After an absolutely massive feed and a few drinks in what is essentially our private hotel, we bid good night to the assembled staff and let them all go home! We not entirely sure if everyone went home and they just locked us in for the night, but it was a quiet one - the electricity was also turned off around 10pm and back on at 8am the next day! It was fine by us - we were fast asleep, and thankfully woke to see a bit of blue sky and no waves on the lake.
The kitchen staff and a waiter were all enjoying a morning smoke in the dining room at the agreed breakfast time of 08:30. Espresso coffee and an omelette each was soon produced, and their work for the day was done.
Rested, feed and happy to be out in a much brighter and warmer day (8°C!), we got the bikes loaded.
We then peddled away from the quirky castle hotel…
We’ve seen loads of big birds on this trip and although you can barely see it (and it looks tiny in the photo), a big buzzard type thing flew alongside us at our level for quite a while which was pretty cool.
With the sun out and a historical village to visit, it felt much more like a ‘cycle touring day’ rather than just surviving between accommodations!
The fortress at the town of Bac was the first really old place we’ve seen. Parts of it seem to have been around since 500AD, but it got a bit of a roasting by the Turks in the 1700s and what was left, was what we got to have a walk around.
It didn’t look that sturdy in places anymore!
But the main tower does have a satellite dish installed outside the top window, which gave us a giggle.
The town of Bac (and fortress), is surrounded by rivers and canals, so you could only get there via a drawbridge. These days there is an actual bridge to cross, but the guard house is still standing.
In town, we stopped for a rest and I went into the supermarket to get some food where I was surprised to find someone I knew in the queue! It was our waiter from last night! He shook my hand vigorously and we had a laugh together, despite not speaking each other’s languages. Well fuelled, we carried on peddling to the next town. There were two churches, one of which was barley still standing, so we shared our cheese rolls on the steps of the newer looking one.
The temperature dropped again during the afternoon, but the clouds held onto their rain, so we were happy with that. After admiring the best building skills of the storks on the edge of a village, we sped away and clocked our fastest speeds yet at 32km/hour.
It felt good to have strong legs that could transport us along! For the final section of the day, we put it high-viz jackets on as there was an unavoidable section of main road to contend with.
On the higher ground of Croatia, on the far side of the Danube, we could see the ground was white and covered in snow! (If you zoom in on the photo below, you can just about make it out). No wonder it was feeling cold again!
We found the apartment in Backa Palanka, easily enough (despite phones not working for a while - a lady on the street found us an English speaking person, who happened to know the owner!). After getting the bikes and gear inside, we had a look around the town on foot.
We also went into a few shops to get food for dinner and also just to get a look into Serbian life. They are certainly into their ‘plastic’ products.
And the clothes shop was surprisingly bright, compared to most folk on the streets!
Pizza for dinner and somewhere to rest before the last big ride of the expedition to Serbia’s second city - Novi Sad tomorrow…
Total Ride: 45km
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