Not only is cycling a fun way to see a country, it's also a fantastic way to get some exercise and get off the beaten path. You're not zipping by in a 250 km/hour train (okay, we did that at one point from Berlin to Vienna--no joke--we were traveling at 155 mph), but rather you are out in the fresh air and the elements, smelling the fruit being harvested or the fields being worked, stopping when something looks interesting and greeting locals as you pedal by. A normal day of cycling is roughly what a vehicle does in an hour.
This is the 4th summer we've done a cycling trip and the 5th tour we've booked with a FABULOUS cycling tour company called Top Bicycle. They are a Czech owned and based company and really do a wonderful job at organization, support, lodging choices, daily maps, and handling 'the little things', like providing each rider at the start of the trip with a water bottle, granola bar, GPS for easy mapping, reflector vests and leg bands, and a local cell phone 'just in case'. We highly recommend them to any of you looking for a fun adventure in their part of the world. Their link is below.
http://www.topbicycle.com/BTWienKrakow.htm
We flew to Berlin from Ulaanbaatar to meet up with some friends we met on our 1st cycling holiday, a bike and barge trip we did in Italy in 2014. (See blog posting 'Italy by bike' Aug/Sept 2014). Katrin and Heiner have become good friends of ours and since Italy, we have seen them on each of our 4 summer cycling trips we've taken in Eastern Europe. Two summers ago, they rode part of the 2nd leg of the trip we took from Austria through Czech Republic to Dresden, Germany and we stayed with them a couple of nights in Berlin back then. We will stay with them again this year. Thanks friends!
This year they picked us up at the Berlin airport, Tegel, which is in need of a major face-lift -- apparently a new Berlin airport has been in the construction/discussion phase for years but they are years behind.
Katrin and Heiner surprised us with a very fun weekend in Himmelpfort, Germany, ~85 kms/55 miles north of Berlin where they have a 'summer cottage'. We had a delightful time walking the small village and around the 3 lakes of the village, taking an all-day boat ride on the many navigable rivers in this part of Germany, all while trying to adjust to the new timezone, before the start of our bike trip.
Ready for a boat ride
Bigger boats were out on the water as well
A small houseboat--that would be a fun type of trip as well...hint, hint...these are rentals...
Approaching one of the locks
Residents of the area
A little cold for Aly, but the rest of the gang took a 'cool' swim...
The small town of Himmelpfort was cute, surrounded by water (as per the map below) and did live up to it's literal translation of 'heaven's gate'.
Himmelpfort is one of 7 post offices in Germany where children write Santa (or Father Christmas) and every letter gets answered--they are very proud of this claim to fame...
We stayed with Katrin's mother in the house where she was raised. During the war, her family lived in the basement while the Russians occupied the 2 floors above ground...wow...if only these walls could talk.
Katrin and Heiner's summer cottage
One of our many delicious breakfasts on this trip
A weekend harvest of fresh veggies and home made apple juice
After 3 nights with Katrin and Heiner, we took the 'fast train' to Vienna, transferring twice...once in Munich and once in Salzburg to our destination of Vienna. We absolutely LOVE Vienna. Our favorite ice cream shop is only blocks from the hotel which we often stay in, the Hotel Austria.
We had planned a rest day in Vienna as we had not yet experienced wine tasting in the vineyards surrounding the city. Easily accessible by public transport, we went to taste, not only some of their finest, but this years wine as well, or what's locally known as a 'Heuriger'. What a grand way to begin our trip...the below is the small village where local wines are produced and sipped...
Vineyards
Samples with some local cheese and bread
Yummy!
Leg 1 of our bike trip -- ~300 miles and 9 days...
Day 1 of our bike trip -- Stockerau, Austria - Mikulov, Czech Republic -- 75 kms / 47 miles
We were met and briefed by Tom, the owner of the company and he gave us a lift to the outskirts of Vienna, to the small town of Stockerau, where he fitted us with our bikes, and set us on our way.
Fall and fall harvest is in the air...
Riding through Weinviertel (wine quarter) towards Czech Republic
Beautiful sights along the way...
and voila, Czech Republic
Remnants of the iron curtain
We found our Hotel Galant in Mikulov
The quaint town of Mikulov with nearby Saint Hill
13th century Mikulov castle
A beautiful rooftop view of the town and the area
This cute rock 'house' in Mikulov...
Day 2 -- Mikulov - Brno, Czech Republic -- 75 kms / 47 miles
Nove Mlyny reservoir
Our hotel Barcelo in downtown Brno
Fancy place...
Brno--the capital of Moravia (this part of Czech Republic) and 2nd largest city in CR
Church of St James
Moravian Gallery--2nd largest art museum in CR
Dinner on the square
Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul
Day 3 -- Brno - Sloup -- 45 kms / 28 miles
We left the big city of Brno and headed into the hills of the Moravian Karst Protected Area...very beautiful, with the deepest abyss in Europe and too many caves to count. The caves in the region date back some 350-380 million years with discoveries over the years proving that the Neanderthal people roamed the countryside. The entire area was fascinating.
Exit of the Punkevni cave
A cable car ride up to the top so we could look down into the Macocha Abyss, the deepest in Europe
Macocha Abyss or Gorge--it's a LONG way down there...the deepest in Europe
We rode into the small town of Sloup where we stayed for the night...
and visited one of caves not as busy. This is the entrance of the Sosuvka cave on the edge of town
Beautiful stalagmites and stalactites
Exit of the cave
Sloup's Our Lady of Sorrow's church
We stayed in the Hotel Stara Skola--a pleasant stay with really nice helpful staff
Day 4 -- Sloup - Olomouc -- 62 kms / 39 miles
The weather didn't hold for us, and on day 4, the rains began...we rode much of the day in the rain, so not a lot of photos taken. The ride was still quite beautiful.
Made it to the town of Olomouc and stayed in the pension Kriva on the edge of old town
Neptune Fountain
Holy Trinity Column
Town Hall with the only OTHER astronomical clock in CR (besides Prague)...
The clock is beautifully decorated in Socialist style with mosaics depicting the 'heroes of society', the working class and their varied occupations.
St Moric Church
A restaurant on the main square where we had dinner...
but resisted the cakes...
We did have to check out a local shop...systematically crammed full of goods...
Day 5 -- Olomouc - Teplice nad Becvou -- 55 kms / 34 miles
A beautiful day cycling...we came upon Lipnik Chateau with the oldest roof garden north of the Alps.
St. Francis' Serafin Church
Behind the St Francis church you'll find the monastery school, where Gregor Mendel, the 'father of genetics' studied for a brief period of his life.
Leaving the town of Lipnik Nad Becvou we found our pension about 20 kms further down the road.
While out walking, we came upon this cute playground with hand carved wooden statues
Day 6 -- Teplice nad Becvou - Stramberk -- 42 kms / 26 miles
Leaving our penzion, we came across this old refurbished hay baler...can it still work? Maybe...
An old collapsing barn
Crossing the river on this foot bridge...
Entering the small village of Hustopece nad Becvou
Entrance to Hustopece Chateau
Traditional Walachian frgal pie (yummy with fruit filling) -- a delicious snack
Soon to enter the town of Stramberk with the castle of the same name towering above
St. Catherine's wooden church dates back to the 12th century
Staying at Hotel Roubenka--our favorite in a sweet town with a lovely view and super staff
We spent the afternoon walking up to the castle and around the town.
Parish Church of Jan Nepomucky
Looking down into the the town of Stramberk and the surrounding area from the tower
The gates to the castle
The tower
Aly found a friend...a castle kitty
More beautiful views of the area
A delicious colorful dinner after our town and castle tour...this was our starter...
Day 7 -- Stramberk, Czech - Cesky Tesin/Polsky Cieszyn, Poland -- 69 kms / 43 miles
The day started out misty and rainy, but somehow we beat the rains...
Last stop in Czech Republic...
Aly getting the private tour of 'how the hops are fermenting' to make their delicious beer and yes, those are women's stockings!
Moving on down the road...
Arriving in Poland--crossing the Olza River...
Staying at Hotel Cieszynski on the border just inside Poland on the Olza River
The town was interesting
Cieszyn Town Hall on Market Square
Day 8 -- Cieszyn - Jaworze/Jasienica, Poland -- 44 kms / 27 miles (vehicle lift to Oswiecim-Auschwitz) Another misty, rainy day...but still lovely with rolling green hills and little traffic...
Road signs when entering towns--even if you can't pronounce them!
This farmer was taking a break en route to his field--chatting with a friend
We arrived in Oswiecim, at the Hotel Galicja, after getting a lift with a pre-arranged driver, as the last section of road becomes laden with vehicles and is not bike friendly.
The town square
After spending the night in Oswiecim (we know this name in English as Auschwitz), the next morning the same driver picked us up to take us to the dreaded Auschwitz Concentration Camp where over 1.5 million people were sent to their deaths during WW2...below is the infamous entrance to Auschwitz.
Security was tight
Death was common
And real people, with real names lived and died here
A common crowded sleeping room
We had many photos, but felt the above few depicted the camp well...namely suffering and death. This entire area, inclusive of many countries east of the Iron Curtain where many of our recent bike trips have been are inundated with such history hidden amongst the natural beauty. We feel this history is something we should never forgot nor never repeat.
After our tour, the driver took us back to our bikes and we continued on to 'ride off the atrocities of Auschwitz'...
Day 9 -- Oswiecim - Babice -- 28 kms / 17 miles (then vehicle lift to Krakow)
This is the last day of this leg of this trip. Today would be a short day since much of the morning was spent touring the concentration camp. Leaving the last town on our 1st leg of our 500 mile bike trip...
The same driver met us down the road a couple of hours after he dropped us at our hotel. We rode, leaving Auschwitz behind us, something many never accomplished. We are the lucky ones.
We were happy to leave this area, though quite beautiful today, its history is heavy in the air.
We arrived at our final destination, meeting our driver where he would take us the remaining kms into Krakow via the interstate. What a GREAT 1st leg, 9 days and 308 miles from Vienna. The below is in celebration of not only 308 miles ridden, but also in wishing Buddy a VERY HAPPY 70th BIRTHDAY!! We will celebrate in Krakow later this evening...
Krakow
We stayed at the Avena Boutique Hotel in Krakow--very nice, 2 blks from old town and across from a quaint neighborhood market
Our German friends, Katrin and Heiner, came to Krakow to celebrate Buddy's 70th birthday. We had a good time, but were in bed early, as it had been a LONG day!
Nice veggie Polish potato pancakes with mushroom sauce! Happy Birthday Buddy!
Katrin and Heiner returned to Germany and we spent 3 nights in Krakow, playing tourist before the 2nd leg of our cycling trip. It was not high tourist season, but the old town was packed with tourists. Krakow is the 2nd largest city in Poland and dates back to the 7th century, so there was much to see.
A neighborhood market across the street from our hotel
We chose a 1/2 day of sightseeing in this fascinating city by golf cart
Krakow Barbicon -- a fortified outpost, the old gateway to the old city, now a museum
The inside of the Barbicon--inside the city walls
St Florin's Gate
The old market square, also known as the Cloth Hall, dates back to the 15th century when traders would bring their cloth, spices and other wares for trading and sale.
St Mary's of the 14th century, on the main square. A trumpeter in one of the two towers, starts a tune every hour on the hour and then stops mid-tune commemorating the original trumpeter from the 13th century who was shot in the throat while sounding the alarm to alert the city of an attack.
Juliusz Slowacki Theatre, 1893
Sights in Krakow
Bust of Pope John Paul II who was born and studied in Krakow
St Catherine's Church
St Stanislaus Church at Skalka and the beautiful grounds
Interesting pretzel-y type snacks sold very cheaply on the streets...just okay...we did try one
We made our way to the Jewish Ghetto and the 1st stop was the Tempel Synagogue...
The neighborhood today is booming with various Jewish shops, restaurants and stores.
Szeroka Square is a lovely park with a memorial in the Kazimierz district
A plaque recognizing over 65,000 Polish Jews who died during WW2...
This is probably one of the most profound memorials in Krakow, very similar to the Danube shoes in Budapest, 'the Ghetto Heroes Square', with 33 empty bronze and iron chairs. The square was the entrance to the Jewish Ghetto and directly across the street from the Eagle Pharmacy. The chairs signify not only the loss of life, but the destruction of life...the Germans threw all the furnishings of the Jewish people into the square...a chair is a chair...but these chairs are small reminders...
And not far from Heroes square is the museum of Schindler and his factory, the Pole/Nazi who protected Jews during WW2...
...with the famous Schlindler's gate...
...and wall of survivors...
WHEW...an intense ending to our 3 days in Krakow...time to get back on the bike and pedal that energy away...
Leg 2 of our bike trip...Krakow to Warsaw... ~200 miles
Day 1 -- Krakow to Zawada Pilica -- 40 kms / 25 miles
The ~200 miles we cycled from Krakow to Warsaw followed (somewhat) the Pilica river, the longest tributary of the Vistula river of which both flow through central Poland. We wound our way through the quaint countryside and small towns. The route chosen by the company who gave us the maps, much was off the beaten path, on back roads and with little to no traffic...Poland was new to us and the sights were lovely...see what you think...
Our 1st night out of Krakow, we stayed at the Hotel Amazonka -- seemingly out in the middle of nowhere...with no town in sight...we came out of the woods and voila, our hotel!
Day 2-- Zawada to Przedborz -- 65 kms / 40 miles
Our 2nd night we stayed in the small town of ~3,600 inhabitants, Przedborz, in the Pension Parkowa right on the main road.
The beautiful Roman Catholic church in Przedborz...
With bronze statues in the garden adjacent to the church...
Day 3 -- Przedborz to Sulejow -- 40 kms / 25 miles
We left Przedborz and continued northeast
A lovely spot down by the river with a long old pedestrian bridge...we did not test our fate...
We cycled into Sulejow, and found our hotel for the night, a Best Western Plus, an old converted abbey, the Sulejow Abbey dating back to 1176. The abbey and grounds were stunning...
The 'lobby', kept much like it was in the 'old days'...
Look how thick the walls are? The hallways had piped in chanting and 'electric' candelabras. Latin messages engraved in the ceiling beams such as these two, 'Ordo cisterciensis' or 'Order of Cistercian' - a Catholic order of monks and nuns who followed the rule of St. Benedict and 'Bonum uesperem' or 'good evening'...
Our room was comfortable
And a 'monk' mural painted on our room wall made for a calm protected feeling.
The grounds
The Romanesque church of Saint Thomas Becket of Canterbury on the grounds
Unfortunately the old walls were left unattended...
Wooden statues on the grounds...
A happy couple after a day of cycling and touring the grounds...
Day 4 -- Sulejow to Spala -- 45 kms / 28 miles
Another beautiful church in Sulejow
With a gorgeous cobalt blue ceiling...
A rest stop at a reservoir where it was too chilly for a dip, but nice for a wade...
And a stop later one for a cold Zubr at a roadside shop or 'sklep'
We continued on our way to our next hotel
Outside of the town Spala, Hotel Prezydent...
A lovely day riding through the forest, crossing the river multiple times...
Arriving at a small fish and chips place, where we ordered chips and beers to sustain us until dinner...
and our Hotel, the Dworek nad Pilica
Day 6 -- Nowe Miasto nad Pilica to Warka -- 80 kms / 50 miles
This will be our last day of riding...and it started out rainy and cool...
A few churches along the way...
And a welcomed sight a 'sklep' (shop) where we bought a snack as we had been riding for a few hours without seeing anything open
Aly talking (ha!) with the sklep-keeper!
We finally arrived in Warka (about 60 kms south of Warsaw) at our last hotel of the bike trip the Hotel Klondike--our least favorite hotel of this trip...
We did it! Cycled ~500 miles when all said and done...
Despite the ugly hotel, the celebratory ice cream was well worth it!
Arriving in the city and our 1st sights...no, we didn't rent them!
WOW! Warsaw is quite the modern city...in the newer part of town...
The old Palace of Culture and Science was across the street from the modern main train station...
Church of the Gracious Mother of God and skyline in Old Town, Warsaw...
The Vistula River and the ever-changing colorful bridge -- we had evening drinks on the boat
Touring Warsaw
Hotel Bellotto
Royal Castle
National Stadium
Market Square
Tourists!
Another street mime! And Warsaw is known as the home of Chopin...
The beautiful Market Square with open art market
Gas lamps down a steep narrow stairway leaving old town
Thanks Dana and Kim for the wonderful tour...
The Presidential Palace
Hotel Bristol built in 1901 withstood war and flourishes today...
Changing of the Guard
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
A lovely way to end our trip in Warsaw...with a beautiful setting sun...
We left Warsaw by train and headed to the Gdansk/Sopot/Gdynia area, known as the tri-city area on the Baltic Sea. Gdansk is an old seaport taken over by the Germans during the war and later returned to the Poles.
Gdansk Train Station
Central Hotel where we stayed...
After the war...today, the city is beautiful, bustling and growing...
Entrance to the old town through the Golden Gate...
Gdansk National Museum (or Green Gate) as seen from the long market (Dluga St).
The Motlawa waterfront which put Gdansk on the map as a shipping and trading city
Looking through St Mary's Gate to St Mary's Basilica
The old 'crane' building dating back to 1367, used to function as a crane and load and unload boats as well as hoist ship masts. Today the building houses the National Maritime Museum.
The renovated waterfront today with many restaurants and tourist shops
Beautiful evening shots in the old town with all the reflections...
Great Arsenal--rebuilt after the war and is now a museum
Views of the area from the top of St. Mary's Basilica
The 'Green Gate' now the National Museum
Gdansk is still recognized for its Amber trade as its location on the Amber Road dates back to the 16th century.
St Mary's Basilica of the late 1300s and the Royal Chapel of 1681
'Four quarters fountain' -- 4 lions representing the 4 neighborhoods of Gdansk
We took the 30-minute train to the seaside tourist resort of Sopot, on the Baltic.
Sopot is home to the longest wooden pier in Europe at 515.5 m or .3 of a mile into the Baltic where many come to spend their day on the beach and enjoy the sun.
We left the Gdansk/tri-city area and headed west towards Germany, stopping for our final 3 nights in
Poznan to visit the well known university and Renaissance old town. We found our way to our hotel in Poznan, the Puro Poznan, before heading out to tour the city
The Town Hall on the main square dates back to the 16th century. Every day at noon, 2 tin billy goats come out of the tower and butt heads.
Colorful houses where craftsmen and tradesmen sold fish, candles and salt in the 16th century
Old town Poznan at night
Kaiser's Castle built in 1910 for the German Emperor William II, now a cultural center
Buddy with one of Poznan's oldest fictional characters, Stary Marych
...which they do...
National Cathedral
We walked to and around the ~6 kms Lake Malta most famously known as the oldest man-made rowing and canoeing venue in Europe.
Buddy resting on the bench with the architect of the lake, Klemens Mikula...
The last day in Poznan, we visited Citadel Park, today honoring many in their War Memorial Park...
With an exhibit of headless, the 'unrecognized' dead...
A permanent display of old tanks...
Old aircraft...
And a cemetery of Poles, American and other allies who died here...
What a fabulous 4 weeks...so much history, much of it really sad, but we had many days of lovely cycling, fun train rides, great company, along with beautiful sights and lasting memories...
