We are soon done and I marvel at-
all the people we have seen, smiling, friendly, oblivious, dumbfounded( the tandem gets the most looks) thousands of people of all ages
all the gardens we have seen- the universality of growing food and trying to make your 'home', property as beautiful as is possible. I do look forward to rejoining that fraternity/sorority and suspect I will garden with a slightly different additude
all the skies we have seen and their ever changing pattern of clouds and colours
when one cycles one has a better vantage point to see the weather ( especially when it is flatter than hilly) and a greater interest in the weather as it certainly can affect the day's experience
all the dogs we have seen( sorry cat lovers but the felines are less obvious and less interested in us so we are are similarly less interested in them)
dogs bark and chase
fortunately the barking is painless and in most situations they chase until their leash stops them of the fence limits them.
those left free are usually old or older, bark once feebly or not at all,stand up out of curiosity or not.
we have been chased only a few times -the first day, within the first 2-3 kms. for me knocking me down as I was just getting used to a fully loaded bike.
As we have cycled further north the dogs have gotten smaller and yelpy ( sorry Ernie) .
easy to ignore because althought persistent they can't reach our ankles
the usual pattern is that the first rider by rouses the dog(s), the second gets the full treatment and the third ( usually me-amb) rides by a tired or resigned dog(s)
Riding allows a View
Friday, June 19, 2009
Thank you
we are nearing the end
I have not entered as much on our blog as I might have liked but we have been busy traveling
I did comment on beer
and food
and the sights of our ever changing scenery
we have been in 14 non English speaking countries ( not including Dubai which we visited twice for hours and never left the airport ( it is now however on my 'life list')
This has created a few problems
the first obviously is communication.
The second more embarassingly is, with my advancing years, my ability to remember a few key and/or polite essential words has almost disappeared.
We have succeeded with sign language, and the variable abilty of our hosts to speak English
Leah and my, French has come in occasionally handy although German would have been much more useful.
Remembering the history ( recent and nor so recent) it is impressive how many languages the locals know and /or understand and how different many of these languages are , plus in the case of Greek, Bulgarian and Serbian they use different alphabets
So we haven't understood conversations, TV or the newspaper so much of what we have appreciated is by inference and observation and much may be wrong.
When we found English speaking 'friends' we pumped them for their opinion on a number of subjects- but never enough
We had Lonely Planet Phrase books that were virtually useless- but great for pressing flowers.
for example here is the translation of 'Thank You" in the languages of the countries we visited in order ( including Estonian where we will be in 2 days)
Swahili: Asante sana
Turkish: teşekkür ederim
Greek: σε ευχαριστώ
Bulgarian: благодаря
Romanian: mulţumesc
Serbian: хвала ти
Croatian: hvala ti
Hungarian: köszönöm
Solvak: ďakujem ti
Czech: děkuji ti
Polish: dziękuję
Lithuanian: ačiū
Latvian: paldies
Estonian: tänan
How can I remeber those
I have not entered as much on our blog as I might have liked but we have been busy traveling
I did comment on beer
and food
and the sights of our ever changing scenery
we have been in 14 non English speaking countries ( not including Dubai which we visited twice for hours and never left the airport ( it is now however on my 'life list')
This has created a few problems
the first obviously is communication.
The second more embarassingly is, with my advancing years, my ability to remember a few key and/or polite essential words has almost disappeared.
We have succeeded with sign language, and the variable abilty of our hosts to speak English
Leah and my, French has come in occasionally handy although German would have been much more useful.
Remembering the history ( recent and nor so recent) it is impressive how many languages the locals know and /or understand and how different many of these languages are , plus in the case of Greek, Bulgarian and Serbian they use different alphabets
So we haven't understood conversations, TV or the newspaper so much of what we have appreciated is by inference and observation and much may be wrong.
When we found English speaking 'friends' we pumped them for their opinion on a number of subjects- but never enough
We had Lonely Planet Phrase books that were virtually useless- but great for pressing flowers.
for example here is the translation of 'Thank You" in the languages of the countries we visited in order ( including Estonian where we will be in 2 days)
Swahili: Asante sana
Turkish: teşekkür ederim
Greek: σε ευχαριστώ
Bulgarian: благодаря
Romanian: mulţumesc
Serbian: хвала ти
Croatian: hvala ti
Hungarian: köszönöm
Solvak: ďakujem ti
Czech: děkuji ti
Polish: dziękuję
Lithuanian: ačiū
Latvian: paldies
Estonian: tänan
How can I remeber those
Thursday, June 11, 2009
A Look At Our Route
day 1 hayrabolu turkey the day of surviving adversity actually -1.1kms( minus although leah will debate this)
day2 havsa turkey 53 kms amazing first day
day 3 edirne turkey 40 kms a bit too much highway
day 4 svelingrad bulgaria 77kms through greece sunny no food in turkey
day 5 rest day in svelingrad sunny
day 6 topolovgrad 66kms cool overcast multiple hill climbs aprox 20-25 kms uphill WITH HEADWINDS
day 7 Nova Zagora overcast , less cold, not windy (until last 5 kms why is that) 69 kms
day 8 Tvarditsa ( can't do accents
no hotel initially but we were directed to a 'guest house that was so perfect we took a rest day for
day 9 rest day a fair bit of rakia ( home made brandy drunk by ambrose- Leah had a gall bladder attack scare
day 10 a climb and an amazing downhill to Veliko Tarnovo a pass route we had not predicted when we did our (leah's )map studying but we garner info as we travel
day 11we take a rest day in VT
day 12 stay in TV and celebrate catholic easter ( eastern orthodox palm sunday) by doing a local cycle without panniers to a historically important monastery (Dryanovski0 with accompanying caves
day 13 Pavlikeni via celebrated churches and monasteries at Arbanassi ( wonderous)
day 14 -our first hotel headache when our planned destination Pordim did not have a hotel so another 20 kms. to Pleven
day 15 rest day
day 16 griff's 14th BDay and our second hotel stress when the hotel in Nikopol existed but WAS CLOSED ( see blog) so we went on to
Belene 100 KMS !!!
day 17 svistov 50 kms from plevan ( read back)
day 18 ferry to romania to Turnu Magurele easter saturday and midnight eatser celebrations
day 19 ( today) our 3rd hotel stressful experience ( easter sunday) hotel in draganesti-olt existed but was closed and again we have to ride on for a total of 98.5 kms to slatina
day 20 to craiova by train (we had lost days and got to far north east because of the hotel stress)
day 21 rest day in Craiova
day 22 train to bailestie and cycled to Vidin, bulgaria via Calafat
Day 23 into serbia and into negotin
day 24 over the carpathians to Donji Milanovac
Day 25 rest day short ride (50km) pannierless to narrowest part of danube
day 26 along danube gorge big tailwind and lots of tunnels sleep in golubac
day 27 croos danube meet nice german cyclists another tailwindy day sleep in bela cryka
day 28 80km day to pancevo great tail wind we were flying
day 29 rest day in belgrade (walked at least 20k
day30 north to ecka (thought to be 75km turned in to 107km after more hotel stres spen night in 4 star!!!
day 31 May Day tired legs and hypoglycemic ambrose into novi sad. hotel finiding a daily adventure. takes and hour of our time
Day 32 rest day in novi sad category 1 (little walking done)
day 33 Odzaci tried to go fishing
day 34 Osijek Croatia
day 35 & 36 in Zagreb ( by train) and back to osijek
day 37 Vinogradi
day 38 Mohacs ( Hungary)
day 39 Baja
day 40 a rest day
day 41 kalosca
day 42 hajos
day 43 kiskunmajsa
day 44 a crazy night in a pencion in that we found on the web but couldn't find in reality for over an hour near tiszakecske
day 45 budapest by train from Cegled (send fedex package)
day 46 rest day, hop on hop off bus tour of Budapest
day 47 meet paul and ed at airport
day 48 ed and pauls turn to do the hop on hop off
day 49 by train to Pilisvorosvar and cycle to Esztergom
day 50 Hurbanovo ( very hot)
day 51 ( today) simon sick ( gastro)so we stop early Surany
day 52 nitra Slovakia
day 53 Nove Mesko
day 54 Uhersky Brod Czech Rep.
day 55 rest day Category 1
day 56 prerov
day 57 Olomouc
day 58 Sumprek our first heavy rain
day 59 Kraliky our second heavy rain
day 60 Klodzko Poland
day 61 Wroclaw
day 62 rest day category 3
day 63 Brzeg
day 64 Klucsbork
day 65 Krakow after a ride and a train from czestochowa
day 66 auschwitz from krakow
day 67 rest day in krakow
day 68 krakow...bye ed.... hi barb
day 69 krakow
day 70 10 hour train =644 kms- tosuwalki
day 71 druskininkai lithuania 100 kms
day 72 alytus .. another heavy rain stopped on the way at Stalin World or Gruto parkas google it fascinating
2.5 weeks to go
………
day2 havsa turkey 53 kms amazing first day
day 3 edirne turkey 40 kms a bit too much highway
day 4 svelingrad bulgaria 77kms through greece sunny no food in turkey
day 5 rest day in svelingrad sunny
day 6 topolovgrad 66kms cool overcast multiple hill climbs aprox 20-25 kms uphill WITH HEADWINDS
day 7 Nova Zagora overcast , less cold, not windy (until last 5 kms why is that) 69 kms
day 8 Tvarditsa ( can't do accents
no hotel initially but we were directed to a 'guest house that was so perfect we took a rest day for
day 9 rest day a fair bit of rakia ( home made brandy drunk by ambrose- Leah had a gall bladder attack scare
day 10 a climb and an amazing downhill to Veliko Tarnovo a pass route we had not predicted when we did our (leah's )map studying but we garner info as we travel
day 11we take a rest day in VT
day 12 stay in TV and celebrate catholic easter ( eastern orthodox palm sunday) by doing a local cycle without panniers to a historically important monastery (Dryanovski0 with accompanying caves
day 13 Pavlikeni via celebrated churches and monasteries at Arbanassi ( wonderous)
day 14 -our first hotel headache when our planned destination Pordim did not have a hotel so another 20 kms. to Pleven
day 15 rest day
day 16 griff's 14th BDay and our second hotel stress when the hotel in Nikopol existed but WAS CLOSED ( see blog) so we went on to
Belene 100 KMS !!!
day 17 svistov 50 kms from plevan ( read back)
day 18 ferry to romania to Turnu Magurele easter saturday and midnight eatser celebrations
day 19 ( today) our 3rd hotel stressful experience ( easter sunday) hotel in draganesti-olt existed but was closed and again we have to ride on for a total of 98.5 kms to slatina
day 20 to craiova by train (we had lost days and got to far north east because of the hotel stress)
day 21 rest day in Craiova
day 22 train to bailestie and cycled to Vidin, bulgaria via Calafat
Day 23 into serbia and into negotin
day 24 over the carpathians to Donji Milanovac
Day 25 rest day short ride (50km) pannierless to narrowest part of danube
day 26 along danube gorge big tailwind and lots of tunnels sleep in golubac
day 27 croos danube meet nice german cyclists another tailwindy day sleep in bela cryka
day 28 80km day to pancevo great tail wind we were flying
day 29 rest day in belgrade (walked at least 20k
day30 north to ecka (thought to be 75km turned in to 107km after more hotel stres spen night in 4 star!!!
day 31 May Day tired legs and hypoglycemic ambrose into novi sad. hotel finiding a daily adventure. takes and hour of our time
Day 32 rest day in novi sad category 1 (little walking done)
day 33 Odzaci tried to go fishing
day 34 Osijek Croatia
day 35 & 36 in Zagreb ( by train) and back to osijek
day 37 Vinogradi
day 38 Mohacs ( Hungary)
day 39 Baja
day 40 a rest day
day 41 kalosca
day 42 hajos
day 43 kiskunmajsa
day 44 a crazy night in a pencion in that we found on the web but couldn't find in reality for over an hour near tiszakecske
day 45 budapest by train from Cegled (send fedex package)
day 46 rest day, hop on hop off bus tour of Budapest
day 47 meet paul and ed at airport
day 48 ed and pauls turn to do the hop on hop off
day 49 by train to Pilisvorosvar and cycle to Esztergom
day 50 Hurbanovo ( very hot)
day 51 ( today) simon sick ( gastro)so we stop early Surany
day 52 nitra Slovakia
day 53 Nove Mesko
day 54 Uhersky Brod Czech Rep.
day 55 rest day Category 1
day 56 prerov
day 57 Olomouc
day 58 Sumprek our first heavy rain
day 59 Kraliky our second heavy rain
day 60 Klodzko Poland
day 61 Wroclaw
day 62 rest day category 3
day 63 Brzeg
day 64 Klucsbork
day 65 Krakow after a ride and a train from czestochowa
day 66 auschwitz from krakow
day 67 rest day in krakow
day 68 krakow...bye ed.... hi barb
day 69 krakow
day 70 10 hour train =644 kms- tosuwalki
day 71 druskininkai lithuania 100 kms
day 72 alytus .. another heavy rain stopped on the way at Stalin World or Gruto parkas google it fascinating
2.5 weeks to go
………
Friday, May 1, 2009
My Prose is Bit Lacking
This blog entry has been floating in my head for a few days,but it wasn't until Maria -my MOA (medical office assistant) of 20 years,office manager, 'older sister', dear friend,plus a large variety of other important roles- commented in a recent e-mail directed to Griffin...
"his prose is a bit lacking,though I certainly get the emotion"
this is the same woman who commented after seeing me jogging( running) and described it as 'plodding' or some similiar term.(and she still works with me-'for me' would be a total misnomer)
Now my lazy Gonzo 'style' of writing has some detractors I am sure.I felt it was necessary to reveal to others that there are high school prose skills still hiding in my grey matter....
We have been cycling for 46 days
We have had maybe 2 hours of rain!! great for us terrible for farmers
We were initially planning a one year vacation and would have cycled June -August.
But with our change to a ten month adventure the cycle portion changed to April -July
and inadvertently we have ended up in a most wonderous time of the year. Spring.
Certainly at home we all love spring and as spring is returning back home all of our friend's and family's e-mails comment on it happily. ( except maybe my family in Calgary and their 'freak= annual' April snow storms.
I suspect there is similar relief, excitement and joy when the weather warms and the snow melts here in the Balkans and Eastern Europe too.
There are two facets of this 'spring thaw' that we have witnessed so clearly from the seats of our bicycles as we we have ridden through rural Turkey, Greece( 1 day),Bulgaria,Romania ,Serbia,Croatia and now Hungary
First, the natural progression of spring.
Leah loves maps and reading them and has poured over our collection for hours before the trip and still daily to create a spectacular rural ride.This maximizes the cycling pleasure and minimizes risk of accident.
As an aside Leah and Griffin met a young French couple who are cycling around the world. They met them in Istanbul in front of the Blue Mosque. The thought of riding bikes through that megalopolis- 10-12 million people, terrible roads and worse drivers- is inconceivable.
Starting in Thrace on the second of April and throughout the early days we had radiantly sunny and warming weather and the plants were just starting to show signs of life.Generally bare ,on closer examination you could see the buds on trees, fruit trees, and vines, all considering the possibility of bursting.
Day by day we could see this botanical process unfold until by the time we were in Central Bulgaria there was a daily progression and procession of flowering trees unfolding before us.
Even our ignorance of which tree was which couldn't dampen the visual enjoyment.
When you are riding a bicycle the view is so important,it makes the ride interesting,it makes the ride pass,it makes you forget any aches or pains or leg fatigue.
Another aside-We were often asked before we left what the boys would do for school.I can go on and on about Geography,history,zoology, cutural studies... but here was Botany before their very eyes.Home schooling ,fitness and adventure every day.
While the tress were flowering and the leaves unfolding the lower plants also began to turn the shoulders of the road into weeds and wildflowers.Yes predominantly green but yellows, whites, blues and purples caught my eyes and I in fact starting to collect them and press them for my journal. Unidentified but colourful. Between flowers and picture taking and age I was always trailing our parade of bicycles.
To balance my flower collection Simon has started a thorn collection.It is surprising how many styles and shapes thorns come in.It is not surprising how difficult it is to transport thorns. But we will.
Beside wild flowers the daffodils and tulips couldn,t help but remind us of home
Then over Easter ( eastern Orhordox Easter was celebrated the week after Roman Catholic Easter this year)the lilacs, mainly violet, some white ,were all of a sudden everywhere.
It felt almost choreographed, as the lilacs seem to lose just a hint of vitality the bearded irises along the road were in bloom,purple my favourite are most common,yellow and white also in the mix and by the time we got to Croatia and Hungary a whole mix of colours and hybrids.
So it is May 15th and the roses and peonies are yelling
The second part of Spring and the botanical awakening is the cultural evidence.
This area is agrarian and besides the large communal farms still in Roamania there is farming on a large scale,market farming and home gardening that is the livelihood of everyone in these small towns.
Sadly ( my judgement) or naturally, these towns are changing. Populations leaving for bigger cities or in the case of EU members to other countries. Those who are making the move are predominantly the young,yet those left behind must still maintain these farms and gardens for income and subsistance.This activity is intense and meticulous. The garden plots, the lawns , the areas between house and road are all cultivated and nutured. In some towns this roadside area has vines trelessed high over the sidewalk. Grapes for homemade wine and rakia(eau de vie) a essential for every household.Great pride is taken in the growing and fermenting.
The large fields are full of winter grain still growing and the beginnings ,just in the last few days, of corn and potato.
Through Serbia and Croatia and now hungary the market farms ars are the latest area of family nad community activity. Medium size fields of beans, peas, carrots, radishes and in Hungary peppers ( for paprika-for goulash) , onions ,garlic and everything else that will make the summer and fall markets ( which we will sadly miss).
It was quite a change when this activity began, because instead of tractors now it was hands and bent backs doing the work.
So winter grains, spring grain planting and slowly germanating, fruit tress and vines flowering, market gardens, farm gardens planted, wild flowers and perennials flowering.
The markets full of early potatoes, last years cellar produce and annuals and tomato plants ready for this year.
We have followed the process and raced the plant's growth as we have headed north
Because of the spectacular weather we have had we are losing the race and now small cherries and minute bunchs of grapes can be seen and the wheat and barley is mature and green swaying with the wind ,which has also been favourable ( at our back).
This area is enormous and flat. we haven't climbed hills for 3 weeks and yet the size is still a fraction of our Canadian prairies.
Spring and maybe this one more than others has been a wonderous, delicious and entertaining time to cycle in this part of the world
"his prose is a bit lacking,though I certainly get the emotion"
this is the same woman who commented after seeing me jogging( running) and described it as 'plodding' or some similiar term.(and she still works with me-'for me' would be a total misnomer)
Now my lazy Gonzo 'style' of writing has some detractors I am sure.I felt it was necessary to reveal to others that there are high school prose skills still hiding in my grey matter....
We have been cycling for 46 days
We have had maybe 2 hours of rain!! great for us terrible for farmers
We were initially planning a one year vacation and would have cycled June -August.
But with our change to a ten month adventure the cycle portion changed to April -July
and inadvertently we have ended up in a most wonderous time of the year. Spring.
Certainly at home we all love spring and as spring is returning back home all of our friend's and family's e-mails comment on it happily. ( except maybe my family in Calgary and their 'freak= annual' April snow storms.
I suspect there is similar relief, excitement and joy when the weather warms and the snow melts here in the Balkans and Eastern Europe too.
There are two facets of this 'spring thaw' that we have witnessed so clearly from the seats of our bicycles as we we have ridden through rural Turkey, Greece( 1 day),Bulgaria,Romania ,Serbia,Croatia and now Hungary
First, the natural progression of spring.
Leah loves maps and reading them and has poured over our collection for hours before the trip and still daily to create a spectacular rural ride.This maximizes the cycling pleasure and minimizes risk of accident.
As an aside Leah and Griffin met a young French couple who are cycling around the world. They met them in Istanbul in front of the Blue Mosque. The thought of riding bikes through that megalopolis- 10-12 million people, terrible roads and worse drivers- is inconceivable.
Starting in Thrace on the second of April and throughout the early days we had radiantly sunny and warming weather and the plants were just starting to show signs of life.Generally bare ,on closer examination you could see the buds on trees, fruit trees, and vines, all considering the possibility of bursting.
Day by day we could see this botanical process unfold until by the time we were in Central Bulgaria there was a daily progression and procession of flowering trees unfolding before us.
Even our ignorance of which tree was which couldn't dampen the visual enjoyment.
When you are riding a bicycle the view is so important,it makes the ride interesting,it makes the ride pass,it makes you forget any aches or pains or leg fatigue.
Another aside-We were often asked before we left what the boys would do for school.I can go on and on about Geography,history,zoology, cutural studies... but here was Botany before their very eyes.Home schooling ,fitness and adventure every day.
While the tress were flowering and the leaves unfolding the lower plants also began to turn the shoulders of the road into weeds and wildflowers.Yes predominantly green but yellows, whites, blues and purples caught my eyes and I in fact starting to collect them and press them for my journal. Unidentified but colourful. Between flowers and picture taking and age I was always trailing our parade of bicycles.
To balance my flower collection Simon has started a thorn collection.It is surprising how many styles and shapes thorns come in.It is not surprising how difficult it is to transport thorns. But we will.
Beside wild flowers the daffodils and tulips couldn,t help but remind us of home
Then over Easter ( eastern Orhordox Easter was celebrated the week after Roman Catholic Easter this year)the lilacs, mainly violet, some white ,were all of a sudden everywhere.
It felt almost choreographed, as the lilacs seem to lose just a hint of vitality the bearded irises along the road were in bloom,purple my favourite are most common,yellow and white also in the mix and by the time we got to Croatia and Hungary a whole mix of colours and hybrids.
So it is May 15th and the roses and peonies are yelling
The second part of Spring and the botanical awakening is the cultural evidence.
This area is agrarian and besides the large communal farms still in Roamania there is farming on a large scale,market farming and home gardening that is the livelihood of everyone in these small towns.
Sadly ( my judgement) or naturally, these towns are changing. Populations leaving for bigger cities or in the case of EU members to other countries. Those who are making the move are predominantly the young,yet those left behind must still maintain these farms and gardens for income and subsistance.This activity is intense and meticulous. The garden plots, the lawns , the areas between house and road are all cultivated and nutured. In some towns this roadside area has vines trelessed high over the sidewalk. Grapes for homemade wine and rakia(eau de vie) a essential for every household.Great pride is taken in the growing and fermenting.
The large fields are full of winter grain still growing and the beginnings ,just in the last few days, of corn and potato.
Through Serbia and Croatia and now hungary the market farms ars are the latest area of family nad community activity. Medium size fields of beans, peas, carrots, radishes and in Hungary peppers ( for paprika-for goulash) , onions ,garlic and everything else that will make the summer and fall markets ( which we will sadly miss).
It was quite a change when this activity began, because instead of tractors now it was hands and bent backs doing the work.
So winter grains, spring grain planting and slowly germanating, fruit tress and vines flowering, market gardens, farm gardens planted, wild flowers and perennials flowering.
The markets full of early potatoes, last years cellar produce and annuals and tomato plants ready for this year.
We have followed the process and raced the plant's growth as we have headed north
Because of the spectacular weather we have had we are losing the race and now small cherries and minute bunchs of grapes can be seen and the wheat and barley is mature and green swaying with the wind ,which has also been favourable ( at our back).
This area is enormous and flat. we haven't climbed hills for 3 weeks and yet the size is still a fraction of our Canadian prairies.
Spring and maybe this one more than others has been a wonderous, delicious and entertaining time to cycle in this part of the world
our trip (so far)
3 emails now on the blog
not to replace e-mail and blog
but if you want to follow
our route
day 1 hayrabolu turkey the day of surviving adversity actually -1.1kms( minus although leah will debate this)
day2 havsa turkey 53 kms amazing first day
day 3 edirne turkey 40 kms a bit too much highway
day 4 svelingrad bulgaria 77kms through greece sunny no food in turkey
day 5 rest day in svelingrad sunny
day 6 topolovgrad 66kms cool overcast multiple hill climbs aprox 20-25 kms uphill WITH HEADWINDS
day 7 Nova Zagora overcast , less cold, not windy (until last 5 kms why is that) 69 kms
mileage debate between gps and cycle computer
leah found a bulgarian map leas detailed scale but the towns are written in bulgarian alphabet -VERY HELPFUL and more details of mileage between towns
route has been perfect -lightly travelled ( although vehicles are limited in this country) rural ride
roads vary from excellent to rutted and amazing potholes ( but these are tolerable
accomodation working out very well and inexpensive
lots of wondeful birds ( mainly LBJ little brown jobs-sy says BBB boring brown birds) all with wonderful songs
food fine
restaurant ordering a humerous endevour
tomorrow 40kms with a significant climb
then rest day
then another larger climb day
fitness and butts improving
us
2nd email
last e-mail re our route went to day 7 Nova Zagora
day 8 Tvardica ( can't do accents
no hotel initially but we were directed to a 'guest house that was so perfect we took a rest day for
day 9 rest day a fair bit of rakia ( home made brandy drunk by ambrose- Leah had a gall bladder attack scare
day 10 a climb and an amazing downhill to Veliko Tarnovo a pass route we had not predicted when we did our (leah's )map studying but we garner info as we travel
day 11we take a rest day in VT
day 12 stay in TVand celebrate catholic easter ( eastern orthodox palm sunday) by doing a local cycle without panniers to a historically important monastery (Dryanovski0 with accompanying caves
day 13 Pavlikeni via celebrated churches and monasteries at Arbanassi ( wonderous)
day 14 -our first hotel headache when our planned destination Pordim did not have a hotel so another 20 kms. to Pleven
day 15 rest day
day 16 griff's 14th BDay and our second hotel stress when the hotel in Nikopol existed but WAS CLOSED ( see blog) so we went on to
Belene 100 KMS !!!
day 17 svistov 50 kms from plevan ( read back)
day 18 ferry to romania to Turnu Magurele easter saturday and midnight eatser celebrations
day 19 ( today) our 3rd hotel stressful experience ( easter sunday) hotel in draganesti-olt existed but was closed and again we have to ride on for a total of 98.5 kms to slatina
tomorrow train to craiova we have headed furhter east and north than planned and will use train to get better positioned, save some energy and time, avoid big roads and experience romanian trains
next few days from romania to Vidin and on to serbia
there you go
hotel stress stressful but there are great positive stories on those days too and the boys are heroes with these challenges
3rd email
day 20 to craiova by train (we had lost days and got to far north east because of the hotel stress)
day 21 rest day in Craiova
day 22 trin to bailste and cycled to Vidin, bulgaria via Calafat
Day 23 into serbia and into negotin
day 24 over the carpathians to Donji Milanovac
Day 25 rest day short ride (50km) paniierless to narrowest part of danube
day 26 along danube gorge big tailwind and lots of tunnels sleep in golubac
day 27 croos danube meet nice german cyclists another tailwindy day sleep in bela cryka
day 28 80km day to pancevo great tail wind we were flying
day 29 rest day in belgrade (walked at least 20k
day30 north to ecka (thought to be 75km turned in to 107km after more hotel stres spen night in 4 star!!!
day 31 May Day tired legs and hypoglycemic ambrose into novi sad. hotel finiding a daily adventure. takes and hour of our time
rest day tommorow. croatia in 2 days. ed and paul in 16
a
not to replace e-mail and blog
but if you want to follow
our route
day 1 hayrabolu turkey the day of surviving adversity actually -1.1kms( minus although leah will debate this)
day2 havsa turkey 53 kms amazing first day
day 3 edirne turkey 40 kms a bit too much highway
day 4 svelingrad bulgaria 77kms through greece sunny no food in turkey
day 5 rest day in svelingrad sunny
day 6 topolovgrad 66kms cool overcast multiple hill climbs aprox 20-25 kms uphill WITH HEADWINDS
day 7 Nova Zagora overcast , less cold, not windy (until last 5 kms why is that) 69 kms
mileage debate between gps and cycle computer
leah found a bulgarian map leas detailed scale but the towns are written in bulgarian alphabet -VERY HELPFUL and more details of mileage between towns
route has been perfect -lightly travelled ( although vehicles are limited in this country) rural ride
roads vary from excellent to rutted and amazing potholes ( but these are tolerable
accomodation working out very well and inexpensive
lots of wondeful birds ( mainly LBJ little brown jobs-sy says BBB boring brown birds) all with wonderful songs
food fine
restaurant ordering a humerous endevour
tomorrow 40kms with a significant climb
then rest day
then another larger climb day
fitness and butts improving
us
2nd email
last e-mail re our route went to day 7 Nova Zagora
day 8 Tvardica ( can't do accents
no hotel initially but we were directed to a 'guest house that was so perfect we took a rest day for
day 9 rest day a fair bit of rakia ( home made brandy drunk by ambrose- Leah had a gall bladder attack scare
day 10 a climb and an amazing downhill to Veliko Tarnovo a pass route we had not predicted when we did our (leah's )map studying but we garner info as we travel
day 11we take a rest day in VT
day 12 stay in TVand celebrate catholic easter ( eastern orthodox palm sunday) by doing a local cycle without panniers to a historically important monastery (Dryanovski0 with accompanying caves
day 13 Pavlikeni via celebrated churches and monasteries at Arbanassi ( wonderous)
day 14 -our first hotel headache when our planned destination Pordim did not have a hotel so another 20 kms. to Pleven
day 15 rest day
day 16 griff's 14th BDay and our second hotel stress when the hotel in Nikopol existed but WAS CLOSED ( see blog) so we went on to
Belene 100 KMS !!!
day 17 svistov 50 kms from plevan ( read back)
day 18 ferry to romania to Turnu Magurele easter saturday and midnight eatser celebrations
day 19 ( today) our 3rd hotel stressful experience ( easter sunday) hotel in draganesti-olt existed but was closed and again we have to ride on for a total of 98.5 kms to slatina
tomorrow train to craiova we have headed furhter east and north than planned and will use train to get better positioned, save some energy and time, avoid big roads and experience romanian trains
next few days from romania to Vidin and on to serbia
there you go
hotel stress stressful but there are great positive stories on those days too and the boys are heroes with these challenges
3rd email
day 20 to craiova by train (we had lost days and got to far north east because of the hotel stress)
day 21 rest day in Craiova
day 22 trin to bailste and cycled to Vidin, bulgaria via Calafat
Day 23 into serbia and into negotin
day 24 over the carpathians to Donji Milanovac
Day 25 rest day short ride (50km) paniierless to narrowest part of danube
day 26 along danube gorge big tailwind and lots of tunnels sleep in golubac
day 27 croos danube meet nice german cyclists another tailwindy day sleep in bela cryka
day 28 80km day to pancevo great tail wind we were flying
day 29 rest day in belgrade (walked at least 20k
day30 north to ecka (thought to be 75km turned in to 107km after more hotel stres spen night in 4 star!!!
day 31 May Day tired legs and hypoglycemic ambrose into novi sad. hotel finiding a daily adventure. takes and hour of our time
rest day tommorow. croatia in 2 days. ed and paul in 16
a
Friday, April 17, 2009
Bulgarian Birthday Surprise
This was meant to be a leaving Bulgaria blog
But it was coincidental with Griffin’s 14th Birthday so that seemed a bit more important subject.
But what it really has become is another chapter in this part of our adventure-
Cycling in Eastern Europe- How it can be (and has been ) exciting and unpredictable constantly.
April 16 2009 Griffin’s 14th and a ride to Nikopol ( on the Danube, on the Romanian border)_A planned 57 km ride.
Stunningly sunny-blue cloudless sky a bit cool but promising to be warm. (Warmest April on record)
Birthday hugs, greetings and special breakfast of croissant (not filled with raisins, cheese or any other filling), jam, fruit with coffee and hot chocolates to follow.
Griffin navigates us out of Pleven ( a busy city) without much of a hitch.
The ride is luscious , rural and varied with hills and flat stretches. Small towns, large farms.
Our first surprise of the day was in Varbica when we find ourselves directed to a dirt road through a farmer’s field ( griffin has an early tumble without injuring himself or sullying his new birthday jersey).This tractor path connects us as promised to the highway we were seeking.
We laughed as we carried on.
Lunch in Milkovica sitting in the town square,young students (more like sy’s age) milling around with ice creams on their lunch break. Introductory English, giggles and pictures taken.
Now just 20 kms. to Nikopol and soon we see the Danube ,wide and slow.The Bulgarian side showing evidence of the communist age with decrepit, rusting factories .I share my understanding of communist history to an interested Simon as we ride the tandem.
We have a late climb before riding into Nikopol , We pass the new ferry terminal (supported by the EU) to Romania.
1430 hours, 66 kms- time to relax. We eventually find the hotel -it wasn’t full, it was CLOSED.
We had been assured that there was a hotel but nobody confirmed that it was open.
So we thought we would head off to Romania only to find that although there was a new ferry terminal. THERE WAS NO FERRY and there wouldn’t be for months.
So we had to find an option, no accommodation and the nearest ‘confirmed’ hotel 35 kms away.
Without any complaining from the boys we headed of to Belene.The sun stayed bright and warm, the ride went easily ( after the 6 km. climb out of Nikopol) and as the GPS and Sy’s bicycle computer both ticked over 100 Kms.we arrived in Belene.
The boys have been surprisingly impressive both physically and mentally in dealing with daily( almost daily) rides. We had planned a 50km/day average but are really closer to 70Km.
We found a hotel.72 Lev/PER PERSON (in contrast with 50-100Lev total- we have been paying up until now)
Fortunately there was a second smaller hotel that has cost us 72 Lev total.
We are here .We had beers, then a delicious Birthday dinner and think we have confirmed that the border crossing 30 kms east is open ( tomorrow’s destination)
So we have done 100 Kms. that hurdle has been cleared.
But we have headed East rather than West so we will have to push a bit in Romania. When we get there.
Our time in Romania has been just fine. Perfect weather ( no rain ) ,lovely route, friendly and helpful people. A small sense of its history and its challenges. Better than expected mileage, accommodation a daily question mark. Our bikes and bodies have been behaving.
The people have been helpful and friendly. Language always a challenge but English is creeping in and on occasions an English speaker gets called to help us out .Our French has come in handy ,German would be better as it is more widely the second, third or fourth language.
We get waves, honks ,curious stares and in smaller villages a look of absolute dumbfoundedness as 3 bikes (one a TANDEM) fly through
Food has been more than adequate, prices reasonable, bread a bit boring. Red wine has improved compared to Turkey and we expect that to continue.
After a few days in Romania we will actually return for a day or two in Bulgaria before Serbia.
100 Kms !!! The Danube!!!- Every day a story that has been unpredicted as the day began. The wonder and appeal of traveling.
But it was coincidental with Griffin’s 14th Birthday so that seemed a bit more important subject.
But what it really has become is another chapter in this part of our adventure-
Cycling in Eastern Europe- How it can be (and has been ) exciting and unpredictable constantly.
April 16 2009 Griffin’s 14th and a ride to Nikopol ( on the Danube, on the Romanian border)_A planned 57 km ride.
Stunningly sunny-blue cloudless sky a bit cool but promising to be warm. (Warmest April on record)
Birthday hugs, greetings and special breakfast of croissant (not filled with raisins, cheese or any other filling), jam, fruit with coffee and hot chocolates to follow.
Griffin navigates us out of Pleven ( a busy city) without much of a hitch.
The ride is luscious , rural and varied with hills and flat stretches. Small towns, large farms.
Our first surprise of the day was in Varbica when we find ourselves directed to a dirt road through a farmer’s field ( griffin has an early tumble without injuring himself or sullying his new birthday jersey).This tractor path connects us as promised to the highway we were seeking.
We laughed as we carried on.
Lunch in Milkovica sitting in the town square,young students (more like sy’s age) milling around with ice creams on their lunch break. Introductory English, giggles and pictures taken.
Now just 20 kms. to Nikopol and soon we see the Danube ,wide and slow.The Bulgarian side showing evidence of the communist age with decrepit, rusting factories .I share my understanding of communist history to an interested Simon as we ride the tandem.
We have a late climb before riding into Nikopol , We pass the new ferry terminal (supported by the EU) to Romania.
1430 hours, 66 kms- time to relax. We eventually find the hotel -it wasn’t full, it was CLOSED.
We had been assured that there was a hotel but nobody confirmed that it was open.
So we thought we would head off to Romania only to find that although there was a new ferry terminal. THERE WAS NO FERRY and there wouldn’t be for months.
So we had to find an option, no accommodation and the nearest ‘confirmed’ hotel 35 kms away.
Without any complaining from the boys we headed of to Belene.The sun stayed bright and warm, the ride went easily ( after the 6 km. climb out of Nikopol) and as the GPS and Sy’s bicycle computer both ticked over 100 Kms.we arrived in Belene.
The boys have been surprisingly impressive both physically and mentally in dealing with daily( almost daily) rides. We had planned a 50km/day average but are really closer to 70Km.
We found a hotel.72 Lev/PER PERSON (in contrast with 50-100Lev total- we have been paying up until now)
Fortunately there was a second smaller hotel that has cost us 72 Lev total.
We are here .We had beers, then a delicious Birthday dinner and think we have confirmed that the border crossing 30 kms east is open ( tomorrow’s destination)
So we have done 100 Kms. that hurdle has been cleared.
But we have headed East rather than West so we will have to push a bit in Romania. When we get there.
Our time in Romania has been just fine. Perfect weather ( no rain ) ,lovely route, friendly and helpful people. A small sense of its history and its challenges. Better than expected mileage, accommodation a daily question mark. Our bikes and bodies have been behaving.
The people have been helpful and friendly. Language always a challenge but English is creeping in and on occasions an English speaker gets called to help us out .Our French has come in handy ,German would be better as it is more widely the second, third or fourth language.
We get waves, honks ,curious stares and in smaller villages a look of absolute dumbfoundedness as 3 bikes (one a TANDEM) fly through
Food has been more than adequate, prices reasonable, bread a bit boring. Red wine has improved compared to Turkey and we expect that to continue.
After a few days in Romania we will actually return for a day or two in Bulgaria before Serbia.
100 Kms !!! The Danube!!!- Every day a story that has been unpredicted as the day began. The wonder and appeal of traveling.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Early in the Cycle
We have left Turkey as of yesterday and begun the cycle 4 days ago! Departure from Istanbul was a bit scattered as we cleaned up final details of sending stuff to Canada (thanks once again Graham and his FedEx discount !!) How could we leave Turkey without succumbing to the carpet salesmen ?? Actually we did not buy a carpet….but a bit of stuff you will have to wait to see, and mostly we had to condense ourselves down to 8 panniers. The weather has warmed for our departure which has helped us to feel confident that we have enough warm clothes and wet weather gear.
Here here Amb’s journal entry for Day 1 of the cycle :
“ I am not sure if you call that a start or a story “
“Our first day of the 3 month last stage. Boys sleep like logs and hard to wake up. Leah and I sleep poorly and awaken early to a spectacular and dramatic call to prayer at the Blue Mosque (just outside our hotel window). Missed breakfast, no cab even though pre-booked, miss our bus (pre-bought tickets). How frustrating that was. The next bus is 30 minutes later and actually leaves an hour later. Sunny to drizzly/windy Thrace. Hyrabolu before noon and we set to work excited with spectators curiously congregating. No parts are missing. A torn plastic bag had not lost anything important but had been worn about by the chain of the tandem. This had been a worry. The first 2 single bikes came together easily, but as we put the tandem together we realize a chain wheel had been badly bent, cogs and ring. We were all devastated. Return to Istanbul may be our only choice, Amb may have to head back for replacement part. BUT the local spectators come to our aid. After tea-ing us (x3) and feeding us and offering cigarettes to Leah and I (really!): 1. They arranged the teeth to be straightened 2. Simon and I are driven to 3 separate places until we find a machinist who was able to straighten the ‘wow’ with an industrial metal press !! And this all without and English !! When Ambrose gets back excited, Leah is distraught about poor pannier fits. We realize we have never placed full panniers on the bikes prior to our crazed departure to fully test the configuration. We solve pannier and rack issues, remount the chain wheel, and Leah and Sy have a small tour with no noise, no skips, no derailing. Hooray !! We sit for another tea and consider our luck (both good and bad).
New pump also had never been used and needed some significant figuring out. At this point we realized we were not going to be cycling today after all and finished up the last few details when an English speaking (fair to good) teacher/internet café owner who helps us find a local hotel/restaurant/teachers residence. He also told us our planned route had a closed boarder crossing, so we plan to change our route……”
Anyways the chain wheel is holding and we are now in Svilengrad (pop’n 20,000 -- get out your maps!) in South-east Bulgaria taking a well earned and needed rest day (Day 5) Mileage has been unexpectedly large (53 km, 42 km, and yesterday’s 77 !! ) to bring us here. We realize daily mileage will be dictated largely by the location of accommodation. The remainder of our cycle in Turkey (the part they call Thrace) was characterized by further unbelievable hospitality and curiosity on the part of the Turkish. At one point an elderly couple stopped us in our tracks and insisted on us waiting while they ran inside and got us apples and oranges for the journey. Lots of hair ruffling and cheek pinching of the boys and apparent absolute delight and amazement in what we are doing, and the participation of the children. Via broken language we list the countries of our journey, and the reaction is incredulity!! People have been incredibly friendly and full of waves and hoots. One challenge early on was dogs on the edges of villages, coming out and chasing us. The first of these were really fierce and I heard Sy on the back of the tandem mumble in tears “I want to go home now”…and I didn’t blame him. However, gratefully the dogs that have followed have been much less scary and convincing and we are learning to ignore and just ride on.
Yesterday we crossed 2 boarders from Turkey to Greece then Greece to Turkey. We cycled though beautifully remote un-traveled feeling NE Greece limping from village to village over 2 unexpected steep long-ish climbs hoping for a Greek lunch along the way. However, the towns were sleepy tiny places with no restaurants so we plugged on with the food we had brought until we finally entered Bulgaria to a completely different feel again. Bulgaria seeming both more western and more poor (which translates into welcome lower costs for accommodation and food). We are staying in a Soviet era monstrosity hotel with commanding huge lobby and hundreds of unfilled rooms. No
Wi-fi internet in our hotel room, however, and so far the towns people much less interested in our tourist identity and lack of language. Virtually no English spoken with one shining exception of a woman named Deanna who has just returned home to Svilengrad after 14 years away studying in England and Switzerland. She has helped us to translate the menu and was a welcoming soul for our first night in Bulgaria.
Language will certainly by a challenge, and the alphabet is of course different (which we have not had to deal with in Tanzania or Turkey). It is amazing how when I think back that each stage of this odyssey has helped to prepare us for the next. First, our time in Africa helped the kids to adjust to being away from home, and to create a sense of home away from home (and daily they comment on what they are missing from Muheza, Sy especially) and to generally get used to the notion of other cultures and languages and how different it all can be. Turkey then prepared us for being nomads and creating ‘home’ with daily rituals and reading aloud and bonding as a family. Turkey introduced the idea of yet another culture, completely different again, and the sense of unbelievable history and complexity of the world. And now we are pursuing for sure the most challenging of all our time away, what with the added layer of intense physicality as well as regularly changing culture, language, alphabets, foods, religions and topography. Really a completely different thing, than spending 6 months stationary in Africa. In Tanzania, I felt that many before us has done what we were doing, but honestly, cycling through Thrace and receiving the hospitality and curiosity we did, made me feel that we were cycling on tiny rough roads where hardly a traveler had been (let alone a family of cyclists). This is both wonderful and a bit anxiety provoking !! (Amb, however, would never admit that… )
The boys are doing amazing on the bikes, Griff burning up the miles on his own bike, fully loaded panniers an all. Riding already 2 days more k’s than he has ever gone in his little life. Simon and I have been on the tandem together, mostly having a great time, him chattering and whistling (!) (are you peddling back there ??) and he seems to feel the wonder and accomplishment of it all almost as much as I am. Not that there wasn’t the odd muttering from the back of “this sucks” on the unexpected long hills yesterday, but I must admit I was thinking the same. It will take us some time to build up fitness and strength as we look ahead to the Balkan Mtns and the bigger Tartars of Slovakia….
Our sad news is that Sally and Rose will not be able to join us as expected in early May due to complications at Rose’s work not allowing her to go. We are all massively disappointed, especially the boys of course, but we are looking forward to cycling with Paul and maybe Ed beginning in mid May.
That’s all for now. Lots more but I have rambled enough. We are missing everyone and starting to get homesick in earnest. Trying to balance that with being fully in the moment here…
Xo Leah
Here here Amb’s journal entry for Day 1 of the cycle :
“ I am not sure if you call that a start or a story “
“Our first day of the 3 month last stage. Boys sleep like logs and hard to wake up. Leah and I sleep poorly and awaken early to a spectacular and dramatic call to prayer at the Blue Mosque (just outside our hotel window). Missed breakfast, no cab even though pre-booked, miss our bus (pre-bought tickets). How frustrating that was. The next bus is 30 minutes later and actually leaves an hour later. Sunny to drizzly/windy Thrace. Hyrabolu before noon and we set to work excited with spectators curiously congregating. No parts are missing. A torn plastic bag had not lost anything important but had been worn about by the chain of the tandem. This had been a worry. The first 2 single bikes came together easily, but as we put the tandem together we realize a chain wheel had been badly bent, cogs and ring. We were all devastated. Return to Istanbul may be our only choice, Amb may have to head back for replacement part. BUT the local spectators come to our aid. After tea-ing us (x3) and feeding us and offering cigarettes to Leah and I (really!): 1. They arranged the teeth to be straightened 2. Simon and I are driven to 3 separate places until we find a machinist who was able to straighten the ‘wow’ with an industrial metal press !! And this all without and English !! When Ambrose gets back excited, Leah is distraught about poor pannier fits. We realize we have never placed full panniers on the bikes prior to our crazed departure to fully test the configuration. We solve pannier and rack issues, remount the chain wheel, and Leah and Sy have a small tour with no noise, no skips, no derailing. Hooray !! We sit for another tea and consider our luck (both good and bad).
New pump also had never been used and needed some significant figuring out. At this point we realized we were not going to be cycling today after all and finished up the last few details when an English speaking (fair to good) teacher/internet café owner who helps us find a local hotel/restaurant/teachers residence. He also told us our planned route had a closed boarder crossing, so we plan to change our route……”
Anyways the chain wheel is holding and we are now in Svilengrad (pop’n 20,000 -- get out your maps!) in South-east Bulgaria taking a well earned and needed rest day (Day 5) Mileage has been unexpectedly large (53 km, 42 km, and yesterday’s 77 !! ) to bring us here. We realize daily mileage will be dictated largely by the location of accommodation. The remainder of our cycle in Turkey (the part they call Thrace) was characterized by further unbelievable hospitality and curiosity on the part of the Turkish. At one point an elderly couple stopped us in our tracks and insisted on us waiting while they ran inside and got us apples and oranges for the journey. Lots of hair ruffling and cheek pinching of the boys and apparent absolute delight and amazement in what we are doing, and the participation of the children. Via broken language we list the countries of our journey, and the reaction is incredulity!! People have been incredibly friendly and full of waves and hoots. One challenge early on was dogs on the edges of villages, coming out and chasing us. The first of these were really fierce and I heard Sy on the back of the tandem mumble in tears “I want to go home now”…and I didn’t blame him. However, gratefully the dogs that have followed have been much less scary and convincing and we are learning to ignore and just ride on.
Yesterday we crossed 2 boarders from Turkey to Greece then Greece to Turkey. We cycled though beautifully remote un-traveled feeling NE Greece limping from village to village over 2 unexpected steep long-ish climbs hoping for a Greek lunch along the way. However, the towns were sleepy tiny places with no restaurants so we plugged on with the food we had brought until we finally entered Bulgaria to a completely different feel again. Bulgaria seeming both more western and more poor (which translates into welcome lower costs for accommodation and food). We are staying in a Soviet era monstrosity hotel with commanding huge lobby and hundreds of unfilled rooms. No
Wi-fi internet in our hotel room, however, and so far the towns people much less interested in our tourist identity and lack of language. Virtually no English spoken with one shining exception of a woman named Deanna who has just returned home to Svilengrad after 14 years away studying in England and Switzerland. She has helped us to translate the menu and was a welcoming soul for our first night in Bulgaria.
Language will certainly by a challenge, and the alphabet is of course different (which we have not had to deal with in Tanzania or Turkey). It is amazing how when I think back that each stage of this odyssey has helped to prepare us for the next. First, our time in Africa helped the kids to adjust to being away from home, and to create a sense of home away from home (and daily they comment on what they are missing from Muheza, Sy especially) and to generally get used to the notion of other cultures and languages and how different it all can be. Turkey then prepared us for being nomads and creating ‘home’ with daily rituals and reading aloud and bonding as a family. Turkey introduced the idea of yet another culture, completely different again, and the sense of unbelievable history and complexity of the world. And now we are pursuing for sure the most challenging of all our time away, what with the added layer of intense physicality as well as regularly changing culture, language, alphabets, foods, religions and topography. Really a completely different thing, than spending 6 months stationary in Africa. In Tanzania, I felt that many before us has done what we were doing, but honestly, cycling through Thrace and receiving the hospitality and curiosity we did, made me feel that we were cycling on tiny rough roads where hardly a traveler had been (let alone a family of cyclists). This is both wonderful and a bit anxiety provoking !! (Amb, however, would never admit that… )
The boys are doing amazing on the bikes, Griff burning up the miles on his own bike, fully loaded panniers an all. Riding already 2 days more k’s than he has ever gone in his little life. Simon and I have been on the tandem together, mostly having a great time, him chattering and whistling (!) (are you peddling back there ??) and he seems to feel the wonder and accomplishment of it all almost as much as I am. Not that there wasn’t the odd muttering from the back of “this sucks” on the unexpected long hills yesterday, but I must admit I was thinking the same. It will take us some time to build up fitness and strength as we look ahead to the Balkan Mtns and the bigger Tartars of Slovakia….
Our sad news is that Sally and Rose will not be able to join us as expected in early May due to complications at Rose’s work not allowing her to go. We are all massively disappointed, especially the boys of course, but we are looking forward to cycling with Paul and maybe Ed beginning in mid May.
That’s all for now. Lots more but I have rambled enough. We are missing everyone and starting to get homesick in earnest. Trying to balance that with being fully in the moment here…
Xo Leah
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)