The Danube River begins in the Black Forest of Germany and travels east, passing through or bordering ten countries on its journey to the Black Sea. We would cycle through the first four of these countries, beginning in Germany and continuing into Austria, Slovakia, and Hungary, where our stops would include the capital cities of Bratislava (Slovakia), Vienna (Austria) and Budapest (Hungary). We would turn around in Budapest, and return to Passau where our bike tour would end.
We left Passau during dinner on our first night and were almost immediately in Austria, spending our first night moored in Engelhartszell. Our first look out the window the next morning was a sight to behold - all of the bikes had been transferred from the deck, and were lined up on the bicycle path, just waiting for us to begin! We ate at the breakfast buffet, packed lunches from trays of meats, cheeses, breads, and fruits, and we were off!
The tour was self-guided. We received a bike, a tool kit, and a booklet with maps of the various segments, grouped by day. The first day was a 35-kilometer ride from Engelhartszell to Untermühl. Portions of the bike path were closed, which meant we had to cross the river by ferry four times. This sounded complicated! And it was, but it turns out that bike ferries are super easy and super efficient. Watch for the sign. Look for the ramp. Follow whoever is in front of you. It helps if you remember which direction you are traveling because some of us get a little twisted around going back and forth and we might head off in the wrong direction....
About half of the passengers are riding electric bikes. Ron and I opted for standard bikes.
The electric bikes have computers that track distance and speed. So do our bikes back home, but our tour bikes didn't which meant that Ron and I had no idea how far we had gone. We just kept peddling until finally we saw our ship. We made it! Not bad for a first day!
The ship is carrying about 120 cyclists, plus the crew. Almost all of the passengers are native German speakers. The English speakers consist of our group of eight (the Aussies, Kiwis, Kanucks, and Yankees) and a party of nine from Wisconsin (the Badgers). The crew attempted to give instructions and make announcements in both languages, but the crew were also native German speakers. The welcome toast lasted about ten minutes in German, with many outbursts of laughter; the English version was about 10 seconds: "Welcome aboard; breakfast will be at 7:30". This was GREAT for me, as I have been studying German for years and am still trying to become conversational. It was more difficult for those who didn't know any German, especially when the crew was trying to give us instructions about trail closures, ferry crossings, etc. Occasionally the English speakers on the ship would ask me for a translation. When I couldn't help, I would defer to Ron. He always had an interesting translation to offer. Unfortunately, Ron doesn't speak German...
Shortly after the group reached Untermühl in mid-afternoon, the ship departed. We traveled all night, for almost 14 hours, past Vienna, through all of Austria, until we reached the Austrian border around daybreak. At Austria's eastern border, the Danube enters Slovakia and passes through its capital city, Bratislava, where the ship stayed moored all day - we were free to explore!
Where were we, and who is our host country? Slovakia is a landlocked country in central Europe. It was part of Moravia until about the year 1000 when it became part of the Kingdom of Hungary. The city of Bratislava was a favorite residence of Hungarian royalty and was the coronation site and capital from the mid-1500s until the late 1700s. Eleven Hungarian kings and eight queens were crowned here. After World War 1, the country of Austria-Hungary was dissolved, and the state of Czechoslovakia was created. In the lead-up to World World II, local fascist parties gradually came to power, and the first Slovak Republic was established as a satellite state of Nazi Germany. The Slavs revolted against the Nazi occupation, and resistance continued until Czechoslovak independence was re-established at the end of World War II. After only three short years of democracy, the communist party was poised to suffer significant losses in the next election, and, on Stalin’s order, staged a coup in 1948 and seized power. The communists would brutally rule Czechoslovakia for the next four decades. The Slavs went from resisting Nazis to resisting communists. In an uprising in 1968 that would come to be known as the Prague Spring, a communist reformer was elected and mass protests against the communist regime erupted. by the end of the summer, the bordering Eastern Bloc, Soviet-led, countries of Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, and the USSR invaded, crushing the resistance. It would take another two decades to liberate Czechoslovakia, which finally peacefully happened in the Velvet Revolution of 1989. A few years later, on January 1, 1993, the Velvet Divorce dissolved the Republics of Czech and Slovakia, restoring each as independent states.
Today, Slovakia is making an incredible comeback. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Cycling through these bordering countries, the impact of the Nazi and Communist occupations is unmistakable. The Austrian towns and villages have thrived, while the Slovakian and Hungarian towns and villages have starved. Literally. That said, Slovakia's mostly mountainous terrain is beautiful, many of its towns and cities are being restored, and its people are incredibly warm and welcoming.
Some from our group headed into the capital city of Bratislava, to tour the imposing castle and pedestrian-only town center. Ron and I opted for a bike ride up to the remains of Castle Devin, just east of town, where the Morava River meets the Danube. As the name suggests, the Morava River originates in Moravia, near the border between Poland and the Czech Republic. It flows generally southward and forms the border between Slovakia and the Czech Republic, and then between Slovakia and Austria, before joining the Danube at Bratislava.
It was chilly and rainy when we left the ship, and the middle segment of the ride required leaving the bike path and riding a heavily traveled road. We joined forces with Patty and Larry (a couple of Badgers) for safety and headed out.
It was worth the effort. The castle was magnificent!
We continued past the castle, traveling up the Morava River, until we reached the “Fahrradbrücke der Freiheit”, the “Freedom Cycling Bridge” between Slovakia and Austria. The bicycles and pedestrians-only bridge, also known locally as the “Friendship Bridge,” opened in 2018 as a sign of friendship between these two countries. A few sections of the barbed wire that previously separated them have been allowed to remain, a reminder of the “wall” that for generations separated the Eastern Bloc Communists from the Free Westerners. We ate our packed lunch on the Austrian side of the bridge, then started back. About halfway across the bridge, we noticed a family of HUGE birds high in a nest. Two stork parents were feeding their hungry young, high over the river, oblivious to the manmade catastrophes that have raged below them.
Resistance. Perseverance. Survival. And just maybe, freedom.
Bike Talk:
Day 2 Engelhartszell to Untermühl – 22 miles (35 km)
Day 3 Bratislava Loop – 25 miles (40 km)
Bikes – 7-speed, caliper brakes, lights, panniers.