The Plan

The Plan: Two months of unassisted cycling and camping through Belgium, Holland, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic and wherever else our legs may take us.

The Route: Starting in Brussels and flying out of Berlin are the only given at this point. We plan to cycle parts of the Flanders Cycle Route, Rhine River and the Danube River. We will also be using the EuroVelo and regional cycling routes.

Accommodation: WarmShowers website (like couchsurfing for cyclists). We are also planning on staying at campsites, backyards of friendly locals or in the wilderness.

Monday, July 29, 2013

Day 45: Szentendre (Saint Andrew) to Esztergom - 48km

At 3am I awoke with a start, kicking at an animal that had been nuzzling my foot through the tent. It emitted a blood curdling banshee scream and bounded off. What was it? I wondered. A large cat? A raccoon or possum? We're still not sure. All I saw was a large shadow and a bushy tail. What's worse is that it stuck around, stalking the area for the next hour and screeching once more just to let us know. We were in the most remote and uninhabited part of a large campsite so we picked up our tent and walked 150 yards to a more populated spot. We got a couple more hours of sleep but set off cursing the mythical beast that had terrorized us earlier that morning. So much for Europe having a docile wilderness!

We continued West along the until we came to a very nice river bank that many locals were sunning on. This was the first accessible part of the Danube we had seen, everything else had been covered in mud. Since wild camping is legal in Hungary, we pitched out tent down and had a lovely evening on the river sans animals and mosquitoes thanks to a strong wind!



Though no banshees visited us that night, we were surprised to see a robotic procession around 10pm. Nearly 200 people, adorned with flashing lights on their arms, legs and heads were jogging single file. We couldn't even tell if they were running or cycling until we crept closer, remaining hidden from view of the robo-joggers. We figured if these guys were out, they would probably scare away any potential banshees.

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