Why? We have never been to Poland and it interested me to use it as a base for starting and ending our journey. I hope to investigate some Jewish history as we travel along and to improve my understanding of the political forces that have shaped these countries.
Having cycled the Danube River in 2004 and 2011 (from its source at the German town of Donaueschingen in the Black Forest to Budapest), we return to Budapest before travelling by train and car through Romania.
Romania has suffered numerous incursions by the Turks, Austro-Hungarians, Bulgarians and Soviets as well as oppression under the appalling dictatorship of Nicolae Ceausescu (1965-1989).
We won't cycle the Danube until we reach the Black Sea into which the Danube (Europe's 2nd longest) drains - 2850 kms later.
From here we will travel to the Ukraine and then to the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - which have experienced a series of military occupations by Germany and the Soviet Union over a number of years: from 1940 to 1991 - before we return to Poland, which suffered a similar fate.
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