Contents

1. Danny Beer. Tourist on Wheels
2. Introduction: The beginning
3. Day one.: Vienna to Bratislava
4. Bratislava.: and the Iron Curtain bike trail
5. Bratislava and the Danube.: Just taking it easy
6. Bratislava to Trnava.: On the way
7. To Trencin.: Castle denied
8. Trencin to Piestivany.: Castles abound
9. Bojnice to Martin.: In search of a place to stay
10. Martin to Liptovky Mikulas: Beautiful Slovakia
11. Liptovky Mikulas: Snowboarding days
12. Liptovky Mikulas to Motel on highway: Riding in snow
13. To Levoca.: Just walking the bike
14. To Kosice.: Cold cold riding
15. A tourist in Kosice.: Rest day
16. To Hungary.: Fairwell Slovakia
17. Hungry in Hungary
18. Hello Romania
19. The good, the bad, and the ugly of Romania: Beware of blue vans in Marmarus
20. The best of Romania
21. And into Transilvania: To Bistrita
22. Bistrita to Sighisoara.: Not dead yet
23. Almost to Brasnov.: Longer than half
24. To Brasov.: Attacked by born agains
25. Brasov to Sinaia.: Hello Count Duckula
26. To Bucharesti.: The waitress from hell
27. Welcome to Bulgaria: Chased by truckstop whores
28. To Velico Turnov: Bulgaria in all its beauty
29. Velico Turnov.: Rest day
30. On the way to Stara Zagora.: A nice night to pitch the tent
31. To Plovdiv: Gypsies?
32. Rest day in Plovdiv.: A whole bunch of nothing
33. To Sophia.: And a homestay along the way
34. In Sofia.: Damn those French
35. Hanging out in Sophia
36. Welcome to Serbia
37. To Nis.: and beyond
38. To Belgrade.: Sleeping rough in Belgrade. Maybe
39. Getting out of town.: Avoiding asshole bus drivers
40. Welcome to Bosnia.: Hills, hills, and more hills. Okay, only one hill
41. Problems with Dinar.: The restaurant from hell
42. To Mostar.: All down hill baby
43. Mostar to Neum.: Through Croatia and back into Bosnia again
44. Neum to Dubrovnik.: Beautiful ride along the coast
45. Dubrovnik to Kotor.: Awesome scenery
46. Kotor to Bar.: Sleeping on the beach
47. To Lezhe.: Albanian fun
48. To Durress.: The right wrong way
49. To Berat.: First hit and run of the trip
50. Lost in the Albanian highlands.: Directions from a guy on a donkey
51. Still waiting for lunch
52. To Corfu.: Fun and frolics ahead
53. Onwards to Italia
54. Bus to Salerno.: Each country has at least one wanker
55. To Tunisia? Almost.: Welcome to Roma
56. Just riding around Roma
57. Just Roman around
58. Roma to Tarquinia.: And out of Rome
59. Tarquinia to Bolsena
60. To Castel del Piano
61. To Sienna.: Clashes with Italian public holidays
62. To Volterra.: More beautiful towns
63. Lucca, Pisa and beyond
64. To Florence.: Or Firenze
65. Tourist stuff in Firenze
66. Leaving Firenze.: And over Italy’s spine
67. To Rimini.: And welcome back to the Adriatic
68. San Marino.: And back to Rimini again
69. To Chomanchio
70. To Venice
71. Venice to Verona.: And one almost romantic day in the city of canals
72. Verona to the lake.: Groping Juliette
73. To Lake d’Isea.: Let’s ride down some steps
74. To Lecco.: More beautiful lakeside scenery
75. Through Como and to Menaggio.: Olli, olli, olli
76. To Verbania.: To Swissland and out again
77. Into Swissland.: And half way up the Alps
78. To Chur
79. To Vaduz, Liechtenstein.: Death awaits for another day
80. Liechtenstein, Switzerland, Austria, and Germany.: One good mechanic. One bad mechanic
81. To Fussen.: Navigating without a map nor compass
82. To almost Innsbruck.: Almost
83. To Innsbruck.: The roommates from hell
84. To nowhere in particular.: But a nice journey none-the-less
85. Kossen to Salzburg.: The hills are alive…
86. Salzburg to Linz.: Sure, there’s a hostel, but where is it?
87. To Cesky Krumlov.: Czech it out
88. Towards Telc.: Goodbye Krumlov
89. Towards Telc.: But not quite
90. To Trebic.: Some nice towns today
91. To Zeliv.: The random find
92. Festivals and more festivals.: Just getting around
93. The unwanted guest.: To Prague
94. Leaving town
95. From Praha.: Sleeping in a medieval castle
96. To Trutnov.: Thunder, lightning, very, very frightning
97. Eastwards.: Look. Hobbits
98. East through ski territory
99. To Ostrava.: Guest of the creepy man
100. To Auschwitz.: Navigating without a map
101. To Krakow.: And a very sombre tour
102. In Krakow.: To the salt mines
103. To Pinczow.: Bad doggy
104. Northwards.: Nowhere in particular
105. To Warsaw.: Crazy hell traffic
106. North, no wait, east.: Riding in circles
107. To Lomza.: So where’s the restaurant?
108. North.: The idiot on a bike
109. To Lithuania.: How many times in one day can you be scammed?
110. To Vilnius.: More freeway traffic
111. Through Trakai and west.: Camping at the cemetery
112. To Kaunas: More rain
113. The stolen bike.: Yet more rain
114. Short cuts and getting well lost.: No, you don’t want to go to Russia
115. To Klaipeda.: A bike path? Really?
116. The Curonian Spit.: Beautiful, beautiful sea
117. To Liepaja.: Latvia baby
118. To Kuldiga.: Crashing a party
119. To Ventspils.: Happy nudist beach to you…
120. To Kolka.: The traditional Latvian drinking kiss
121. Down the coast
122. Liepaja beach party.: Why do some girls insist on playing games???
123. To Sigulda.: Latvia is one fucked up place
124. To Estonia.: Where to camp? Where to camp?
125. To Parnu.: The tent sure does come in handy
126. To Tallinn.: Almost
127. To Tallinn for real.: Bad tire. Bad tire
128. To Helsinki.: The end of the trip

Introduction: The beginning

Wednesday February 14, 2007

Well this is it. The big one. Maybe. Six or seven months in Eastern Europe and who knows what after that. You just get your life sorted out in Taiwan with a nice job, apartment and girlfriend so you throw it all away to ride a bike.

As a goodbye present of sorts two friends decide to steal from you. Thanks Americans.

So this is it. You leave your girl on Valentine’s day and fly to Vienna. This is the beginning.

Day one.: Vienna to Bratislava

Thursday February 15, 2007, 64 km (40 miles) — Total so far: 64 km (40 miles)

Well. You made it. The anxiety never really set in until two days ago. Say goodbye to your life in Taiwan and hello to adventure in Europe.

You have weight issues at the airport. Including the bike everything weighs at least 35 kg. You feel and look ridiculous with all the hand luggage. Two heavy books are the first to go at Bangkok airport. More will soon follow. And yet not soon enough. Some ski gear, pants and extra socks, will go in three weeks. You are tempted to say goodbye to the camping gear but that is being saved for Italy and the like.

The flight to Vienna is dogged by a screaming baby a few seats in front. It refuses to stop for perhaps the entire night, relenting only after dawn when you really can’t sleep anyway.

Your bike survives the flight unscathed. The tires are completely flat though. The heavy load does not help at all. Your efforts with the hand pump are fruitless. You ask at airport information and are directed to a service station nearby. You walk over and pump the tires up, no probs. On the way you stop at a pedestrian crossing and are actually surprised to see the cars stop for you to cross.

It really is winter. It’s cold and wet. But you are happy to be riding. Today’s destination is Bratislava. You follow the road signs out and find yourself on the freeway. Five kilometers later, and only 100 meters from the exit you are pulled over by the police. They tell you to get off the freeway. You can only agree. Hoping this being the end of the matter you continue on your way and up the exit ramp with just the occasional glance over your shoulder.

It feels great to see so many beautiful buildings and attractive countryside. There is quite an extensive network of bike paths on the way to Bratislava. But not finding a map until much later you designate staying close to the busy highway for much of the day.

You almost miss the border control. But they were so uncommitted you doubt anyone would have cared. Never-the-less, you make sure you get your little stamp in the passport. Your tailwind turns into a nasty headwind for your final few km into town.

Bratislava looks even more impressive than you remembered.

Bratislava.: and the Iron Curtain bike trail

Friday February 16, 2007, 67 km (42 miles) — Total so far: 131 km (81 miles)

You go to see Devin castle. Then see the Iron Curtain bike trail and decide you just have to go. For a little while at least. You go with promise of fine castles. You see a lot of nice countryside you wouldn’t otherwise see but nothing to write home about. It is a very pleasant ride. Until it gets late and you have to ride back in the dark.

Bratislava and the Danube.: Just taking it easy

Saturday February 17, 2007, 37 km (23 miles) — Total so far: 168 km (104 miles)

Just a relaxing ride along the Danube today. The only thing of note is that you kis the Moldovan girl staying in the hostel. And, um, other stuff. Tomorrow you leave for Trencin.

Bratislava to Trnava.: On the way

Sunday February 18, 2007, 85 km (53 miles) — Total so far: 253 km (157 miles)

Today marks your first full day of cycling. The target destination was Trencin but it turns out to be too far to go today. You decide instead to make it to Trnava but the lack of any affordable accommodation force you on to Hlohovec. You almost had to further today’s journey but eventually find a room after asking some people.

You got your first flat today. It is a great pain with all of the heavy luggage. You manage to find the puncture and fix it okay but the useless pump refused to help in any way. You stop a passing cyclist, who by chance spoke excellent English. He helps you inflate the tire but it must have another puncture somewhere. Or maybe you just didn’t fix the first one properly. He rips the tube off and puts his spare tube on. Then he inflates the tire and helps you load everything on again. So helpful. And all so effortlessly too.

A combination of an overloaded bike and a headwind prevents any real progress today. You see a couple nice castles. In Trnava a local cyclist points out a 15th century tower and gothic cathedral. You take a picture.

To Trencin.: Castle denied

Monday February 19, 2007, 70 km (43 miles) — Total so far: 323 km (201 miles)

You make it to Trencin without much trouble, although for some reason you do get lost trying to leave towns. You find a semi-quiet road parallel to the freeway. Accomodation now seems plentiful now that you are not looking for it.

You make it to Trencin quite early due to not stopping for lunch. But a late lunch and getting lost trying to reach the castle makes you arrive five minutes after closing time at 3:35. “Tourist. Tourist. Niet.” Repeats the caretaker/guard as you try to take a couple quick pictures. Well if only they gave more accurate directions you would have gotten there on time. Guess you will have to wait until tomorrow morning for a quick tour.

You just spent waiting thirty minutes unsuccessfully to use the internet. It looks like everybody is busy chatting. Maybe if you wait a little longer someone will leave. But, like the bus that never comes, you can’t wait forever. Maybe when you return after dinner a computer will be free. But you doubt it.

You see a lot of vicious looking dogs but lucky for you they are all fenced in, another welcome change to Taiwan. You seem to have lost your whip sometime today too. Unused ‘cept for some playful joking back in Bratislava.

You find a bike shop and invest in a spare tube in hope you will never need to use it. You also decide to redistribute your luggage and throw away your cycling rain jacket. It is made redundant as it is certainly cold enough to use your heavy coat.