Day 27 Budapest Rest Day
We figured out the phone system last night but by the time we did I had missed the appointed call time window. Well we thought we had it turns out that the phone card wroked but the hotel socked us with a huge bill. ARGH! We wandered out on the street looking for supper and found some East Indian food.
This morning I feel like maybe 80%. My shoulder is still a little stiff and I have to watch how much weight I put on my right elbow, but it looks like I am going to be fine. Glen gave me some of his magic ointment which he claims can fix any thing from cancer to rusted car parts. Perfect!
Jim and I took a two and half city bus tour and saw all sorts of sights and heard about the history of the city. The city has been occupied by just about everybody during its long history starting with the Romans and ending with the Soviets. Every group has left their mark on the city in the form on the architecture and the monuments they constructed. The castle at the top of the hill on the Buda side of the river was under siege 17 times. The Pest side is the flat flood plain side. The two sides were united in the 1700s under somebody’s rule. Sorry it is all kind of a blur with names I have never heard and which probably are un-spell-able any way. The city has a lot of Paris influence in the architecture an was designed to look like Paris (well at least the older sections). After the bus tour we took a boat tour up the Danube which recapped a lot of the bus tour but provided a much different perspective on the city. Then we hit the grand bazaar which was really a huge farmers market. Hundreds of fresh vegetable sellers and meat markets selling every cut of meat and sausage imaginable. Sorry for no pictures I ran out of time on the computer. I'll get you some on the nest posting. Promise!
I was glad to get back to the hotel to wash the city grim off. We had been going steady for 7 hours and the car and bus exhaust was giving me a head ache.
We have three ride days before our next rest day so I hope to post the next entrees then. So in the mean time, thanks for visiting with me and thanks for your great comments just keep them coming.
Terry
5 comments:
I guess I caught you mid-blog entry. What a heart stopping ride into Budapest. I look forward to seeing your pics of the tours. Hi to Jim, Curt and Claire, love,
Agnes
Roadkill a.k.a. Don
Be careful Terry.
Hi Terry. Hope you're healing well. Sounds like the group has had its fair share of misfortunes (falls, stolen wallets, etc.). Enjoy the rest of eastern Europe. Keep your head up and enjoy the ride. Thanks for the blog.
Ken C.
Go Terry and be safe!
I enjoy reading your postings of the route as I plan to do the ride on my own next year.
Rick
Nova Scotia
Terry, I was interested in the "accident frequency" on your ride, compared with this year's Golden Triangle. We had 3 ride-ending accidents out of 400 riders over 3 days, or about 1 accident per 400 rider-days. Your group is 37 riders, riding 39 days, for a total of 1443 rider-days. If the accident frequency was the same as the GT, then you might expect between 3 and 4 ride-ending accidents over the course of your tour. You might be there already. All the more reason for all of you to be vigilant, point out hazards to each other, ride safely and enjoy the ride from the saddle as opposed to the SAG wagon.
Ken C. (an engineer with too much time on his hands!!)
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