Mel & Trinity

I flew to Wroclaw, Poland on Friday (13 July) to collect Trinity to start our three week Eastern Europe motorcycle tour. I had intended to leave on Saturday morning but I was too tired after a very heavy working week and I still had things to finish off so I ended up leaving at Sunday lunchtime. This put me a day behind schedule but I knew I could make that up on the road.

I had planned big rides for the first two days. I absolutely loved Slovenia the last time I visited it, so I was really keen to spend as much time there and in Croatia as possible. I wasn’t really expecting much from the ride down to Slovenia, mostly because motorway are not exciting, so I was very pleasantly surprised by the gorgeous ride it turned out to be. 

There were a few things that were very special about the ride. Firstly, the weather was amazing – glorious sunshine and a temperature of 28 degrees Celsius. Secondly, the roads were beautiful the whole way. To be fair, I did chose smaller more scenic roads between Wroclaw and Brno and I’m so glad I did. Finally, the roads were full of fellow, friendly motorcyclists. I was greeting (what felt like) riders every few minutes. It was awesome! I also got chatting to a couple on a Triumph Tiger at a petrol (gas) station. They were on their way back to Wroclaw after a week in Austria. They were really lovely and even advised on which hotdog to order (my food choices were limited at this stop). 

I was slightly blown away by the Czech Republic; maybe that’s because I didn’t have high expectations (my bad). Like Poland, their infrastructure is fantastic and the countryside absolutely beautiful! I’ve included a few photos of the ride below, although sadly none catch the lovely countryside. For photos on the places that I post about, please visit my Mel & Trinity Facebook page (for some reason the Instagram photos won’t embed in this post).

I arrived in Brno around 7pm. I decided to stay in a hotel which was 3.5km outside of town, thinking that Trinity would be safer with off-street parking. I was expecting to be tired so thought this was a good decision. Of course, when I arrived at the hotel (Hotel Santander) I was full of beans and wanted to see the town. I didn’t have any Czech Korana so the hotel booked me a taxi that would accept cards. They were so lovely (and the room was fantastic)!

Brno town centre is gorgeous and essential enclosed by a ring road. Given the limited scale it was easy to walk around the town centre in a couple of hours before settling down for dinner – rump steak in red wine sauce..YUM!

At breakfast I was amused when I heard a lot of British accents. I started chatting to one of the tables (they had the cutest puppy with them) and it turned out they were all together. A few of the guys also rode motorcycles and they were looking at the shirt I was wearing. It’s a motocross shirt with a big letter M on the front within a circle. I told them that it was a Moose Racing shirt but that I bought it because it made me feel like a ‘superhero’. I’d need to be one to pull off this trip! Let’s see if it works (so far so good). It made my day talking to them though. 

My first stop after Brno was Vienna, which is where I had lunch. Vienna is stunning! However, the jump in class also came with a jump in the price of everything. Poland and the Czech Republic are such good value in comparison. Nonetheless, I cannot fault the city in terms of its aesthetic appeal!

From Vienna I had a long ride to Bled. I was keen to get back into schedule following my late start in the weekend, so wanted to push through. About 2 hours from Bled my nose started bleeding and I had to stop. I call this irony! Anyway, a 30 min stop and a bottom of Gatorade (with salt put in for good measure) seemed to do the trick – no more nose bleeds!

I arrived at Lake Bled just before 8pm. The ride to Bled through Austria was fantastic (even on the motorway). I hit a bit of rain but nothing too serious. Fortunately, I bought some waterproof trousers (pants) in Poland – they worked a treat and were so easy to put on with my boots still on. The bonus about them is that they fold into the size of about a standard mug. This is fantastic in terms of space saving on the bike. 

Bled is stunning, as you will see from the photos. The only thing I didn’t like was that I felt like I was in a high tourist area. The service at the hotel was mediocre and the room, for what I paid, was below par. I really was not impressed that my ‘with balcony’ room had no balcony and that my shower was no shower at all – it was a hand shower in a bath. I ended up ‘showering’ on my knees in the bath. Anyone heading to Bled avoid Hotel Kompas. 

The lake itself though is beautiful! I thoroughly enjoyed walking around it in the morning and watching the people enjoy everything that the lake has to offer. It is definitely worth seeing.

Next up Croatia!