Despite the bizarre accommodation, that presumably, once was considered all rather grand, we did sleep well and woke feeling ready to ride. With nowhere to store our bikes, they added to the interior decoration last night. Brewed a mint tea, had a yogurt and got back out into the sunshine.
We clocked some quick and easy mileage right out of town along the top of the river dyke.
Perfect surface for riding, no junctions and very few people - a delight.
It was good to be following the river along it’s bank. After a while, we stopped for a picnic in the sun.
At one point, we passed little beach areas. We went down to the waters edge and a swim was very tempting. The big factories on the far back put us off through!
Our sights were soon set on our final destination and the huge bastilica in Esztergom was visible ahead of us with 20km still to go. We had to use the road for the final section, as it came closer into view.
Rather than cross over the long bridge, we stayed in the Slovakian side as we were both hot and tired.
More hilarity came when we eventually located our room for the night. The hotel was padlocked shut and a handwritten sign translated as ‘closed’. It didn’t look like anyone had stayed there in a while!
We retreated to the shade of a cafe across the
street and weighed up our options. There were only a few places to stay in this town and apparently, this was the best of the bunch!
After a very nice coffee and ginger ale, we managed to get a text to and from the owner, who appeared and let us in, explaining that it was Easter and everyone was on holiday. Once inside, it was actually ‘ok’ and we were relieved to be out of the sun and with somewhere to stay. After a freshen up we went to check out the nearby spa and waterpark.
It was enormous and would have accommodated many thousands of visitors had there been any water in he pools! Ah, well....
There was at least a cafe serving food and beer that was cheaper than water, so all’s well that ends well on the tour...
Day 5: 53.4km
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