{"id":1969,"date":"2011-06-19T20:50:07","date_gmt":"2011-06-19T18:50:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tourdebocrie.com\/?p=1969"},"modified":"2011-10-22T21:11:46","modified_gmt":"2011-10-22T19:11:46","slug":"day-31-sunday-june-19-wienvienna-austria-to-bratislava-slokakia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tourdebocrie.com\/?p=1969","title":{"rendered":"Day 31, Sunday, June 19 – Wien\/Vienna, Austria to Bratislava, Slovakia"},"content":{"rendered":"

We run into glitches on each tour, sometimes on a daily basis……flat tires, \"\"<\/a>getting lost, unscheduled detours, bike lock not unlocking, dodging traffic.\u00a0 WAIT, back up…..bike lock not unlocking?<\/em>…..ah yes, that was this morning, Sunday morning, no less.\u00a0 Looking forward to an early start to our ride and our combination lock, that nicely secured both bikes together as well as to the downstairs garage, was frozen!\u00a0 Not tumbling! LOCKED!\u00a0 Even though Vienna is a huge city, finding a locksmith at 8 am on a Sunday morning was going to be difficult and<\/em> expensive.<\/p>\n

But our wonderful hotel just happened to have bolt cutters, not heavy duty, and certainly not meant to cut a lock, but with enough will power (testosterone) and desire to ride, the lock was cut.\u00a0 Then, over and above, the front desk girl that found the bolt cutters, gave us her bike lock as “It is Sunday, nothing is open and you will need to lock your bike tonight.”\u00a0 Unbelievable!<\/p>\n

In the heat of getting the bikes unlocked, loading up and finding our path out, we didn’t notice the cold temperatures (52) and howling wind for several miles.\u00a0 There was still plenty more to see of Vienna on our seven mile trek out of the city, both old and new.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>We went through a huge city park, though soaked from last night’s ran, was filled with runners, walkers and one horse and buggy.\u00a0\"\"<\/a>There was also a huge carnival area with a Ferris wheel and all the other rides you can imagine along with sport fields of every sport.\u00a0 If you are planning a trip to Europe, this really is a city for all ages.
\n\"\"<\/a>Once out of the city, we seemed to be out in the open by ourselves.\u00a0\"\"<\/a> No walkers, no bikers, but we did have to share the road with…..\"\"<\/a>….snails.\u00a0 They were more plentiful than hermit crabs on the Brac; we dodged them for hours.\u00a0 The overcast skies and wind that assisted our ride was also pushing away the clouds behind us,\"\"<\/a>and reflected beautifully in the ponds.\"\"<\/a>As we lunched beside the Donau we watched a barge struggle up river \"\"<\/a>and took in the very modern bridge we had crossed earlier.\"\"<\/a>Within the last five miles our destination city came into view\"\"<\/a> past the fields of farmland.\u00a0 And the city went on for miles.\"\"<\/a> Also, within those last few miles we crossed the border into Slovakia.\u00a0 \"\"<\/a>Though the border is now abandoned, you can almost see and certainly sense how it ‘used to be.’<\/p>\n

Our last few miles, we biked with Wim and Marga from Holland, on their way to Istanbul.\u00a0 They’ve done extensive touring including a three month bike tour in Malaysia, fascinating.\u00a0 \"\"<\/a>We said our good-byes in Bratislava as we went in search of a hotel so we could go out and tour.<\/p>\n

Bratislava is the political, industrial and cultural center of Slovakia and quite visually interesting, including\"\"<\/a>the Bratislava Castle\"\"<\/a>churches,\"\"<\/a>the New Bridge, seventh largest cable-stryed bridge in the world,<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

and St Michael’s Gate, the\"\"<\/a>only surviving medieval gate.\u00a0 Beside the gate (white tower in the middle) is Europe’s narrowest house.<\/p>\n

With all the sightseeing we had not seen the storm rumbling behind us, until in rumbled it’s presence.\"\"<\/a>We hastened back to our hotel, before it started to rain.\u00a0 A little rest before dinner is always good.\n\t\t