Danny Beer. Tourist on Wheels. A European Adventure

A Castle.

Bojnice to Martin.: In search of a place to stay

Wednesday February 21, 2007, 80 km (50 miles) – Total so far: 483 km (300 miles)

The castle at Bojnice is a real delight. Of course as a ‘student’ you get your usual discount. You don’t know whether you are supposed to or not but you join a big group of tourists for the tour. Well it was difficult to get past them all. And the tour is in English anyway despite that you are probably the only native English speaker in the crowd.

It isn’t until 11:30 that you hit the road. You finally get to see snow. And as you keep riding you see more and more of it. You also see some locals riding Giants too. Must be a popular bike.

You get to Martin but the lack of accommodation forces you to keep going. It gets dark and the traffic gets heavy. You are aware of some beautiful scenery you are missing out on. Eventually you make it to Kralovany. If you can’t find a room here you’ll just have to pitch your tent somewhere. The previous two towns promised pensions. The first was closed for winter and the second was too obscure to find in the dark. But third time lucky you’re in luck. And only about twelve Euros. They even serve breakfast too.

What is it about Slovakia and breakfast? You can never find a restaurant open. You usually skip it in hope of an early lunch and some chocholate. As a consequence you have also been skipping coffee. Today you have your first cup since leaving Bratislava.

So you just discovered Martin pivo, a nice little beer with the added bonus of sharing your middle and last names. Well, it makes you happy anyway.

Martin to Liptovky Mikulas: Beautiful Slovakia

Thursday February 22, 2007, 60 km (37 miles) – Total so far: 543 km (337 miles)

You wake up today to a Swedish table. This is a direct translation from the polish and means ‘buffet’. The fifty km to Liptovky Mikulas is easy enough. You see more and more snow but really never feel it with your warm clothes, including ski pants. But then it starts to rain not far from your destination so you are only interested in going there or finding a restaurant for lunch. You even elect to skip a detour to a wooden church! It probably wasn’t worth it though.

You get into town but the first thing you find is a bus to Jasna for the skiing. You look for the hotel but they are all booked out. This morning you try to call but their number had changed. It isn’t listed on the internet.

So from there you slowly descend down the mountain, stopping to ask for a free room wherever feasible. Twice your bike skids on the loose gravel throwing you off. The second time you come off one of the pannier clips break off. But the bag stays on okay. You do find one pension but you can only stay for one night. You need five.

There is a small village near the base of the mountain with a ton of ‘zimmer freis’ You stop at one and instant success. 400 Kroners a night. But maybe you said yes too quickly because now the price is 500. So you say only three nights. He tries to negotiate to four nights. You’ll stay for three and see if you can find something better after the weekend. It is very basic and you still need to catch the bus up the mountain in the morning to ski.

Liptovky Mikulas: Snowboarding days

Sunday February 25, 2007

It is lonely up on them hills. You’ve been snowboarding these past three days. Then you hang out in a restaurant and bar in the evenings. There are a lot of people up on the slopes. You almost do your head in on the first day. It is a different kind of solitary to cycling. Your longest conversations are with the guys at the ski rental. The barman teaches you to say “One more pivo’ but you have already forgotten it.

Tomorrow is your last day. You plan to head up early so you can leave by two. Maybe you can make it to Poprad if you don’t encounter any problems.

Liptovky Mikulas to Motel on highway: Riding in snow

Monday February 26, 2007, 48 km (30 miles) – Total so far: 591 km (367 miles)

Today is your last day of snowboarding but you want to get back on the bike again so you leave the pists by one. Your host tried to get you to stay another night last night and again this morning when it was snowing. It snows for most of the day on the board and on the bike. At times it is a nuisance but it also makes it a unique delight on the quiet roads.

You hand the board in to the ski shop. At first they give you a fifty per cent discount and then for free. You decide not to question why and continue on your way. Coming back down the mountain the bus skids on the road. But you were okay and everyone else on the bus seems non-plussed.

Today is also the day you test the new latch on your broken bag. It holds up okay and should last you as long as the bags.

Once you leave Liptovsky Mikulas and get onto the quiet roads you actually enjoy the snow. You are all wrapped up in four layers of clothes and the snow falling all around is beautiful. It hits your face. You try to catch some on your tongue but you seem to have better success when you don’t try at all.

Today is also the day you test the new latch on your broken bag. It holds up okay and should last you as long as the bags.

Once you leave Liptovsky Mikulas and get onto the quiet roads you actually enjoy the snow. You are all wrapped up in four layers of clothes and the snow falling all around is beautiful. It hits your face. You try to catch some on your tongue but you seem to have better success when you don’t try at all.

You want to make it to Tatranska Strba, a town with nothing there but it is sign posted. You make it on dusk and find a nice motel to stay in. Your clothes, bags and bike are dirty from the road. The front bags are quite frosted. You try to wash your ski pants in the shower but they are so dirty they need a heavy duty wash, as does the rest of your clothes, your bags, your bike, not lest yourself.

To Levoca.: Just walking the bike

Tuesday February 27, 2007, 44 km (27 miles) – Total so far: 635 km (395 miles)

The day starts out alright even if the highway is very busy. Traffic is generally courteous but often a truck would come by too close and too fast pulling me into is slipstream. Buses are the worst. They never give room and they never wait. At least they don’t try to force you off the road like they do in Taiwan though.

By lunch time you get a flat. This time it’s the front. But that’s okay. You’ll just put on the spare and fix the puncture in the evening. But wait. Why is the valve so fat? It doesn’t even fit through the hole. Looks like you’ll need to repair the flat now after all.

So you put on the patch but the tire doesn’t seem to want to inflate. So you try again. And again. You manage to inflate the damn thing a little. Enough to walk the bike but you can’t ride it.

So you walk. Five km to the next town, Levoca. There you’ll be able to find a service station and perhaps even a bike shop. On the way you find a restaurant and stop for lunch. Your one embarrassment is that you leave the seat up in the women’s bathroom.

You find a service station just out of town and inflate the tire easily. But just one km later it goes again, totally flat. Once again you start walking. This town is quite attractive. Why isn’t it in the guide book? Oh, it is. Lots of pretty buildings and even a 16th century cage for putting impure women in. You ask for directions to a bike shop and sure enough, success! A pretty young girl even follows you to make sure you find it.

So you buy two new tubes and a bike pump. You even get the guy to inflate it for you, after yet another unsuccessful attempt. Yet again the tire blows after riding it for a little while. You go back to the shop and the guy finds the reason why. There is a hole in the actual tire itself. So you buy a new tire. You think it is a little smaller than the old one but you’re sure it will be fine. You hope.

But now it is almost five. It is starting to get cold and dark. So you’ll stay here tonight. You don’t want any frantic searching for accommodation on dusk like last night.

To Kosice.: Cold cold riding

Wednesday February 28, 2007, 91 km (57 miles) – Total so far: 726 km (451 miles)

28—2 91 km

You awake again to blissful snow falling down from the heavens. Breakfast and a quick (ish) trip to the town hall museum and you’re off. The first point of call is the neo-gothic cathedral just out of town. This turns into a ten km plus detour up a hill you really didn’t need to make.

Spisske Podhradie is the next point of call, sight of Spissky Hrad, the largest castle in the country. There is also a magnificent cathedral there so you stop there first. But alas you have to wait half an hour so into town for lunch you go.

The cathedral is great, like its counterpart in Levoca. The castle is closed for winter. But by then it is already two and it’s a long way to Kosice.

Just out of town you see your first evidence of slums. “Gypsies’ you think. The sun bids you hello but snow abounds. You are slower than time allows for. A mountain hinders the final few km to Kosice. It gets cold and dark. The final descent is no fun at all. It is however eerily beautiful.

Eventually you make it into town and eventually you find a place to stay, the same place you stayed five years ago with your then girlfriend. Riding for just a few minutes without your gloves chills your fingers. You put the gloves back on.

No cycling tomorrow. It’s a rest day. Besides, you have a lot of tourist stuff to do.

A tourist in Kosice.: Rest day

Thursday March 1, 2007

Ah, the first day of spring and the first day in a week it hasn’t snowed. Today, the last full day in Slovakia, is a rest day, to be spent doing tourist stuff. There are a couple nice museums in town and many chances to take photos of pretty buildings.

This year marks the 800th anniversary of the town’s cathedral. A climb up the narrow tower stairwell affords great views of the city.

You buy a bike pump but it doesn’t work so you exchange it for one which does. Another bike shop has the same bike, a Giant OCR 3, for sale. It’s the newer model so has a few better features. It also has a price tag almost double what you paid.