on to Poland!

Here we are in the square outside of Maria's house where we met to begin the trip.


Opole
June 11, 91

Well, insensible me has gone on this wild adventure, but did you ever doubt it?

So far so good.



The change is the people between Czech and Poland is incredible! It is so nice to be back in a country where people are friendly. At the border I made a mistake (after having stood in line ups for hours!) and I thought, "Oh no! Now I will get yelled at and it is going to be a big problem!" Well, not at all! Everyone was very helpful and they put us in a room and gave us drinks while they found a guard who spoke English. We received a very nice welcome into their country. I commented that I was surprised at how friendly they were and they gave me their reasons why they believed the people were different stemming from a historical perspective.

The next change that was also immediately apparent was how green Poland was. As soon as we crossed the border, and there are lots of trees as well. There is still lots of industry and pollution here though. When we go through the towns the people look at us and some come and talk with us and they are interested in who we are and what we are doing.



The second night we stopped stopped to camp beside a little stream off the road a bit for privacy. The first day we went 130 km and we went only 100 km on day two because the border took so long to get across. The border guard had said we could camp anywhere we thought was good. We set up camp and I was bathing nude in the creek when an army patrol came along! Daniel stalled them and I got dressed real fast. We had picked to camp right on the border between Czech and Poland. (There had been a sign and I guess that was what it had said, whoops.) The men were nice about it though and one of them kept saying "big problem!" They had to wait for an officer and it took a while to solve the problem. Then they took us to a nearby farm and asked the farmer if we set up our tent on his land.

They had the sweetest little girl and she was very fun to play with. I am still amazed at how friendly everyone is.

Today we cycled 110 km. Again we slept on a farm. They offered us showers and have invited us to dinner! Great!! It was the best meal I have ever had I'm sure! When I asked what it was the farmer made sounds like a pig and indicated the blood dripping out from it's throat. Wish I didn't ask.



Bedzin
June 12, 92

Today we did 110 km and are again camping beside someone's house. And again they have asked us in for coffee and if we would like to bathe! It is so nice to be around such friendly people. Daniel and I aren't always getting along at this point. He is incredibly good looking but he is very headstrong.

Praha, week 3

June 6, 92

It has been a good week. I've enjoyed living in the flat and Maria is very nice to me. She is very happy to have someone here as she is not able to look after it herself. I cleaned her apartment when she was gone, not everything as that would take years! It is so dirty. She is very grateful. I am as well as it looks like I may not get paid for working either so I really need the good rent!

Csaba (another UBC exchange student from Hungary) came to Prague to see a friend who is studying here. We had a very fun weekend together. His friend has been studying here for 3 years and does not have one Czech friend. It seems like everybody has certain ethnic groups they don't like, there are communists, Slovaks, Czechs, Hungarians, blacks, skinheads and Gypsies. It seems like they all agree to dislike the Germans though and they said I look very German so it may be part of my problem here. I read an article in the paper that was "pro-skinhead" and said nice things about what they had been doing. I was told that the reason the Czech people like them is that they chase out the Gypsies.



We went to a Jewish memorial on a site where there was a children's' camp. It was very devastating. I had to leave. I can't even write about it now.



And here is a memorial set up for Jan who lit himself on fire here in protest of the communist invasion.


I have also met a tall and very good looking Frenchman who is going to cycle around Eastern Europe and has asked me to join him. I told him I only have $300 left but he said that is plenty. I showed him my bike and he think it is good enough. What an opportunity! Nothing has worked out here, except meeting Maria and living in her flat. Well, I could always go for one month and then come back and teach in a camp for the summer. The other program is supposed to be better anyways.

Daniel is being sponsored to do his cycle trip. He is planning on going north to Estonia and then heading east through Russia all the way to Mongolia and even Vladivostok!

Hummm....

Praha

May 18, 92

Well, I'm finally here! But so far I don't like it - it's so big and nobody has been friendly. It sure is a great place to be a tourist and to party though!

I had signed up for a student work abroad program and I was told that everything would be arranged for me. That someone would pick me up at the train station and bring me to my flat. So I got there and phoned my contact to find out where he was and he said just to walk to his office and told me that I could stay in a hotel until I could find a flat. The hotel he suggested was astronomically priced and I couldn't do that even for one night!



I phoned a contact number of someone that my parents gave me, a brother of someone they know. I expected a welcome at least and was hoping for an invitation, but the reply after I said who I was was, "Well, I can't do anything for you. You can call if you get in trouble I guess." So much for that.

So I went to the place where they were supposed to be helping me and they did find me a flat. However, the place they got me is 20 DM per night! I can't believe it is so expensive!! It is way out of town and very tiny. At least it is beside the metro (the very last station!). They insisted this was the very cheapest I could find here. I phoned the hostels and one costs 10 DM per night and the other two were 90 k and 120 k (about $5). I will move there after I am settled in if I don't find anything else. One of the girls that I will be working with said that she will help me find a place to let and that it is possible for 20 DM per month.

I managed to get someone to show me a bank and a grocery store. Now that was something else! You get a little cart and you drive around like it's a race grabbing everything you can. Then there are long line ups to buy each item. I bought bread, cheese, yoghurt and juice for about 100 k. I expected to have nice bread like there was in Germany but it was stale.

Today I managed to get almost fresh bread, at least it's not crunchy, but the cheese is awful. I hate standing in these long line ups. The beer is cheaper to buy here than the water and it's good!

But I certainly never imagined that a city could be so amazing. I can't wait to play tourist. Praha is truly majestic.





These are all pictures from the town square. There is a lot of restoration work going on as well. I can't believe the detail in the buildings. The astrological clock is amazing.

Konstanz

May 14, 2001

I had the best picnic today ever! My plan was to cycle around the lake but after a short time I was so negative I decided, why not stop? So I bought strawberries, yoghurt, really nice bread, 3 kinds of cheeses, sausages, ice cream and gummy bears (which I eat while I cycle). I climbed to the top of this hill where I was all alone - and in an orchard! The trees were still blossoming and the view was incredible.


I decided not to go on at all and just relax and enjoy myself. I took off my top and laid in the sun. I even fell asleep (under a tree as it was very hot, about 34C). It was great.



I stayed at a youth hostel with a water tower and an incredible view for 2 nights just outside of Konstanz. It had a curfew and some of us had gone out for beer and had to cycle like crazy to make it back in time.

And then from here it was to take the train from here to Siegen and into what was then Czechoslovakia. Nobody spoke English at the station and I had pre-purchased a ticket for my bike but they still wouldn't let me take it on the train with me. The man kept yelling louder and louder as if he thought if he hit enough decibels I would suddenly be able to understand what he was saying. He took me to the baggage people and stormed off.

Then they were telling me that I would have to take off all the panniers and that I needed an additional ticket for each bag. I was also told that they would not be traveling with me. So the bags went directly to Prague and I got on the train. I ended up in Siegen again and met up with another friend from UBC, Ekki and his sister also and then I was on the train again to Prague!

the Black Forest

May 12, 92

I began my cycling trek through the Black Forest...


The countryside is so beautiful. I really loved it here.
St. Peter and St. Margen are two idyllic towns in the Black Forest.
This was my first big hill on the trip. But the view was so beautiful.




And a perfect place to stop for a lunch break:

Switzerland

And into Switzerland!

What a beautiful country.






And here is the when the nicely marked road turned into a gravel path. And then it went narrower and narrower, and then there were stairs, and I had to carry my bike. And at the end of it I ended up on the wrong side of the lake!!!!!!!

but I would never have seen the following views if I didn't!

(Boy was I tired though!)


I made it to Konstanz in one day from Freiburg, although at 3pm when I was in Bondorf I was thinking about calling it a day. My goal was to stop at some town on the other side of the river, but I was feeling fine and just kept going. I was getting very frustrated with the nice detours but that would turn into little paths and then disappear. For the final 30km I decided to stay on the road. I was tired, but I was very happy and had done at least 140 km today.

and off to Germany!

The Beginning

I had taken my bicycle to Europe as almost an afterthought. At the last minute I thought it would be a good way to get around in Prague while I worked there for the summer teaching English. (I had no clue about cobblestone roads either!) So I found a bike box and my bike came with me.

May 2, 1992

I left Vancouver at 8am and arrived in Frankfurt at 9am the following morning. I had met some MBA exchange students while studying at UBC and one of them, Michael, let me stay at his place in Siegen for the first night. I spent a day there and got my bicycle ready for the trip.

And that is how it all began...


May 7, 92

I cycled about 100km from Bonn to Aachem.

Here is part of my journal entry:
14h00

I am in Duren eating an excellent lunch of buns and cheese, a kiwi, strudel and orange juice. I'm sitting under a cherry tree which is blossoming and has left a blanket of pink on the ground. And the church bells are ringing.

So far the cycling is easy. Not many hills, although the wind is in my face and slowing me down. Lots of farmland and very peaceful except for these jets flying overhead right now.

I'm going to have to ask directions from here - I hate asking because people I am often misdirected. The last shortcut I took I ended up very lost and had to come back the same way. I want to learn to speak German very badly!

Here are some pictures along my round-about route:









Freiburg May 11, 92

(Boy did I love this city!)

I stayed here with Eva, a friend of a friend. She lived with another woman with a child and a man. At that time I thought that was a very "forward" way of living. They all spoke English so that was nice as well. I am also surprised at the lack of such things as microwaves and answering machines. I am also blown away by the talk of politics and world events again and I just listen to all the neat ideas.

The view from the cathedral:

(I had climbed all the way up only to find you need to pay 1 DM at the top so I walked home and got it and went all the way back up again.)



We did a small cycle tour to the west and it was very nice. They have great areas set up for cycling! I decided that I would like to do some more cycling and thought the Black Forest would be a nice place to head to.

It was here that I also noted that I was running out of money. However, I thought that since I would be working in Prague I wouldn't have to worry too much.

So I tuned up my bicycle and headed east on May 12th.