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<\/a>Decathlon! C\u00e9dric’s been dreaming of warm bike tights and granola bars for a long time. The most awaited sight in Istanbul!<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Some of the goods<\/p><\/div>\n
The second day was a little more standard with a tour of a few famous mosques, the grand-bazaar, then strolling through small streets, getting the traditional fish-sandwich under the Galatasaray bridge facing the golden horn, and finally walking around the Hagia Sofia and the blue mosque. We had little interest to queue or pay to get into any museum and other tourist attraction, so we spent the entire day just enjoying the city, walking around and getting food whenever something felt interesting! We had been slightly annoyed in the eastern part of Turkey that lots of restaurants had reduced (or \u201cnot available today\u201d) their menu to only Donner and Kebab, so we could finally enjoy some more varied Turkish and Mediterranean dishes.<\/p>\n
<\/a>A view into the city<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>The Sultan of Istanbul, on top of his 4-star hotel<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Inside a mosque<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Hello Istanbul!<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>One of the many cats of Istanbul… a lot friendlier than dogs<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Bazaar time!<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Fish sandwiches are found here on the Bosphorus<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>The Basilica Cistern, once an underground water reservoir dating from the Romans – unfortunately now under major renovations, so a little less impressive.<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Finally, some vegetables with our meat!<\/p><\/div>\n
We left on day three after a gargantuan breakfast at the hotel, direction Edirne \u2013 the last city before entering Greece \u2013 and a three-hour bus ride. The best way for cycling around Istanbul is simply to avoid it entirely, and because bridges over the Bosporus are again not made for pedestrians or cyclists, the only way is to take a ferry near the Dardanelles strait. For us being already in the European part of Istanbul, that was not really an option, so we would see most of the Turkish Thrace from the window of the bus. Before that we eventually had to struggle with yet-another not cooperative bus-driver: although confirmed by the company, again at the ticket counter, the bus driver just refused us to put our bicycle in the cargo. We hardly understood his reasoning, given that the cargo was far from being full, and he gets the random extra-charge requested directly in his wallet\u2026 after some discussions not going anywhere, Cedric just went in the cargo compartment, reorganized all the bags to free enough space for a whole cycling team, and put our bike inside. The driver threatened to cancel our tickets and throw the bike outside but us running down the clock (and having the bike already inside), he put himself in the situation to create some delays and so we finally got to leave.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Satisfied after round three of the breakfast buffet<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Day 2 in Istanbul and the weather looks good from the bedroom!<\/p><\/div>\n
Once in Edirne (and luckily without any damage to the bike), we were surprised to see so many tourists from Greece and Bulgaria. Edirne was the former Ottoman Empire capital, and has thus similar monuments as Istanbul, but just across the border for Bulgarians and Greeks. It is also a cheaper place to go shopping for them, so tens of buses unload their passengers for some quick-sightseeing followed by a shopping frenzy, mostly cheap plastic things, counterfeit products and lukums… We walked around the city and its multiple mosques or monuments, also enjoying the Aegean Sea warmer temperatures at the beginning of November. We finished our day with a huge plate of Tava Ciger (fried strips of liver), one of Edirne\u2019s most famous dishes.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Another bus ride and nothing broken this time – just another unhelpful driver!<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>The Selimiye Camii mosque in Edirne, the blue Mosque of Istanbul is a copy of that one but with a lot less tourists in here (back then the Ottoman capital was Edirne)<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Showing off the female headgear<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Dome art<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>The Macedonian tower<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>The busy streets of Edirne on a Saturday evening<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Trying to figure out what to eat with fried liver<\/p><\/div>\n
The next morning, C\u00e9dric and I set off in the direction of the Greek border. The morning was cool and misty, an enjoyable contrast to the icy temperatures in Eastern Turkey. As we rode east, we noticed that area felt more European than other places in Turkey \u2013 some streets still had cobblestones, people were less conservative, a lot less gender separation, and generally everything was more relaxed. We were also aware that this area is where many South Asian and Middle Eastern migrants attempt to cross into Europe; in theory, it\u2019s a quick swim (or boat ride) away is you don\u2019t have the right passport. As we bussed across Turkey, we met a few Pakistani guys who told us that their goal was to reach Germany\u2026 While they were looking and talking to us like if we were half-gods \u2013 they had obviously never or rarely been directly with Europeans before reaching Istanbul, we were hesitant to tell them that the path would be more difficult now, with an increased police presence, infrared cameras, and border fences. For us, the border crossing was relatively uneventful \u2013 we waited for our stamps and joked with the Greek police. Greece was for us a big step forwards and we were feeling almost home by entering the EU (and Schengen area, the Eurozone, etc.!). In the first Greek village, we spent the last of our Turkish money in a small shop and then headed south.<\/p>\n
<\/a>Prepared to cycle to Greece<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Cobble stones and horse-drawn carriages… it’s starting to feel a bit more like Europe<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>The European boy is in Europe again!<\/p><\/div>\n
Crossing a border is always surprising as it shows so quickly the differences between countries: Greece felt immediately cleaner, the buildings of a much better standard, but at the same time completely asleep \u2013 especially on a Sunday morning. While Turkey has multiple small shops in every town, Greek towns felt a lot less lively, with usually only a few supermarkets outside of larger towns. The demography is also clearly much older on the Greek side, and with the younger generations moving in larger cities, a lot of villages felt very lonely \u2013 although well maintained. Our entry into the Greek Thrace was yet enjoyable for cycling after the border, especially with large smooth roads with little traffic, often with broad shoulder, sometimes even with a service road. In the late afternoon, we found a camping spot deep in fields off the side of the road and enjoyed a night of near complete silence (there\u2019s always a few barking dogs somewhere).<\/p>\n
<\/a>In Greece, surprised to see so many Cotton fields – with memories of Uzbekistan (except that Greece uses heavy machineries instead of slavery)!<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>A Greek-style church<\/p><\/div>\n
<\/a>Cute towns, not much traffic, good weather, good food… we don’t ask for anything more!<\/p><\/div>\n
Once we awoke and packed our things, we hopped on the bike and headed for the coast. Although our plan was to spend just a few days in Greece before cycling through Bulgaria, we wanted to make the most of it by seeing the Mediterranean Sea (more precisely the Aegean Sea). In the morning, we followed quiet roads through empty cotton fields and olive groves. We arrived in Alexandroupolis and decided to treat ourselves to some Greek pastries on the side of the sidewalk- in the busy seaside town, I became aware of how out of place we must have looked since most residents were retired and wearing fancier clothes than bike shorts. After debating the route a bit, we decided to continue along the coast despite the uncertainty of paved roads. This turned out to be the best decision because the road became quieter and the views more impressive. We stopped for a picnic lunch on the construction grounds of an epic monastery that was being built \u2013 given the remoteness, we were wondering who was funding this project and why. As the day progressed, the olive groves became denser and the houses less, and we finally got an uninterrupted view of the sea. We continued following the shore on a rough dirt road \u2013 now only drivable for AWD – that felt as though it was a few millennia old (it was). As it approached the late afternoon, and having passed too many areas that looked ideal for camping, we found a nice spot between a few olive trees and overlooking the sea. This time, we didn\u2019t run into anyone while setting up our tent, but we did hear farmers harvesting olives off in the distance. We noticed some alignments of stones that looked a little strange – there are no straight lines or sharp corners in nature \u2013 we realized the following day that we had spent the night in an archeological site! Ups!<\/p>\n Our daily packing is complete!<\/p><\/div>\n Ready to ride!<\/p><\/div>\n See that liter of olive oil? We replaced a water bottle by some tasty Greek olive oil. That’s why C\u00e9dric sometimes gets banned from grocery shopping (he buys more interesting stuff though!).<\/p><\/div>\n Probably the only interesting thing we found in Alexandroupolis<\/p><\/div>\n Looking for more sights<\/p><\/div>\n A new church, a whole lot of marble, and some Greek vibes Searching for Ulysse (and the Sirens)<\/p><\/div>\n The beaches are largely abandoned for the season… not a soul in sight<\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/p><\/div>\n<\/a><\/a>