About The Adrien and Martin Joly Blog
Brothers Adrien and Martin follow in the footsteps of many travelers who crossed the Balkans from antiquity to modern times. But they do it by bicycle! Starting on October 6, they have given themselves one month to cycle the nearly 2,100-kilometre distance between Venice and Istanbul. In their blog, they reflect on and document their journey as they travel through Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Albania, Kosovo, Macedonia, Serbia, Bulgaria and Turkey.
Their blog in French is at http://balkansavelo.unblog.fr/
From Jesolo to Portogruaro
October 14, 2008 • Comments Bulgaria
After a long night of sleep, we wake up at 11,00Am, and already our plan to do a 100 km seems compromised.
It takes us hours to organise ourselves, to pack all our things, our bikes are new and need fixing, and adjusting.
We eventually start our journey accross the plains of Northern Italy, completely flat, ideal to start our journey.. Only problem, there is only one big full road full of lorries.Despite our antitruck equipment, a flag and a big hong that everyone can hear… We develop a horn communication between us.. one toot is that the Jolys brothers are coming, 2 toots is “careful something is coming ” and 3 is “swicht on the radio”…yes, because we have walky talkies, something a bit ridiculous to have but sometimes useful.
After four hours cycling, we decide to take another road which looks absolutely lovely. Unfortunately we get lost, and realise after asking someone that we are not on the good road at all.
We cycle a bit more, and manage to do 80 km, it is dark, and there is nowhere to stay.
Martin has an amazing intuition as we are close to a house which seems nice to him, he asks for hospitality.
A charming Italian woman, Elisa, is happy to host you. Bikes open all doors when travelling. She lives with her mother and immediately cook Pasta for two very hungry french men. We spend an amazing evening, drink a lot of the local wine and sleep in our tent. The morning, Elisa s mother gives us everything we could possibly need for our journey. We have to refuse some of her presents as there is a maximum our bikes can carry.
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Adrien and Martin Joly
French brothers Adrien and Martin – both passionate travellers, embark on their first journey together as they cycle across the Balkans. When not travelling, Adrien works as at the Royal Pavilion in Brighton as an interpreter, while Martin works for an NGO in Paris. Adrien considers his first important journey to have been when he travelled along the Amazon River and relied on the local people’s hospitality 10 years ago. Martin, who also practices photography as an amateur, spent a year in Central America and walked across Iceland, the Pyrenees and Peru.
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