swimming under the slovak sun: velky biel and more...

a treat: a transcribed page from my journal. word for word. minus the delicious penmanship.


swimming under the slovak sun: velky biel

nothing has happened int he last few days which hasn't been magical in at least some small capacity. our last days in Austria were spent under the most gracious roof of Mr. Wolfgang, under the supervision of one extremely enthusiastic, Daniel, of the Vienna Green Party. Austria, like many of the approaching countries which I have never really taken the time out of my day to think about (properly), has exceeded any expectations I didn't have. The friendliness, enthusiasm and generosity of strangers and new friends, the rich coating of a country whose history is so varied, and which has propelled itself to a city of romance and wild character, and the general air of delite which austria captures so well in its gorgeous landscape.

more to come on adventures in Austria at a later date. (**see below you lucky ducks!)

Goodbyes to Austria were handled with great class as sabrina, joanna, and i soaked up the white grape culture under a roof of vines and leaves in a 19th century farmhouse halfway through our ride to the border. Slovakia and its sunflowers awaited us, but our e.t.a. was not for another 3 hours , and i had a slight mission in mind.

Chris and Johanne, of sonneleiten farm in dear old metchosin, which i talk about way too often for anyones liking, had told me about the magical time of year when Austrian farmers open the barn doors to the public and signify their welcome by placing a broom on the door. The idea is you come in, enjoy their place, and drink great wine at cheap prices so they can liquidate for the new harvest season.

Realizing there were only mere hours to be spent in A-land, we set out to find such a miraculous place the Perger in Heinburg did the trick just fine. Three content girls with bratwurst, parmesan and olives... the owner gave us a bottle for the road, thinking we might need to chill once in a while along a 4000km ride. danka!

Our first sight of Bratislava came on the crest of a sea of sunflowers and forgive me if it sounds romanticized because over the last few days its been difficult to not see the beauty in everything around. Especially after experiencing the hospitality of our hosts in Velky Biel. (2okms outside of bratislava).

Velky Biel is 25kms outside of Bratislava, where we met at the National Theatre and were escorted the extra 25k by a man on a bike whose name I never learned.

We don't often get the chance to ride en masse, twenty as one, except for the times when an enthusiastic character decides we need to be excorted in or out of town. Bt we love it. The video function of all our cameras is turned on as we marvel at the ridiculous lime and tangerine coloured parage which is us. Arms flailing, impromptu songs being sun, slower riders being able to ride with faster riders as the pressure is taken off and we are all in the "resonably moderately paced" pod. The extra 25k away from beautiful bratislava is worth it though, as we arrive at the gates to our hosts house to a banner that reads "Welcome Global Agents for Change" and in small print it tells you that we are cycling from Amsterdam to Bratislava to Istanbul - which is almost exactly on par with how I envisioned the trip going down in my mind.


... unfortunately this is where my pen died, so now i have to think back to our day in slovakia, and will give you a brief description because i am actually in budapest currently, and its a crime to be inside on a computer. isn't it???

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basically these hosts let us stay inside because of an approaching shower, cooked us 2 dinners, and a two desserts, took us swimming at the local lake, cooked us breakfast, encouraged us to dance all night long, sang us slovakian guitar acoustic songs in their outdoor barn shed thing with an open fire that sizzled sausages at 1am and later. it was fabulous.

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and as i mentioned, we are in hungary. and i must go. to see my brother and maybe get something pierced within the next hour!

tchuss lovers and friends.