Fri 29thLazy day heading up the Black Sea coast to Constanta in Romania. We expected Romania to be very different from what we found; better roads than Bulgaria, better driving, and obviously more prosperity. Arrived at our hotel in Mamaia to find the area is plainly a Romanian millionnaire's playground. Lots of money here, expensive cars, and though our [nominally 5 star] hotel was cheap, eating out, etc was not. Stayed here two nights, and enjoyed it, though most unusually, the hotel objected when we wanted to give our bikes a quick wash in the car park...
Sunday 1stShort ride to Bucharest on the Motorway. Enjoyed Bucharest, took the HoHo bus tour in the afternoon, then a two hour walking tour in the early evening, followed by an open-air dinner in a really nice ancient courtyard restaurant. Our hotel, a little boutique hotel to the north of the City centre, was an absolute gem, with a great welcome from very friendly owner and staff. And at a great price. Bucharest was not what we imagined either - I'd thought that there was little of the old city left, and that it had been flattened by Ceaucescu to build endless blocks of soviet-style flats. The flats exist OK, no doubt about that, and he did indeed flatten lots of the old city for his grandiose plans, but there is still a lot of the old town, once known as the
Paris of the East, to see. Some utterly fabulous Art Deco architecture to see, though there are many such buildings unoccupied and falling to bits due to lack of attention. Apparently this is because many were confiscated by the communist régime, and there are lots of disputes about ownership. Enjoyed the city though, and would recommend it.
Monday 2ndNorth out of Bucharest to the "English Cemetery" - a CWGC cemetery, where my dad's cousin is buried (a WW2 bomber pilot, shot down in the area). Nice to visit his grave, being the first family member to ever do so, as far as I am aware. Then eastward on minor roads, through little villages. Amazingly, road surfaces were still good. Lots of obviously expensive new houses being built in many of the villages, though again, many pretty old style houses in them too. This was, I felt, the "real" Romania, with the omnipresent donkey carts being numerous, and three times saw a bunch of people riding around on what seemed to be a motorised saw! Engine in the middle with a ginormous flywheel, and the belt on it driving the wheels. No bodywork, and what appeared to be a saw at the front. Onward via Dracula's supposed castle to the Transarasan, which opened the day before. Supposedly the best way is to do it north to south, but I'd disagree - south to north, as we did it, was great. Road surface is not good at all for the whole ascent really, but is greatly improved for the entire descent. And what a descent it is! There's no road I know of that even comes close to the enjoyment to be had, and I got a clear run, with an enthusiastic VW Golf as the pacemaker, so I knew where any bad bits were. Think things like the Dragon are good, and challenging? Not even in the same class! I'd love to go back and do it again... Onward then to our hotel for the night, the Hilton in Sibiu. Only disappointing thing of the day was that the Bucharest Harley dealer was closed till noon, too late for us, & I wanted a T-shirt!
Tuesday 3rdSibiu to Budapest. A long day. Busy, busy main roads, and 110F all the way. Not fun, like riding in a hair dryer.
Wednesday 4thAnother scorching day Took the HoHo bus tour, and enjoyed it. Hadn't been to Budapest (or indeed anywhere in Hungary) before but it's a beautiful city, and we'll go back someday for certain. Dropped in to the Harley dealer there, and found them to be a surly bunch, not a smile or even a "hello", and T-shirts at over $65. I think not!! Our route then was supposed to take us north at Gyor, and into Slovakia, but Digital Doris on the Garmin thought she knew better for some reason.... By the time I realised something wasn't right, we were getting close to Vienna, but nonetheless I gave Doris one last chance to get us on the remnants of the route, and headed north towards Bratislava, into Slovakia. After a while, she still continued to insist on a U turn, so back we went. Still - Slovakia? Of course! Been there, done that (for 20 minutes!)
Had an adventurous time finding the hotel in Vienna's entrance, which had not been clear from Google Maps/Streetview, but got there. Stopped at the entrance, where I was quickly accosted by the commissionnaire, apparently a Philipino gentleman, who asked me to move as "taxis stop here for guests" (!) Maintaining my cool with some degree of effort, I informed him that "guests were stopping here to unload their bike!" He got the message, and instantly turned helpful. Into the city centre for a short evening walking tour and a bite to eat, which was interesting. Looks like a nice place, and added to the list to return to.
Thursday 5thEscaping from Vienna was not fun. Traffic was bumper to bumper, and the Motorway had lots of roadworks, and what looked like a normal off-the-motorway-and-back-on in the right hand lane turned out not to be! My friend, on the other had was in the left hand lane, so we got separated for an hour, while I tried vainly to about-turn. My new route and his eventually converged, and we headed off into the Alps, via St Michael in der Obersteiermark, to Liezen, Bad Ischl, Salzburg, and back into Germany, to our hotel at Rimsting (strangely, not a curry shop in sight!) On the Chiemsee. Again, a lovely area, and a lovely hotel at a decent price. Not a bad day's ride, with lots of pretty scenery, but a bit cloudy - hard to get used to after all the sunshine of previous days!
Part 3 to follow.....
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Topic: Eastern European Trip - with photos (Read 8753 times)