I ate, but I'm not sure what the restaurant is called.


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