The north of Bulgaria was wide empty countryside and quiet back roads. As we followed
the Danube east the fields became filled with endless rows of drooping sunflowers past their prime. The friendliness of the local people amazed us as every day someone gave us food and drink and we were even welcomed into homes. Bulgaria will always be special as we now have an always waiting home for us in the tiny village of Malak Izvor with Sabrina and Sabatine.
Here are some facts and figures from our time in Bulgaria:
- 638 km cycled (longest day 109 km on the day we entered Bulgaria, shortest day 20 km)
- 0 nights in campsites (there weren’t any enroute!), 6 nights free camping, 5 nights in real beds inc 1 night with tobacco farmers
- 2 broken chains on bikes – 1 for each of us
- 5 new holes in tent from trapped crickets
- 5 tomatoes given to us by strangers
- 3 days we battled swarms of flies on long slow up-hill climbs
- 3 frappes drunk (by Justin)
- 2 conversations held in languages other than English or Bulgarian (Spanish and Italian)
- 2 fresh pears given to us as gifts
- 2 swims in thermal water (thanks Emma’s old workmates for the leaving present)
- 2 ice cold cokes offered while we filled up with water
- 1 very memorable home cooked meal
- 1 cheek pinched by elderly villager (Emma’s)
Justin will remember: Meeting local people intent on giving us directions and finding yet more holes in Bessie our tent.
Emma’s best cycling moments: First uphill climb for ages to ski field stormy free camp then pure downhill the following morning.
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Bulgaria confounded us a bit on the food front: we struggled to find fresh bread shops like those we had been accustomed to in the rest of the Balkans and fresh fruit and vegetables weren’t on shop shelves where we expected to see them. At the end of this day of food we decided to treat ourselves to a stay at the posh Hotel Bulgaria in Minerali Bani. – Posted by Emma
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We had 34 days in Spain and we can’t yet say that it was the best country we’ll see on this trip, but it sure beats our rainy exit from the UK. Spain, we’ll miss your chocolate filled croissants, hospitable people and wonderful tarmac (most of the time). – Posted by Emma + Justin
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We cycled into Serbia through a national park, spending our first night as guests in a tiny farmhouse just outside Mokra Gora. The hospitality of our first night was repeated many times throughout Serbia whether by people buying us coffee, campsites offering free pitches and breakfast snacks, or an international canoeing group welcoming us to their campsite. In Belgrade we learnt a lot from our great hosts Aleksander and Milica. We left Serbia after a loop around the Danube which, despite bugs and breakages we’d started to grow quite attached to. – Posted by Justin
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We’ve always loved Italian food, and while we had some substandard focaccia and gelato in Italy, overall the cuisine lived up to our expectations (oh and the scenery was spectacular as well). We left food heaven with more insect bites than we arrived with, possibly more weight (see gelato figures below) plus fantastic memories of the roads we travelled and the people who stopped to talk to us in every small town we passed. Here are some facts and figures from our time in Italy. – Posted by Emma
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Entering France to sunny skies and 24km of downhill we thought our endless summer of cycling had truly begun. It quickly turned unseasonably cold, but camping in the snow, cycling through prehistoric gorges and learning how to make bread were all things that made us forget the weather. – Posted by Emma + Justin

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