The last day's ride was hilly but short-only about 20 miles. It began outside of Gyor in the little town of Gyorujbarat. We rode through some absolutely lovely forests in and out of the shade ending at the base of the hill leading to the magnificent abbey and school of Pannonhalma. The rabbits rode the last hill, we did not. They zipped back to join us as the guides popped the corks off a couple of bottles of champagne and we toasted ourselves and the week's journey.
The bus whisked us back up to the abbey where we toured the magnificent buildings and saw a film of its history. The most impressive room was the stunning library with tiers of the books collected by the monks. This was an amazing impressive collection that must have made this abbey a seat of knowledge. Even today the mission of the monks is education and they have a boys' boarding school in the same locations. The views of the surrounding valleys were beautiful.
View from the hilltop at Pannonhalma
Library in Pannonhalma
We stopped at a restaurant for our final lunch today instead of our usual al fresco picnic in some park or on the grounds of a church or one time in a parking lot (!). I had fried cheese, really, served on top of ratatouille.
It's hard to believe that we have ridden approximately 230 miles over the course of 7 days and we are none the worse for wear. Well, my rear end is not unhappy that we have ended this journey. It was well worth the effort, even in the heat.
The bus brought us all to our final destination on this trip, the Buda side of the river Danube in the gorgeous city of Budapest.
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