Bike Ramble - Cycle Adventures on Planet Earth
I love this place. In fact I don’t really want to leave here. Sure, I spend a lot of time feeling like I’m either melting or on fire but it’s definitely worth it. And today, finally, the air conditioning has been fixed in my room and for once I can’t wait to go to bed.…
A day of cycling South West from Budapest and you will arrive at lake Balaton, also known as the ‘Hungarian Sea’. At 200km around it’s the largest lake in central Europe and lucky for me has a cycle path the whole way round. A short journey on the South along the waterfront path led me…
I woke up this morning and wondered what country I was in. The inside of my tent looks the same no matter where I am. So I was glad when I remembered that I am in fact in Hungary, outside the back of a hotel, in the Northern part of Budapest. I actually wanted to…
Today I finally awoke from my slumber to explore the city – after a couple of nights drinking in the many cheap bars (1euro for a pint!), clubbing on a fake beach next to the Danube (they also have a club in a nuclear bunker – at least if there’s nuclear war the Slovak’s have…
So for some reason when I woke up in the hostel yesterday I decided to try and cram all my stuff into the two big panniers on the back of my bike. I have been thinking about it for a while now. After some serious unpacking and repacking I’ve manage to squeeze everything in, minus…
After some windy cycling South from Brno, I was glad to be in Vienna. This is a city of class and quality. The buildings are a showcase of architecture from Baroque, neo-Gothic to modern glass skyscrapers. Every street is pristine. The food is good and the people are friendly. I even got a guided tour…
I had the pleasure of taking some really nice cycle tracks yesterday around the wine region of the Czech Republic (thanks for the tip Petr!). The government has sponsored the development of the region and has installed over 1000km of cycle tracks. They aren’t really direct routes to anywhere, it’s more of a scenic thing.…
I really like this city. It’s like an uncomplicated version of Prague. Easy to get around and easy to see the sights. The people are, like most of Czech, quite friendly. It rained nearly all day I was out but I think it tells you something if a place is still beautiful in the rain.…
On Monday night I started my journey to Brno, Czech Republic’s second largest city, and never made it out of Prague. I spent around an hour looking for a cycle path that would supposedly take me all the way there but I couldn’t find it. Turns out it’s only signposted once every mile or something…
My last day in Prague. Last night I went out for dinner and had roast bunny rabbit in sauce – it was awesome. It cost around £7 and was the most expensive thing on the menu. After I went to see a jazz band play in the ‘Jazz Club’ and they were good but the…
I went on my first guided tour yesterday and it went very well. It was called a free tour but you still have to give a tip. It was great though, was really worth it and the guide took me places I would never think of looking. This is the first city I’ve been to…
The last three days I cycled about 65 miles a day from Wroclaw to Prague. I never actually left for the Czech Republic on Tuesday because there was thunderstorms aaalll day so it would have been pointless to try and leave. But on Wednesday the weather cleared a bit and I set off South towards…
Been in the Claw for 6 days now. I really like it here. I’ve been super lazy in Poland, I’ve sat about waaay more days than I’ve cycled. It becomes so much harder to cycle with all the bags and stuff if you stop for too long. Especially when your diet is 50% beer. So…
Wroclaw doesn’t sound anything like it’s spelt. It’s actually pronounced ‘Frot-swav’ but I’m just going to call it THE CLAW it’s easier. It’s much busier than Poznan and a little more modern. The city is covered in pubs, restaurants and spectacular churches. You’ll have no difficulty in finding a cheap place to stay either with…
So if your ever going to cycle through Poland, don’t go by the main roads, take the scenic (safe) route. I got lost half way between Poznan and Wroclaw so I asked a local nearby who spoke quite good English. I said I want to go here and pointed on the map. She said you…
It’s been a great few days here in Poznan. The hostel I’m staying at, Blooms, is one of the nicest hostels I’ve been in. The staff are friendly, the rooms are really clean and its only £6.50 a night including breakfast. I met two guys from Finland here on Sunday so I have been busy…
Today was a bit crazy. So I crossed the border finally and find myself in Poland and can’t find anywhere to change my Euros into the Polish money (Zloty) and can’t find a cash machine. The only food I have with me is a bag of rice, some bread and a pot of jam. As…
I’ve been quite busy here in Berlin: Visiting museums, checking out the malls, seeing all the sights. It’s a pretty cool city. For some reason there’s graffiti absolutely everywhere you look. There’s a good subway and train and tram system for getting around but it’s also pretty easy on a bike. The roads are not…
Arrived in Berlin today. I got to Yohann’s flat and he’s like lets go climbing! So I find myself climbing an abandoned WW2 bunker a couple of hours later. It’s not the kind of staffed ‘we are safe’ climbing wall, it’s more of a turn up with a bit of rope and see what happens…
Potsdam is a nice little town just South West of Berlin. I met up with Clara and Tino yesterday who have kindly let me stay in their flat and today we had a look around the Sanssouci Park. It translates from French as ‘without concerns’ or ‘carefree’ and it’s a well chilled out place. It’s…
Woke up at 7 this morning, super early for me. I don’t know why because I only had to cycle around 25km or so today. At least the weather has changed. It was about 25 degrees today and going to be 30 maybe tomorrow. I cycled round the Schwielowsee lake through all the little towns,…