sunt un pic preocupat de cainii din Romania

The weather has improved and it seems that the next days will be friendly. I have not seen a weather report, but this is my feeling. Today was a day of very strong head-winds and I made very little forward progress. I also managed to lose the trail at one point and rode a half-dozen kilometers in the wrong direction. This mistake did however allow me to cross paths with a German man on his way back from Constanza. He told of his unpleasant experience in Romania, mostly being repeatedly attacked by wild dogs. I can easily imagine the situation. Having worked in that area for years, I have also had my rabid-Dacian-dog experiences. When one is on foot though, they are apparently not as aggressive as they are toward cyclists. He had a device on his bike that emits high frequency sound waves and also, when entering every town, held the pepper spray at the ready in his right hand and was thus able to continue riding while half-turning to fire the spray behind him. With both these countermeasures he was able to make it through that already treacherous-enough area of the world without being bitten, though on one occasion the dogs did manage to take a bite out of one of his rear panniers. I should add that he is a Siebenbürgen Deutscher and not some dandy from Düsseldorf or Eppendorf, so if he says it was bad then one should take heed. As an an old-hand at the pitfalls of that very confused and very challenging country I have nothing to prove in that regard and if it should be avoided, then there is no loss of pride. In the next days I will consider alternatives to the Donau route through Romania. These include riding through Bulgaria or taking the northern route through Maramures, Siebenbürgen and Moldavia into the Republic of Moldavia and then into the Ukraine. There is time enough to consider these options. I still have about 700 kms to go just to reach Novy Sat.

I slept again in my tent on a wonderful farm just beside a tree full of ripe apricots. Dinner was again Spätzle, green beens, salad and of course apricots. Slept like a stone and woke early and was on the road by 7.30. After 4 kms arrived at the wonderful town of Melk. Underway I came across a large grave and memorial to 300 Russian prisoner-of-war who died in 1805 when the place in which they were being held caught fire and they were captured inside. They had been taken prisoner by the French at the battle of Austerlitz.

In Melk I sat in a café for an hour, washed of course, and wrote some of this blog. Later I met a crazy Frenchman from Riems who walked with two donkeys from Riems to the Polish-Ukrainian border. He was not permitted to enter the Ukraine with his donkeys so turned back and is now on his way home. He was not all there (manca un venerdì, come si dice in italiano) and he did not want to talk very much. Interesting nonetheless.

In Melk I had the first feelings that the trip was going to soon become more interesting. In Switzerland, Germany and Austria all is completely calm, organized, controlled. Once in the East, many things would become more challenging and interesting. As I am informed, the trail is not nearly as well marked, I don’t speak any Hungarian or Serbo-Croatian though can decipher some of the language in its written form from my very limited Russian. I do believe that communication will be possible using a mix of German, Russian, English and Romanian, but it won’t be the same as I probably won’t be as easily welcomed in the East. We will see. On the other hand, there are advantages: Pilsner Urquell in Slovakia, Silva Black in Romania and the various new piwos I am sure to taste in Serbia and Croatia.  

After Melk I continued on the bike. After a few kilometers I stopped on the bike route to take a photo of Schloss Schönbühel and started talking with Helmut, who is a perma-camper in nice camp site overlooking the Donau and the Schloss. He offered me a beer and we sat and talked while watching the ships pass on the river. It was a magnificent spot and I could have sat there with him all day, but on Thursday I should arrive in Pressburg (Bratislava) and since there is still a long stretch ahead and I want to make Thursday a half-rest day, I rode on.  




About 20.00 the wind was picking up and I was worried about a storm. In order to find a farm I left the river and road inland about 2 kms. Looking around a small village I saw nobody but did hear a motor running in the distance and thought that surely I would find a person there. I interrupted the farmer while working on his tractor and asked about sleeping in the barn in order to be out of the rain. He did not say yes or no but started talking about the weather. Then I proposed that if he did not want me in the barn I could put my tent somewhere protected outside. Again he did not say yes or no but brought up something else. Either he was one or could have made a good politician. I did not know what was going on. 

Anyway, he invited me into the Hof and offered me a drink of homemade wine. Could not say no to that, though I still did not know if after the wine I would have to ride off to find another place to sleep. Nonetheless, when on the road one takes it all one step at a time. Wine now and then think later about accommodation. Then his wife came and I was offered dinner and more wine. We had a nice time and nice talk and then they gave me a room inside the Hof that is used for large festivals. The house is set up in a rectangle with living quarters, working area and barn all along the outsides of the rectangle. Once inside it is like a little castle, completely closed to outside invaders. It felt like the Austrian version of what I imagine an 18^th century Spanish hacienda in Mexico was like. 

We retired early and woke before 6 for breakfast of home-made preserves and strong coffee and I was on the road by 7. It was a great stay and knowing that Karl and Elisabeth are following the blog: “Vielen Dank für die Gastfreundschaft, es hat mir bei Euch sehr gefallen.”