Latvia, Riga, 14-16 September 2013

Posted on Monday, 16-September-2013 by Chris Desmond

I left Vilnius in a drizzle, first ride in the rain since the 3rd of July, the drizzle stopped after about an hour and it was fine for the rest of the day. Freeway for the first 170 km and 2 lanes after, the border had a sign saying Latvia and some abandoned buildings off to the side, slow down and ride straight past, road surface deteriorates and road works almost all the way to Riga, no freeway and lots of police with radar all day, 299 km in 3:40 hrs.

Riga, population 700,000, old town, churches, some nice parks and gardens and many groups of Russian tourists, St. Petersburg is only 570 km distant. Public transport consists of trams and buses, one ride costs 0.50 Lats about a dollar, you buy a card loaded with as many rides as you want from any one of the many Narvesen kiosks around town, the card itself is free.

 

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Lithuania, Vilnius, 11-13 September 2013

Posted on Friday, 13-September-2013 by Chris Desmond

The ride from Warsaw to Vilnius was mainly on 2 lane secondary roads, the last 100 km into Vilnius was on a freeway, many towns and trucks and roadworks meant slow going, flat straight roads and farmland, cool 15c and overcast. The border had a Lithuania Republic sign and some abandoned buildings with the road going around them. No Vignettes or road tolls in Lithuania. 510 km in 6:45 hrs.

Vilnius a small city population 557,000, green and spread out. A well preserved  old town, churches of every denomination, the obligatory castle and palace, a surprisingly nice place.

This country in recent history was first taken over by the Russians then the Germans and then back to the Russians, each phase resulted in a huge number of deaths and deportations, Russian troops only withdrew in 1993. The Jews (200,000) were completely wiped out during the German occupation.

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Poland, Warsaw, 5-10 September 2013

Posted on Tuesday, 10-September-2013 by Chris Desmond

I rode from Prague to Warsaw through Germany via Brojce in Poland all freeway except for the Czech side where I think they are rebuilding the whole freeway system, long diversions onto secondary roads and roadworks. No signs when crossing the border the only indication that I was in Germany was the road surface turned to very smooth concrete, went past Dresden and turned east just before Berlin crossing the border into Poland at Frankfurt on der Oder. This border crossing is a trap, there are signs that say cars to the left and trucks to the right, so I went left along with some cars and you see a line of cars and the Immigration booths and as I got closer I realised the cars were just parked there and the booths were empty so turned around and followed the trucks on a road that goes around this area. You do not have to stop at this border just follow the trucks and go right. Those signs should be covered up or replaced.

Poland does not have Vignettes, they have tolls sometimes you take a ticket and pay a toll at the end of the section or when you exit the freeway and sometimes they have regular toll collection points on the freeway. The total toll from the border to Warsaw  was 68 zloty or 16 euro, no discounts for motorcycles. I stopped at Brojce for the night and continued on the following day, good quality freeway all the way to Warsaw.

Warsaw big modern city with a population of 1.7 million, it was flattened by the Germans during WWII and has been completely rebuilt so no old buildings. The old town has been replicated quite well and is classified as a world heritage site by UNESCO. Lots of tourists but not crowded, things are more spread out here and the roads are wider.  One metro line, trams and buses get you just about everywhere for less than 1 euro a ride.

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Czech, Prague, 30 September – 4 October 2013

Posted on Wednesday, 4-September-2013 by Chris Desmond

The ride from Bratislava to Prague was mostly on freeways with roadworks for more than half the way which is why it took 3:50hrs to do 332km. The border was a non event, no signs or anything to say you had crossed a border. No tolls or vignettes for bikes in Czech.

Prague is a big city 1.3 million, it has a metro 3 lines, trams and buses, not many English translations which considering the number of tourists is not very helpful. There are literally herds of tourists being led around by guides, many from Asia as well as Russia and neighbouring countries, very annoying until you get used to it and if you get away from the main attractions its a nice place.

I discovered this website which has walks for a number of cities and followed the Prague walks, very good, http://www.use-it.travel/home

Tip – Tram 22 takes you to the top of the hill and from there you can walk down to the Castle or the Monastery or to Petrin Tower. I walked up the hill twice before I discovered this and used it for the next two trips.

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Slovakia, Bratislava, 25-29 August 2013

Posted on Wednesday, 28-August-2013 by Chris Desmond

It took an hour to get out of Budapest due to roadworks being on a bike I managed to bypass some of it, short ride on the freeway after that to Bratislava, the border was a non-event, slow down and ride through there was no one there just some abandoned buildings, 230km, 2:55hrs.

According to my online research I thought I needed a Vignette for my bike but when I went to buy one the guy at the service station did not have any then he called someone and said bikes don’t need a vignette in Slovakia and Czech.

Bratislava, a smaller city population 460,000, reminiscent of Ljubljana with the castle on the hill and the names of the countries are similar enough to get people mixed up Slovakia and Slovenia and in Slovakian, Slovakia is Slovenska hahaha. Not a lot of traffic on the roads and the drivers are sane. No metro, only trams and buses a bit confusing because of the language, easier to just walk. First rain in 52 days and 15c have not seen weather like this since Switzerland.

The old city is well preserved, the castle was burnt down a while ago and recently rebuilt so its a new building which houses the History Museum which has a few photographs, paintings and miscellaneous stuff.

Free walking tours is something else I discovered they last about 2 hours, though they are not really free as a tip (5 euro, work that out) is expected, about 20-50 people usually turn up, a good introduction to the city and they are in English. The one in Bratislava was done by a guy from Brisbane who has lived here for 4 years.

http://unitedeuropefreetours.com/

Tip – Visit the restaurant/microbrewery Bratislavsky Mestiansky Pivovar to the right of the Crowne Plaza on Drevena Street.

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Hungary, Budapest, 23-24 August 2013

Posted on Saturday, 24-August-2013 by Chris Desmond

I spent the next couple of days wandering the city following the self guided walking tours, public transport is frequent and goes everywhere.

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Hungary, Budapest, 21-22 August 2013

Posted on Thursday, 22-August-2013 by Chris Desmond

Budapest population 3.3 million, this is a big tourist destination and tourism is well organised. This website has lots of information and pdf’s of self guided walking tours which I downloaded onto my phone and in conjunction with Nokia maps have completed 2 of the tours, the Inner City and the Castle Hill, weather mid 20’s very good.

http://visitbudapest.travel/activities/budapest-sightseeing/

All the Tv channels are dubbed into Hungarian, I have noticed in countries where they do this English is not widely spoken, where they don’t dub the English shows more people speak English.

 

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Hungary, Bucharest to Deva to Budapest, 19-20 August 2013

Posted on Wednesday, 21-August-2013 by Chris Desmond

I left Bucharest early at 0730 and it still took 30 min to get onto the freeway which lasted about 100 km. After that a 2 lane road through hills and mountains with many towns and villages and a lot of traffic especially trucks, a few bits of freeway around the bigger towns, very scenic following the Danube at times. Some of the freeway sections are brand new and not on the map as yet so follow the signs not your GPS. The plan is to build a freeway linking Western Europe to the Black sea. I stopped at Deva a big town with a fort on the hill above it, looks like it is being renovated. 408 km in 5:45 hrs.

Out of Deva the same 2 lane road and slow going all the way to the border with Hungary. I crossed at Nadlac where I also stopped and bought a Hungarian Vignette 10 days for 26 Lei about 6 euro. This Vignette is electronic, no sticker, there are cameras on the roads that take a picture of your number plate and check it against a database so make sure you get a Vignette before you enter Hungary. You can also change any leftover Romanian money you have at the same place.

Did not have to stop for Romania immigration just rode through but had to stop and get passport stamped at Hungary immigration after that a bit of rough road and then a freeway for the 185 km to Budapest 130 kph speed limit. I arrived on their main National Holiday a bit like Independence day and the roads were deserted. 427 km, 5:30 hrs

I arrived fairly early and went into the center on the Metro, first the ATM and it worked, the local currency is the forint, next a 7 day Public transport pass for 16 euro, it works on the Metro, trams and buses, a single ride costs 0.50 euro and you have to buy a ticket and validate each time you get on, if you forget its a 55 euro fine, ask Warren Beatty, with the pass no validation you just have to have it on you.

Big crowds and special event’s everywhere due to the holiday. I am finally in a place that is what you expect of a European city, buildings are in good repair, you don’t take your life in your hands when you cross the street and people actually wait until you get off the train before trying to get on, civilization almost boring after the last couple of months hahaha.

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Romania, Bucharest, 14-18 August 2013

Posted on Sunday, 18-August-2013 by Chris Desmond

The ride from Sofia to Bucharest had some mountains at first then farmland. The Danube is the border between Bulgaria and Romania and I crossed over at Ruse, cars pay a E2 Bridge toll but bikes are free, the river is very wide at this point. There is no Immigration or Customs on the Bulgarian side but across the bridge you have to stop and get your passport stamped by Romanian immigration, the bike was ignored. After that it was 65km to Bucharest on a new 4 lane highway, the last 10km into the city took an hour in 40c degree heat, no rules except traffic stops for red lights most of the time hahaha. 389 km, 5:50 hrs.

Bucharest population 2.2 million big crowded city used to be known as Little Paris in the 1800’s because they copied the buildings and architecture of Paris, all a bit worse for the wear after a 150 years. I managed to find a money changer who was willing change my Bulgarian money. The museum has a couple of exhibitions the rest is closed. Lots of cafes and tourists from neighbouring countries.

I went on a day tour 13 hours to Transylvania to visit the castle made famous by Bram Stoker the inventor of Dracula. This part of the country is mountainous with ski and holiday resorts. It was also ruled by the Austrian/Hungarian/Germans for a while so there are no Greek Orthodox churches here only Lutheran and Catholic and a castle on every hilltop.

and finally this huge building started by Nicolae Ceauşescu the dictator, he was executed in 1989 before it was finished, currently used as the Parliament.

Tip – Visit the Caru cu bere restaurant in the alley to the left of the National Museum

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Bulgaria, Sofia, 9-13 August 2013

Posted on Tuesday, 13-August-2013 by Chris Desmond

Sofia, population 1.3 million, altitude 560m, currency is the Leva, everything in this place is in Cyrillic which is Greek to me hahaha. Even Two and a Half Men is dubbed in Bulgarian, how can you dub Charlie and Alan or Berta.

There is a Metro, Euro 0.50 a ride and there are two lines, never got to use it because of the language, there are also trams and electric trolley buses. A good city to walk, lots of ancient churches and some Roman ruins, Archaeology Museum, parks, pedestrian only streets, cafes and a modern shopping center or two.

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