We are all back in one piece from Europe and after some reflection here’s a quick recap how it all went down. I include my perspective but adding some room here for Jake to correct the record from his perspective as we did straddle the invisible line between Type 2 and 3 fun several times. From my perspective, I’m happy to report that I tied the epic saga with the sassy Triumph and the score is 2-2 as I managed to stage a comeback from the early years’ beatings of mechanical issues and stupid drops that got us off on a rocky start with the ol’ British broad.
I’ve been looking forward to this trip and time was crawling at a painful pace as we were nearing our departure date. Unfortunately, Lukas had to abort the mission late in the game due to unexpected family obligations, would have been hysterical to add his take as well on some of the sketchy circumstances we encountered on our 2-week adventure. As life would have it, I got an extra dose of stress the day of flying out so I couldn’t wait to leave NYC behind and disconnect from responsibilities.
Day 0 – Car & Airplane – NY to Budapest
On Friday we got to the airport relatively uneventfully, checked in and threw a few brews back before splitting. Jake smartly got an upgrade for the long haul, while I got stuck listening to an oversharing self-centered lady from California covering her ancestry coming over on the Mayflower to her sour dough recipe before even getting on the flight. My only thoughts were that she better not sit near me and that I better have my headphones. She sat far enough from me on the plane to be out of earshot, my airpods though, still ping from JFK as of writing this…
We had a short layover in Paris that spiked stress levels again as Jake’s camera bag got pulled for special screening by a French outfit showing the organization level of a group 2–3-year-olds playing T-ball. There we were, starring at this bag for about half an hour from 10 feet away, while everything happened but said special screening. By the time we made it to our gate new were in the last few people boarding the last leg from Paris to Budapest.
Day 1 – Motorcycles & Train – Budapest (HU) to Vienna (AT) (https://maps.app.goo.gl/hc6kg4GSy9tSo48i8)
Saturday morning Zoli (my father) picked us up at the airport and we kicked off on our symbiotic multilingual mish-mash of conversation, Jake took it in stride as we blabbed away in Hungarian, broken English, English, pantomime, and everything else in between. Z was just as excited as we were. He went over the Triumph, and his new-to-him BMW R1200R multiple time to ensure his mechanical ego isn’t hurt and his stable performs well on this trip. He also used a bottle of his “just-in-case” whiskey from the trunk of his car to bribe the rental agency clerk to throw some fresh Bridgestones on Jake’s rental R1200GS while he was unloading his trailer at the rental place in the morning. We had a little passing rain while we were loading the bikes, it all cleared up by the time we got on the road after some last-minute gear headaches. We opted to get some mellow B-road miles in due to ongoing construction on the Autobahn between Budapest and the western border, and we also had plenty of time before we were due to load our bikes in Vienna on the overnight train.
We stopped for a filling Hungarian meal as I was not going to leave Hungary before I have a nice gulyas. We ended up eating too much and skipped dinner in Vienna before loading the bikes. I spent a fair bit researching the train, but I was still surprised how cool and smooth the operation was. Loading the bikes was probably the most awkward about the process, then after a short wait on the platform the rest of the train pulled in and connected to the car/moto wagons and we boarded and settled into our cabins that were tight but well thought out with a bathroom and shower that was welcome after almost 2 days of traveling.
Jake’s notes:
Thanks Szabi, for letting me chip in with my 2 cents. Unlike Szabi, I had a relatively uneventful Friday morning when we shoved off. He met me at my place in an Uber so we could roll to the airport together. I was a bit nervous to be away from my family and work for 2 whole weeks, but also super excited about the prospects of this adventure. Since Szabi and Zoli had done all of the planning, all I had to do was show up and ride. Can’t ask for a better trip than that.
Our Paris layover was a bit nerveracking with the security debacle that Szabi mentioned. But otherwise it was a pretty smooth ride to Hungary. I did not sleep at all on the flight, despite upgrading to the premium seating. Part of it was excitement, but also, I just can’t sleep on planes. When we picked up our bags and I met Szabi’s dad for the first time, I knew that I was getting into something good. While we wheeled the bags to the car, Szabi’s father explained to me in Hungo/English about how he bribed the rental guys to give me a fresh set of rubber on the bike. I was very appreciative. The gear headaches that Szabi mentioned amounted to the missing pinlock on my brand new Klim helmet (PS, I love the thing). It must have snapped off inside of the suitcase somewhere over the Atlantic. They aren’t the easy type that just pop in and out. Luckily, I had packed the clear visor just in case. So we thought, “easy; pull one of those pinlocks from the spare visor out and swap it…”. 3 guys, a multitool, a mallet and some super glue later, we were ready to roll. Adventure!!
Splitting lanes through traffic on the way out of town while half asleep on a bike I was riding for the first time felt like a bad video game. At least it was much more mellow than NYC traffic, and people actually move over for bikes. When we eventually pulled off on the outskirts of Budapest for our first real meal, I was pretty happy.
It’s always great to travel with locals, especially when it comes to dining. I was like, “Szabi, order me whatever you are getting.” Luckily I was starving, because first and second courses could have each been a solid standalone meal. Plus we downed side salads and a half loaf of bread to scoop up the ends. It was all damn delicious! For safety purposes, I started and ended the meal with double shots of espresso.
With my belly full delicious food and a quadruple boost of lovely European coffee, I was finally ready for some riding. After-lunch-miles entailed endless mellow sweepers through dreamy autumn fields of sunflowers capped off with some highway grind leading into Vienna. We rolled into town right as it was getting dark, with still plenty of time to load our bikes on the train. It took a couple of U-turns and consulting the map to actually find the spot where we would board the train, but we ultimately made it.
When we arrived, there was a small group of riders ahead of us from Poland. We talked to them for a few minutes and they laughed when we told them we were from NY. We gave them some CMC stickers and wished them a good ride. As Szabi Mentioned, loading the bikes was a bit sketchy especially for a tall guy. They loaded us on the lower level of a double decker car carrier car. I was so smoked from being awake for 50ish hours straight that I was elated when I reached my overnight quarters on the train. I took a mini shower drank the complimentary glass of champs and passed out.
