This was a very good day albeit strong sun and a few navigational issues, the multiple routes criss cross they could also use some directional info like N or S or end point or something on them.. so you see a D1 sign with an arrow, coming back you see a D1 sign with an arrow, you have no idea which was you are going and the routes are following a meandering river so directions are constantly changing and you go round cornfields and vineyards and big hills, anyway, between Cycle.travel, google maps, the Amazon or Europe guide mostly you can figure it out, tho sometimes its after you’ve gone a bit the wrong direction. Cycle.travel has an alert when you go 150 meters off course, which happened a lot, and also it is built on Open Street Map, which is crowdsourced info so different people take different routes they think are better well when you look on the screen you might see the R3 or D12 going 2-3 different directions…
But saw more Amazon of Europe directional signage yesterday and they have all these points of interest like alongside swimming lakes (which are in regional parks and free) and they will have a little pavilion with a table, a bike repair station with a stand, tools, air pump (you pump by foot or crank by hand) and a solar charger for your smartphone or gps device. And an informational billboard with a map and showing the “stages” of the route where you are and the towns around and something of a direction, they don’t however show all the little gravel roads.
So one sign said something like meeting of the Mura-Drava and i was gonna pass it then i thought no this is a big deal here i better go see it and there may be something to eat out there… all along these routes well mostly in Austria and Slovenia you will find cafes and bars catering to the bike trail, very handy and most have camping there or nearby.
Well it was a couple miles out some rough rock road and a few cars and motorcycles sped by making it dusty, when i got out there, there was an Amazon of Europe station with all the goodies, lots of fishermen and small boat people, and a old pavilion with a crowd in it, so i went there to check it out. Sounded like a party of gathering of some sort, barbeque… i poked my head around the corner well looked like a local group so i started to turn back and a jolly looks guy said “hey” i turn around and he motions me, come in makes eating motions, so i do and there’s a table with one guy had pork steaks, another was frying fish in a big pot, and another had a big pot of beans, i pointed to each one and they gave me a good portion of each and a piece of bread, i asked “how much” rubbing my fingers together, the guy just laughed and smiled and shook his head, he had a beer there I pointed out that, no he shook his head, and pointed over to a table which had water, juice, soda, and wine. This is a big wine producing area so I had some, then continued my journey back on the trail to Durdevac.
Well the only hotel in Durdevac is the Hotel Picok and I rode by there, it was 101 euro and rated poorly on booking.com. But there was a vineyard room for $29 a few miles out of town, so i booked that. Well the map app took me on a rock road tough going so i didn’t get there til almost 630 it was falling dark, but there were 4 guys drinking wine around a table, there was a huge covered outdoor area where the wine cellar steps were, and a bar room, a kitchen, barbecue fireplace, and a massive wood table for about 12 people, want some wine? They are so happy to see me tho only one of them speaks English Dominic the son of the owner, he’s 21. So we chatted a while had a few glasses of very good white wine, which they mix 50/50 with sparkling water, what you call that ? A spritzer? Yeah they all laugh, these Croatians are not quiet people, we are talking laughing for about an hour before the mom comes in the car to pick the all up and Dominic shows me to the upstairs room, there re 2, with a shared bathroom in between, nicely done a lot of natural wood handmade. Dominics dad has built this weekend house and vineyard over the past 20 years and it is very nice. They only have about10 vine rows but Dominic told me they produce about 5000 liters of wine a year. And they all have regular jobs during the week, they just go out there on weekends or when they need to great a guest.
So they left and i went in to cook my dinner and found a full pitcher 1 liter of wine, and same one of sparkling water waiting on the kitchen table. Never saw the other roomer he came in late showered and left early so i had the place all to myself most of the time i was there. I slept very well and had breakfast and as I’m packing to leave Dominic’s dad shows up to check on me was everything OK how did I sleep and shook my hand you are welcome to stay again anytime you come near,
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