Rest, repairs, recuperation, relaxation in Belgrade

Posted on November 25, 2011 by Bryan Keith

Snežana and I ended up spending over two weeks in Belgrade.  Eventually we just had to choose a day to leave since it became obvious that the list of things to do might never end.

DSCN6160 by bryandkeith on flickr
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Posted in Bicycle touring, Serbia | Tagged | 3 Comments

Tour de Karpaty ends in Beograd

Posted on November 15, 2011 by Bryan Keith

Exactly three months after Snežana and I were in Bratislava, we crossed the Danube again on the nasty Pančevo Bridge and rolled into Belgrade.  Big city, big traffic.  The biggest city I’ve been in since Vienna and probably the poorest bicycle facilities of any big city I’ve pedaled in Europe.  Less than one km from the end of Tour de Karpaty, a woman opened her car door in front of me.  Trapped between tram tracks and a curb, I knew I was passing her too closely.  Over the handlebars I went, and I landed running on my feet.  A man at the crowded bus stop patted me on the back, smiled, and said something to the effect of “keep on keeping on.”  Bob Dylan fan?

DSC_0326 by bryandkeith on flickr
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Posted in Bicycle touring, Serbia | Tagged , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

The Danube and mountains of east Serbia

Posted on November 5, 2011 by Bryan Keith

We crossed the Danube for the first time since Bratislava, 2½ months earlier.  Bye, bye Romania.  The end of seven weeks of fantastic touring there.  Bye, bye the familiarity of a Romance language; back to Slavic-language land where, confusingly, malo means small and planine means mountains.  However, there is some familiarity.  Prijatelj is still friend, and half the signs are in Latin script (ah, Srbija/Србија).

Another pass by bryandkeith on flickr
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Fall colors in the Retazat Mountains

Posted on October 26, 2011 by Bryan Keith

After eight days in a row of hard mountain riding, a two-day rest in Alba Iulia wasn’t enough.  I knew it but felt pushed by the continued fantastic weather.  It couldn’t last, right?

Snežana and I entered and left Alba Iulia on lousy, narrow, under-construction roads.  Why do cities need to be surrounded by such messes?  Two turnoffs from busier roads took us to us to a nice, quiet climb through the Metaliferi Mountains.  We found a wonderful, quiet, cold campsite — it was the first hard frost of the trip.

DSCN5794 by bryandkeith on flickr
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Posted in Bicycle touring, Romania | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | 5 Comments

The highest Carpathians

Posted on October 16, 2011 by Bryan Keith

I feel like the last time I wrote all I could do was gush enthusiastically about Romania as I ran out of superlatives.  This has to stop, really.  Then after crossing the beautiful rolling hills of Transylvania, I arrived in Sighişoara.  I ought to have a whole blog babbling on about this charming town, and I ought to have enough photos for an entire album.  I can see why someone might come to Romania just to visit Sighişoara.

DSCN5545 by bryandkeith on flickr
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Posted in Bicycle touring, Romania | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments