day 14 - Gyor

Day 14
July 16th

Yes, we very much deserve lazy days at this point, and that was precisely what we got. After switching campsites, we were treated to a nice city tour, courtesy of our new friend Gabor. The weather was great for doing something other than ride for hours on the road, and we made the best of it. All the serious business was taken care of before - or not.

In the evening, we were joined by two more participants: Aka and Matus, from the Czech Republic and Slovakia, respectively. Two more bikes on the road, two more voices to be heard, two more backpacks that have to fit in Boris. But that's tomorrow's puzzle for Tiago to solve.

day 13 - Komarom to Gyor

Day 13
July 15th

With the whole group on their bikes again, we had our specialty breakfast: supermarket parking lot style! We headed west to Gyor, facing heavy wind, and eventually made our way through the city, then out again to find our camping site for the night. We set up camp quickly, as we were scheduled for a workshop at the local university.

Our local organizer, Diana, put together a meeting for the group, with the presence of two very active individuals in the community. We shared our travel experiences so far, looked at some creepy photos (the ones we're not publishing here) and began the serious part of the conversation.

Attila, from the Youth Service, told us about the mobility offer for youngsters through the Youth in Action program. We took time to discuss how the eurodesk works, both in Hungary and elsewhere, and this set the mood for the next hour or so.

We were then introduced to the works of the local ESN section, learned about the university and their activities, and moved to our first real brainstorm about Student Mobility. Sometimes it's easy to forget why we're out on the road, but we finally managed to get everyone around the table to reflect and share their thoughts and views on all the problems we're denouncing and trying to get fixed.

There is much more to every person here than the funny stories we tell and the funnier we don't. Everyone here has a story to tell and the will to make a change. We're very thankful to Diana for putting this together, and hope this will be the first of many opportunities for us to lay out all our cards on the table.

Switching to bright side of life, we went for dinner by the river side, had a couple of drinks and turned in early. The last bus allow for no more, although we found out we could actually camp by the river, next to the city center. Winner deal, scheduled for after lunch.

Stage C completed, a dozen more to go.

day 12 - Esztergom to Komarom

Day 12
July 14th

As we took off from Esztergom, we immediately encountered our first misfortune of the day: Sasha had a flat. The group waited, while Boris rushed to leave Andi at the trainstation and Mario rushed to cross the Slovak border and drink some Kofola.

Then we found out we have much to improve on the stopping signs within the group. Nina was the main casualty, but fortunately the asphalt broke her fall. Since we couldn't find a store selling replacement knees, she was all patched up and Boris came back for the transport.

The group had split in three: some took the direct road, some went up and down the hills and Mario drank half the Kofola available in Komarno. We all met at our shelter for the night, a gym in a school on the Hungarian side (the magic formula), where we were met by the vice-mayor. We took a little while to shoot some hoops and ended up delaying an aerobics class, much to the boys' liking. Off to Komarno for dinner, a long streak of inappropriate jokes and finally a storm, to make the way back much more challenging.

We continue to enjoy the local hospitality, but we're eager to meet more people in high places to express the purpose of this whole ride, which is not just interrupting someone's tennis match. There's a part for the legs and a part for the brains. Looking forward for the next days.

day 11 - Budapest to Esztergom

Day 11
July 13th

Andi and Julian left the dormitory incredibly early to film some more. Our cameraman, film director and random individual is worn out, and we can all sympathize with that. The man earned himself a ride with Boris.

On our departure from Budapest, we said the first goodbyes. Sanja went back to Serbia with her family, and now we're missing someone to remind us we need to hit the road. "Let's go, people!" became a calling we all got used to. Sanja will be missed...

Off to Esztergom, along the river, bit of a long distance again, but not many unexpected events. We had a nice stop in Visegard, had some watermelon by the river, reloaded and hit the road again. As we hit the roads we actually know, things run much smoother.

We gathered in Esztergom in front of the Bazilika, a very impressive monument (the tallest in Hungary, according to some research by our TechGuy), where we were supposed to meet a TV crew. Their van was there, but the actual crew was a no show. Normally, that would be a problem, but we have bigger concerns, most of the time. On the positive side, our group grew once more: Christian met us, after making his way to Esztergom from Vienna, by bike.

We stayed at a nice dormitory in that very square, had some nice pasta bolognese and enjoyed the evening looking across the Danube to Sturovo, on the Slovak side. This quiet night ended when Niki and Tiago spotted some more backyard wildlife. We're looking forward to seeing some bears, soon.