Day 5: Brno - Fohnsdorf

A quick breakfast of scrambled eggs and “flipperz” (mini pancakes) awaited me in the hotel restaurant before I departed Brno - a place that I would have loved to have had a bit more time to take in. The Czech culture and the people I’ve met have truly been unique. Friendly, open and extremely patriotic; everyone I met seemed to relish the opportunity to share their passion for the country with visitors to the city. From the moment I arrived into the hotel to the moment I left Brno itself I was made to feel extremely welcome, something for which I am very grateful.

Leaving Brno and heading towards Wein on the duel carriageway, I wondered whether or not my next destination, the randomly chosen Fohnsdorf in Austria would be as rewarding a place to visit - I needn’t have worried. Whilst the Czech Republic was great to drive through, with some fantastic roads and scenery, I found myself totally unprepared for Austria.

The first part of my journey was fairly uneventful. Having fully recovered from the previous nights drinking session with Jonno and Petra (despite having no dinner) and having gotten a good nights sleep, I set off a little later than usual at 10.30am. It was a ride like most others I’ve had so far - some nice things to look at, amazing scenery and some lovely bits of road in-between motorways and the like.

Arriving into Austria at lunchtime (country number five!), I headed south towards Wein, taking the first turnoff for the city and somehow managing to end up headed for Budapest, Hungary...  This was the first time I’ve missed having the SatNav, but finding Wien from the motorway was pretty easy – I was back on track in under 10 minutes. Trying to navigate my way through the city was horrendous though, and I spent over an hour driving around trying to find the route out onto the smaller roads towards Baden and Bad Voslau; riding over and under the river several times due to poor signposting on the A2. Eventually I figured it out and I was away, but not before chatting to several locals, a South African guy doing some shopping with his daughter – as well as a few bikers, both on the streets (and roads) of Wein, and at a service station heading towards Baden.

Everyone I spoke to was more than happy to try and help me out, but for some reason I’ve also seem to have been tarnished as a mentalist, especially by the biker fraternity here in Austria. Hearing about my trip and where I’ve come from, where I’m going and the route I was planning to take through their country had people looking at me in disbelief. Maybe they knew something I didn’t... Every time I was told to simply follow the A2 to Gratz and stay there for the night, but no – my plan was Fohnsdorf and that was where I was headed, no matter what. From the look of the map it seemed fairly scenic, taking me through the heart of Austria, and after seeing most of (and being fairly disappointed by) Germany from the autobahn, I was in the mood to spend a bit longer on the road and a bit less time exploring my final destination, especially as I had no idea what to expect when I got there.

After enjoying a (very late) traditional Austrian lunch of dumplings with a coffee in Bad Voslau, chatting to a few kids who came to admire Betty as I rested, recharged and refuelled myself, I set off on my mission to find Fohnsdorf proper. The sun was shining and signage on the road told me it was 34⁰c with not a cloud in the sky – I’ve definitely lucked out with the weather so far – truly incredible, although it wasn’t much fun when I was trying to get out of Wein! Mmm, sweaty...

Whilst waiting for my lunch I decided to make a list of all the villages and places I’d need to get through so I wasn’t looking at the map after each one. Using the GPS bracket kindly left by the thieving scum who stole the SatNav in the first place, I gaffer taped the list to the bike and was ready to roll, from Bad Voslau to Berndorf, Gutenstein and Eisenerz on my way to Fohnsdorf.

I have been fully expecting Switzerland to be the most beautiful country to drive through on my trip thus far, and whilst I imagined Austria would be nice (with some great roads due to the route I’d planned on taking), words cannot truly describe the feeling of riding through the mountains for the first time – Huge pine trees either side of the road, twisting and turning through the hills - and mountains... I thought the Czech Republic was a real treat, but I’ve never experienced anything like this. I had to keep reminding myself that my focus should be on the road, rather than everywhere but.

Hours past as I completely fell for Austria; I can totally understand why some people never leave this place. I pulled in to a bikers cafe high in the hills around dinner time for a short rest and some sugar before carrying on again. The place was really busy (unsurprising as the weather was incredible) with a good 40-50 bikers sat outside eating, drinking and doing the usual admiring of bikes. A quick coke and a chat to the owner about routes and I was on my way again.

The sun began to set as I was still a long way from Fohnsdorf, my trip through the mountains taking a lot longer than expected. What I hoped would be a 5pm finish had passed by several hours ago as I continued onward. I had considered just stopping anywhere and catching up tomorrow as I’ve that extra day from missing Prague, but no – for some reason in my mind, it was Fohnsdorf or bust.

After working my way through the mountains and back to some semblance of civilisation it was beginning to get dark. The directions weren’t working and I was stopping several times an hour to check the map. Eventually though, I found myself on the final stretch; a lovely bit of motorway with tunnels through the hills, lit up as night had well and truly set in, the stars visible above the feint sillhouettes of the mountains. I was very tired by this point and wanted to get settled for the night, but at the same time loving every kilometre I was chalking up.

Finally, signs for Fohnsdorf directed me off the motorway and into rural Austria once more. It was a short trip, 5-6km, but enough to make the world of difference. I was almost there! Or so I thought... at about 9pm, over ten hours after setting off from Brno, the road stopped. Major reconstruction meant the route to Fohnsdorf was totally closed. From speaking to a German cyclist out with his two young daughters I was able to find some diversion notices which finally lead me to my destination.

Arriving into the town at 9.30pm with no idea what the place would be like, or any particular reason for being so gung-ho about getting there, I set about trying to find my way around. Signs mentioning a British pub were a real sight for sore eyes – thinking that I’d be able to find a room there or at least be understood! After driving through the town three or four times with no success I pulled into a bar in the middle of the high street to ask for directions. A group of four women had been watching me each time I’d ridden past the central square, so I headed over to see if they could help me out.

Of all the people I could have asked, I don’t think I could have been luckier. Not only was one of the women pretty fluent in English, but she ran the tourist information office on the street next to the pub! So, in the middle of the night, Ing’e was kind enough to open up the office and try and find me a room for the evening. Easier said than done it would seem. Of all the small rural places I had to visit, it just so happened that there was a Ferrari event happening at the Red Bull Ring (the Austrian equivalent of the Nurbergring) over the weekend, with every hotel fully booked! After a couple of calls though, she’d managed to find me a room with an extraordinarily friendly Austrian couple who spoke no real English about a 35 minute walk from the centre of Fohnsdorf. Breakfast wasn’t included and I had to be gone by 9am, but there was a garage and a bed, and that was all I needed!

After sorting the room out and unpacking for the night I decided to head back into Fohnsdorf for a beer and see if Ing’e and her friends were still there. Buying them a drink was the very least I could do for their help! Despite the length of the walk back into town, they were indeed still there and immediately invited me to join them. I found out later on that evening that they were all friends growing up but had drifted apart – Facebook had reunited them and they meet and socialise regularly as a result. Several hours passed as beers were drunk and my “schule Deutche” became worse. With my half understanding German, their half understanding English, and Ing’e to translate, we got along just fine!

It quickly became apparent that Fohnsdorf is a pretty quiet town where not a great deal happens the majority of the time. The pub was fairly busy with 10-15 other locals, some related, others not, but all of them finding my determination to get to Fohnsdorf unfathomable. The barman imparticular found it most bizarre that I would want to actively track down such a remote little town. After ordering a few beers inside as well as outside, I soon had everyone talking to me - some in German, some in English and some in neither after so many drinks! Time passed quickly and the beer which I had been enjoying began to get replaced by Austrian drinks, with a young guy called Tomas introducing me to a specialty – White wine and cola... Representing the “youth” of the UK, I felt I had to do something similar, and so the locals of Fohnsdorf were soon introduced to the wonders of the Jager-bomb, with tiny bottles of Jagermeister dropped into glasses of Red Bull. Whilst most had never tried one before, I found out that in Austria it is more popular to use Strawberry juice as the mixer, with Tomas’ girlfriend readily ordering another round.

2am came and went, Ing’e and her friends left, and I was still in the bar drinking with Tomas, his friends and some of his family - including cousins and his uncle and aunt. At 3am the barman decided he’d had enough and wanted to close up! Fine by me – I had to be up and out early in the morning anyway. Upon leaving the bar though, two of the girls in the pub seemed to have other ideas... NadL and Stefanie bundled me into a car, and off we went out of Fohnsdorf to an Austrian nightclub! It was becoming light outside by the time we left the club, and they were kind enough to give me a lift back to the place I was staying, vierzig b, bach-strasse. Finally getting to bed at 6am after a truly spectacular day of riding and a truly unexpected evening of conversation, drinks and laughs I was asleep in moments, but not before setting several alarms to make sure I’d be up in time to get ready to leave...

Deciding to come to Fohnsdorf has been the best decision I’ve made on the trip thus far. It’s a really lovely place, and at some point I will definitely be going back!