Koszeg, Hungary to Sopron, Hungary (Sept. 9, 2022)

September 9, 2022

We woke feeling good, ate breakfast and left by 10:30 am. We had a 60 k day to Sopron where I had booked into a converted Carmelite Monastery for two nights. Right outside of town we hit the unsuitable-for-riding uphill unpaved goat track. Ughh, I am going to write a letter to Eurovelo. Dave thought today’s stretch was worse than yesterday (except at least this time I had a full battery!) We struggled through and then we we're able to ride on delightful small roads and spent the day weaving in and out of Austria’s Burgenland, full of vineyards with grapes ready to be harvested. It was an enjoyable, magical ride.

But once we crossed back into Austria, the roads and scenery improved.

The vines were heavy with this year's growth and ready for harvest.

Gearing up for harvest and Octoberfest in Neckenmarkt, Austria.

When we reached what should have been the end point, we struggled in an attempt to locate the former Carmelite nunnery. It was billed as 4 star digs so when Komoot took us down a rough rocky goat track for the last kilometer and we passed a mystical old cemetery full of soldiers’ falling down graves, we were pretty bemused. (Dave here: When we got to the single track path, Jill wanted to reroute us around in hopes of staying on reasonable pavement. I, on the other had, insisted we stick to the original route, fearing a deviation at this point would be way out of our way. I leave it to the reader to guess as to whose idea was better --sigh.🙄)

We passed a high stone wall and a huge church and then a delapidated boarded-up building and Komoot is squawking loudly “You are here.” We are falling off our bikes laughing because we so clearly are not there. Dave is positive I just messed up the address (Dave: See above mea culpa-a sad and recurring theme, I'm afraid), so we check our booking site for the address, and google maps and Komoot and — yep, we are here. We go back to the church which has no signage or any indication of welcome, walk around the whole church, finally approach a huge door and open it tentatively and voila, we have the Sopron Monastery Hotel! I’ll tell you more about the hotel tomorrow!

Today's ride: 60 km (37 miles)
Total: 1,160 km (720 miles)

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