10 sheep - border - disorientation

Tuesday, 14.8.2018

Route: Danube Cycle Path 4 (Mohacs - Osijek)

kilometers traveled: 81

Highlight of the day: the bicycle repair, the two nice Croatians and the police officer, the restaurant

Actually, we wanted to start early today - we already had breakfast at 6:30. It was a buffet with everything your heart desires and at such an early hour we were the only ones. We packed a little something. When we pushed our bikes to the back garden gate, I noticed that I had a flat tire. We had no idea if I had a hole in my tire or if something was wrong with the valve or what was going on. So Julius pumped up the tire first. By the time we got to the bike shop, it was flat again. But we were already at the shop, which was already open, and the nice salesman from yesterday took about 20 minutes to fix the hole. He demanded a whopping 2€ for it. We gave him 5.

Then we started cycling at quarter to 8. We left Mohacs towards Croatia. There was a border check. We parked our cars in the line and our passports were scanned. It was slow progress. The biggest difference between Hungary and Croatia is the infrastructure: the houses are quite nice in Hungary, in Croatia it's really all old junk. On the other hand, the roads in Croatia are fantastic! We made good progress, always following the Eurovelo6 signs. At some point, we apparently rode on a bypass, we really had no idea where we were. But there were 2 men and we asked them. They laughed at us first, when we said in English that we didn't know where we were. But then they helped us and just as we were about to say goodbye, a police officer in a car appeared on the bike path and asked if we needed help. He explained the way to us with gestures before we finally continued. Then we went steeply up a vineyard. The effort was worth it - it went smoothly. Later there was another longer ascent (about 5%) with headwind, but we still had 20km/h. there were also 2 women cycling in front of us, about 50-60 years old. We would meet them again more often. The route was beautiful. There was a rock on the side of the road, covered in wild vegetation. Since we reached the top, we went up and down through villages. They weren't as nice as in Hungary, not even in terms of gardens and green spaces. But you could tell that a lot was happening here in terms of development. Somewhere on a vineyard, we had our lunch break, it was really relaxed. We played quiz duel again.

Then we continued, not for long anymore, and we were already in Osijek. The old town is somehow like a city outside of the city. There is, for example, a huge old commercial building with straw figures in front of it. And the entire old town has cobblestone pavement. We found our hotel immediately, it was part of a bar. Unfortunately, there was no reception and communication with the owner or whatever was not optimal. Apparently, we couldn't check in right away, but should wait in the bar. We did that, had a drink and hoped that someone would come to get us. After 1 ½ hours, we went back upstairs - apparently we had been forgotten. Well. But now we could move into our room and it was great. Brand new, with a TV (which wasn't working yet) and box spring beds. And a rain shower. When we wanted to go out after showering, it suddenly started to rain heavily. That was really good for nature.

We made ourselves comfortable in the room and then went to eat in a very cool restaurant. It was very old, but top furnished, it had something of a patrician house and the waiter was wearing slippers. There was a huge selection and we ordered a mixed grill. Just like in Hungary, there's a lot of meat here. As a little appetizer, the waiter brought us bread with 2 spreads and 2 peppers - one spicy, the other not. Julius tried the spicy one and found it intense. I didn't try it. The rest was really delicious! There were beans and rice and potatoes and dip as side dishes. The tables in the restaurant were old sewing machines, on the walls there were ancient photos, stuffed animals, and much more. It was great. We saw very little of Osijek.