No More Taxi Drivers - CycleBlaze

No More Taxi Drivers

An ex-backpacking novice takes on Europe in winter (and then spring)

By Stephanie P.
6,325 km (3,928 miles) over 116 days between Jan. 16, 2015 and May 11, 2015
Introduction: Looking for a better way to travel heart 2
Challenges: aka Reasons people think I'm crazy heart 1
Approximate gear list: This is what happens when you go cheap in a foreign city heart 3

Turkey

Getting Ready: A taste of Istanbul traffic heart 5
Day 1 - Istanbul to Kemerburgaz: Why, oh why, didn't I start in Holland? heart 3
Day 2 - Kemerburgaz to Akalan: Bring on the trucks and the dogs heart 6
Day 3 - Rest Day: Equipment trouble, the nicest village in Turkey, and a change of plans heart 3
Day 4 - Akalan to Sultankoy: There is no momentum, only gravity and wind heart 3
Day 5 - Sultankoy to past Tekirdag: Getting the hang of it heart 3
Day 6 - to Kesan: Hills, hills, hills heart 3
Day 7 - Rest Day heart 0

Greece

Day 8 - Kesan, Turkey to Alexandroupoli, Greece: I biked to another country! heart 2
Day 9 - Alexandroupoli to Palladio: First day of rain heart 4
Day 10 - Palladio to Palio: First 100km day ever heart 3
Day 11 - Palio to Apollonia: Two types of people heart 0
Day 12 - Apollonia to Thessaloniki: Brutal day heart 2
Day 13-14 - Rest Days heart 2

Macedonia

Day 15 - Thessaloniki to Gyavato: A change of pace heart 1
Day 16 - Gyavato to Stobi: Riding at night heart 3
Day 17 - Stobi to Prilep: Into the mountains heart 6
Day 18 - Prilep to Bitola: Floods heart 2
Day 20 - Bitola to Resen: Snow day heart 2
Day 21 - Resen to Ohrid: Beautiful winter day heart 3
Day 23 - Day trip from Ohrid: Shattered delusions of grandeur heart 4
Day 25 - Ohrid to Debar: Unnecessarily up heart 4
Day 26 - Debar to Gostivar: I'm not in the mood heart 4
Day 27 - Gostivar to Skopje: Insanity. Why else would I do this? heart 5
Day 28-30 - Lazy days in Skopje heart 6

Serbia

Day 31 - Skopje to Vranje: One month wiser heart 2
Day 32 - Vranje to Leskovac: Winter was supposed to keep the bugs away heart 0
Day 33 - Leskovac to Nis: Headwinds - 4, Me - 0 heart 3
Day 34 - Nis to Paracin: Headwinds - 7, Me - 0 heart 0
Day 35 - Paracin to Radinac: Unexpectedly long day heart 0
Day 36 - Radinac to Belgrade: Really bad road heart 0
Day 39 - Belgrade to Krajisnik: Puppies, kittens, and my best day in Serbia heart 0

Romania

Day 40 - Krajisnik to Timisoara: Riding right off the map heart 0
Day 41 - Timisoara to Arad: Nowhere to go heart 0
Day 43 - Arad to Satu Mare: I cheated heart 0

Ukraine

Day 44 - Satu Mare to Berehove: Back in the USSR heart 0
Day 45-46 - Getting to Lviv: Relax, can't you see how eerily calm it is? heart 0
Time off in Ukraine: We all have baggage heart 0

Poland, Part 1

Day 51 - Lviv to Przemysl: The final frontier heart 0
Day 52 - Przmysl to Rzeszow: Rewriting the tourist brochure heart 0
Day 53 - Rzeszow to Tarnow: Sorry, Poland, if I keep misspelling all your place names heart 0
Day 54 - Tarnow to Wieliczka: Good thing the earth decided to be flat today heart 0
Day 55-56 - Rest days not in Krakow: I spent my days off working in a salt mine heart 0
Day 57 - Wieliczka to Szczawa: Winter strikes again heart 0
Day 58 - Another village name I can't spell: Sneaking into (and out of) Slovakia heart 0

Slovakia

Day 59 - Cerveny Klastor to Vrbov: Steep hills and dead legs heart 0
Day 60 - Vrbov to Spisska Nova Ves: Perfect weather to sit outside and not bike heart 0
Day 61-62 - Days off: Lazy and stupid heart 0
Day 63 - Spisska Nova Ves to Bacuch: Victory at last! heart 0
Day 64 - Bacuch to Banska Bystrica: ...and then I ate the bowl! heart 0
Day 65 - Banska Bystrica to Levice: Why do you hate me so, Slovakia? heart 0
Day 66 - Levice to Diakovce: How many Slovaks does it take to change a lightbulb? heart 0
Day 67 - Diakovce to Bratislava: Eurovelo 6, the hard way heart 0

Austria

Day 69 - Bratislava to Tulln: Unfinished business in Vienna heart 0
Day 70 - Tulln to Persenbeug: And this is why everyone else goes west to east heart 0
Day 71 - Persenbeug to Linz: This really is Eurovelo 6 the hard way heart 0
Day 72 - Linz to Vyssi Brod: What mountain? That's a small hill heart 0

Czech Republic

Day 73 - Vyssi Brod to Cesky Krumlov: Easy, pleasant day (boring for you, great for me) heart 0
Day 75 - Cesky Krumlov to Jindrichuv Hradec: If this is spring, I want winter back heart 0
Day 76 - Jindrichuv Hradec to Trebic: Be careful what you wish for heart 0
Day 77 - Trebic to Brno: Once a cheater, always a cheater heart 0
Day 79 - Brno to Boskovice: No time to lose, so I wasted a few hours heart 0
Day 80 - Boskovice to Stity: More of the same heart 0
Day 81 - Stity (CZ) to Frankenstein (PL): Easter Beatings heart 0

Poland, Part 2

Day 82 - Frankenstein to Wroclaw: The snow is gone but I found something worse heart 0
Day 83-84 - Badly needed rest days heart 0
Day 85 - Wroclaw to Witoldowo: Enchanted forests heart 0
Day 86 - Witoldowo to Poznan: An ordinary day in Poland heart 0
Day 87 - Poznan to somewhere in a forest: Making fun of Poland again heart 0
Day 88 - somewhere in a forest to Torun: The wind wins heart 0
Day 90 - Torun to Kwidzyn: Long day and not much to say heart 0
Day 91 - Kwidzyn to Gdansk: From the Bosphorus to the Baltic! No, wait, I still have a few weeks left. heart 0
Day 92-93 - G'day Gdansk heart 0
Day 94 - Gdansk to Orneta: Rushing across Poland heart 0
Day 95 - Orneta to Ketrzyn: Tomorrow will be far more interesting heart 0
Day 96 - Ketrzyn to Duly: When Nazis roamed the earth heart 0

Lithuania

Day 97 - Duly (PL) to Leipalingis (LT): Just try to stop me heart 0
Day 98 - Leipalingis to Spengla: When Soviets roamed the earth heart 0
Day 99 - Spengla to Vilnius: When Aussies roamed the earth heart 0
Day 101 - Vilnius to Kaunas: Well, that was easy heart 0
Day 102 - Kaunas to Jurbarkas: Spring ride heart 0
Day 103 - Jurbarkas to Silute: A rocky ride heart 0
Day 104 - Silute to Klaipeda: I don't want to talk about it heart 0
Day 105 - Day trip to Curonian Spit heart 0
Day 107 - Klaipeda to Plokstine: Strangewind or: How I Learned to Stop Pedalling and Love the Bomb Museum heart 0

Latvia

Day 108 - Plokstine (LT) to Zante (LV): My longest ride yet heart 0
Day 109 - Zante to Riga: Back on the Baltic heart 0
Day 110 - Riga to somewhere along the coast: Life's a beach heart 1

Estonia

Day 111 - to Parnu: Oh no, the Germans are coming heart 0
Day 112 - Parnu to Roosna-Alliku: The unusual subtleties of Estonian heart 0
Day 113 - Roosna-Alliku to Sagadi: Tanks and guns and the oldest park heart 0
Day 114 - Lahemaa National Park: Inching toward Tallinn heart 0
Day 115 - Lahemaa to Tallinn: Still feels like winter heart 2
So I guess this is it heart 0