Events narrated in this story happened on Friday the 30th of August, 2019. We started the kayak journey beyond Budapest. Originally, we planned to stop in Budapest, but we felt like we could paddle a bit further. The small village of Ercsi was our first stop after Budapest. One Week in Budapest Our stay in Budapest was nice, but I didn’t accomplish as much as I’d hoped. We did a small bit of sightseeing, despite the lack of considerations for pedestrians in their urban planning. Jonas did some maintenance tasks like changing his laptop battery at an Apple repair shop.Continue reading
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Kayak Trip Day 42: Dunabogdány to Budapest – The Finish Line
Events from this article happened on Friday the 23rd of August, 2019. We paddled the Danube between Dunabogdány and Budapest in Hungary. Budapest was the original goal of this kayak trip, so it was a big moment for us. The idea was to paddle from Budapest to the Black Sea in 2021 again. Then we decided we could paddle a few hundred kilometers further. Anyway, the total distance of day 42 finally exceeded our previous record of 36.0 kilometers, which makes it the longest paddle day as of yet. Dunabogdány – Our Last Stop before Budapest We stayed in DunabogdányContinue reading
Kayak Trip Day 40: Kúpele Patince to Štúrovo
The events in this story happened on Monday the 19th of August, 2019. We paddled from a Slovakian resort town called Kúpele Patince to Štúrovo, also in Slovakia. This stretch of the Danube river forms the border between Slovakia and Hungary. Across the bridge in Štúrovo is the (more famous) Hungarian town of Esztergom. This was a distance of about 33 kilometers. Our Stay in Kúpele Patince As you may know from my previous post, we didn’t stay in Kúpele Patince by choice. We wanted to stay in a town called Moča, but Booking canceled our reservation there. The ownerContinue reading
Kayak Trip Day 35: Bratislava to the Čunovo Dam
Events in this story happened on Friday the 9th of August, 2019. We paddled our inflatable kayak from Bratislava to the Čunovo Dam in Slovakia. That’s a distance of 17.3 kilometers. At the Čunovo Dam, there’s a water sports center for whitewater canoeing/kayaking. Little did we know that on that day, there would be a sporting event organized by the International Canoe Federation (ICF). Our Stay in Bratislava We stayed in Bratislava for one week. Bratislava was our first stop across the historic West-East division of Europe. Finally, we’re in Eastern Europe! As with Austria, this was Jonas’ first time inContinue reading
Kayak Trip Day 34: Haslau to Bratislava – Austria to Slovakia
Events described… happened on August 2nd, 2019. We paddled down the Danube river from Haslau an der Donau in Austria to Bratislava, the capital city of Slovakia. This is the third country we’re paddling in on our long-distance kayak trip. Unfortunately, when editing the videos for this post and the previous one (Day 32), I accidentally deleted all of them from the tiny camera’s SD card. Yes, we’ve tried every recovery program in the world. Yes, I am angry with myself. So all the videos (if any) for this post come from my phone camera. Our Stay in Haslau WeContinue reading
Kayak Trip Day 33: Vienna to Haslau – Birthday on the Danube
Events in this story happened Wednesday the 31st of July, 2019 – a.k.a. my birthday. We paddled our adorable yet fierce inflatable canoe named Zucchini from Vienna (Wien) to Haslau on the Danube river. Vienna is the capital city of Austria and Haslau is a village en route to the Austro-Slovakian border and Bratislava. This is how I spent my 28th birthday. Unfortunately, when editing the videos for this post and the next one (Day 34), I accidentally deleted all of them from the tiny camera’s SD card. Yes, we’ve tried every recovery program in the world. Yes, I amContinue reading
Kayak Trip Day 32: Langenlebarn to Vienna
Events in this article happened on Wednesday the 24th of July, 2019. We paddled our sturdy inflatable boat Zucchini from Langenlebarn in Lower Austria to Vienna, the capital city of Austria. Vienna is also the first capital city along the Danube river. Contents1 Between Langenlebarn and Tulln2 The Coffee Fiasco3 Leaving Langenlebarn for Vienna4 The Beavers5 Arriving at Greifenstein Dam6 Portaging Zucchini7 The Oxbow Lake8 The Second Portage and Compliments9 The Return of The Current10 The Speedbumps, The Ghost Ship, and The Ferry11 A Brief History of the Danube in Vienna12 The Final Stretch to the Donaukanal13 Arriving at Our Airbnb14Continue reading
Kayak Trip Day 31: Zwentendorf to Langenlebarn
Events chronicled in this story happened on Monday the 22nd of July, 2019. We paddled our inflatable canoe from a village called Zwentendorf to another village called Langenlebarn in Austria. That was a relatively short distance of 15.6 kilometers. Our Stay in Zwentendorf Airbnb was very nice. Our host had told us the story of “the world’s safest nuclear power plant”, which has Zwentendorf as its home. We walked there on our off-day after work to learn about it. The nuclear power plant never got turned on, hence the safety. It’s also being used nowadays to train nuclear power plantContinue reading
Kayak Trip Day 30: Stein to Zwentendorf
Events of this story occurred on Saturday the 20th of July, 2019. We paddled our inflatable kayak Zucchini from Stein an der Donau (near Krems) to Zwentendof an der Donau, both in Lower Austria. That turned out to be a distance of 29.1 kilometers on the Danube river. Leaving Stein an der Donau for Zwentendorf We only stayed in Stein an der Donau for one night. None of the accommodations near the river had more than one night available. With this reality, we decided to just hurry up with our paddling progress. So today, we paddled from Stein to Zwentendorf.Continue reading