Today we arrived in Krakow, all in one piece and 610 km of tyre wear after leaving Bupapest nine days ago. I’ve enjoyed the ride, but am looking forward to clean washing on and not having processed cheese, ham and sausage for breakfast. A couple of days ago, we had a rest day in Zywiec, home of Polish beer. Poland seems to understand tourists more than Slovakia - we seem to attract fewer stares and more locals speak English (though my 20 words of Polish is better than nothing).

Yesterday was also pretty leisurely cycling to Kalwaria Zebrzydowska in the sun and ending up at a hostel with DIY and maintenance from Homer Simpson (all the plummers, chippies and electricians must be in the UK).

It was a mixture of weather today, with sun, rain and cloud, and the riding again was pretty relaxed. We arrived in Krakow for lunch and the prospect of a couple of day’s sightseeing before getting the train back home via Warsaw and Berlin. As long as they let us on this time…