Location: Pecs
Km on the clock: 2,136

My stay in Budapest went by really fast. Although I was pretty tired and exhausted from my 135 kilometers ride alongside the Danube from Slovakia into Hungary, I managed to join a free walking tour. I learned a few fun things about Hungary on this 1.5 hours tour.

1. There's a Michael Jackson Memorial in Budapest. You should think it's a life-sized statue, but no, it's just a random tree plastered with lots of pictures of him. He stayed at the Kempinski Hotel when came to play a concert in Budapest in the early 1990's. Since then many Hungarians are huge fans. So they wanted the government to build a memorial. However, the Hungarian law doesn't allow to build a memorial for people that are alive. Thus the people helped themselves by putting pictures on this tree just across the hotel.
   
2. The first McDonalds's in Hungary was opened in Budapest in 1988. The people didn't know what kind of food place McDonald's is. The only thing they knew was that there'll be a new western restaurant. Their expectation was that it'll be a nice and fancy restaurant because that was their image of the western world. So they dressed up nicely for the grand opening, like they would go to the opera. Well, I'm not sure if their expectations were met that day. Just paint your own picture of how they must have felt when they got served soggy burgers and oily fries. :D
3. The translation of the Hungarian word and national dish goulash is cowboy.

I had the pleasure to meet with Marie from Neue Zeitung - Ungarisches Wochenblatt for an interview the next day. We talked about my first weeks experiences of my cycling the world journey and the reasons of why I'm actually doing it. Here's the link to the full interview (written in German). Again, thank you Marie for the opportunity to meet with you and thank you Neue Zeitung for publishing my story and thus supporting my fundraising campaign.

Pecs is located in the southwest of the country near the border to Croatia. The closer I got to Pecs the steeper were some sections of the road. At some point the road had even a slope of 12 percent and before entering Pecs there was a longerish uphill section. A few days earlier someone said to me "The whole country is flat". Well, I'm sure this person hasn't been in this area before. Going into the city was a fun downhill ride though.

Just outside of Pecs I found the first note of German culture in this area. It wasn't anything significant. The word 'Deutsch' was written in big letters above a window on the facade of a house. Left and right of the window were paintings of huge beer mugs.

Unfortunately I couldn't find anything significant 'German' in Pecs itself. I even asked at my hostel and some locals if they knew anything about the German minority and if there are places that I could visit to learn something about it. But they couldn't help me either. They even seemed that they didn't even have a clue what I was talking about. I'm sure there are places to visit but since I stayed there for only two days I used the time to explore the city.

Pecs is Hungary's fifth largest city and is the home of the country's oldest university - founded in 1367. The old town is a beautiful, calm, non-touristy place. There are many little museums for literally anything - arts, mining, agriculture, etc. Most significant is definitely the Mosque of Pasha Quasim at the old town's main square. Even there were barely any tourists. It kind of felt like I was the only tourist in town.

My original plan was to go to Serbia after cycling through Hungary. But since I didn't plan to go to the southwestern part of the country, I decided to take the 'shortcut' via Croatia. So I left Pecs after two days and pedaled in direction Republika Hrvatska.

If you enjoy reading this blog then please support my fundraising campaign to equip two school class rooms in Darfur, Sudan. Cheers!

Location: Budapest
Km on the clock: 1,840

The sun was just about to set when I entered the old town of Bratislava via the "UFO bridge". Watching the sun going down behind Bratislava Castle on the other side of the Danube River created an amazing atmosphere.

I spent the following day with some sightseeing. First stop was the castle. The view is really not bad. I could see entire Bratislava and its beautiful surroundings. It's said that you could see Austria and Hungary from up here if the weather is clear. Unfortunately it wasn't too clear that day but since I just came from Austria the day before and would go to Hungary next it didn't really matter to me.

The old town of Bratislava isn't that big so it took me only half the day to see pretty much all its sights. Although the little sculptures Man at Work and Schoener Naci are rather nondescript, they definitely caught my eye most. Apparently they didn't just catch my eye. It seemed like almost everyone - but for sure every tourist - took a selfie with them.

I ended up in a club that night. I don't remember its name but I had to enter it through a cafe, walk downstairs and the corridors reminded me to a dungeon. The club was quite small and the DJ played the most bizarre music that I've heard in a long time. It started off with electronic music from the 90's such as Hyper Hyper of the German band Scooter and later German anti-fascist music. Whatever kind of music the DJ played, the audience went bonkers. :D

I came back to the hostel late that night. I actually wanted to leave Bratislava the next day but I decided to stay for another night since I only got a couple of hours of sleep after being out for the night. Through that I could keep cycling well rested in direction Hungary the next day.

I simply followed the Danube and the EuroVelo 6 on the Slovakian side. In the beginning the cycling path was tarred and it was lots of fun pedaling on top of the embankment - the river to my right and the open fields to my left. At times I reached speeds of 30 km/h. However, the further I went the worse the cycling path got. At some point it turned into a gravel path and later into a sandy path which made it quite challenging to cover some distance. I thought this is supposed to be a cycling path!? went through my mind. What idiot came up with the brilliant idea to cover its surface with sand? I'm sure that this person has never ridden a bicycle.

When the sun went down and an army of incredible aggressive mosquitos started to sting me all over - even through my clothes - I pitched my tent behind the embankment to get away from those tiny bastards. Honesty, what are mosquitoes actually good for? And what is their purpose on this planet besides being annoying? I really don't know!

I got up early the next morning to make it to Budapest that day. At not even 10 am it was already way above 30 degrees Celsius. Later the temperatures reached 40+ degrees which made it a bit more exhausting going on the gravel or sandy path. I kept cycling alongside the Danube until I reached the small town Sturovo where I crossed the bridge Esztergom in Hungary over which dark clouds hung.

Just a few minutes being in Hungary it started pouring. Fantastic! Now it's not only hot it's even raining and it's still 50 kilometers to Budapest. I tried to hide from the rain at a supermarket and hoped it would stop soon but it didn't happen. I put on my rain clothes and kept pedaling to Budapest. Although I didn't get wet through the rain, I was wet through the high temperatures which made me sweat really hard.

Luckily it stopped raining a few kilometers outside of Budapest and it was already dark when I entered the city. I simply followed the signs to the city center and got already a good feeling about this place. I also got very surprised about the good bicycle lane infrastructure. It was just fun riding through Budapest at night. As soon as I saw the lightened up Hungarian Parliament Building on the other side of the Danube I knew that I'll stay here for a few days because it had such a wow-effect on me.

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Location: Vienna
Km on the clock: 1,515
 
I went through Nova Bystrice, Czech Republic and had to climb one last hill before entering Austria and crossed the border in Grametten. Leaving Czech I was wondering about all the concerns regarding the language that I had before I came here. There were just little difficulties but nothing that couldn't get solved with some hand and feet communication.

Cycling in Austria started off with a long downhill stretch. So I just kept rolling for a while. This is definitely my favorite part of traveling on a bike. It's the reward for the hard work of climbing up the hill and always lets me forget about the suffering of making it up.

It was already turning dark but I kept pedaling because I didn't cover as many kilometers as I wanted over last couple of days. My plan was to be in Vienna the next day and to stay with friends for a few days. However, at some point I was just too tired and pitched my tent somewhere outside of Waidhofen an der Thaya. Knowing, that I'd have to cover 125 kilometers the next day and that it's going to be tough, I fell asleep.

Natalia and Torben welcomed me with open arms and I stayed with them for a few nights. The first day in Vienna I used to recover from the 125k ride. I didn't even know that I was capable to cycle that many kilometers in one day. But I also realized that my gear is too heavy. So I left a few things behind at the end of my stay.

Since I was already a few times in Vienna and visited many sights I decided to visit Schoenbrunn Castle. I always missed out that one. I knew that it's a big areal but I had no idea that it's that huge. It's really impressive! I guess the Austrian royals knew how to live life back in the days.

The rest of my time in Vienna I mainly used to relax, eat local food and lots of ice cream. On some days we went to the nearest ice cream place 2-3 times. :D

After a few nice and relaxing days it was time to say goodbye and I headed off direction Bratislava. Once again, thank you guys for your hospitality! I highly appreciate it!

I followed the Danube River and the EuroVelo 6 signs until I reached Slovakia.

If you enjoy reading this blog then please support my fundraising campaign to equip two school class rooms in Darfur, Sudan. Cheers!

Location: Czech Republic
Km on the clock: 1,390

Just a few kilometers after entering Czech Republic I made my first 1.000 kilometers on this journey. It took me only two weeks of time. I know I could have been way faster but since I stayed in Hamburg, Berlin and Dresden for a few nights I was happy to be here by now. It’s was the second time ever in my life that I cycled that far. Two years earlier I cycled the length Germany on my old mountain bike. It also took me two weeks but it would have been way longer if I had stayed in the cities for a couple of days like I do now. Additionally, I had to keep moving every day to be back at work on time.

This time is very different! I basically have unlimited time which makes this trip way more enjoyable and I got another bicycle which is more made for bicycle touring. I really had no idea before that there are such big differences in sense of bikes. Reaching the 1.000 kilometers mark I thought: I wish I had that bike already two years ago. That would have done my life so much easier. But at that time I just took all the equipment that I already had and just head off. That's basically what I also did in preparation of this trip - besides the bicycle.

Just the next day I made it into Prague where I stayed for a few nights. Prague was the first place on this trip that I was really excited about to visit. I was here before and always liked it. As soon I got connected to some free Wi-Fi I booked the cheapest hostel that I could find. Getting there was quite a challenge because the address provided by the website wasn't correct. Fortunately the host picked up the phone right away when I gave her a call and sent me the directions via text message.

I met Matt from the U.S. at the hostel. He's also a long term traveler and we clicked right away. So we spent the evening's together and explored Prague's nightlife. Throughout the days I mainly did sightseeing which included lots of walking. At times I found it even more exhausting than cycling the days before. :D

Although Prague is such a touristy and crowded place, I enjoyed every moment - especially walking alongside Vltava River and discovering the markets. But the best thing about this city are probably the street artist. They're just everywhere and it's a lot of fun to watch their performances. Here I liked the buskers most.

The day I left Prague I made it almost to the city of Votice. It was a hot and partly rainy day. So I had to put on and off my rain clothes numerous times. Although I didn't get wet from the rain I got wet by my sweat anyways. Sometimes I was even wondering about the sense of putting those clothes on and off all the time.

I followed the cycling trail signs between Votice and Tabor which turned out as the hardest ride that I ever did in my life so far. All the time it was only going up and downhill. To be honest, going downhill is a lot of fun! At one point I even reached a speed of over 54 kilometer per hour. However, going uphill with a gradient of up to seven percent isn't that much fun. Especially with a fully loaded bicycle and if it feels like hours reaching the top. At times I made my way up the hills with an enormous speed of not even 7 kilometers per hour. As I reached another top of many that day I didn't even know if I should laugh or cry. I was just so happy that I made it up but at the same time I was already so exhausted and I could already see the next steep hill which made me want to cry. I rolled down the hill and tackled the next one.

That day I made only 70 kilometers - usually it's 80-100 - but I was more exhausted than any other day before. It took me one more day to leave Czech Republic and make it into Austria.

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Location: Nova Bystrice
Km on the clock: 998

The day started with a little disappointment. I just entered the small town of Nauen and stopped at a supermarket to buy some snacks for the day. I took of the handlebar pannier and the little bicycle computer off the bike before I entered the store - as I always do. Apparently I pressed one button of the computer for too long and reseted it through that. Shit! I'm such an idiot. I must have had 625 kilometers on the clock by then - probably even a little bit more. While sitting outside the store and having a little picnic I thought: Does that mean I've to start over? It still counts right? Oh well, seems like from now on I've always to add those kilometers. :D

I arrived Berlin sometime in the evening the same day. I brought a bottle of wine as a gift which my friend Vivian and I had for dinner as we were catching up about what happened in our lives over the past few years.

I spent the next day with some sightseeing. I felt good to be in the capital again. It's been already a while since I've been here. There's so much history around here so that someone could stay here basically forever to explore it all. However, I left Berlin already the next day being excited to keep going to Czech Republic and its capital Prague.

I pedaled for three days through the southern part of Brandenburg and Saxony until I entered Dresden. One night I pitched my tent at the Inline-Skate-Bahn in Brandenburg. It provides broad cycling lanes and the tarmac of most parts is like new or is about to get renewed. It's just great fun to ride around there. While I was setting up my tent I heard some noise in the bushes nearby - maybe 15 meters away from me. I walked towards it to take a closer look and discovered a big fat wild hog. It ran immediately away when it scented me. I thought: Oh great...at least this time I know what kind of animals are around me at nights and as long it doesn't try to get into my tent while I'm sleeping then everything is cool!

The two days in Dresden went by really quick. I stayed at a hostel in the Neustadt. Lots of other travelers from all over the world stood there as well. So I hung out with them in the evenings to chat and have a drink whereas I used the days to explore the city. It has also already been almost a year since I was here. Last time I came with a friend to spent a weekend and just to have a good time.

I was excited but also nervous when I left Dresden. Today would be the day that I'd leave Germany and enter Czech Republic - excited about all the adventures that will lay ahead of me outside of my home country but also nervous how I'll get along in a country where people don't speak my language and probably not even English unless I'd be in the cities.

I pedaled alongside the river Elbe and could already see Czech Republic on the other side of it. I was wondering if I was also already in Czech and I just missed the border sign. I stopped to ask two ladies biking the other direction - one in her twenties, one in her fifties - if this was already Czech Republic and if there'll be some sort of sign at the border. The younger one answered with an American accent: "No, this is still Germany but Czech will come very soon. However, there's no sign which says that you're entering the country." A bit disappointed that there wouldn't be a sign to take a pic as proof that I really made it through Germany and will enter the next country I kept going for a few more minutes until I reached the border with a quite big stony sign stating that I'd enter Czech Republic now. How can someone miss that? :D

If you enjoy reading this blog then please support my fundraising campaign to equip two school class rooms in Darfur, Sudan. Cheers!