With the arrival of morning (you know, at 3 AM) came a persistent bout of hip pain. We’d clearly be staying put today. Ben had loads of work to get done anyway, and our campground has a decent internet connection and a lovely fjord view. I’d never been so glad to be sitting tight. […]
With the weather as cold as it was yesterday, we let the morning settle a while before hitting the road. I left camp wearing a base layer, a jacket, and leg warmers. As we warmed up, we shed layers and then later, as we rolled through shade or downhill, we’d add some more. Temperature challenges […]
Weeks of research had left us with a bit of a puzzle. We didn’t have time to ride all the way to Norway, but land travel was seeming to be completely ridiculous. To get from Krakow, we’d need a long train or a car rental, a 19 hour ferry, and two seven hour train journeys. […]
Our last day in Krakow has snuck up on us a bit too soon, but our flight has been booked for weeks, so today we’ve simply got to get ready for our flight to Norway. First though, we wanted to visit the Jewish quarter of the city. Naturally, we didn’t do much prep work […]
We were on the fence about whether visiting the Wieliczka Salt Mine in Krakow was something we wanted to tackle. We visited a salt mine in Germany a couple of years ago, and while we had a nice time, salt mine visiting isn’t something you need to complete really frequently. Still, this one boasted some […]
With plans for a real rest starting today in Krakow, we planned to visit Auschwitz concentration camp today. From our campground, the endeavor involved a bus, a tram, and a minibus, (roughly two hours of transit in one direction) and an extra shuttle between the two camps making the visit an all day endeavor. Traveling […]
Ben: After some long debates about whether or not to make an extra hard push and ride all of the way to Krakow, we decided it was in our best interest. The ride was 120-130 km, but covered some steep hilly terrain as we dropped out of the high Tatras and involved a border crossing […]
We woke to clear skies and cool temperatures – a perfect day for a hike in the High Tatras. We ate breakfast at the hostel and set out. I intended to complete a 7 hour hike up the mountain to a saddle and down the other side where I would take the bus back. Bree […]
We weren’t loving our campground or location on the south side of the High Tatras, so as morning broke we packed all of our stuff and headed out around the mountain to a small town nestled cozily at the foot of the mountains. While at Hostel Mostel in Valiko Tarnovo we were tipped off to […]
We made slow work getting out of our guesthouse this morning, eating the included breakfast and working hard on logistics for phase two of our journey. When we finally got on the road, we rolled downhill for miles of shaded forest, leaving us grateful we’d gotten a late start. Without any real pedaling to get […]
It occurred to me this morning, shortly after we made another early departure, that waking up early to beat the heat when the temperatures are this cold is completely insane. My long sleeve wool layer was far inadequate and as I chased Ben up the gentle incline, I was outright freezing. I was also pretty […]
It has been following us around for a few days now, but the shattering exhaustion from high paced sightseeing in Romania followed by a series of big cycling days has finally overtaken us. Our legs are devistatingly tired, yes, but it is more than that too. I’m physically run down, my mind fixated on the […]