Prague > Vienna (bus) and Vienna

August 26, 2014

Prague > Vienna (bus) and Vienna > Bratislava 75km

[Originally posted Aug 26, 2014]

It's well after midnight. I've a bit of headache. I'm sitting in a suede orange couch in the corner of my Freddie next to Mercury hostel in Bratislava, Slovakia. The light over the makeshift kitchen (I think in America we call these kitchenettes) is supposed to be dim enough to turn on late at night while others are sleeping, so as to not disturb them, but I'm not really worried about it cause the dude in the corner seems to be out cold.

Today was our first triple header - as in we were in three countries today. Woke up early in Prague. But not early enough. I was having a dream (or a nightmare) that I had to be up in a moment for school. I was very distraught at the thought of going back to school, large amounts of anxiety (something I don't feel too often) swept over my body until I finally awoke. It was 5am. Rise and Shine. Katy wanted to head out to see some of Prague without the throngs of tourists - and although I would have liked some more sleep, I jumped out of bed and moments later we were out the door. A light drizzle persisted throughout the morning, but that didn't matter - Prague (and anywhere else) is always nicer without the throngs of tourists, and the early morning combined with light rain gave us the city to ourself, at least for an hour or two.

Church of Our Lady before Týn

Morning at the Kamenný most (Charles Bridge)

Town Square

Charles Bridge at night

Afternoon bus ride back to Vienna (after a stop at a Mexican place, Cacao for ice cream and a bakery - of course). We arrived in Vienna at 5:45, twenty minutes later than we were supposed to. And we were in a bit of hurry. Having taken the last three days off, we were determined to get on our bike and head west to Bratislava. We figured as long as we had a 7pm departure we would arrive around 10:30.

We rolled out of 99 Huttledorfer Strasse and our worst hopes were realized. The rain had returned. Oh well, we thought - sometimes it rains. A final ride through Vienna and across the Danube and we jumped on EuroVelo 6. The rain slowly lifted and the ride was beautiful. A double rainbow on the way out of town (but what does it mean???) and then the sun poked through just long enough for it to set and cast beautiful light over the Danube and the fields and levees on both sides.

Then darkness came. At first it was fine. Then it got really dark, and we were just off on the EuroVelo 6 bike path somewhere in huge fields and on the levee. Then we missed a turn and ended up walking down a muddy dirt road along the Danube. Beautiful, but not ideal when it is 11pm and you are itching for a warm shower and some sleep. We finally rolled into Bratislava an hour or so later than planned - but that's the way it goes sometime.

A really muddy adventure to get to Bratislava.

So here's to Slovakia - country #10. I only know two things about Slovakia - it's the second half of Czechoslovakia and it's the home of Peter Sagan - the green points winner of the Tour de France for a couple years running. Tomorrow we will learn more.