October 8, 2021
To Graz
Train travel in Croatia may not be easy
Both cell phone alarms went off at 05.30 as planned. We were anxious to get going this morning. Train travel has a way of doing that. It is dark and still showery outside. We had a short ride to the train station but we needed to fold up the bikes and arrange for their storage on the bus.
We arrived at the station with lots of time and efficiently prepared our bikes and panniers. We were waiting under cover outside the terminal to see where the bus would arrive and one did show up about 100 metres down the access road. Scott ran over to it and determined that it was the one for Graz. There was a second bus that will connect with a train going toward Frankfurt so we make sure to board the right one! We gathered our things in the dark of the morning and hustled to the bus. We took a seat near the back as there were a number of passengers already loaded in the front.
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The bus left at exactly on time at exactly 06.45. Many of the roads had huge pools of water and we watched the bus wheels send huge waves of water onto the sidewalks as we rolled through the outskirts of Zagreb and then onto a highway. Cyclists and pedestrians did not stand a chance of staying dry with the deluge that would have hit them! Our bus ride took about 45 minutes to reach the train station where we unloaded. We again gathered up our bikes and bags and moved them onto an old train car where we pushed all our belongings inside one of the available six passenger compartments. We were advised that this train would take us to the Croatian - Slovenian border where there would be a passport check. Once cleared, we would need to get off the train and load onto another train for our trip to Graz. This is a bit disappointing, as moving our bags on and off buses and trains and their narrow access way was not easy.
The Slovenian passport control is required as Croatia is yet to become a full member of the EU. Many policia entered the train at the border and methodically checked each cabin. Slovenia controls entry into the EU but has no concern for checks on vaccination status. When cleared, we gathered up our stuff and transferred it to a another train just across the platform and again into a six person booth taking up all available space. Space does not seem to be an issue as the train is mostly empty. Our next stop was the border with Austria and they were totally concerned with vaccination checks! The police again entered the train along with another official who checked our vaccination cards. All was good and we carried on to Graz.
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We arrive in Graz under heavy overcast skies but the rain was gone. It was still before noon but we have organized an early check-in, so we rode through the streets of Graz on route to our hotel. Scott stopped at a couple of the many bike stores and asked about a tire tube, but no luck yet. However, we did manage to find one later in the afternoon. Graz is a cycling city. Cyclist are everywhere and the cycling infrastructure is very good.
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We located our hotel and unloaded our panniers before getting back on the bikes and heading into the old town of Graz. It really is a spectacular old city and cycling around it allowed us to cover the key sites easily.
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Tomorrow it will be nice to be back on our bikes and riding to Feldbach as we begin to work our way back up north toward Vienna and connect to the eurovelo 9.
Today's ride: 15 km (9 miles)
Total: 825 km (512 miles)
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