The Great Croatian Escapade

Firstly as she will be riding with us until Antalya I feel we should introduce Rhiannon in a little more detail for those who don’t know her and as her brother Jimi has the artistic licence to do so:

The curious case of Rhiannon

Rhiannon rides a bike like no other. Despite its fixed components and spherical wheels she manages to make cycling look like a novice hill walker scrambling up Crib Goch, flip flops and sombrero in tow.

After two days of marvelling at this epic struggle we were forced to briefly hospitalise her. Her chest pain finally brought tears to her eyes and we took a taxi to the emergency ward. After a thorough examination; a verdict of a pulled muscle was administered and she was dismissed before they could photocopy the passport, much to the surprise of the receptionist. Rose and I did try to take this opportunity to put Rhi under house arrest orders for a week whilst we pedalled away, but fearing we may ‘party’ without her  and revitalised by the doctors diagnosis, she had a second coming and vowed to soldier on. I even caught her doing these insane sit ups down by the dock one morning.

This diagnosis had also had the effect of improving her riding style, where before she would be out of the seat more times than Tyler Hamilton up the road to Bayonne and stopping more times than our old dad in his middle aged fell running crisis, she is now forced to ride more smoothly and at a steady pace which greatly pleases us as it’s much safer to stay as one group on these busy Croatian coastal roads. Such has been Rhiannon’s improvements that questions have arose over her means. “I’ve never tested positive,” has been the all too familiar rebut. So we await the inevitable USADA’s case to be built before we can clean up our Tour de World guest star. She can however cook up a mean fish, potatoes, salad and even makes beans and tomatoes taste amazing.

We have substituted “the translator” for “the chef” and she now delights us with the ‘campsite cooking’ meals every night. But don’t worry Jake she can’t speak a word of German.

Anyway on with the blog…

So after the last post, Jimi wrote about us leaving Rijeka and heading to Zadar on the ferry the next morning. We awoke at 6am after an early night and well rested, it felt like we were sneaking away in the dead of the night as we cruised down the hill in the dark into Rijeka. We were greeted by a smiling sailor who sweetly said, we are not sailing today, the weather is too bad, we all looked up into the beautiful rising sun to what looked like a promisingly beautiful day. Rhiannon replied with a laugh and “ha! Ha! he’s joking, it’s the funny Croatian sense of humour” he smiled again and said “well you can wait if you like but we won’t be leaving until Wednesday.” We watched as other eager tourists loaded with their backpacks were told the same thing and slinked away, wondering how they were to reach their destination, fortunately we did not have a flight to catch the same day as some tourists did.

So of we set back up the hill to Rijeka in the hope of catching a ferry the next day which we hoped would take us to Zadar. Happy to be on the bikes again after a lazy few days at an abandoned festival we headed full of energy (well half full) and found a lovely wild camp spot 60km towards Rijeka.

We were in bed by 8pm and awoke and set off the next morning by 7:30. Arriving into Rijeka we were told, sorry no bicikla on this catamaran, you cannot leave Rijeka today and will have to get the overnight ferry to Split tomorrow as this is the only one you can take your bike on. Not to be disheartened by this minor set back, we booked the tickets and set off in search of the campsite. Low and behold, the campsite did not exist although we were told various legends by 3 different locals. We gave in and Jimi found a small cheap apartment however on seeing two girls ‘Mama Ana’ upgraded us to a bigger apartment with ‘more room to rest’. We communicated with Ana in little broken words from French, German, Italian, Turkish and English and in the end she said “ahh my children, call me Mama!”

Safe in the knowledge we would be leaving Rijeka (a full week after Jimi and I arrived there the first time) and catching the night ferry, we settled into the apartment, did some bike maintenance and watched a film. Not quite the camping and slumming it that we would usually be doing but enjoyed the luxuries all the same. The next day we headed to the ferry port but were cut short with Rhi and her broken rib and decided she should see a doctor. I settled in at the port and Jimi escorted Rhi to the hospital just to be on the safe side and unsure if she would be able to continue the trip if her rib was worse than expected. 30 minutes later they returned and Rhi was diagnosed with a pulled muscle in between the ribs, much to everyones relief.

Finally after a lot of waiting around and me worrying about getting the good seats on the ferry, we boarded and found some comfy seats in the salon, ready to bed down for the night and awake bright and breezy in Split, ready for the next leg of the journey. Me and Jimi looked worryingly as 40 rugby men boarded the boat in front of us, concerned about the rowdiness of the sports teams/large groups we had previously encountered. Rhi on the other hand had a little smile on her face in the hope that somewhere amongst them they may have a little party on the boat she could get involved in. We met some fellow cycle tourers from Slovenia who were part of a travelling theatre company called The Pink Aliens and we shared a bottle of wine and some tales on deck. We even had a wonderful nights sleep, just about waking up before the ship docked in Split.

Rhi received a message from the Chrisophere, her friends called Chris who are travelling and climbing in Croatia, saying they would be in Split that evening and so we decided to find a room and hit the town and then continue on from there the next day. We searched for a tout for a room and of course there was not one to be found anywhere until finally we were approached by a man who promised us a lovely new apartment for 5 people with sky TV, air con and right in the old town, for the price we asked of him. We walked across town but he wouldn’t let us put our bikes in the apartment, he said they would be okay outside in the street but we were not risking our bikes being stolen so regretfully had to turn down the as mentioned beautiful apartment and try to find another room. We were met by another man who had a room, but he wanted too much money, another had given the room away and finally we found a small basement apartment, which just about would sleep 3, let alone 5 but after searching for hours we settled for this and decamped here.

This is the  reason it is easier to pitch a tent, set up camp and cook our dinner than stay indoors. 

Me and Rhi went in search of fish (at a market) but we didn’t understand why everyone was saying no until we realised they closed at 1 and we were too late. We eventually bought some fish and Rhi made amazing fish supper which was ready in time for the arrival of the mighty Chris’s. We all headed to the square amongst the beautiful old town and had a few drinks and headed back found everything closing as it was midnight. We were directed to the beach and to the ‘euro club’ which was empty when we arrived. Jimis late night party disco dream had come true and the rubbish beer and shit music added to the atmosphere of it all and was helped along with a few local shots of honey rackya. Me and Jimi left Rhi and the two Chis’ to it, knowing we cannot party as much as them three and headed home.

“Poor old Rosy Pose” was the saying the next morning as the ‘euro party’ (I blame the Chris’s and the ‘honey’ shot that did it but I did not feel well at all, and was not looking forward to the ferry crossing to Hvar, knowing the wind was strong.

We made it and across to Stari Grad and headed to the campsite, which was actually closed with a few campers but locked toilets. This did not deter us and we pitched up knowing it unlikely we would have to pay. A beautiful harbour was waiting us and since we did not pay for the campsite, went out for pizza and some home made wine at the harbour. This may be the time to explain about Croatian pizza. Croatians make pizza, nearly if not as good as the Italians and the pizza is crispy and tasty and after trying a few pizzas in Croatia so far have not had a bad one yet.

The next day was one of the best days cycling we have had. It was beautiful scenery all the way along the Island.

From there we took a short ferry back to the mainland and continued south. We stopped in Neum in Bosnia for the night (it was suprisingly beatiful and after finding a campsite, the man said ” wait there in ten minutes a man will come and watch you all night”. He sure did and we were guarded, Im not sure what from as we were the only ones there camping amongst the olive trees. (Mum auntie Bev and mads); there was a cat there called Tigger, same colour as our tigger and he sat outside our tent all night! Jimi learned he had passed his PGCE so we had an impromptu graduation dinner which was fantastic.

After some more miles and another ferry we reach Mljet. Jimi had been looking forward to this island for weeks but unfortunately it coincided with Rose’s knee being very sore and Jimi having the flu. So whilst Rhi explored the island we rested up in the beautiful village of Sobra for three whole days.

After two nights in Dubrovnik, a few more Spritzers (fast becoming Jimi’s favourite drink) and a hair raising ride down another busy coastal road we have left Croatia.

We have had a wonderful time, taking in some breathtaking views and met some lovely people along the way, cycled some of our best days and are pretty excited about the unknown of Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia and Greece…

An Odd Week for us Cyclists

 

Budapest was cool. We left at 06:15 on a (shh don’t tell anyone) train to Zagreb. We we’re expecting to feel guilty as hell about not cycling but actually it felt quite luxurious and we had a pleasant 6 hours snoozing and chatting to Johnathan, our compartment mate. Our purpose for this abrupt change of direction was to go and pick up a new recruit- Rhiannon. She has been working as a Artist Liason Manager at Outlook and Dimensions festivals in Pula and will join us for the next leg to Turkey.

We then spent a very pleasant 5 hours in Zagreb cycling around, sipping coffee in a trendy cafe and eating Burek in the central park. Burek is a cheap curly pastry with meat or cheese being the common fillings. Delicious if you like cheap, greasy filling food- we do.

We then took another train to Rijeka.

After worrying about the hassle of travelling with heavily loaded bikes it was surprsingly easy, but I think this was due to the fact that are boarding and alighting stations were that end of the line, giving us more time to lift everything on and off. The whole journey cost about £45 each.

The following day the main street was filled with people. It was some sort of Olympic sports day for kids. Rose spent 2 hours watching the gymnastics while I did some shopping for maps and food.

 

After 2 days of cycling down the main coastal road, pretty busy and hilly but with lovely views, we arrived in Pula and went in search of the festival site and Rhiannon ‘the bike’ Davies. We didn’t expect to find a honed athlete but even by her standards her current state of fitness has set a new low.

Rhiannon was nursing a 14 day hangover and clearly hadn’t slept for some time. She was also sneezing and coughing a lot. Each time she coughs she yelps like a dog whose tail has been stepped on,  as she fractured a rib jumping off a homemade 10 metre diving board a few parties earlier.

Her bike (‘The doctor’) wasn’t much better either. 2 flat tyres, filthy drive train, no front brake and broken pedal straps. However with a bit of work and a lot of swearing the Doctor has been nursed back to health. Rhiannon we fear may take a little longer.

We slept in Rhiannons posh Shikar tent for free for a couple of nights but when they took all the others down and changed the code for the toilets, we knew we had to leave. So here we are in a cheap apartment (£9 each) on the edge of Pula waiting for the Saturday morning ferry to take us to Zadar where we will ride down the coast and across some of the larger southern islands towards Montenegro, Albania and Greece.

So it’s been a funny week with not much cycling. I think the rest is doing us some good but we are looking forward to getting back on the bike. It is difficult to sit still when you are used to moving every day and feels a little bit like we are under house arrest.

 

Down the Danube to Budapest

After experiencing what was the most exhilarating thunder and lightning storm- complete with heavy rain- throughout the night, it interrupted our Friday night film (Sherlock Holmes 2) to such an extent that we couldn’t hear the headphones and had to abort we awoke wondered what would be of our tent…It did us proud and held up well in all the rain and wind. Jimi did get up in the middle of the night though to re-peg and tighten all the guide ropes. Reluctantly we crawled out of our tent and braced the now bleak weather, had breakfast in the shower block and crossed the lake by ferry at a not so early 12 o clock. After only 7km in heavy rain we stopped in a shelter, put the kettle on and sat listening to a podcast hoping the rain would pass. An hour later and it was still the same so we decided the only way to make any headway today would be to get the train to our next destination 58km away. (Honestly it had nothing at all to do with the hills that stood in our way across the border into Austria…”I love hills, I love hills, I love hills”). We cycled up a very steep hill and were greeted by a breath-taking view of Austria from high up, the downhill to the station was not so fun though with rain scratching our pretty faces.

It was a lovely train journey and some other cycle tourers had the same idea as us and got on the train and explained they were going to a lovely hotel in Linz, “oooh lovely” I said, with a pang of jealousy as I knew we would be pitching the tent in the pouring rain and settling in for the night damp and cold. They recommended the Linz Torte as a delicious treat only made in Linz. We should have known not to trust them as they were hotelling and obviously not on a budget like us as Jimi found out when he came to pay and realised he’d just spent a whole weeks food budget on the delicacy! So that night we had our dinner and wine in the changing rooms at the campsite and dried out our clothes in the shower room. Rain again the next day didn’t stop us cycling 80km along the river although I wasn’t expecting to be wearing my fleece buff, thick coat and gloves in the middle of summer.

What we saw of Austria was beautiful and very picturesque, cycling through the rolling vineyards and windy country lanes along the Danube. I feel so privileged that I am able to see so many wonderful countries and do it the way we are. The ever changing scenery, food, languages and customs are a great way to spend my time and I feel touched by the beauty of the countries I never imaged to be so wonderous. Every day we are thinking of all the things we are heading towards and what delights the rest of the world has to offer us, making plans for other legs of the trip.

I thought Vienna would be a city to spend some time in and enjoy, how very wrong we were. After Jimi picked up his new tyres (his tyre got sliced up on the bad Czech tracks) we headed into Vienna. After an extortionately priced but delicious bratwurst and a whistle stop tour we couldn’t leave quick enough, well getting lost and trying to find a way out was not quick at all and an hour later we were on our way again. Seemingly heading the right way me and Jimi simultaneously looked at each other as we passed many a person lay on the grass next to the river naked, leaving nothing at all to the imagination. There were hundreds of people sprawled out along the river bank looking at us as if we were the strange ones. We were in fact on the wrong path and had stumbled across a nude stretch of the Danube. One woman shouted at us and signalled we should be on the other side of the river and to get away!

 

We arrived in Brataslava after a 100km cycle and found a hostel, more like a 5 star hotel really and headed out for a traditional Slovakian dinner which was very tasty and a traditional Slovakian bar with rowdy men and cheap beer. It was a whistle stop visit through Slavakia but we got the feel for the place. Vienna to Brataslava was not the most exciting leg of the journey and cycling with trees either side on a long straight road could have got tedious, but with Jimi beside me making up songs, singing the wrong words to songs confidently and entertaining me along the way it was not so boring after all. We didn’t even know we had entered Slavakia for the lack of border sign, the only way we knew were derelict border control rooms and a tax back office. The border sign to Hungary however, a mere 16km further was ridden with bullet holes and we entered a new country with trepidation and unsure about what this country had to offer us!

 

We were full of excitement that we would be soon in Budapest, but still enjoying the ride along the Danube, dubbed as ‘the most beautiful part of the Danube river’, I’m not so sure about this as the terrain was rugged, rough around the edges and the scenery was not as pleasing to the eye as some of the other countries we have cycled through. The cycle path took us through many industrial towns and along bumpy, dusty and rough paths, there was a distinct lack of beautiful greenery and wildlife that appeared in other parts.

I am still amazed that we can cycle 80km in a number of hours and I now find this a pleasant ride and not difficult in one go, if you told me a few months ago I would be cycling 80-100km a day and truly enjoying it, I don’t think I would have believed it. After popping to Tesco (they are on nearly every corner as in England, and I could not avoid my boycott of the store as there were no other supermarkets for miles) we camped at a little site in Taht. We were warned on arrival that there were a group of university students and there may be a ‘bit of noise’- now there’s an understatement if ever I heard one. As previously experienced the rafters and canoeists are a rowdy bunch and these were no exception, until late into the night they partied. Not that we are getting old or anything but we go to bed when its dark and get up when its light. Rhiannon I think you may be in for a shock at our non-party lifestyle and 10 hour a night sleeps!

So an easy ride into Budapest and the sight of the magnificent parliament building greeted us. We realised that this is about the half way mark to Turkey and we have completed about 10% of the circumnavigation of the earth. ‘Lavender Circus’ (our bohemian hostel) sounds lovely and it is really is, we decided if this was our own apartment we would be very happy to live here. It is a unique hostel and more of a boutique hotel with its individual features and very beautifully decorated rooms and common areas. We don’t really want to leave the hostel but have torn ourselves away to see the many sights that Budapest has to offer. Tonight we are celebrating our 7 year anniversary, so will have traditional goulash and sample the fineries that Budapest has to offer. (In other words we will find the cheapest restaurant and have a beer or two.) I think the 7 year itch is well and truly being scratched away and we are having the time of our lives, the cycling included.

Tommorow we head to Croatia and to meet another of the ‘third musketeers’ in the form of Rhiannon, Jimi’s sister, we will take it slow for a while as I have heard Croatia is a little hillier than the 800km flat we have just covered. Watch this space as to how and when we get there, our bikes are booked all the way to Pula, but we could only get a ticket to Zagreb so from there we are unsure how and when we will move on…the unhelpful assistant could only say, “computer has no ticket” so we did the best we could and hope we get there with bikes in tow and start the second leg of the journey towards Antalya. We are having a fantastic trip so far and I would not change a thing.