Today, my Danube adventure continues, finally after 5 years when I had to stop because of Corona restrictions. The bicycle with the luggage is about 40kg, very similar to the last time. This time, I could put everything into the four bags. It means as well to say goodbye to my wife and cat for 3.5 weeks. The goal is to reach the Black Sea in about 23 days. Because of the Ukraine war, I had to adapt the original plan and won‘t follow the river until Tulcea. The last part would go along the border between Romania and Ukraine. Some harbors are currently not safe and drone attacks are possible. Therefore, I will shortcut the last part a little and go less to the north, but more directly to Constanta. It is unfortunate that I won‘t be able to visit the Danubian delta with its beautiful fauna and all the birds. Nevertheless, I noted down many sightseeings along the path, especially a lot of archeological places from the Roman empire. Maybe after the 15th Roman ruins, it will get boring. Let‘s see 🙂 .
As a warm-up and to try if the weight of the four bags is well balanced, I cycled from Schliern to the train station in Bern. There was no front wheel shaking, even when driving about 35km/h, which is a great sign. The two small front bags contain the heavier things and are about 3.5kg each. The bags at the back wheel are about 4kg each.
There was plenty of time at the train station and I bought lunch and dinner for the train journey. At 11:02 I left Bern and was one hour later in Zurich. During the travel, a German man talked to me about stair runs (because I was wearing my shirt from the Niesen Treppenlauf), Zermatt, trains, Luzern missing trees in the city, and of course how beautiful Switzerland is. So why do I want to bike outside of Switzerland? Not sure, maybe because of the endless landscapes, or the different cultures, or how huge a river can get, or simply that I can say I followed from the source to the delta of the Danube. Maybe I can answer it after my trip (or just say „yes Switzerland is still the most beautiful place“ 😉 ).
Zurich will be the only change of train. At 12:40 will be the direct train to Bratislava. My wife surprised me at the train station thanks to the lunch break. Thank you! After the second goodbye, the next one will be a goodhello in Budapest at 18th September 🙂 .
I arrived at 21:55 in Bratislava, only a few minutes delayed. The current weather situation looks promising. Almost no clouds all the way. Just around the corner of the train station is my hotel Matysak. I looked for one with 24h reception. It seems they prefer to talk in German than in English 😉 . I could put my bicycle inside below the stairs. The room isn‘t the newest, but has plenty of space.
Good night for today 🙂
