Today (Friday), the second to last day of our cross-Europe bike trip, was the longest and wettest day that we've had. We rode 84 miles (10 of them resulting from getting lost when trying to locate our destination hotel), most of them in heavy rain, and many of them into the wind. But the most notable aspect of the day was the horrendous state of disrepair and neglect of almost everything on route. We rode through the countryside, which was largely empty, with relatively few houses and only rare villages. Most of the land we saw was covered with weeds, some as high as 8-10 feet tall. Only a tiny fraction of the land is used for agriculture. Most houses and stores were quite decrepit. Some of the roads were well paved, but many were full of cracks and potholes. Garbage at times littered the edges of the roads.
Our destination today was Peterhof, the site of a series of spectacular palaces and gardens laid out on the orders of Peter the Great in the early 1700's. Unfortunately, because of our very long ride today we were only able to get a brief glimpse of one of the palaces.
 |
| Cycling beside tall weeds |
 |
| One of many houses we passed that has seen better times |
 |
| Crumbling concrete stairs to this store |
 |
| A bus stop that's in bad shape, with garbage on the road beside it |
 |
| Our one view of a Peterhof palace |
 |
| Peter's legs after taking off his socks at the end of a very rainy ride, often on roads in poor shape. The grime on his legs is evident in comparison to his feet and ankles that were protected by socks. |
No comments:
Post a Comment