Day 7
This was to be our last day in Romania as we travelled west towards the border town or Oradea. The first few miles were on main roads filled with trucks before we headed onto more scenic roads.
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It was an interesting route but I failed to take many photos so you’ll have to make do with this.
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By late afternoon we arrived in Oradea and stayed at the Hotel Gala which was pleasant enough and had secure parking. We ate few streets away at another Italian restaurant, number 23 or something like that. The food was great though so worth a visit.
https://flic.kr/p/VrwJHW
Day 8
After breakfast, we headed out of Romania and back through border control into Hungary. Immediately we noticed how much better the standard of driving is there. No more tailgating. We were heading to Budapest where we’d spend our last night of the trip before getting the train back to Dusseldorf.
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We took a scenic route for most of the day. Largely main roads but through wide open farmland. There were more sunflower fields too and more villages with more...
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I don’t have a thing for churches you understand. I’m not even religious, but they are interesting such is their diversity of design and materials.
And in the middle of nowhere...
We stopped for elevenses and then realised that it was actually tenses due to having crossed the border. Whatever the time, it was time for cake
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I have to admit, I love some of these old eastern bloc cars, especially these...
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A little further along the road, I came up behind another one and noticed something strapped to the back. As I grew closer I realised what it was...
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I took this whilst on the move and tried not to drop my camera. Then I remembered that Sid had a GoPro on his bike so beckoned him to overtake and film this. What I forgot in that moment was that he had turned veggie and so probably didn’t really appreciate this very much. You gotta laugh!
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After a while, we hit the more rural roads.
https://flic.kr/p/Ww6zcF
Andrew and Sid missed a turning and headed off piste. I decided to ride alone for a while but after a couple of miles came upon a British biker parked up at the road side so I stopped to say hello. Pipper was making her first solo trip on a Versys 350, (not sure about the size). We had a little chat, got each other to take some photos and then I headed off again. She was the one who told me about the guy not wearing his lid when boarding the motorail. Slice, blood everywhere. Ouch!
https://flic.kr/p/W8sdom
A few miles on, just around the corner were some horses, grazing. I slowed as I approached and suddenly a dog shot out of nowhere and charged towards me barking! I swung my size 12 boot towards his head but luckily, for us both no doubt, I missed and he gave up. F’in dogs.
https://flic.kr/p/WHJVBc
We arrived in Budapest at different times but only twenty minutes apart. We were booked into the Centrum Ibis. I like Ibis hotel. Nothing fancy, no character I know but you know what you’re gonna get and sometimes that’s enough. I’d herd that Budapest had become a popular stag and hen party destination and as I pulled up outside, the first thing I heard was, ‘ f’in this, f’in that, b***tad this, t*at that’. Excellent! Our national representatives are here already. And no, that wasn’t Andrew and Sid.
Having showered, we went for wander.
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Budapest is a beautiful city and despite the p*ssheads, is definitely worth a long weekend visit. To be fair they were the only ones we saw, or heard.
https://flic.kr/p/W8sddG
We walked down to the river, a couple of blocks away, bought a strudel from the indoor market, had a beer in a cafe then headed back towards the hotel for dinner. The street the Ibis is on has loads of restaurants so finding somewhere isn’t tricky.
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This was just my starter!
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I had pork knuckle for a main and returned to the hotel well and truly stuffed!