Bicycling the Blue Danube 2008: Day 15--Gyor to Esztergom, Hungary

Potholes & headwinds

Day 14: (Wednesday, July 9)

Gyor to Esztergom, Hungary

Distance: 130 km (83 miles)

X+--The region we bicycle through was so much of a frontier region that the towns here were destroyed and rebuilt repeatedly. The bridge over the Danube in Esztergom, for example, was first built in 1895, destroyed by the Germans in 1944, and only rebuilt in 2001. Esztergom was the capital of Hungary for two and a half centuries until mid 13th century. It was occupied by the Ottoman Turks for 150 years and enjoyed a period of rebirth with lots of baroque architecture after 1700.

We started at 9 am and got to Esztergom at about 5:45 pm after a pretty tough day . . . made tougher because “the heat is on.” Temps were in the 90s. We made frequent water stops at the blue pumps outside of villages. We'd been told to drink only from the blue pumps, the red ones pumped non-potable water.

The first half of today’s route was fine, though getting out of Gyor was a bit dicey because Peter had used small arrows and placed some on the grass. Several people got lost and crossed the river when they were supposed to stay on this side, including the botel couple we met at dinner. But the roadside at ride's beginning was quite lovely, bordered with colorful houses, sunflower,grain and canola fields and hills in the distance.

Sunflower field; an odd little picnic area at the top of a climb

At about 11:30 am, we ate lunch in the shade in a small city park in Tata with a bicycle tourist from Copenhagen (below). We were to pack our own lunches this morning from the breakfast bar, so I made myself a sandwich of meat and cheese, tomato slices and lettuce, and also took a couple of packets of yogurt, and a nectarine. But then it turned out the hotel had packed our lunches. I put their lunch in my backpack with the luggage that went on the van and put the sandwich I’d made on my bike. This is what I ate in the Tata city park.

Lunch stop in Tata with a touring cyclist from Copenhagen. He reminded me a lot of Gene Wengert, a fellow staff member on one of the Mississippi River rides.

After Tata the route saw a lot of climbing and the wind was not in our favor—strong headwind or crosswind. Also the roads were very dangerous with potholes, sunken shoulders, upheaved shoulders, gravel and dropped shoulders. Cars drive crazy fast on these two-lane unshouldered roads and so do the trucks. Probably the worst day yet for cycling safely. I congratulate myself every day for riding with confidence but caution and arriving at the hotel safely.

Cardboard policeman to slow traffic entering the village

About 20 km from Esztergom, our arrows directed us to about 5 km of the worst “bike path” in the world. It literally looked like a bomb had cratered it, and it was lined with garbage and trash. One had to ride the edges of the holes, which were deep and some of them sandy or filled with broken glass and debris. At the end of it were two ramps of crumbling concrete and two railroad tracks in terrible shape. Peter said he’d arrowed us through there because the map indicated that it was a bike path and he wanted to keep us off the busy road. Never mind that for the past five hours we’d been on a very busy two-lane highway with cars and trucks crowding past at high speeds. (Okay enuff ranting. I’m over it. Peter was only trying to do the right thing for us.)

The worst bike track in the world . . . maybe

All was not so bad, however. A very pretty stretch of our route saw us cycliing through and old fortress on the river and then through a quaint riverside village.

This is a view of the village we would ride through. The fortress ramparts are to our left

Our hotel, the Alabardos Panzio, was a split level located on a hillside but across the street from and just below the basilica. We walked our bikes up a short, steep stretch of cobblestones to get to it. The entryway was gated and a large dog lounged in the courtyard. The dog, while fierce looking, was friendly. A rough hewn picnic table sat to one side of the courtyard, and Judy’s and my room was down a few steps and then at the front of the hotel. Our window looked out to the Basilica far above.

After we got in, I unearthed my lunch that the monastery hotel had provided—8 thick slices of pepperoni, a slab of cheese that I cut into slices with my knife, butter, two hard rolls, a giant pepper, a tomato, a nectarine, and a plum. Judy and I immediately sat down and shared this lunch. Two hours later, after showers, we were ready for supper.

We decided to try to find goulash soup. That is all we really wanted after our ride’s end sandwiches, plus some water (mit gas). In the process we walked around town for a bit and I took the photos below of a wall papered with different community and political announcements, and of our hotel snugged up against a hill.

City wall covered with announcements

Interesting blue-shuttered building and our hotel snugged up against a hill with a castle ruin on it

Right around the corner from our hotel we found the perfect restaurant—picnic tables under a large umbrella. We also bumped into the same couple we’d been on the Botel with and who’d gotten lost and asked us for directions yesterday (they were on the wrong side of the river).

They sat down at one end of a picnic table with another german couple and we sat at the end of another table that had a couple at it. Our botel couple turned out to be touring cyclists also, from the Black Forest area of Bavaria. They were awfully nice and we conversed in broken german, broken English, and sign language. The woman understood a great deal of English and she would interpret for her husband. I understood a good deal of German and would interpret for Judy.

There were two male waiters working the guests, but neither wanted a thing to do with us. They’d look at us and then ignore us. The botel couple and the couple they sat down with got their drinks and meal. The couple we were sitting with got their drinks and meal. Several others were waited on. We were still sitting and had not ordered. Finally we placed our order, two bowls of goulash soup and two bottles of water. It didn’t come and didn’t come. FINALLY, the waiter deigned to bring it out. Then, when I did not eat it all, he pretended to be shocked. Did I not like it? It was fun talking to other tourists. They were afraid to go farther without a guide. But, all told, we wasted two and a half hours there and did not get to see the basilica as it had grown dark.The photos below--with the exception of the one from our hotel window--are from the internet.

What the guidebook says about the basilica:

The Primatial Basilica of the Blessed Virgin Mary Taken into Heaven and St Adalbert is an ecclesiastic basilica in Esztergom, Hungary, the mother church of the Archdiocese of Esztergom-Budapest, and the seat of the Catholic Church in Hungary. It is dedicated to Saint Mary the Assumption and Saint Adalbert.

It is the largest Church structure in Hungary and the third largest in Europe. Its inner area is 56,000 m². It is 118 m long and 49 m wide. It has a reverberation time of more than 9 seconds. Its dome, forming a semi-sphere, is situated in the middle, and it has 12 windows. It is 71.5 m high inside, with a diameter of 33.5 meters, and is 100 m high from outside, counted from the crypt, and is the tallest building in Hungary.