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Meike Grothe

Addicted to travelling. Openminded. Adventurous. Curious. Sportive. Different cultures and countries. Love the mountains. Exploring the world.
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  • Discover Poland
    Day13

    Białowieski national park

     June 16 in Poland ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    Another great day on the Green Velo. It was sunny and the head winds were not too strong 😉 Our route led through Białowieski National Park on the border to Belarus. It's a huge forest with lots of wildlife. We were lucky enough to see a Bison next to the road. They are actually bred in the area.
    In the afternoon, we stopped at a big lake hoping for a nice swim. But unfortunately, the water was too dirty, so we just had burger, fries and a beer instead. Some 30km later, we found another lake where we could finally swim and cool our legs. Afterwards, we just cycled another 30km before pitching the tent. We had some trouble finding a good camp spot today as many suitable looking places were fenced or too close to houses or farms. So in the end, we set camp in a forest where we had to hurry up to avoid too many mosquito bites.    Read more

     
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  • Discover Poland
    Day12

    Gravel road adventures

     June 15 in Poland ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    Another day, another ride along the Eastern boarder of Poland. We continue to follow the Green Velo and it had some surprises for us. First, we passed some really charming villages with lots of storchs nests. It also seem to be a local holiday region as we saw some cute wooden holiday homes. There's also a lot of signs advertising for kayaking or paintball.
    Then we had to cross a river again. The ferry sign indicated a modern ferry. At the first crossing point, there was no ferry at all, so we had to turn around and cycle to the next one some 15km down the river. Here, we did find a ferry, but it was more the old kind of boat/raft where the guys even had to do some manual work in order to move it across the river.
    On the other side, the cycling route was still very pretty. We passed lots of old wooden farms and colourful churches - all away from any major traffic. However, we had to paddle hard to enjoy these beauties. A huge part of the trail was on washboard or sand, sometimes on cobble stones. None of this is easy to cycle nor fast...
    After about 125km, we reached a lake, went for a swim amd pitched our tent in the nearby forest to call it a day.    Read more

    2
    Jim Cochran

    Looks delicious! What stove are you guys using? Always love the pictures of food and beer. 😀❤️🚴🏻‍♂️

    1dReply
    Her Bert

    We are using the primus omnifuel ti. That one works with almost everything...may be also with the local Wodka 😅

    1dReply
     
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  • Discover Poland
    Day11

    Tri-border area

     June 14 in Poland ⋅ ⛅ 18 °C

    Strong winds from the North today - and we had to cycle North. First along the Ukrainian border, then along the border to Belarus. At least, it's flat here and some parts of the Green Velo lead through the forest where the trees protect you from the wind. In the late afternoon, the wind calmed down, so we pushed it to 155km. Exhausted, we found a "vintage style" accommodation, cooked dinner and enjoyed a beer on the porch of the farmhouse.Read more

     
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  • Discover Poland
    Day10

    A rainy day

     June 13 in Poland ⋅ 🌧 14 °C

    Our day started with a huge breakfast at our guesthouse. Even Herbert didn't manage to try everything. However, we were well prepared for a tough day against the wind and through the rain.
    Most of the bus stops here provide good shelter against bad weather here, so they were our friends. In the end, we had to put on our rain gear and were still pretty soaked by the time we arrived in Chelm where we were happy to stay with Klaudia and her family in their dry house.Read more

     
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  • Discover Poland
    Day9

    Cycling on the green velo

     June 12 in Poland ⋅ ⛅ 23 °C

    This morning, we started cycling on the Green Velo. First, we followed the signs to Ulanow. The bike path on this stretch was quite disappointing as it was basically a bike lane next to a secondary road leading through many look-alike villages.
    We missed a turn and decided to navigate ourselves to get to a point of the velo further East. And straight away, roads became more of an adventure :) The soil here is super dry, basically all sand, so it's kind of difficult to cycle off road. However, it's definitely more fun!
    In Bilgoraj, Herbert finally bought the smallest amount of strawberries he could get: 500 grams. He had been longing for this all trip so far. From here, the Green Velo became more interesting, going on remote roads through the forest, all away from the main traffic. When we arrived at Rostoczanski National Park, we saw some nice-looking farm accommodation and decided to not go on and wildcamp but take a room instead. The strong rain predicted for the night was an additional reason 😉    Read more

     
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  • Discover Poland
    Day8

    Historical Sandomierz

     June 11 in Poland ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    During the night, we heard a male deer barking close to our tent which sounded quite funny. The advantage of sleeping in the tent is that you hear all those animals out there. The disadvantage of pitching the tent in high grass is all the insects, worms and snails you can find in the morning all over your stuff. But who cares, nothing that kills us 😉
    Our route today took us to many tiny villages. There's heaps of agriculture near the river. Until today, mainly crops, potatoes, etc. Today, we also passed many orchards (pears, apples, plums), at one point our path led through the middle of two rows of apple trees.
    In addition to churches, you can find all kind of Jesus and Virgin Mary statues and sanctuaries in the gardens and along the roads. We stopped counting...
    After another ferry crossing, we arrived in the historical town of Sandomierz in the afternoon. First, it started to rain, so we had to hide for a while. Then, we could visit the old town with its cobble stone roads, churches and other historical buildings. The area here is also the center for Polish vineyards. However, when we tried to find a regional wine in the supermarket, we were unsuccessful, so I reckon they are not too good.
    At the end of the day, we stayed at a hotel at night as we had to wash our cloths.    Read more

    11
    Jim Cochran

    Oh, I miss the beautiful cobbles.

    5dReply
    Jim Cochran

    Always love your stories and photos.

    5dReply
     
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  • Discover Poland
    Day7

    Riding along river Weichsel

     June 10 in Poland ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Our next goal is to reach the Green Velo along the Eastern boarder of Poland. We considered two options: a Southern route along the Carpathan Mountains or the inland and shorter round along the Weichsel. In the end, we decided to take the shorter route along the Weichsel as it will pass Poland's wine region.
    It was an easy ride: a nicely paved bike path and all flat. Only the wind wasn't too much in our favor. We saw many animals on the way, storchs, deer, rabbits, birds. The further East we got, the less people we saw. In Zalepie, houses are colored with flowers, so we had a stop to look around. Once, we also had to cross a river by ferry which was also interesting. For the night, we pitched our tent next to the river hidden in the high grass.    Read more

    1
    1
    Christl Baro

    Ich bin so froh dass sie wieder eine Radtour machen. Ihre Fahrt voriges Jahr bis in die Türkei war so interessant , ich habe sie direkt miterlebt. Gute Fahrt 🤗

    6dReply
    Jim Cochran

    That’s some fun riding!

    6dReply

    Tarn-Zelt ... [Michael]

    5dReply
     
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  • Discover Poland
    Day6

    Kraków - great place to live

     June 9 in Poland ⋅ ⛅ 24 °C

    An early start and breakfast at a petrol station = business as usual. Afterwards, we visited the concentration camp of Ausschwitz - Birkenau and thought about cruel humans can be. What a dark side of history! The site itself was closed, so we could only visit from the outside.
    From here, we had planned a route to Kraków on komoot. But when we discovered there is Eurovelo 4, we just turned off the navigation system and followed the signs instead. It was a pleasant ride along river Weichsel, quite easy, especially with tailwinds.
    In Kraków, we checked into a hostel and took off to explore the city. We walked around the centre and the castle. But what we liked most was the Jewish quarter Kazimierz. It's full of bars and cafés, little shops and a totally mixed crowd of people. We spent quite some time walking around, having drinks and dinner. What a cool city!    Read more

     
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  • Discover Poland
    Day5

    Detouring industrial area

     June 8 in Poland ⋅ ⛅ 25 °C

    The area between Wroclaw and Krakow is quite busy, city after city, factory after factory. We are trying to avoid most of it by cycling a detour South of the straight route between those two cities.
    Most of the time, we are lucky and find some remote streets or even awesome forest roads. Thus, we can see some wildlife such as rabbits, storchs (even with babies already) or, like today, a wild pig. In Poland, there's churches everywhere, and their architecture differs: some look like the ones in Germany, some are wooden like the ones in Romania, some are of communist style, some look quite modern.
    At the end of the day, we found a nice lake again and went for a swim. There were toilet facilities including running water. We cooked our dinner on one of the park benches and headed to the woods before it got dark. The mosquitoes tried to kill us, so we had to hide in the tent very early.    Read more

     
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  • Discover Poland
    Day4

    Exploring Breslau

     June 7 in Poland ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    We had a coffee with Michal and Martyna and got a lot of recommendations about where to go and what to see and eat in Poland. That's what we enjoy about the warmshowers network: you really get to meet the locals ❤️
    First on our list for today was a visit of Wroclaw centre. Quite some impressive buildings everywhere. And all the water and islands and bridges and beachbars and restaurants and cafés make it a really nice place to be. We bought some breakfast at the bakery, sat down at the main square and watched the people.
    Afterwards, it was time to move. The way out of the city was nice as we could cycle along the River Odra, mainly on gravel, on a dam and through forests. After some 40km, we had to go on roads, some remote, some pretty busy. The area here is flat, so not much to see. The villages reminded us of rural Romania, maybe with a slightly younger crowd, but generally not much going on.
    Our challenge in Poland is to find water. Whereas in Turkey, there were water sources every x km to fill up our bottles, there is nothing comparable here. So we ended up in a gas station again.
    Shortly before the end of the day, we passed a lake and jumped into the chilly water. Fresh and clean, we cooked dinner and cycled a little bit more until we found a cosy spot for our tent on a hidden field.    Read more

    2
    Anne-Kathrin Ernst

    Was habt ihr diesmal für ein Zelt ? Es sieht kleiner aus🤔 Gute Fahrt weiterhin 🚴

    1wReply
    Her Bert

    Ja, das ist wesentlich kleiner. Wir haben das Gewicht optimiert damit es die Schwerkraft auf den Bergetappen schwerer hat 😁

    1wReply

    Sieht sehr toll aus, ich drücke euch mal wegen dem Wetter die Daumen. 😁🌞 [Miagi]

    1wReply
     
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