Chris has various playlists that she plays through a speaker on her handlebars while we ride. One of the standard tunes on those playlists is “On the Road Again“ by Willie Nelson. For a long time, that song has played in my head as I’ve pedaled various places around the globe. It’s a song celebrating the joy of exploring new places. And it’s in my head right now as I head to Budapest!
Chris has been to Budapest a number of times, and one of us must take care of Doris so I get a couple days to ride to Budapest by myself, a distance of about 150 miles, and then one day to explore before taking the train back to Bratislava.
The first leg of my trip is getting to Komárno, a town about 70 miles from where we are staying in Bratislava. The day is fairly unremarkable from a ride perspective as the EV6 winds its way on top of levees for most of the way. But I am happy to be on the road!
The place I stayed in Komárno is a hotel with a bar and restaurant attached. Convenience! I had my arrival beer at the bar, had dinner at the restaurant, and slept at the hotel. I even got breakfast in the morning. The place rocked.
Komárno is a pretty quiet non-touristy kind of town but with a nice main shopping street, a beautiful church, and some nice architecture.
Leaving Komárno, I realized I had miscalculated the second days mileage between Komárno and Budapest, which is closer to 80 miles instead of my initial guess of 50. I guess I wasn’t paying enough attention when I calculated the mileage. And it was raining when I left and there were rain showers on and off all day. The wind was in my face all day but only strong when I was out in the open, which thankfully was not that much. It was a long day!
About half the distance today was on two lane, fairly busy roads, not ideal. As I got closer to Budapest, the bike paths were back and the path surface became somewhat better. Arriving in Budapest, I was able to navigate the crowded streets of Budapest to my hotel. Thank heavens for GPS! After a shower, I met up with my friend Jay who happened also to be in Budapest with his girlfriend and we went for a drink at one of the many cafes with live music and then dinner at a really nice restaurant.
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