Tuesday 20 July 2010
Thursday 15 July 2010
Wednesday 14 July 2010
Its Wednesday so it must be Austria
Yesterday we were in 3 countries, left Slovenia at lunch time, a quick blast thru Italy, and a scary ride over a couple of mountain passes into Austria.
Slovenia has so far been the highlight of the trip for Mike & Liz, and fingers crossed we will be back for a longer visit. Not only is the country beautiful above ground, it is pretty spectacular below ground.
Mike has discovered there is more to life than the Stelvio Pass, we rode over some pretty spectacular roads to get to Austria yesterday, a reasonably low pass at 13??m but the drops at the edge of roads without the security of arco railings were hair raising to say the least.
Rain threatened on the high tops, but came to nothing, could have done with something to cool us down.
The road to Fugen seemed never ending, probably because we have had 11 days riding and were in need of a rest.
I was never so happy as when I saw the Zillertal signpost on the autostrasse, then it was only 1 more tunnel and a quick blast along the valley up the hill and stopped right at the front door to the hotel.
Quick check in and dinner, they reserved us a table on the terrace, there is something nice about sitting on the canopied terrace rain beating down flickering lights on the opposite valley and sipping sparkling water. The others like the beer but I will take their word for it that it is nice.
Slovenia has so far been the highlight of the trip for Mike & Liz, and fingers crossed we will be back for a longer visit. Not only is the country beautiful above ground, it is pretty spectacular below ground.
Mike has discovered there is more to life than the Stelvio Pass, we rode over some pretty spectacular roads to get to Austria yesterday, a reasonably low pass at 13??m but the drops at the edge of roads without the security of arco railings were hair raising to say the least.
Rain threatened on the high tops, but came to nothing, could have done with something to cool us down.
The road to Fugen seemed never ending, probably because we have had 11 days riding and were in need of a rest.
I was never so happy as when I saw the Zillertal signpost on the autostrasse, then it was only 1 more tunnel and a quick blast along the valley up the hill and stopped right at the front door to the hotel.
Quick check in and dinner, they reserved us a table on the terrace, there is something nice about sitting on the canopied terrace rain beating down flickering lights on the opposite valley and sipping sparkling water. The others like the beer but I will take their word for it that it is nice.
Monday 12 July 2010
Heading Back towards UK the long way
On the return journey, crossed Hungary and into Slovenia.
What a difference there was in 300 miles.
In Romania families work in the fields cutting the grass with scythe and turning the grass with pitchforks, building stooks and transporting the grass by horse and cart. Then into Hungary there were modern looking tractors and trailers loaded with round bales.
Small strip fields in Romania, in Hungary they have fields we would recognise in the UK.
At the Border I pleaded with the crossing guard to stamp my passport, he just laughed but stamped it, the others just laughed at me but they also got them stamped.
We had to admit defeat at the Hungarian camp site, biting bugs when we arrived at the camp site, hotel nearby got our business.
What a difference there was in 300 miles.
In Romania families work in the fields cutting the grass with scythe and turning the grass with pitchforks, building stooks and transporting the grass by horse and cart. Then into Hungary there were modern looking tractors and trailers loaded with round bales.
Small strip fields in Romania, in Hungary they have fields we would recognise in the UK.
At the Border I pleaded with the crossing guard to stamp my passport, he just laughed but stamped it, the others just laughed at me but they also got them stamped.
We had to admit defeat at the Hungarian camp site, biting bugs when we arrived at the camp site, hotel nearby got our business.
Romania
Romania was Different
The Transfagarasan road was GREAT, lots of corners but also lots of low cloud which I think made it a little less scarey. When you cant see the sheer drops at the side of the road then it does not seem so bad.
Mikes bike is suffering a bit, bits keep rattling off.
Everyone is suffering a bit with the excessive heat.
And the bugs bite but for a change they seem to like Mike better than me.
We found a great camp site in a small village called Carta. We thought we had made a wrong turning, down a dirt track rutted track but sure enough at the edge of the village a large metal gate opened by a woman who spoke great English, it seemed like an oasis, beautiful short grass, trees to give us shade, and a cherry tree to sneakily pinch the cherries from.
Mikes bike is suffering a bit, bits keep rattling off.
Everyone is suffering a bit with the excessive heat.
And the bugs bite but for a change they seem to like Mike better than me.
We found a great camp site in a small village called Carta. We thought we had made a wrong turning, down a dirt track rutted track but sure enough at the edge of the village a large metal gate opened by a woman who spoke great English, it seemed like an oasis, beautiful short grass, trees to give us shade, and a cherry tree to sneakily pinch the cherries from.
I kid you not this is the road to the camp site, we thought we had made yet another mistake reading these foreign signs, thoughts of rabid dogs, and wild animal attacks were going thru our heads.
We gingerly proceeded along the road/track to a large green metal gate, it screeched as it swung open and
WOW
We watched the grass being cut by a scythe, it was loaded into a horse drawn cart and taken away to be stored for winter feed.
Then
Modern life took over and someone came in with a lawnmower and gave the grass its final trim.
Thursday 8 July 2010
DN7c Romania "The Road"
They have "roads" at this height
This was the 3rd attempt to get photos of the curves, and we only managed this with a lot of patience, on this side of the mountain it seems they get a lot of cloud and on many days you wont get this view. How on earth did Clarkson & Co manage to get such a fantastic day to drive the road. This was July and you can still see small patches of snow at the side of the road. When you reach the summit of the road, you go through an 800m long and dark tunnel to emerge into bright sunlight, a nice road with less severe corners and a restaurant/ski hotel where we stopped for a late lunch, before letting the coin decide do we go on to the Vidraru Dam or not. The coin said we go on. The road along the side of the Dam is rutted in the extreme, potholes covering almost the entire width of the road. Patched tar, and holes filled in with loose stones. If you want to practice for off roading this is the place to visit.
We are assured there is a Hotel on the shores of this lake, I think Di caught a fleeting glimpse of it, by the time we had turned around it had disappeared into the cloud again.
A statue of Prometheus with the lightning flash held aloft, is the symbol of Electricity. This huge statue is standing on a headland looking down on the Dam Wall of Lake Vidraru. The dam houses a hydro electric plant. The wall of the dam however is home to something completely different and one only those with a head for heights can enjoy.
The thought here is, if I do this bungee jump the elastic might just snap and I wont have to ride my bike back along that horrible road.
If I tied my braces together how far do you think I will bounce?
On second thoughts it looks a long way down maybe another time.
Wednesday 7 July 2010
Romanian Roads
The worst potholes you can imagine uneven surfaces wet roads and a generous coating of diesel. Scenery amazing. And they move home with horse and cart
Mobile posting on the move
Thursday 1 July 2010
Tuesday 29 June 2010
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