Tom`s travels: Bike Trip to Bardejov (13/05/2018)

I decided to take an early regional train from Krakow to the small town of Muszyna, located at the southern tip of Poland right on the border with Slovakia. After a long four-hour train ride which cost me only 8 zloty, I reached the destination. My plan was to rent a bicycle and head on to visit the surroundings, so after having looked up for a place which would rent one, I got off the train and crossing the Poprad river entered the small Grzyb Hans Cafe where a guy gave me a bicycle and telling me I could bring it back whenever. I then left the place and started cycling towards my destination. After a little bit, I passed by the small town of Powroznik and stopped at the church of St James. Together with others in the surrounding area, it is a World Heritage Site part of the Wooden tserkvas of the Carpathian region in Poland and Ukraine. As such it is an Orthodox church, built in wood during the 17th and 18th centuries. The interior was closed so I had to admire it from the outside, while then an older cyclist came by and started talking to me really fast in Polish. I got a bit of the jest and understood he was just talking about the day and the cycle he did and then asked me where I was headed, I told him Bardejov, and at that exclaimed "wow that´s a long way, good luck!" and left. After a bit of uphill I reached the town of Tylicz which had its own wooden church. This was fully painted in red and was not orthodox but belonged to the Greek Catholic denomination. Built during the 18th century, it was also unfortunately closed so that meant getting back on the bicycle and continuing on. From here it was all uphill and that meant a large unwanted stress on my legs. At one point I was taking a picture of the landscape while pedaling when accidentally my phone slipped from my hands and fell on the ground, with me obviously passing over it with one wheel. I cursed loudly and picking it up noticed I scratched a large part of the screen. I blamed myself for my stupidity and thought that it was still rather new and meant I would soon need a new one, as it might easily slowly fall into pieces (as I'm writing this though it is still in the same shape and thus lasting longer than expected). After a little bit I had finally reached the border, and thus crossed into Slovakia; from there it was a long and pleasant downhill way. As I pedaled, I started to gain speed as the incline was quite steep and felt rather thrilled of rushing at such speed. All around me were beautiful verdant fields with the occasional rapeseed fields showing in patches of bright yellow. The downhill turned into flat ground and after passing some small towns I finally reached Bardejov. A Unesco World Heritage Site, the town presents a nice intact medieval center. So after reached the old town, I parked my bike next to the Basilica of St Giles and then proceeded to visit its interior. Built during the 14th century in the Gothic style it suffered damage throughout the centuries and after a terrible fire which nearly destroyed the whole city, it was mostly rebuilt in the Neo-gothic style, including the bell tower. After admiring the nice interior I then paid the ticket to climb the aforementioned tower. Standing at 76m, the view from the top was really great, and I could admire the whole old town below me. The main square, which was right below was a sight to take in, with the beautiful burgher houses all lined around and standing one next to the other. The square used to be the core of the old town and its marketplace, and now it seemed so deserted with no one around apart from the occasional passerby. I descended back down to street level and decided to walk around the whole perimeter of the square to admire it from every possible angle. At its northern end, stands a statue of an executioner, giving the square an eerie touch. After circling around I then decided to enter the town hall which stands right in the middle of the square. It was built in 1505, and features a mix of Gothic and Renaissance styles. The interior holds the Saris Museum, so after paying the ticket, I toured the rooms. The collection displayed is not very large, as in the limits of the structure of the building, and because it is also displayed in other areas of the region, but the collection is quite nice and it details clearly the history of the city. After the visit, I got back on my bike and decided to tour around the old town to admire the preserved medieval fortifications, regularly punctuated by imposing towers. After that I continued on and exited the city; after a few kilometers, I reached the small town of Hervartov which contains the Church of St Francis of Assisi, a Unesco site this time part of the Wooden churches of the Slovak part of the Carpathian Mountain Area. After leaving my bicycle right outside the church, I took a break and drank some water. I was expecting the church to be closed like all the others I had encountered so far but luckily managed to notice some people coming out of it. I curiously headed closer and saw that a lady was proceeding to close it. I pleaded to see it quickly and after a bit of convincing, she allowed me just a few seconds to tour the interior. The church was built during the 15th century, like all other examples fully in wood, and it contained some beautiful wall paintings ranging from the 17th to the 19th centuries. After thanking the lady i got back on the bicycle and continued on the trip. It was time to head back to Muszyna as I still had 30km to go and I rather hoped to reach Krakow by dinnertime. After a few kilometers though, pedaling along a rocky country road sided by beautiful fields and hills, I heard a loud noise while speeding downhill and to my dismay found out the rear wheel had popped. It was still a long way to go, so I continued pedaling. The wheel was completely flat and my efforts were double with half the speed and distance covered. At one point I needed to give my legs a rest so I unmounted and walked with the bicycle by hand for a bit. An old man who had just exited his house by car noticed I was approaching and decided to stop and help me. He untangled the tube from the wheel and told me to try; he saw i was barely able to pedal and thus asked me where I had to go. I told him Poland and he then thought a little, as he probably had something else planned. Nonetheless, he invited me to his house to clean my hands from the grease and oil and then hauled the bicycle in the car. Then he drove me a few kilometers uphill to to the border with Poland and asked if there was ok. I was super thankful and wanted to give him some money for his trouble; he didn´t want it and waved me goodbye and good-luck. I luckily had most of the way downhill so managed to reach quite far before having then to pedal hard to proceed further. After 10km, which took me about three times as much as if I had a working rear wheel, I finally reached Muszyna and the Grzyb Hans Cafe. I entered and told the guy my wheel had popped, he was not too much bothered by it and asked me an extra 10 zloty to cover for it; for a total of only 35 zloty for the whole rental. I then walked happily back having managed to reach my destination without needing to sleep out in the forest that night. I then even managed to take a late bus which finally brought me into Krakow in time for a late dinner.