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From Hull to Everywhere Else

My trip from Hull heading eastwards. The aim is to reach Turkey overland, then into the 'Stans. Thence to India and further east. . After that who knows? But I'm not overplanning. Just going to see what happens. Weiterlesen
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    Game of Thrones tour

    22. Mai 2024 in Kroatien ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C

    This is the Game of Thrones tour with Gray Line. Just a couple of hours exploring Diocletians Palace where some of the Mereen scenes including the dragons being chained up and the slaying of the masters. Diocletian was emperor in about 270 AD for 30 or so years. Long enough to build an impressive palace anyway. Tour the as presented very well by a guy named Tomi and there were just 2 others - a Canadian husband and wife off a cruise down the coast.

    The Dalmation coast a littered with islands and is stunningly beautiful. On another trip I might have to do some island hopping.    Weiterlesen

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    Split

    21.–24. Mai 2024 in Kroatien ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    So having left Budapest I am heading for Turkey but I was tempted to look in on Split and Dubrovnik for their Games of Thrones connections, various scenes having been filmed a these cities. And then after googling some of the images of the cities I felt I had to come. So initially the plan was 2 nights in Split and 2 nights in Dubrovnik. I am staying at the Wonderful World Hostel in Split. Booked here because one of the reviews mentioned the cat. I'll add a photo. It is the most laid back pokey and cramped hostel I've stayed at but because of that it's the most social I have stayed at so far. Really enjoying it but I would like to stay in my own room quite soon. Maybe will at Dub, maybe afterwards.

    Spent the first full day I was here doing a Game or Thrones tour in the morning (just me and a couple of Canadians who were on day release from a cruise). Two hours. The Mereen scenes of Game of Thrones were filmed here.

    Then in the afternoon onto Marjan, the "mountain" to the west of the city. Not really a mountain - not high enough - but interesting enough to explore and get some great views of the city.

    A few of my fellow hostellers raved about Krka National Park which I rode past on the way down from Zagreb so I have extended my stay and added a third night so I can visit that on the Thursday.

    Nice gang of guys including Boyii a Chinese guy, Ollie an English guy who looks like a surfer dude, Emma a US student and a few others. Will do separate entries for each of these.

    And now finally we have a general election in the UK. About time.    Weiterlesen

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    Zagreb

    20. Mai 2024 in Kroatien ⋅ ☁️ 25 °C

    Overnight pit stop in Zagreb in the way to Split and Dubrovnik. Stayed at Main Square hostel which had one of the dodgier looking entrances. Odd pod like bed arrangement But was fine on the inside. Had a game of chess with Doug from Leeds. Nice to have an actual game even though I lost! The guy working on reception is a top level player with a rating of 2200 - or so he says.Weiterlesen

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    The House of Terror Museum
    The House of Terror MuseumThe Memorial to the Jews killed during the warParliament BuildingMatthias Church

    Budapest

    12.–20. Mai 2024 in Ungarn ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Wow. I've been in Budapest for a week and barely noticed. Time has flown by here and gotten away from me a little bit. Spent the first two nights in a private room at the Hive, then in a shared dorm at the same place and then moved to Wombat Hostel for the last two nights. Hive advertises itself as a party Hostel and lives up to its billing. There is a bar in the quad at the bottom which pumps out loud bass till about 4am. Didn't bother me re getting to sleep but ...

    Met up with the girls (Theresa and Johanna) for the first couple of days... We hung out and had a great time. Went for a number of walks including a guided tour of the city and a number of really cool breakfasts at the Bluebird cafe in the covered market between the two hostels. Jo has a university interview to negotiate from abroad. She might have to return to Norway for a couple of days. We'll see.

    Spent the remaining days exploring in a relaxed enough manner. Explored both Pest - the side of the city that I am on - and Buda the hilly other side separated by the Danube. Have left it too long to do 8 days justice blog wise. Will just have to add some photos.

    Also, in the news - Man City have just won their 4th title in a row. Let's hope when they get their points deduction, they get stripped of their past titles. That would give Liverpool two more. Also, the president of Iran has just died in a helicopter crash. I've decided to add news items as a memory tool for co-ordinating events when I read this back when I'm old and senile. Wonder if it'll work? I'm meant to be heading to Istanbul but am taking a detour to Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik. Hope it's worth it.    Weiterlesen

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    Vienna

    10.–12. Mai 2024 in Österreich ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    After Pesky Crumble I rode onto Vienna. Two nights here before I move onto Budapest. Today I tried a new approach. I ride round the town on my motorbike . After all I do have a motorbike so I can get around quite quickly. One downside - it’s not practical to do that while wearing full gear especially as it’s starting to get hot and full gear is one of my mantras from the safety perspective. However in town am travelling much more slowly. Fast bicycle speeds really and you don’t need full gear for a bicycle. So I decide to take a calculated risk. Motorbike jacket helmet and gloves but normal jeans and trainers. Now I can jump on stop see somewhere and then move on to the next place. Managed to get through quite a few sights this way. St Stephen’s Cathedral, the Opera, the Palace, the museums, the Rathaus and the central cafe (didn’t go in cos of a long queue outside). Not as tiring as walking around but you do miss out on something as well. Swings and roundabouts. However since I’m off to Budapest tomorrow wanted to see as much as possible today. Also be careful when riding behind horses. They leave behind deposits that are not conducive to bike stability if you ride over them.Weiterlesen

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    A Rhapsody in Bohemia, Cesky Krumlov

    10. Mai 2024 in Tschechien ⋅ ☁️ 18 °C

    I was planning to ride from Prague to Vienna and decided to explore part of Bohemia - would seem a shame to pass though it without doing so. So I stopped here at Cesky Krumlov which is a truly amazing experience. It is like stepping into a movie set in an undefined past. Ancient buildings, cobbled streets and maze-like narrow streets with a tower overlooking it all and even a bear pit (the two bears seemed very happy from what I would tell). I spent a couple of hours wandering around but would happily stay here for a relaxing holiday looking in the shops, visiting the museums and eating. I'd never heard of this place but it's well worth a visit. Kafkaesque - not in a bad way but in the sense you are kind of in a maze. Reminded me a little of Portmeiron in Wales but turned up to 11.Weiterlesen

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    Munich to Prague

    8. Mai 2024 in Tschechien ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Rode from Munich to Prague today. Started off the day by getting from more vacuum seal bags from the same supermarket as yesterday. Tried taking the more direct route as indicted by apple maps to the supermarket but every route seemed to end in a cul-de-sac or otherwise inaccessible route. So ended up retracing my steps to go the route I had gone last night. Problem was apple maps wasn't working - or only working with offline maps which was unhelpful. Not sure why. Anyway once I'd stocked up with more bags and returned via a Burger King breakfast, vacuum sealed my remaining stuff and set off for the apple store to get a new lead and charger - a snip at 80 euros. Thence onto Prague. This ride was a long motorway one so not much of interest happened. I listened to some Agatha Christie on the way and then moved on to the audiobook of Silence of the Lambs - not sure why.

    Arrived into Prague at the Czech Inn (good punning) about sixish and went to get some food at an Indian. So much cheaper generally than Germany or Switzerland although for some reason the price of dorms which today and tomorrow is about 20 odd euro equivalent skyrockets to about 70. According to the receptionist the reason is that Rammstein are playing here over the weekend but that can't be the reason the whole city has put its prices up. They're not that big a group.

    So after two nights I plan to head to Vienna instead where it's actually cheaper much to my surprise. Will explore the city for just one day tomorrow then. Would like to stay longer but don't want to spend so much on accommodation.    Weiterlesen

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    Wet trip to Munich

    7. Mai 2024 in Deutschland ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    Today I got distracted by what has turned into a short obsession. My stuff got soaked yesterday - I rode 500 km from Grindelwald to Munich and most of it in the rain, coming into Munich absolutely torrential rain. I have pretty good waterproof protection but there is a limit and some of it got through into my rucksack and daypack. I personally stayed mostly dry apart from my gloves but I'm more concerned about my stuff. If I get wet there won't be any lasting damage. So last night my computer wouldn't work. I wasn't sure if it was the lead, charger or the computer itself that had gotten wet. Went to the Apple store today to get a preliminary diagnosis and they weren't sure either but they said to come back tomorrow to get an appointment with a technician. Anyway I thought I don't want that to happen again so I went to Germany's equivalent of Tescos and bought a load of large vacuum seal food bags and have now put pretty much everything in those. So I have spent all evening folding up all my clothes and everything else and bagging everything. Upside of doing that was that by compressing all the air out of the clothes bags I now have gained about 20 litres of space in the rucksack. I'm going back for more tomorrow! Surely if I buy enough bags my rucksack will be empty! Also, good news, my computer has finally fired up so it is just either the lead or the charger that is knackered. Losing the computer would have been a nightmare. Hooray!Weiterlesen

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    Grindelwald, day 2

    5. Mai 2024 in der Schweiz ⋅ ☁️ 8 °C

    Arrived back at the hostel after visiting the Reichenbach Falls. Discovered that the Mexicans had left my dorm and been replaced by Johanna and Therese who are on their gap year inter-railing. They are from Drammen(?) in Norway. After an hour or two together we felt like old friends. Boosted by the fact that Therese was wearing a Liverpool top (Johanna had gone for Barca Messi)!! We went for dinner at the cow restaurant. I had veal Bratwurst. They had pork steak (T) and Wienerschnitzel (J). Had a great evening hanging out. We met up for breakfast the following morning as well before I departed. I do hope we will meet again, perhaps even on their inter-rail tour - although their tour is the most organised ever! so a detour to meet so to me might not be possible.

    I feel very grateful. I’ve met up with some lovely people over the past few weeks, some of whom have been kind enough to offer me accommodation, others who have said they will go climbing with me and others who I hope I will be friends with for a long time. Travelling alone can be challenging and occasionally lonely but this has made it so worthwhile.    Weiterlesen

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    Reichenbach Falls, Meiringen

    5. Mai 2024 in der Schweiz ⋅ ☁️ 11 °C

    Headed off to Meirngen for the Reichenbach Falls. There is a funicular railway that goes up to the Falls. I bought a ticket for it and for the nearby Aare gorge.

    Once at the top of the train track there is a view of the falls on the left and a path towards the top. This path goes round the top and enables you to approach the falls from the other side along the path where Holmes supposedly fought Moriarty. Watson was lying though. If you fall off the path you may well die but it drops onto a steep patch of land adjacent to the falls and not the Fall itself. There is a wreath at the end of the path. Logically it should be a wreath commemorating Moriarty since Holmes didn’t die. Also the climb above the path that Holmes supposedly took when he faked his death is pretty much impossible. Holmes couldn’t have climbed it as he said. So perhaps the whole story was a conspiracy between Holmes and Watson to put Moriarty’s gang off the track? Of course if you’re reading this and you’re not a Sherlock Holmes buff you’ll have no idea what I’m talking about.

    Anyway I continued to circle around. You eventually a point where you can walk to the very foot of the Falls. There was a sign saying danger but nothing forbidding you going there. Anyway, what doesn’t come with danger? You should just be shown a danger sign once when you are born and then that should be it. You don’t need to see it again after that. Here was where you get a real impression of the power of the Falls.

    After the Falls I walked over to the Aare Gorge. This is a 1400m long trek along a wooden path through a limestone gorge. Since compared to the Falls I’d never heard of the gorge this was a nice unexpected bonus. I’d recommend it. Objectively, just as, if not more, spectacular than the Falls I would say.    Weiterlesen

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    Grindelwald

    4. Mai 2024 in der Schweiz ⋅ ⛅ 7 °C

    After Montreux rode eastwards to Grindelwald via Interlaken. Scenery was great all the way but Grindelwald was utterly beautiful and difficult to beat. The hostel itself is very scenic and is overlooked by Eiger and Jungfrau. The Eiger was making noises which initially sounded like distant gunfire but which were actually avalanches - see video. Decided to stay here for the day tomorrow. Am going to head to Meiringen to see the Reichenbach Falls.

    The dorm run was overrun by a group of Mexican climbers who were over here chasing Swiss mountains. They had even bigger rucksacks than I had which is saying something!    Weiterlesen

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    Montreux, Freddie Mercury

    4. Mai 2024 in der Schweiz ⋅ ☁️ 14 °C

    Said goodbye to Izzy and got on the bike heading to Grindelwald. On Izzy’s recommendation I paused at Lavaux and Vevey before heading to Montreux to check out Freddie Mercury’s statue. Queen had a history at Montreux. They owned a studio at the casino there and it now houses a Queen exhibition. The casino was the inspiration for the song Smoke on the Water when it caught fire and the smoke billowed down onto the Lake.Weiterlesen

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    Olympic museum

    3. Mai 2024 in der Schweiz ⋅ ☁️ 13 °C

    My visit to the Olympic Museum in Lausanne. Spread over three floors. One floor covering the history and the medals, Olympic flame, mascots, one floor covering clothing and equipment and the last floor providing equipment with the opportunity to practise some of the training exercises such as a reaction speed wall. That was the fun floor.Weiterlesen

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    Basel to Lausanne

    2. Mai 2024 in der Schweiz ⋅ ☁️ 10 °C

    Arrived into Lausanne from Basel. Decided to take the fast Tomtom route rather than the winding route as it wasn't that different. The first part was beautiful winding roads through mountains with switchbacks galore. Then approaching one town (I never know the name of the town I am in due to satnav) - oh it was Oberdorf (thanks to apple photos recording the location) it suddenly started raining so I pulled over to put waterproofs on both myself and over the rucksack. By the time I'd pulled over it was rainforest level torrential rain with thunder and lightning (very very fright'ning). Too rainy for the bike so sat in a shop car park for half an hour or so. Then as the rain petered out I resumed my course for Lausanne. I planned to arrive at 18.40 as Izzy - who I was staying with - was working till then. But all restaurants along the route looked closed so Iarrived about an hour early and got a sandwich at a very French sandwich shop.Weiterlesen

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    Basel, Switzerland

    30. Apr.–2. Mai 2024 in der Schweiz ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    Rode down from Pforzheim to Basel. Lovely ride through the Black Forest. Good weather. So scenic. There were areas where it seemed like the trees were the whole universe.

    But a long day's riding - maybe six to eight hours on the bike. The last few miles always seem to drag. Spent the ride listening to Book 3 of the 3 Body Problem.

    Checked into Basel Backpackers hostel. Was in a mixed dorm where I met Daisy from Oxford who was doing a PhD at UCL in London on 16/17th Century music and was a cellist and player of the Viola da gamba who did her undergraduate degree at Merton College Oxford. It's been a while since I've met a fellow Brit so it was very nice to do so. She's interrailing and heading towards Italy. Was exhausted after the long ride so went to get some pasta and pesto and after dinner had an early night. Unfortunately in the 6 bed dorm we had a very loud snorer so put earphones in and tried to get the sleep that way. I think the snoring seemed to subside about 2am so I think I got some sleep after that.

    The following morning saw Daisy and a Chinese girl called Doudou (pronounced Dodo) who was also in the same dorm. Doudou is Chinese and travelling ultimately to Japan and we have said we must meet up there. She is a film studies graduate from - I think - Chicago Uni.

    Spent the day on foot just wandering around and exploring Basel. It is a very pretty city and very nice to walk around. Today was May 1 and is a holiday here it being Mayday. Saw the most mop-like dog I've probably ever seen. Video attached.    Weiterlesen

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    Riding in the Black Forest

    26. April 2024 in Deutschland ⋅ ☁️ 6 °C

    Today I rode Drogon all day in the Black Forest. I had found a recommended route on a website which was coincidentally written by a girl I met on CSS (California Superbike School) level 2 who calls herself on her website Wandering Bird. So first of all I rode from Pforzheim to Baden-Baden on the motorway but after that got onto the B-500 heading south. This was a track quality road through the mountains and forest. Absolutely brilliant riding with a fair number of switchbacks. Rode down to Freudenstadt. Had a coffee and quiche there at lunchtime. Then rode back to the L-92. This was a more single tracky type of road and a little bit more challenging. The scenery was amazing. An infinite number of Christmas trees on the sides of the hills. Snow on the roadsides but not at all on the roads. That didn’t stop it from being chuffing cold.Weiterlesen

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    Pforzheim, Youth Hostel

    24.–27. Apr. 2024 in Deutschland ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

    Thu 25 April
    Had a relaxing day after the ride down from Daum. Spent most of the day chilling. I did wander into town but the only coffee shop I found did not have wifi so I didn't stay for long. Came back to the hostel but the ones in Germany don’t really seem to have lounges, just eating areas, so you cant really relax in them except in your room. As I was walking from the hostel to town I was accosted by this bloke who asked me if I could help him out. Warily I asked how. Turns out he was a local artist who needed help bringing one of his large paintings down the stairs from his apartment (by the hostel) to the back of his van. Got through the whole process without being kidnapped. Well done!

    Fri26th
    Rode the Black Forest today. See separate entry.

    Sat 27th
    Moved to an apartment in Pforzheim after spending the day at the hostel working. I moved because I wanted somewhere to work and the apartment at Koblenz was so nice I thought i would duplicate the experience. Unfortunately this apartment wasn't anywhere near as nice and in hindsight I should have either stayed at the hostel or moved on.    Weiterlesen

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    Daum, Germany

    23.–24. Apr. 2024 in Deutschland ⋅ ☁️ 7 °C

    Tue 23 April
    Today was the day I made it finally to the Nurburgring (see separate entry). Faffed around during the day. Had to move from Mayen to Daum because the youth hostel in Mayen was booked up but Daum is about the same distance from the Nurburgring and not a long ride from Mayen.

    Wed 24 April
    Rode to head into the black forest. Road from wherever I was. Daum I think, to wherever I am now. Pforzheim. Had initially headed to Mannheim but got there early enough, so then thought about heading to either Karlsruhe or Baden Baden. Both youth hostels were booked up. I’m thinking that youth hostels in Germany are not the best way to meet other people. Nothing like the one in Reykjavic. So the youth hostel in Pforzheim is full of kids. Outrageous. Also it's on 5 floors and I think due to the preponderance of children they have turned off the lifts so I have to lug my rucksack up to floor 3, which with the addition of the UG and LG floors is five floors. Good exercise. The heart hasn't given out yet. These youth hostels lack somewhere to just hang out. Either you are in your room or in the dining room. No lounge which is a shame. Haven't really met up with anyone in these German hostels (apart from Ali of course).    Weiterlesen

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