Europe

#03 - 02.02.2009, Istanbul, Turkey:

The days we spent cycling between Varna in Bulgaria and Istanbul on the Bosphorus showed us the explanation for the name of the Black Sea quite clearly. We had rain every day, sometimes just a drizzle, on other occasions it poured and we were wet to the bones. Our impressions of the coast are mixed - on the one hand we saw wonderful landscapes, on the other hand large parts of these landscapes have been plastered with hotels and holiday homes. The landscape changed once we entered Turkey and it was remarkable how people were even more friendly and interested in us. The busy city of Istanbul hit us with full force, never still for a second, but it gave us the opportunity to take the first break on our journey since leaving home and spending some time with friends getting to know the city.
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#02 - 23.01.2009, Varna, Bulgaria:

From the wintery cold of Central Europe we made our way through the impressive scenery of the Iron Gate in Serbia, not before enjoying a superb Serbian dinner on Serbian New Year’s eve at the family where we hosted for a night. Emerging from the tight Danube valley in the mountains of the Carpats we found the flat south of Romania welcoming us from its friendliest side: sunshine, positive temperatures and a few days of tail wind. Meeting with an old work acquaintance near Bucharest before we crossed the hilly and windy north-east of Bulgaria and hit the Black Sea in Varna, which we didn’t find black at all…. Plenty of time until Georgia to find out why it’s called this way.
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#01 - 11.01.2009, Novi Sad, Serbia:

Unsurprisingly for the middle of winter in Central Europe, it is cold! Unfortunately, at the moment it is really cold, as a cold spell has had the area in a firm grip ever since we left home nine days ago. Unimpressed by this, we have plowed through the winter and reached Novi Sad in Serbia today. These first few days of travelling have already shown us the friendliness of people towards travellers, especially if they have chosen the rather unusual means of a bicycle to move around in the middle of winter - people are very open towards us, many greet us, we have already been offered milk and tonight even a place to stay at someone’s home, in case the hostel here in Novi Sad was full.
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