Modern art on the Danube

We had left our bikes locked in the courtyard thinking they were secure. Unfortunately, someone rifled through our top bags and repair kits and helped themselves to things of interest.  They took the repair kit off G’s hire bike, and the first aid kit from Si’s bike, as well as some tools in his top tube bag.  Nothing was removed from my bike – the toilet paper stored in the top tube bag apparently not of interest.

Given the relatively low value of the goods taken, we opted not to report the incident to the police.  I did let our Airbnb host know how disappointed I was that this had occurred given his assurances that the bikes would be safe locked in the courtyard.  He kindly offered to refund the cost of our losses, which was very nice of him. 

It delayed our departure a little, whilst we worked out whether we had all the bare essentials to continue with our ride. We decided that between us we had all we needed, so we headed off in search of a bakery before making our way out of Bratislava across the Stary Most Bridge with its sensational views back to the old town, castle and UFO observation deck. 

We were soon in open farmland with wheat now harvested, and followed a dedicated bike path to the Danubiana Meulensteen Art Museum, a 4km detour.  The museum was founded by the Dutch collector Gerard Meulensteen and many of paintings owned by him are on display in the museum. 

Located on a promontory jutting into the Danube, the museum is housed in a building shaped like a Roman galley ship.  Large windows overlooked the Danube, with beautiful views as well as interesting art.  We took our time wandering through the different rooms and exhibitions before stopping for a coffee.  We then explored the surrounding gardens which were full of striking sculptures.

With a long ride ahead of us, we couldn’t linger too long and were soon back on the bikes and crossing the border into Hungary – or so we assumed, when the language changed on the signs as there was no border sign.  We passed through Mosonmagyarovar with its sculpture of a man and his dog in front of the town castle. 

We stopped for lunch under a shady tree on a river in Halaszi watching the locals play in the water. It was a long, flat afternoon’s ride into Györ, with the highlight being some fields of sunflowers in full bloom. After crossing the bridge over the Danube we detoured via a supermarket and checked into our accommodation, relieved to find that the air conditioning was running and the apartment was nice and cool.

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