Jun – Jul 2016

Danube Cycle

A 40-day adventure by Shazzij Travel Log Read more

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Trip start
June 15, 2016
Danube Cycle Shazzij Travel Log
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Day 1
Wednesday, June 15, 2016 at 7:36 PM
⛅ 11 °C
Altitude: 1,622 m
South Africa Parkview -26.16456, 28.016626°9’52” S 28°0’60” E
On our way ...
June 15, 2016 in South Africa ⋅ ⛅ 11 °C
Ticket, passport (FINALLY) and we're good to go
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Day 2
Thursday, June 16, 2016 at 6:46 AM
☀️ 31 °C
Altitude: 4 m
Qatar Wa‘b an Nu‘ayjah 25.25972, 51.6092625°15’35” N 51°36’33” E
1 ✈ down, 1 to go
June 16, 2016 in Qatar ⋅ ☀️ 31 °C
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Day 2
Thursday, June 16, 2016 at 4:27 PM
⛅ 16 °C
Altitude: 564 m
Germany Oberpfaffenhofen 48.10304, 11.2821548°6’11” N 11°16’56” E
In Munich with Elke, Dieter and Noah
June 16, 2016 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
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Day 3
Friday, June 17, 2016 at 5:22 PM
⛅ 19 °C
Altitude: 527 m
Germany Mary's Square 48.13729, 11.5753548°8’14” N 11°34’31” E
Glokenspiel @ the Marienplatz
June 17, 2016 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
On the way to the Hofbrauhaus for dinner....
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Day 3
Friday, June 17, 2016 at 6:28 PM
⛅ 18 °C
Altitude: 521 m
Germany Mary's Square 48.13761, 11.5804848°8’15” N 11°34’50” E
Time to drink me thinks ....
June 17, 2016 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C
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Day 4
Saturday, June 18, 2016 at 7:14 PM
☀️ 19 °C
Altitude: 301 m
Germany Universität Passau 48.56687, 13.447548°34’1” N 13°26’51” E
Bikes collected, ready for tomorrow
June 18, 2016 in Germany ⋅ ☀️ 19 °C
Electric is definitely the way forward... 😊
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Day 5
Sunday, June 19, 2016 at 8:52 AM
🌧 14 °C
Altitude: 369 m
Germany Passau 48.56524, 13.43548°33’55” N 13°26’6” E
Cycling Day 1 - 35km
June 19, 2016 in Germany ⋅ 🌧 14 °C
It's ☔! Oh well at least it won't be too hot and we won't need the Sunscreen 😯.
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Day 5
Sunday, June 19, 2016 at 8:37 PM
⛅ 16 °C
Altitude: 275 m
Austria Rannabach 48.46794, 13.7878848°28’5” N 13°47’16” E
Passau to Niederranna 35km
June 19, 2016 in Austria ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
Rained all the way.... We were soaked by the time we got here 😯

Hoping Day 2 will at least be drier.
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Day 6
Monday, June 20, 2016 at 2:33 PM
⛅ 17 °C
Altitude: 269 m
Austria Bürgerstrasse Tram Station 48.29787, 14.2892648°17’52” N 14°17’21” E
Niederranna to Linz... 56.9km
June 20, 2016 in Austria ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
Still overcast, but no rain for the 1st 35km. Then it's started to drizzle a little. Fortunately noting like the downpour yesterday! At least my undies were still dry when we got to our hotel 😂
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Day 7
Tuesday, June 21, 2016 at 3:53 PM
⛅ 21 °C
Altitude: 355 m
Austria Bad Kreuzen 48.25632, 14.8183648°15’23” N 14°49’6” E
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Linz to Aigner Kreuz 68.2km
June 21, 2016 in Austria ⋅ ⛅ 21 °C
No rain today, but also not too much sun either.

Very pretty ride along the Danube, through farms and quaint little villages.
Bruce Sutherland Sommer a KTM...
6/22/16Reply
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Day 8
Wednesday, June 22, 2016 at 4:35 PM
⛅ 27 °C
Altitude: 205 m
Austria Klein-Pöchlarn 48.20898, 15.2156948°12’32” N 15°12’56” E
Aigner Kreuz to Pochlarn - 45.3km
June 22, 2016 in Austria ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C
Shorter day today.... And the sun is shining.

However, the Austrian's are predicting that the Summer is only 3 days long this year as the rain is due to return by the weekend! 😕
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Day 9
Thursday, June 23, 2016 at 5:03 PM
☀️ 30 °C
Altitude: 192 m
Austria Krems 48.41346, 15.6105848°24’48” N 15°36’38” E
Pochlarn to Krems 45.9km
June 23, 2016 in Austria ⋅ ☀️ 30 °C
The sun was actually shining when we got up today..that's a first. Took a stroll through Melk before hopping on the bikes and heading to Krems.

Lots of little villages, each with at least 1 church 😉. Stopped asking the way for coffee and the local rooster came to say 'Hello'.

We got to the Wachau Valley where vineyards and cherry trees are the crop of choice.Read more
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Day 10
Friday, June 24, 2016 at 2:33 PM
☀️ 32 °C
Altitude: 157 m
Austria Alte Donau 48.23436, 16.4206148°14’4” N 16°25’14” E
Krems to Vienna 42km
June 24, 2016 in Austria ⋅ ☀️ 32 °C
We made it to Vienna! Half way done with the cycling, the 2nd day of bright sunshine and 32 degrees.

The day began with a 40 minute train trip from Krems to Tulln. Thankfully this shortened the distance between Krems and Vienna by 40km...the heat is killer 😰😰

Tomorrow we get new bikes. Hoping they are as good as these were...Read more
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Day 11
Saturday, June 25, 2016 at 4:19 PM
⛅ 32 °C
Altitude: 179 m
Austria Carnuntum 48.1119, 16.8624148°6’43” N 16°51’45” E
Vienna to Petronell-Carnuntum 51,6km
June 25, 2016 in Austria ⋅ ⛅ 32 °C
Got new bikes today for the 2nd half of the cycling. Apparently bikes need to be serviced after 6 days. We covered exactly 300km in 6 days. Who knew 😊

Extremely hot today with a strong wind blowing all the way from Vienna. Not much shade along the way either.

Petronell-Carnuntum was a Roman army camp on the Danube river, now a village close to the Slovakian border. The last picture is of the Heidentor or Pagan Gate built between 354 and 361 AD.

We head to Bratislava tomorrow.Read more
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Day 12
Sunday, June 26, 2016 at 4:41 PM
⛅ 25 °C
Altitude: 159 m
Slovakia Bratislava 48.14794, 17.1092748°8’53” N 17°6’33” E
Petronell-Carnuntum to Bratislava 27.9km
June 26, 2016 in Slovakia ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
Short cycle day today. Overcast and a lot cooler than yesterday.

Short bumble around the city to take a couple of pictures, including 2 of the famous Bratislava statues.

Tomorrow we head for Hungary. 1st stop will be Gyor.Read more
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Day 13
Monday, June 27, 2016 at 3:05 PM
🌬 20 °C
Altitude: 121 m
Hungary Mosoni-Duna 47.68603, 17.6416547°41’10” N 17°38’30” E
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Bratislava to Gyor - 40km
June 27, 2016 in Hungary ⋅ 🌬 20 °C
Easy cycle from Bratislava to Gyor. 40km on the bikes and then a 20 minute train ride.
Bruce Sutherland We've also got mieles here =D
6/27/16Reply
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Day 14
Tuesday, June 28, 2016 at 2:59 PM
⛅ 25 °C
Altitude: 114 m
Slovakia Komárno 47.76015, 18.123747°45’37” N 18°7’25” E
Gyor to Komarno - 50.2km
June 28, 2016 in Slovakia ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C
Nice cycle through little villages, local forested areas and farms.

Watched one combine harvester cut and collect wheat and another one bale up the "leftovers" for animal feed.

Komarno has 2 parts. One on the Hungarian side of the Danube and the other on the Slovakian side of the river.

Food is a lot cheaper in Hungary, who also still have their own currency - the Forint. Yesterday's lunch of 2 Kebap in Pita and Coke was a mere €3 😊.

Many Slovakian people cross the bridge from Slovakia to go shopping at Tesco's on the Hungarian side of the river.Read more
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Day 15
Wednesday, June 29, 2016 at 7:48 PM
☀️ 27 °C
Altitude: 125 m
Slovakia Štúrovo 47.80137, 18.7368247°48’5” N 18°44’13” E
1
Komarno to Esztergom - 57.6 km
June 29, 2016 in Slovakia ⋅ ☀️ 27 °C
Left Slovakia again and headed back to Hungary.

The cycle paths weren't as new and well maintained and the one we rode on yesterday, but at least we were on a path of sorts and off the main road.

We rode past fields of sunflowers and wheat and many derelict old buildings and factories on our way to Esztergom. Oh and about 500 Suzuki's on trains and trucks ....

The Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption and St Adalbert also known as the Esztergom Basilica is visible from at least 3km away. This is the head of the Catholic Church in Hungary.

Tomorrow we head for Budapest on the last day of the 12 day cycle trip.Read more
Bruce Sutherland =)
6/30/16Reply
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Day 16
Thursday, June 30, 2016 at 8:08 PM
⛅ 26 °C
Altitude: 110 m
Hungary Kelenföld 47.47831, 19.0393947°28’42” N 19°2’22” E
Esztergom to Budapest - 82.2km
June 30, 2016 in Hungary ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C
So... The final day of cycling arrived and was supposed to be a fairly short easy day. However, it turned into a cycle ALL way to Budapest. In total we've done about 610km in the 12 days. Not too bad for a non-cyclist I think 😊. I even have the cyclist "Hand Tan" 😂

We were supposed to take the ferry at 40km, but when we got to the pickup at 13h00 we were told the ferry was only coming at 17h00... So we carried on going 😓😓😓

We got into Budapest at 15h30, long before the ferry was even due to arrive at the pick up point 😊

Tonight we've earned our sleep. Tomorrow we'll be sitting on the Hop on Hop off bus, no more peddling for us 😃Read more
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Day 17
Friday, July 1, 2016 at 7:04 PM
⛅ 29 °C
Altitude: 110 m
Hungary Kelenföld 47.47831, 19.0393547°28’42” N 19°2’22” E
Budapest
July 1, 2016 in Hungary ⋅ ⛅ 29 °C
To the delight of my derrier, we took the Hop On Hop Off Bus today 😊

Budapest is a very pretty city with loads of old buildings and friendly people. The city is made up of 2 parts Buda and Pest.

Many of the old buildings were damaged and all the bridges over the Danube were destroyed by the Germans between December 1944 and February 1945. However, most of the old monumental structures have been restored.

The Parliament Building is impressive to say the least. It took 17 years to build, comprises 40 million bricks, half a million precious stones and 40kg of gold. 20km of stairs make working there hard work 😊. It is 96m high (the same height as St Stephen's Basilica), 268m long and 123m wide. The number 96 refers to the nation's millennium, 1896, and the conquest of the later Kingdom of Hungary in 896!

The Matthias Church, situated in front of the Fisherman's Bastion in the heart of Buda's Castle District. is a beautiful Roman Catholic which was originally built in 1015.Read more
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Day 18
Saturday, July 2, 2016 at 5:44 PM
⛅ 31 °C
Altitude: 110 m
Hungary Kelenföld 47.47832, 19.0392947°28’42” N 19°2’21” E
Budapest Day 2
July 2, 2016 in Hungary ⋅ ⛅ 31 °C
Today we discovered more of Budapest's treasures.

We crossed the Liberty Bridge and our 1st stop was the Central Market Hall. A large market hall completed in 1896 housing a huge variety of stalls on 3 levels. Most of the stalls are on the ground floor and produce includes meat, pastries, cheeses, sweets, spices and spirits.

Next stop was the St Stephen's Basilica and the Dohāny Street Synagogue. Both beautiful buildings.

A walk around Hero's Square and then back across the Chain Bridge - the 1st permanent and oldest bridge in Budapest, opened in 1849.

We had to check out the famous Lion statues. Apparently the story goes that when the Lion Statues were completed and unveiled, somebody shouted "but they don't have tongues! ". At which stage the sculptor threw himself off the bridge and into the river.

After today's excursion, I think we can safely say that we have seen all the noteworthy sights in Budapest - now for Vienna 😊Read more
http://www.budapestagent.com
8/24/16Reply
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Day 19
Sunday, July 3, 2016 at 8:24 PM
⛅ 19 °C
Altitude: 170 m
Austria Prater 48.1935, 16.4068648°11’37” N 16°24’25” E
Budapest to Vienna
July 3, 2016 in Austria ⋅ ⛅ 19 °C
Took the bus from Budapest to Vienna, so nothing much to report.

Hope to have more to share tomorrow. Doing the Hop On Hop Off bus.
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Day 20
Monday, July 4, 2016 at 5:39 PM
⛅ 24 °C
Altitude: 170 m
Austria Prater 48.1935, 16.4068948°11’37” N 16°24’25” E
Vienna
July 4, 2016 in Austria ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C
What a beautiful city! Statues, churches, parks and old buildings with beautiful facades are dotted all around the city. Some of the attractions we visited today ...

St Stephen's Cathedral is the most important religious building in Vienna. The Cathedral has 23 bells. The largest hangs in the north tower and is officially named for St. Mary, but is usually called Pummerin (Boomer) and weighs 20,130 kilo's. It is said that Beethoven only realised his deafness when he saw the birds fly out of the bell tower while they were ringing, but he could not hear them.

Hofburg Imperial Palace. The Palace remains the centre of government for Austria. It currently serves as the official residence of the President of Austria.

The Spanish Riding school, is located between Michaelerplatz and Josefsplatz near the Hofburg. The school was named for the Spanish horses that formed one of the bases of the Lipizzan breed. They are used exclusively at the school. It is the traditional riding school for Lipizzan horses, which perform in the Winter Riding School.

The Museums Quartier is a 60,000 m² area in the city, containing Baroque buildings as well as Modern architecture.

St. Peter's is thought to occupy the oldest Christian sacred site in Vienna, as a church has stood here since the second half of the 4th century.

The Vienna State Opera was hit during an air raid in 1945 during WWII, when an allied bomber allegedly mistook it for a train station. The interior was completely destroyed by fire, but was rebuilt in 1955 following the original design.

The famous Johann Strauss monument is situated in the City Park. During the demolition of the city walls and the creation of the Vienna Ringstraße, the mayor promoted the creation of a public park in it's place.

The Pestsäule (The Plague Column) is a Holy Trinity column in the inner city. It was erected after the Great Plague epidemic in 1679, and is one of the most well-known and prominent sculptural pieces of art in the city. In 1679, Vienna was visited by one of the last big plague epidemics. Fleeing the city, the Habsburg emperor Leopold I vowed to erect a mercy column should the epidemic end.Read more
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Day 21
Tuesday, July 5, 2016 at 9:45 PM
⛅ 22 °C
Altitude: 170 m
Austria Prater 48.19354, 16.4068348°11’37” N 16°24’25” E
Vienna Day 2
July 5, 2016 in Austria ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
We spent the day bumbling around the city. Mostly going from one coffee stop to the next. Needless to say, I managed to find more churches to visit 😊

Vienna's drinking water originates in the Lower Austrian-Styrian Alps. “Vienna has the world’s best drinking water” and free water dispenser's are dotted all around the city. Doggy water bowls are seen all over the city as many locals take their dogs everywhere with them. There many are public water fountains, where you can fill up your water bottle for free. The German term for drinkable water is “Trinkwasser“ Because water should not be a luxury item”, Vienna is the first city in the world to place its' water under constitutional protection. Since December 2001, the city of Vienna has protected its' water for future generations in the Vienna Water Charter.

The Hotel Sacher is a five-star hotel located in the Innere Stadt first district of Vienna, Austria, vis-à-vis to the Vienna State Opera. It is famous for the specialty of the house, the Sachertorte, a chocolate cake with apricot filling. As neither of us are fans of the Sachertorte, we only walked past the hotel and didn't come in.

Schönbrunn Palace is a former imperial summer residence located in Vienna, Austria. It boasts 1441 rooms and is one of the most important architectural, cultural, and historical monuments in the country. The name Schönbrunn (meaning "beautiful spring"), has its roots in an artesian well from which water was consumed by the court.

Trams in Vienna are a vital part of the public transport system in Vienna. They have been in operation since 1865.

Tomorrow we leave for Munich, where we'll spend a few days with Elke and Dieter.Read more
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Day 22
Wednesday, July 6, 2016 at 11:13 PM
⛅ 15 °C
Altitude: 562 m
Germany Oberpfaffenhofen 48.10283, 11.2821348°6’10” N 11°16’56” E
Vienna back to Munich
July 6, 2016 in Germany ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
Headed back to Munich by train. Spending the night with Elke and Dieter, and then we're off to the Brunners.
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