A brisk following wind whisked us around the medieval walls of Hainburg and out into the countryside where yet more fields of dessicating sweetcorn nodded despairingly in the breeze. Despite the fact that we must have now cycled through thousands of square miles of sweetcorn fields we all noted that we have yet to see any sweetcorn on any menu in Germany, Austria or now Slovakia. I don’t know what happens to it all but it must end up somewhere possibly Tescos (other supermarkets are available). In fact the hotel we stayed in in Hainburg advertised the fact that it had an outdoor pool buts sadly it had somewhat grown over and was a pea soup green colour. If you had taken a dip you would probably come out looking like the Green Giant from the sweetcorn ads!!
The excitement grew as we approached the Austria/Slovakia border a few miles down the road. The thrill of passing into a former communist country was somewhat dissipated as there was no big fat line across the cycle track to confirm where the border actually was. To be fair however, there were some Polizei in scrappy huts checking a few cars on the main road but for us international cyclists not a sausage. What we did notice was that the smooth perfect Austrian asphalt that we had experienced to date on the cycle route gave way on the Slovakian side to slightly more pitted concrete with joints. Slightly more uncomfortable for the already saddle sore cyclists. Was this a sign of the things to come. Either way it was better than most roads in Scotland – the pothole capital of Europe. 500m inside Slovakia we came across a WW II concrete infantry bunker BS4 built in 1937 as part of the Czechoslovak defensive fortification system.
We swept on down towards the centre of Bratislava and crossed from the south to the north bank of the Danube over another lattice steel girder bridge much favoured in this part of the world.
We were in the city by lunchtime with all afternoon and evening to indulge in full-on tourist stuff. Churches, castles, palaces, gardens, cafes, ice cream parlours, geegaw gifty shops etc. We arrived in time in front of the Grassalkovich Palace to see the goose-stepping changing of the guards whose job it is to protect the current President from marauding Scottish tourists.
Some memorable bronze sculptures were noted on our afternoon of tourist delights.
Bratislava is a cornucopia of delights and I recommend everyone to visit.
Velodyssee 