HALFWAY THERE, FULLY STOKED, TIMOTHY'S CYCLING ADVENTURE CONTINUES THROUGH EUROPE.Byline: - Carol Bidwell North Hollywood's Megan Timothy has passed the halfway mark on her journey after heading through Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, the Czech Republic Czech Republic, Czech Česká Republika (2005 est. pop. 10,241,000), republic, 29,677 sq mi (78,864 sq km), central Europe. It is bordered by Slovakia on the east, Austria on the south, Germany on the west, and Poland on the north. , Austria and Germany on her way back toward western Europe Western Europe The countries of western Europe, especially those that are allied with the United States and Canada in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (established 1949 and usually known as NATO). . She left Turkey just a month ahead of the massive earthquake that devastated dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. the country, a place she fondly recalls as welcoming and filled with generous people. The hospitality she found in neighboring Bulgaria was even more remarkable, considering the desperately poor conditions there - most transportation is by donkey, mule or horse, and families live in huts or dilapidated apartment buildings. ``These people are kind, but it's a whole different world,'' Timothy wrote after a farmer's wife farmer’s wife makes hell too hot even for the devil, who sends her back home. [Am. Balladry: “The Devil and the Farmer’s Wife”] See : Shrewishness manning a roadside stand insisted that Timothy come home with her for a meal. ``I don't want to hear Americans grousing about things. Send them over here for a few months to see what `tough' is really like.'' One of her favorite experiences so far has been her solitary ride up the Danube in Austria, she wrote in her journal. ``The river is white with swans,'' Timothy wrote. ``Apple and pear trees heavy with fruit lined the road for a good part of the way . . . I've pitched tent right on the edge of the Danube and have been visited by a flock of rowdy ducks and a pair of elegant swans.'' Crossing into Germany, outside Eibelstadt, she decided to take a nap one day after lunch and ducked through a big hole in a fence to get into what appeared to be a park. ``I lay down and took a nap,'' she wrote. ``I woke to find several stark-naked people staring down at me. (Rather disconcerting dis·con·cert tr.v. dis·con·cert·ed, dis·con·cert·ing, dis·con·certs 1. To upset the self-possession of; ruffle. See Synonyms at embarrass. 2. , to say the least, especially as most of them, if they had any regard for general aesthetics, would not be going around like that.) Anyway, it was another lesson that one should make an effort to pick up the rudiments of the language of the country in which one is traveling. It was pointed out to me that there were several signs on the fence clearing declaring it a nudist colony nudist colony n → colonia de desnudistas nudist colony n → colonie f de nudistes nudist colony nude n → .'' When she started her ride in March, she faced wind and snow in Spain, then summer's heat in Italy. Now Timothy writes that she's enjoying autumn immensely. ``Summer is fading, flinging a wildly colored confetti of flower petals into the breeze. There's just a hint of fall color in Verb 1. color in - add color to; "The child colored the drawings"; "Fall colored the trees"; "colorize black and white film" color, colorise, colorize, colour in, colourise, colourize, colour the hillside woods, and farmers are busy harvesting apples and pears This article or section may contain original research or unverified claims. Please help Wikipedia by adding references. See the for details. This article has been tagged since September 2007. , the last fruit of the year . . . There are not enough days in October for all the Oktoberfests . . . A very cheerful party spirit from one end of the country to the other.'' CAPTION(S): 2 Photos, Map Photo: (1) North Hollywood's Megan Timothy takes a rest from bicycling to enjoy the river ride in Bomberg, Bavaria. Timothy has passed the halfway mark for her 12,000-mile ride through Europe. (2) Taking home the groceries: Timothy's bike is loaded for her ongoing journey through Europe Journey through Europe is a board game for children. The board is a map of Europe with various major cities marked, for example, Athens, Amsterdam and London. The players are dealt a number of cards with the cities on. . Map: BICYCLE ODYSSEY |
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