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Category:

Ukraine

    EuropeUkraine

    Ukraine by bicycle – where Prut and Tscheremosh rivers flow, ...

    by Ewcyna 8 October 2016
    written by Ewcyna

    the view


    If not Bukovina region, I would have remembered Romania through the prism of few interesting stretches of sunflowers and corn. Here, in the green hills of the Romanian-Ukrainian border, the facades of houses seem to be woven of delicate lace. There are pastel in colour as layette newborn baby or decorated with colorful patterns and stripes. The roofs cover the houses as Sunday ironed tablecloth, gates invite you to enter with a subtle wooden cut-out. Comely are even yard buildings – the color of dark wood or painted in white and brown stripes with lofts plastered to the side. Almost every house and bypass constitute a kind of work of art, from which the world is getting happier and more beautiful – especially in the light of the sun of coming to the end, but still hot summers. I go every now and then stopping to admire and my head turns around.
    "Koronkowa" architecture of Bukovina

    "Lace

    the view the view the view the view the view



    I set off from Iasi by bicycle heading towards the capital of the region of Suceava, enough with the train pick-ups! Before entering the Ukraine I wanted to get to the foot of the Carpathian Mountains and visit at least one or two of the painted monasteries, which region of Bukovina is famous of.
    Leaving any big city, even on a weekend, is never a cycling pleasure, Therefore, as soon as I can I turn in a smaller way, then another, and another.. Although the area reminds steppe the villages here are rather well-maintained and the roads pretty good. As in Romania, horse carriages in large quantities pass by. In order to pass the minor hill as it seems to me I climb up already a few kilometers when the asphalt ends. In Romania, for “improving” the surface of smaller local roads they cover them with small stones. I try to cycle on, wheels barely turn, finally I let it go, walking sounds a better option. A car passes by and some men try to explain me something showing me to turn back, finally seeing me reluctant they give up and go. It’s one of two cars only that pass by me while pushing the bike for the next… 25 kilometers. Angry with myself for doing these shortcuts I fall in a roadside apple orchard exhausted and stay the night. But as we all know, the fatigue always passes and the apples are tasty, However, I promise myself to remember not to try any very local and tiny Romanian road any more.

    I head for the village Kaczyce (cacica), where to this day inhabited by the descendants of Poles, mostly miners' families, who were brought here with their families in the first two decades of the nineteenth century to the local salt mine. In the Polish Home, where as I've learned, you can spend the night by reading from the notice at the window "to get the key please call Ms. Krystyna or walk to her house ". Inside the house on the table I find a guestbook full of entries, However, this evening, no one apart from me sleeps there.

    The Polish House of Kaczyca, Romania

    The Polish House of Kaczyca, Romania

    The roof of the sixteenth-century monastery in the small village of Arbore, It resembles a hat mushroom mounted on thick, painted images in the leg. This is one of the famous painted monasteries Bukovina - small, rarely visited so the more likely there I appear. Scenes of scripture on the outer facades were painted to support the process of evangelism of illiterate people, that when gathered around sacred buildings could to look at scenes from Holy Bible.

    the view

    "Lace, Romania (XIII Century)

    Ukraine? Where are you going, there is a war there! I get messages full of concern from friends, mostly foreigners. Yep, the war is still going on in the east, the new Republic of Donetsk was formed and Donbas are is controlled by pro-russian militants.

    Here, in western Ukraine in spring 2014 year, "Lace. In villages and towns I come across crosses and plaques commemorating the struggle during the "blue revolution". From the pictures faces of men, mostly young look at me, sometimes even boys.

    Plaques commemorating the fallen, south-west Ukraine

    "Lace, Ukraine

    the view the view

    When I entered, I was not prepared for such a big economic shock. Since my last visit to Ukraine has passed 7 years (Often there will not be 2009 I pedaled around Crimea, I pedaled around Crimea here, from 2005 year below) A lot. It has always been cheaper here than in Poland, However, the current hryvnia exchange rate is so low, that even a budget traveller like me can feel rich. This, of course, is the aftermath of the events of recent years, war in the east of the country.

    In Chernivtsi I am hosted by Artem and Tatiana, is a local cycling family. We visit this beautiful city together, Topics however, stray again to life's issues. Work and money, of course,. Recently I found such work, I call different companies, check addresses, phones, check their database. For the first week of work I got 600 UAH (it is some 20 EUR), a second week 800 (it is some 30 EUR), for this I do not know yet how much I get says Tatiana. The average salary - for example as a shop assistant – it is some 1000-1500 UAH per month. 100 EURO. Sometimes it is 50, and sometimes 150. (two years later my friends moved out and settled in Israel).

    the view

    I can not get over such low prices, place in a hostel (checking, I dont use it) It costs the equivalent of 2-3, maximally 5 Euro. I do not need to pull out pots out of my panniers to cook – I always stop at a roadside restaurant for lunch. I love the Ukrainian food –  Ukrainian Borsch, that always has juicy beetroot (not brown) colour, solianka (soup of meat and vegetables, with seasoned tomatoes, olives and lemon slice) vareniki (small dumplings usually stuffed with meat) and raw veggies salad I pay 8-10 PLN . Tomatoes or apples are not subject to EU standards here so taste .. as sweet tomato or sour apple simply, instead of paper taste we already got used to.

    "Lace

    "Lace

    the view

    At the moment of crossing the border of the language barrier disappears and I can talk to people. Finally. I did not even realize, how much I missed this.  My not-so-perfect Russian is very useful, although Ukrainian is similar to Polish. The closer to the border with Poland the more my mother tongue is understood.

    So, you from Poland, from Warsaw! know, know, I lived 10 years. I worked at the stadium decades, I sold textiles, all legally, great business was, that, but before the championships in football Euro 2012 The stadium closed, built a new – yes nice – I have seen, but we had to roll up trade. I came home, here to Kołomyja. I have two cows and a milk is their. In the garden tomatoes, potatoes, pumpkin, fruit trees. Everyone is trying to grow something, and some animals grow in order to survive, a gig grabs. Since August I sit here on the road, I am selling watermelons - son-grown and something I pay for it. My brother died of a heart attack in Poland, you downloaded it, I settled it – I only gave 250 dollars and no one on the border is not clung.  He came back home, to myselves Vitaly says with obvious relief in his voice.

    Yep, the days of the Soviet Union was better, but it could not last longer, we all know it. Well, but the Baltic countries - such as Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia have changed and are doing well, they are a part of the European Union, but in Ukraine nothing changed, and it really gets worse every year. And now this war too.

    But let's leave in economics and politics, let's look at the environment. Kresy it is called in Polish. the street pavement made of stones, which is still the dominant surface in many places here it may not be the best for cycling, but gives the cities some kind of charm. gates of townhouses, sometimes beautifully renovated, sometimes musty moisture lead into the depths of living with thier lives yards. Packed in marshrutkas that eject clouds of stinking smoke people go somewhere, seller of fresh bread kvass cannot complain about the lack of customers during the hot days of September. Sunsets somewhere behind the hills Hutsulshchyna stop me to admire them.

    Truskavets area

    "Lace

     „Truskavets is a great place, to take a rest after the dubious attraction, that traveling roads of Ukraine is" This sentence from the guide encourages me to slightly deviate from the track and make it to the famous in the interwar period spa town , where among many others famous Poles as Jozef Pilsudski and Adolf Dymsza used to come for health treatment. The latter is a sacred truth, the first, however, absolutely not.

    From the pre-war spa in Truskavets was left but almost nothing, the old building was almost completely demolished in Soviet times. It is now not very attractive town, and a collection of post-socialist or brand new behemoths-sanatoriums, big construction site as well. Pump Room healing water "Naftusia" is an old, unattractive pavilion full of pigeons around. big disappointment.

    "Lace

    "Lace, "Lace, Ukraine

    The bumpy Ukrainian roads will be definitely rememberd by my bum.

    Leaky roads of Ukraine

    "Lace “"Lace”

    Chernivtsi, big-town breeze of Ivanofrankowsk, Striy, Kolomyia, finding traces of Bruno Schulz in Drohobych, Sambor.

    Already scheming how to come back, meanwhile on the border in Medyka, a nice and sincerely interested border guard, looking at the loaded bike, asks about the details of my trip. Although he does not expect details, I run through my head the images of last year. Autumn frosts and summer heat. 11 borders and some 7 000 km. I assumed, that I get to Asia but has done the European loop.

    There will be time for a summary but here winter approaches. It is high time to escape!.

    year below
    • Europe by bicycle

    Linked:

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    8 October 2016 3 comments
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Ewa Świderska Ewcyna
Photo. Mateusz Skwarczek / Agencja Gazeta

Welcome to my blog! This is a website about solo cycling the world as a female and life on the road. I get to know and describe the world, others and myself too.. A little more about me you can find here. If you want me to follow my journey - - you are more then welcome!

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Yesterday I took a trip through the Val d'Orcia. I Yesterday I took a trip through the Val d'Orcia. I've been living on its outskirts here in central #Tuscany in #Italy for several months but still have a lot to see or visit again.  I was also waiting for longer and warmer days, because those uphills are challenging! 
Val d'Orcia is an extraordinary area. Like a huge postcard.  So picturesque and characteristic that the valley has even received UNESCO heritage status. Why? "Val d’Orcia is an exceptional reflection of the way the landscape was re-written in Renaissance times to reflect the ideals of good governance and to create an aesthetically pleasing picture. The Val d’Orcia distinctive landscape comprises a network of farms, villages and towns reflecting the Renaissance agricultural prosperity, the mercantile wealth of Sienna, the need for defence, and a utopian aesthetic. The working landscape of fields, farms, trees, and woodlands, is interspersed with low, conical hills on the summits of which are situated towns and villages.."
I have planned a climb towards Pienza for the afternoon- to ride with the sun, the hills grow in beauty with every shadow on them.
 - the way of the Gladiator?  After all, there are beautiful roads everywhere!  I replied to one of the threads on FB, seeing someone posting photos of the same shot of the cypress-lined road again.
But in fact, the "Gladiator's Way", which is the place, where the scene from the movie Gladiator (which I have not even seen) was filmed, is one of the most beautiful.  It is also very Instagrammable and people wanting to see it are plenty (the road is blocked fortunately for cars, you can go on foot) but I didn't meet anyone.  I was busy pushing my bike up the steep mountain where Pienza is nestled.  Ufff! Only when I turned my head I saw this zigzaging path dotted with cypruses with Monte Amiata in the background. 
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 #italybybike #valdorcia #unesco #gladiatorway #hobolife # #womenonbikes #kobietanarowerze #outdoorwomen #cyclinglife #travelblog #travelbike #freedom #outdoor #outdoorwoman #outsideisfree #solowomancycling # solopodróż #solotraveller #biketouring #rowerem #onmybike # Polskieblogipodróżnicze #lifeonther #lifeontheroadisfikewree
Puglia is a kingdom of baroque architecture. Facad Puglia is a kingdom of baroque architecture. Facades, interiors, palaces, houses, statues in every single town so rich in ornaments. The more inland you go the more authentic and interesting the towns are. Made of "pietra Leccese" - the yellowish stone from Lecce area is its characteristic. Do different from the north. 
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#apulia #italybybike #galatina #salento #puglia #womenonbikes #kobietanarowerze #outdoorwomen #cyclinglife #travelblog #travelbike #freedom #outdoor #outdoorwoman #outsideisfree #solowomancycling #solopodróż #solotraveller #biketouring #rowerem #onmybike  #polskieblogipodróżnicze #lifeontheroad #bikewander #outsideisfree  #solotravel #natgeotravel #worldbycycling #bicycletouring #cycling #bybike
Looks like Instagram is not much updated. It's bee Looks like Instagram is not much updated. It's been 3 weeks nearly I've been touring around Puglia region, the end of the Italian pennisula "heel". Was here in the winter and came back to see more.  Truly, I'm in awe. 
Even though it last week the wind blew mercilessly, it rained heavily pretty often the predominating colours are blue, emerald and yellowish white of the stone used to construct the houses and multuple churches in baroque style. It was here in #Salento, where I found the most beautiful beaches in Italy. To enjoy peaceful roads I just went inland - there are hundreds of quiet roads among the olive groves to explore.
Let me just enjoy peacefully the last few days before returning north. The summer finally arrived and had a first swim this season! 
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#apulia #italybybike #hobolife #puglia #womenonbikes #kobietanarowerze #outdoorwomen #cyclinglife #travelblog #travelbike #freedom #outdoor #outdoorwoman #outsideisfree #solowomancycling #solopodróż #solotraveller #biketouring #rowerem #onmybike  #polskieblogipodróżnicze #lifeontheroad #bikewander #outsideisfree  #solotravel #natgeotravel #bicycletouring #cycling #bybike #lifeofadventure
“Eroica is the cycling manifesto of the past. T “Eroica is the cycling manifesto of the past.  The race takes place every year at the beginning of October, mainly on dirt roads, the so-called Strade Bianche (white roads) in the Chianti and Crete Senesi (Sienese Clays) areas in Tuscany region, Italy. You can only take part in the race on a vintage bike .. ”here's what you can read when searching the internet for" Eroica "+ bicycle. Although my bike is 8.5 years old and it cannot be called historic, but the fact that I have been living two kilometers from the Eroica route for almost 3 months is obliging.  I have already covered a lot of white roads, but this one is unique.  I went out to explore. 
 I will take shortcuts, I decided, looking at the dotted lines of side roads winding through the hills.  And "thanks" to this, soon after that, the wheels of the bicycle and the soles of the shoes were covered with rusty slime.  The beauty of Crete Senesi is indisputable, but those jagged and cracked hills called "calanche", where motorbikes raged on such beautiful days as today and at viewpoints there were queues for the next Instagram photo - it's nothing but clay and the last two days it was raining  a lot of…
 Strade bianche is white gravel.  I know Poland, routes of Lithuania and Latvia.  I do not like these roads - it is steep, it is easy to break down, and when a car passes, you are covered with white dust.  Multiply by the number of cars - there are a lot of them on weekends.  But their charm lies in the surrounding hills.  Up - down, up - down… it's hard, but gosh - it's phenomenal! There is also a race called Nova Eroica, you can take part in it on any other bike.  Interested in vintage atmosphere or an ordinary one? Google it, sign up and arrive in the vicinity of Siena on the first weekend of October.  Or come just like that for a ride or - to push the bike;) Anytime!
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#eroica #italiainfotografia #stradebianche #cretesenesi #valdorcia #italybybike #bici #toscanadascoprire #womenonbikes #kobietanarowerze #outdoorwomen #cyclinglife #travelblog #travelbike #freedom #outdoor #outdoorwoman #outsideisfree #solowomancycling #solopodróż #solotraveller #biketouring #rowerem #onmybike #bybicycle #toscanagram
Today I just wanted to explore a bit more of #stra Today I just wanted to explore a bit more of #stradebianche that is white gravel roads of Tuscany, especially #eroica road as it passes nearby, but I found myself on a tiny clay roads.. Good that they were partly dry after rain, otherwise not passable. I cycle f - means clay hills in the vicinity of Siena, Italy. Yes, you can get stuck! 
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#tosToday I just wanted to explore a bit more of #stra
On Tuscany hills I'm no hero 😁 Le strade bianch On Tuscany hills I'm no hero 😁
Le strade bianche, the white roads here are a true rollercoaster. Gravel makes it dangerous to cycle but.. wait, Gravel makes it dangerous to cycle but.!
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#toscana #stradebianche #toscana # italienrowerem #italybybike #hobolife #tuscanycycling #womenonbikes #kobietanarowerze #outdoorwomen #cyclinglifestyle #travelbike #freedom #outdoor #outdoorwoman #outsideisfree # polskie rowerem #italybybike #hobolife #tuscanycycling #womenonbikes #kobietanarowerze #outdoorwomen #cyclinglifestyle #travelbike #freedom #outdoor #outdoorwoman #outsideisfree #polowomancycbree #italybybike #outsideisfree #polowomancycycling #blogisforingopodróżnicze #fouringopodróżniczyopodróżnicze #isfanderingopodróżnicze solotravel #worldbycycling #bicycletouring #cycling #bybike #lifeofadventure
It is difficult to provide any comment to the curr It is difficult to provide any comment to the current situation. This is also not the place for politics and emotions associated with it, and these are plenty.  Just like most of you I feel powerless, especially since I am far away. Not in Poland.
I have been to Ukraine several times, mainly by bike, I even considered living there for a while.  I am drawn to the east, closer to me in terms of culture, language, and authenticity.  There, apples have the flavor of apples, and the tomato is still a tomato, not a paper-flavored tomato vegetable.  OK, I'm probably making a generalization.
 I was cycling only in the south-west, the closest to Poland part, although I also managed to reach Crimea before its annexation.  Unfortunately, I never made it to Kiev or further.  It is difficult to provide any comment to the curr, even if everything calms down and maybe I get there one day, it will be a different country.
 Stay strong Ukraine!
 I am enclosing (in my bio) a blog entry from my crossing the Ukraine in 2016, when I was making a loop around Europe.  Do you know that only now I have looked at the photos and the inscriptions at the bus stop? (It says Long live Ukraine! Long live its heroes) Or maybe I just forgot.  even if everything calms down and maybe I get there one day.
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#ukrainebybike #stopwar #ukraina #truskawiec #czerniowce #womenonbikes #kobietanarowerze #outdoorwomen #cyclinglife #travelblog #travelbike #freedom #outdoor #outdoorwoman #outsideisfree #solowomancycling #solopodróż #solotraveller #biketouring #rowerem #onmybike  #polskieblogipodróżnicze #lifeontheroad #bikewander #outsideisfree  #solotravel #worldbycycling #bicycletouring #cycling #bybike #lifeofadventure
Mount Amiata, Mount Amiata, Mount Amiata Monte Amiata, the highest peak in Tuscany, visible when sky is clear, means on 90% of the days here.
Seriously, what do they use to make the fields look so fresh, lush green and spectacular?
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#Mount Amiata
Every saturday is a shopping day for me. I cycle f Every saturday is a shopping day for me. I cycle from my #inthemiddleofnowhere hill to a bigger city. Its like a full day challenge as have to get back all just uphill. 
Never thought a shopping would be so enjoyable. Crete Senesi, the area I'm in is what Toscana region stands for. 
Will never get tired of these views! 
Have you been?
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#I cycle f
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