Tuesday Linda and I rode uneventfully into Budapest. We both saw God (a town near Budapest).
We rode on dedicated bicycle path most of the way into Budapest, although traffic increased as we closed in on Budapest. Definitely better cycling on the Slovenian side.
On the way in we booked an apartment near Margit Island for the night. As we neared the apartment we lost the bicycle path for a bit, leading to terrifying moments for Linda. When I realized that, I blocked traffic enough to let her switch back to the bicycle lane.
Linda planned we would only spend Tuesday night at the apartment, to then relocate to a spa-like resort. But the apartment was lovely enough we added Wednesday night to our stay.
Wednesday Linda and I explored the Buda side of Budapest, also known as the castle side. In this case, a funicular brought us up and down the mountain.
We visited the medical and atomic bomb museum, a museum built from a hospital created in the 40s underneath the mountain. The very realistic wax figures provide a somewhat horrifying example of the conditions at the time.
From there we walked to Buda Castle, discovering it closed for renovation (which we only discovered after we climbed the mountain). We had a lovely view of the city, but we didn’t get much of a view of the castle. We did manage to see a butterfly though. And a playground. And a garden. So Linda was happy.
After figuring out how to purchase public transport tickets on our phones, we caught public transportation back to the apartment, had dinner, and spent the rest of the evening viewing the musical fountains on Margit Island. I had known Linda would be a fan, and I was not wrong.
Back at the apartment, the time had come for us to finalize the rest of our trip. I’m headed back to Germany via bicycle. Linda is spending a couple more days in Budapest relaxing, and then joining me for a couple of days glamping next to Lake Balaton, a huge inland lake in Hungary popular for water and beach activities. For the next couple days she made reservations at a hotel/spa, and then she will travel to meet me by train. Budapest marks the end of Linda’s distance cycling. But over the last 3 weeks she’s ridden 639 km!
We pulled out all of the gear she doesn’t need for the next 3 weeks, as well as a few things of my own, and identified a Mailboxes Etc near her hotel si she can get everything she no longer needs shipped home.
Linda lost one of her two credit cards a while back, and didn’t know the pin for the other one. To increase her redundancy I gave her one of the three credit cards that I normally carry, and gave her much of the cash we had on hand.
Thursday morning we packed up and road out together, as the route to her hotel/spa on Margit Island matched my own.
Then I headed south on Eurovelo 6. Eurovelo 6 and Eurovelo 14 cross in Budapest. My initial plan had me following Eurovelo 6 south until I turned onto Eurovelo 14. Eurovelo 14 later crosses Eurovelo 7 just south of Salzburg. So from Eurovelo 14 I eventually will follow Eurovelo 7 into Salzburg. From there I find my way a few days west to Munich.
Historically, the Eurovelo routes and I occasionally have differences of opinion. Looking at possible routes on OSMAnd today presented a different option. When I reached the turn west onto Eurovelo 14, I instead chose to continue south before later turning west. The elevation track looked less severe. It did include a bit more highway travel. And I had a tailwind!
The ride Thursday was lovely, split between dedicated bicycle path, some distance alongside a highway, and some tracks that were slightly smaller than that.
After 5 km of that track I switched back to a larger road. No longer as flat as Eurovelo 6, I had to get used to the occasional climb.
The campground where Linda and I decided to meet back up is three days of moderate cycling, or two days of extreme cycling. I chose the latter. I rode most of the 70 km Thursday with few stops. I did stop at one point at a bank to withdraw more cash. I ate lunch on a bench in a church courtyard.
I arrived at Lake Valence and Gardony by 2:30 pm, with a multitude of camping options. I took a break at a beach while pondering my choices. I decided to stay at the campground the farthest from me, passing a half dozen campgrounds on the way, just because that put me 5 km closer to where I was headed Friday, the eastern side of Lake Balaton.
I arrived at my target campground to be told by the host that the campground was full. Didn’t really look full, but whatever. The next campground was only a few hundred meters back. From a tent camping perspective my final campground was almost vacant. The host didn’t speak English, but figuring out one night with a tent doesn’t take much when my bicycle is propped outside Reception!
I instead could have chosen to ride another 30 km to the next campground, although it’s in the middle of nowhere. Or I could have chosen to bike another 60 km to get to the beginning edge of Lake Balaton. I still have plenty of time, and energy. However, I chose the bird in hand.
Tomorrow (Friday) I continue west, towards Linda, Germany, and home. I merge back with Eurovelo 14 and follow it the rest of the way to Lake Balaton, where we again diverge as I follow the southern coast of the lake.
Linda spends a couple more days in Budapest before meeting me on Saturday. From there she’ll either take a train back to Budapest, and a boat ride back towards Austria, or find some agro tourism place to hang out for a while, or, really, a wide variety of things. Shipping much of her stuff home means her generally moving about by train should be more manageable with a lighter bicycle.