Day 50 - Esztergom to Budapest 🇭🇺 74kms

Epic adventure on Eurovelo 6 COMPLETE!! - from the Atlantic sea - St Nazaire, France to Budapest, Hungary.

https://tiffstraveltales.travelmap.net

Kilometres cycled - 3489kms

Countries cycled - France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Slovakia and Hungary (and side trip to Italy)

Camping - 41 nights

Hotel/hostel/Airbnb - 9 nights

Weight of steel bike, 4 X panier bags, water and food = 40kgs approx.

Flat tyres - one bad day with 4 due to damaged wheel rim.

Washing machine loads while on the road - none.  Hand-washed daily and did a load at each of my mini breaks.

Unused items carried - first aid kit (yay), bicycle spare parts, zip ties, cycle wind jacket, cycle wind vest, cycle winter gloves, cleats, two pairs of socks, Voltaren gel, torch, duct tape (may use tomorrow at the airport).

Ride completed in my Teva hiking sandals and DaBrim helmet hat.

Today I met the lovely Greek young people who kindly let me ride with them again today.  Starting the day in the rain with a full day of rain predicted is not what any of us wanted for our last day.  Heads down in our rain gear and we set off.

 
We had all sorts of riding experiences today, 60-70% on a busy A road with often potholes, patches, huge puddles, rough edge - not nice in the rain 🙄, then newly laid pristine bitumen cycle paths, cracked concrete slab paths, gravel and cobbles.  The rain only lasted 1.5hrs and we stopped for a hot drink and a piece of cake till the last of the rain had gone.

A picnic lunch stop at the quaint cobble stone town of Szentendre on the outskirts of Budapest.  A string quartet were playing at a cafe and their music added to the atmosphere.

The slog into Budapest seemed to take forever - 25kms of mixed cycle conditions and then we rounded a bend and there it was, the Parliament building.  I had imagined this moment for a few months and I felt quite emotional to think I'd made it!

We stopped for some high fives and photos to acknowledge the achievements.  It was special to share that with such a lovely group of people.  Two Anastasia's, Farm boy Kostas, Music man Vasilis, and our kind, thoughtful and logistically skilled leader. 

We parted ways and I headed for my hotel.  Lovely receptionist and a quiet comfortable apartment in a traditional Hungarian hotel in a former palace just near the Opera house. 

 
I googled 'authentic Hungarian restaurants near me' and followed Google's suggestion and ended up at a great little place, friendly staff.  I asked the waitress for her favourite and had paprika chicken and dumplings, followed by pancakes with cranberries and sour cream.  

An added bonus were two great guys at the next table who had just finished hiking in the Slovenian Alps.  Lots of travel tales shared.

I will write a reflection over the next few days.

So, I'm proud of myself for setting a goal, putting steps in place to make it happen and then the hard yards to pedal for 50 days, plus have some mini breaks on an organic farm tending veges, teaching English in Bavaria, Italy to cycle with friends and a few days cat sitting in Vienna.  Are there easier ways to have a holiday - most definitely, are there more fun and interesting?  That's very much debatable.  I had a ball, was challenging at times, but mostly amazing. Met great people... uh oh, I'm starting to write my reflection 😂😂