the rest day had done me good and i was up early 07:30 and took my wee netbook to breakfast with my choco oat milk for my muesli along with plenty coffee and continental filled rolls, It was fine and sunny when i was ready to roll and i stopped to take one last picture of Bratislava as i left it behind over the bridge on an excellent cycle path the sun out and i was also lucky there was a fair old wind blowing but! it was at my back woo hoo great cycle path along tarmacked flood dykes sun out and a back wind the gods were being kind
I was about six or seven mile out of town when i passed some cyclist sitting at a cafe, i presumed they were all in the same group probably locals who had cycled out then would have breakfast and cycle back, just after i passed them i had to stop to check a cycle sign and my map and noticed the smallest person in the group was leaving the rest of the group as she cycled up to me I asked if she spoke English? it turned out her name was grace and she was from New York we ended up cycling together the rest of the way stopping to help with navigation and good to get a bit of chat, grace had hired a bike in Vienna and had booked a five day trip ( she had considered the seven day like most people we met were doing)with this bike to Budapest there was apparently others doing the same she had been told it was the cycle companies most popular route! i doubted that the passau to Vienna route was defo more popular we did pass others doing the same as grace but nowhere near as many as i had passed doing the other direction, It was very difficult putting an age on grace because she was so petite! i was guessing possibly 24-26 when i first seen her i thought the group of cyclist had let their child go alone lol, i probed a few times throughout the day- things like so grace you will be possibly too young to remember, but i went up the twin to were a year before they crashed down, she sneakily just said oh yes i remember and i went back to thinking 24-26
It was a fair old cycle distance into Gyor i didn't want to arrive in the dark to then struggle to find somewhere to stay, I told grace i was happy to be cycling with her but i wouldn't have too much time to stop for a a lunch or do much sightseeing in the towns and villages we passed through, she said that`s cool as her accommodation was booked in advance and also didn't want to arrive too late at night, the wind was so strong that as we cycled through one town for the first time in my life I witnessed a tree crash down over a road with force, I have seen the aftermaths of such before but never seen it happen right alongside me, it happens quick had you been cycling walking or driving along at the time it would have gave you no warning! (i later stopped for a pee in the trees and checked the trees and which side to stand on before relaxing)
This was a very pleasant days cycling with good trails through little villages and towns mostly on tarmac flood dyke between towns we eventually arrived in gyor at four PM we had made great time much of which was due to the wind at our backs, graces hotel was right at the start of the old square as we cycled in, I told her off my routine and sat in the bar next to her hotel and ordered a beer to check my phone app and google maps etc, she said she wanted to check in (she doesn't drink) we agreed to meet for dinner and exchanged numbers,
I found a place close by behind the main square then once ready met grace in the main square where there was a cool looking nature photography exhibition on display, We were in Hungary now and although most places would gladly take the euro i wanted some local cash so i went to the ATM and lifted fifty grand!! shame that was Hungarian florins all these zero`s were gonna screw with my logical mind, grace asked if i had anywhere in mind for eating I didn't want to tell this non drinker of my Irish bar fetish and usual decision of best place for beer first food an afterthought! so I just said no, she had asked at her hotels reception about nice restaurants she likes to think of herself as a foody! and we ended going to a place recommended by her hotel called westy`s which was actually a boat on the water, it was very busy my dinner was good and they had the dark Czech beer i was getting a taste for, we chatted over dinner and grace eventually came clean about her age she was forty! i would never have believed it, after dinner i told grace i would like to go to a beer bar before bedtime she said she would just go to bed but would like to walk with me to where I was going, which turned out to be a bar called john bulls! I had two Guinness alone before heading off to an early bed
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