12th Unitarian Bike Expedition

There's no getting rid of our orange vests - not even on rest days! We have gotten so used to them that some put it on instinctively at the beginning of the day, and wear them all day. Bike or no bike, we stay orange. Ok, there might be a bit of an exaggeration in this introduction, but the important thing is that we went cruising in our vests, so that everyone could see that we're a team. Because that's how the day began: a quick muesli breakfast, and then cruising at the Iron Gates.

After five days of continuous cycling, rest is sweet. Especially while on the Danube, smitten by the beauty of the rocks. Of course many of us used this break to loaf around aboard, and the waters of the Danube were great to rock us into sleep. In our defense, we only slept on the way back, on the way there we discovered every nook and cranny of the ship and observed the landscape. Our trip was a bit like the descriptions of such landscapes in novels: beautiful, but really, really long. This was perfect for us, however, because we could rest after yesterday's more than 100 kilometeres (~60 miles) of cycling.

We spent at around three and a half hours aboard, and then in the dining hall of our dormitory, we ate our usual pate, cheese, salami and tomato menu. This day was fully centered on rest - in the afternoon some went to sleep as to break the routine, while others took a walk around the city, cleaned cars or biked around Orșova. Currently the legendary Bike Expedition french fries are being made, we are making a fire in the courtyard and we are slowly starting to feel ready to get on our bikes and cycle for another 120 kilometers (~75 miles) tomorrow.

Tomorrow will be our last day in Romania, Calafat is our destination where we will be sleeping in a small pension. From a biking point of view, this will be the last long day, because in Turkey we will only be doing 60-70 kilometers (35-45 miles) a day so that we can discover the beauty of the small Turkish villages and a world we couldn't really see while on a holiday. But this is a few days ahead of us, so let's get back to Orșova and the french fries, because we're starting to have an appetite.