Balkan to Baguette. As if there are no Baguettes in the Balkan. As if there’s no Balkan in Baguette country. With the open European borders, well the ‘semi-open borders’ since some of the EU-countries tend to close them ever so often, you can luckily taste Balkan in Baguette. And if they have Baguettes in the Balkan? That’s what we hope to find out over the next few months.
In June and July we try to cycle from Athens to Geneva. We cycle to the Greek coast and from there we cross Albania, Montenegro, from there into Croatia, we make a bit of a loop through Slovenia before we make a wine-wave into Italy and finally we conquer five Alp-giants before finishing in Geneva.
Our initial plan was to finish in Lyon but apparently the Thalys and TGV are not bike-friendly. After our horrific, but life wise, Japanese railway adventure we decided to make it a little ‘easier’ this time and cross the Alps instead of a smooth ride along the Rhône.
To be totally honest, our preferred destination was Porto. A little more Balkan, Beach, and Barolo forced us to leave Portugal for what it is. A country left from us. As long as you look at it standing on a globe facing Holland from the south. Being still in the lion-shaped land of a semi-finalist in the Champions League named after a Greek God, Cheese, Kinderdijk, and of course Pony Park Slagharen, Portugal is on the right, if you face the south. Just to be clear.
So why do we want to cycle the Balkan? Why not book a bus tour in Brazil, go hiking in the Himalaya, or chill in Chile? We thought about South America, discovered the option of cycling Scandinavia including the north of Germany and Estonia, maybe from Rotterdam to Porto along the Atlantic Coast. In the end the sun, that we fear a little at the moment, the food, the excitement of all the ‘new’ countries we are going to explore made us book a flight to Athens.
Oh and why we take the bike? Freedom. To care about some basic things in life. Do I have enough water, enough food, where am I going to sleep tonight, will I make it there before dark? To be able to see everything and to see a lot. In a car you go too fast to see everything, when walking you don’t see a lot. When cycling you experience a country to the fullest. You feel the wind, you feel the mountain, you feel the rain soaking your clothes, your hair, cooling your body. You feel the sun, the downhills and in my bad experience the asphalt. Cycling is manic, I love it and I hate it. Every year, every month, every day and every hour.
The coming months we will post our stories and pictures on this website. Balkan to Baguette. From us, to you.
