Day 11

We reached our goal, we got here, we did it! Krakow is now a dream that came true and we rolled into it on our bikes. Few people can say that they left behind kilometers, villages, cities, serpentine roads in 11 days while crossing on their bikes 4 countries on bikes in cold and in rain or in sunshine living a nomadic lifestyle.

Of course our last biking day didn’t begin with us casting a magic spell that suddenly took us in Krakow. So let’s start with the beginning. Sometimes around 9 AM “at dawn” the inhabitants of the wooden cabins - us – woke up slowly. It wasn’t easy leaving this fairytale-like landscape, but thanks to the traditional Polish breakfast, which would haven a SIIIIIN to skip, we could enjoy the sights a bit more.

True to our traditional setting we faced today’s route as three teams. Nature is such a wonderfully built thing, that whenever a biker fights his or her fight with an uphill road, as soon as that’s conquered, he or she is immediately rewarded with a long downhill stretch. Of course it didn’t last for long, within the next ten kilometers we were greeted by the already familiar landscape spattered with hills, so it was like uphill and downhill again and again.

Everything went according to plan up to the moment when the second team took a wrong turn off the main road. How did they manage to get lost exactly nobody knows, legend has it that they enjoyed the expedition so much that they decided to do an extra 15 km on the last day. Of course if you ask the bikers themselves, they’ll have a rather different opinion, but that’s what the legends say… Luckily within an hour we were all back together again and nobody was in any danger.

When the second team arrived, it was obvious that we cannot arrive in Krakow without bowing to one of the yummiest bike expedition traditions and having some original Abundance-French toast. We pulled over from the main road in doubtful conditions, Paul set up the mobile kitchen and we began preparing the expedition’s trademark yumminess. Among the secret ingredients we mention as absolutely necessary the following: forty tons of cobblestones (for the Polish taste), a hectare of corn and a pinch of illegality.

Krakow didn’t give in easily, 20 kilometers from the city we still faced some upward struggle. But it was worth it! Our road led us into the city through villages, between gardens until we met Marcin and Viola, they led us through the city while they parked our cars in a safe place. Thanks for the help and the excellent caramel candy!

At Momotown (our accommodation place in Krakow) we were greeted by a round of applause. It was an awesome feeling reaching our final destination, to hug each other and laugh together. It’s difficult to describe how we felt in those moments, but one thing is sure: we are grateful to those at home and everyone who trusted us!

In the following two days we’ll discover Krakow, its bustling life!