Day 49 - Europe 2011

Day 49 - Tuesday, July 12, 2011 - Coronini to Orsova, Romania - Trip 101.19 Time 6:17:06

I was hoping it would rain and cool things down a bit but no such luck. It was a very uncomfortable night. The room was like a sauna. I did manage to get some sleep in spite of the heat and noise. I got up at 6:30, did some packing before going down to b'fast. A young fellow who spoke good English, that I had spoken to while fixing my flat, was having b'fast. He asked if I had managed to fix my flat OK. I said I had to use my 2nd spare tube. I wanted to patch the punctured tube but found out the small tube of glue in my patch kit had completely evaporated! This was not a good omen. It meant I would have to travel without a spare tube or complete patch kit. I figured if worse came to worse I could put a patch on my tube and hold it in place with some black electrical tape. The young fellow had no idea where I could get a patch kit.
For b'fast I ordered orange juice, coffee, fried egg, sausage, etc. I didn't realize I had to pay 8 LEI extra for orange juice and coffee! There was also a mug of lovely tea, bread, butter and jam.
I left Corinini at 8:00. The road was flat, smooth pavement and followed the Danube pretty much all the way to Orsova. There were a couple of climbs on the way to Dubova and Orsova and an 8 km stretch of very rough gravel, pot holed road where there had been several rock slides. Very little traffic. Very hot. No shops or restaurants until I got to Dubova. I went into a shop to get something for lunch. All I got was cookies and a couple jam rolls and a cold drink. Restaurants were another 5 kms or so down the road. I arrived in Orsova at 4:00 after a couple more stops for drinks. I checked into the Hotel Meridien for 50 E per night including b'fast and Internet. After carying my panniers up to the 2nd floor I returned to the lobby to secure my bike in a broom closet. There was a really super huge covered patio with misters and fans trying to cool things down a bit. Tried a local beer but it tasted a bit skunky. Filled in my journal. Tried a Stella. There was no draught beer, just large bottles or cans of beer. The Stella beer tasted skunky also! You can't beat a good draught beer!

This blog was posted at the Hotel Turris in Turnu Magurele, Romania, Friday, July 15, 2011