4th July
Walked through the cobbled streets - hard with a suitcase - to the bus station where we caught a bus to Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. It took three hours and went through some lovely mountainous countryside.
We have a good hotel but not in the best part of the city. It is definitely more run down here. Pavements are treacherous with holes and missing stones so you walk with your eyes down. Motorists are fast & crazy. They don’t slow down even when you are on a crossing.
Walked around the city venturing into a couple of churches. One of them had a museum of icon and it was quite amazing to see icon which were produce in the 12th - 18th Century. Later we went on a proper guided tour and had to detour in a couple of places because the people of Sofia were demonstrating - peacefully - against their government. They were not happy with recent elections and have demonstrated every evening for the past three weeks. There were lots of police, whistles, flags and banners but absolutely no trouble.
Dinner in a quaint restaurant but once again massive meals - each one could serve 2/3 people.
5th July
Left Sofia by mini bus for the three hour journey to our next destination. Around lunchtime we stopped at the oldest Monastery in Bulgaria. Amazing place! There was a museum which was interesting. We were up in the mountains and suddenly the heavens opened as we were having lunch but there was no problem as we quickly moved inside.
We drove for another couple of hours and the driver was certainly a bit manic belting down the mountain roads passing other cars on bends. Didn’t even slow down when we had another very heavy downpour but luckily we arrived safely in our mountain destination. It’s a quaint village, much like an alpine village, with gardens full of vegies & fruit trees growing along the paths. There were numerous horses and carts passing with people and hay - they are harvesting already.
After a walk in the hills we went for dinner - it was put on by the homestay people. We had soup followed by potatoes, other veg & meat and then fresh yogurt & honey. Two elderly members of the family came in dressed in national costume and started singing. I’d left my camera upstairs but as I went to get it they grabbed me & I had to join in with their singing! They then bundled me into the next room and made me put on national costume, luckily they decided all the group should be dressed up! We all had to try the dances but everyone got involved so it was fun.
6th July
Big surprise this morning! After breakfast we jumped onto an empty hay wagon & were taken around two villages. It was a lovely morning but the aromas the horse gave off were certainly not the best. We eventually came across the local washing machine which was used to wash the rugs. It was a huge wooden ‘tub’ with holes in which was fed by fast flowing water which actually swirled the rugs around therefore giving a washing machine action.
A short drive led us further into the mountains to our next stop, Banksa. This is a skiing village & the skiing World Cup 2012 was held here. Lots of mountains with remnants of snow at the top which is very picturesque. Had a walk around the village before a group of us took a trip to see the Bear Sanctuary. This is where some of the ‘Dancing Bears of Bulgaria’ & also some from zoos are being rehabilitated and looked after. Obviously everywhere is fenced off but there was plenty of room for the bears and lots of natural forest for them to wander in. They were divided into different zones and groups of bears were placed together. It was a long & often step walk around the areas but we saw lots of bears. It is terrible to think of how the gypsies made them dance but you could see the effects in some of them as they moved around - it was almost as if they were following a routine, lifting their feet as if dancing. Most of their noses had been torn from the time that the ring had been put through them. They are unable to go back into the wild because they have spent all their lives with humans so don’t know how a bear should behave. A few of them had actually built dens before hibernating, which was a good sign. It’s hard to see animals enclosed but I can honestly say they seemed happy in their environment.
7th July
Today we ventured into the mountains. We went up a couple of chairlifts - so much harder to get off without skis even with beefy guys literally lifting/flinging you off. It took 30 minutes to get from bottom to top & we travel up to 2900m. We travelled over pine forests and saw horses pulling felled trees down the mountainside. The top revealed a lake & higher up snow. There were lots of alpine wild flowers. Some venture to the higher slopes but I walked around the lake.
Coming down the chairlift our leader was knocked over as we alighted from one chair to get onto the other. Luckily she was alright apart from being shocked and she is now covered in bruises! It was great being up in a beautiful spot with plenty of fresh air.
Walked through the cobbled streets - hard with a suitcase - to the bus station where we caught a bus to Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. It took three hours and went through some lovely mountainous countryside.
We have a good hotel but not in the best part of the city. It is definitely more run down here. Pavements are treacherous with holes and missing stones so you walk with your eyes down. Motorists are fast & crazy. They don’t slow down even when you are on a crossing.
Walked around the city venturing into a couple of churches. One of them had a museum of icon and it was quite amazing to see icon which were produce in the 12th - 18th Century. Later we went on a proper guided tour and had to detour in a couple of places because the people of Sofia were demonstrating - peacefully - against their government. They were not happy with recent elections and have demonstrated every evening for the past three weeks. There were lots of police, whistles, flags and banners but absolutely no trouble.
Dinner in a quaint restaurant but once again massive meals - each one could serve 2/3 people.
5th July
Left Sofia by mini bus for the three hour journey to our next destination. Around lunchtime we stopped at the oldest Monastery in Bulgaria. Amazing place! There was a museum which was interesting. We were up in the mountains and suddenly the heavens opened as we were having lunch but there was no problem as we quickly moved inside.
We drove for another couple of hours and the driver was certainly a bit manic belting down the mountain roads passing other cars on bends. Didn’t even slow down when we had another very heavy downpour but luckily we arrived safely in our mountain destination. It’s a quaint village, much like an alpine village, with gardens full of vegies & fruit trees growing along the paths. There were numerous horses and carts passing with people and hay - they are harvesting already.
After a walk in the hills we went for dinner - it was put on by the homestay people. We had soup followed by potatoes, other veg & meat and then fresh yogurt & honey. Two elderly members of the family came in dressed in national costume and started singing. I’d left my camera upstairs but as I went to get it they grabbed me & I had to join in with their singing! They then bundled me into the next room and made me put on national costume, luckily they decided all the group should be dressed up! We all had to try the dances but everyone got involved so it was fun.
6th July
Big surprise this morning! After breakfast we jumped onto an empty hay wagon & were taken around two villages. It was a lovely morning but the aromas the horse gave off were certainly not the best. We eventually came across the local washing machine which was used to wash the rugs. It was a huge wooden ‘tub’ with holes in which was fed by fast flowing water which actually swirled the rugs around therefore giving a washing machine action.
A short drive led us further into the mountains to our next stop, Banksa. This is a skiing village & the skiing World Cup 2012 was held here. Lots of mountains with remnants of snow at the top which is very picturesque. Had a walk around the village before a group of us took a trip to see the Bear Sanctuary. This is where some of the ‘Dancing Bears of Bulgaria’ & also some from zoos are being rehabilitated and looked after. Obviously everywhere is fenced off but there was plenty of room for the bears and lots of natural forest for them to wander in. They were divided into different zones and groups of bears were placed together. It was a long & often step walk around the areas but we saw lots of bears. It is terrible to think of how the gypsies made them dance but you could see the effects in some of them as they moved around - it was almost as if they were following a routine, lifting their feet as if dancing. Most of their noses had been torn from the time that the ring had been put through them. They are unable to go back into the wild because they have spent all their lives with humans so don’t know how a bear should behave. A few of them had actually built dens before hibernating, which was a good sign. It’s hard to see animals enclosed but I can honestly say they seemed happy in their environment.
7th July
Today we ventured into the mountains. We went up a couple of chairlifts - so much harder to get off without skis even with beefy guys literally lifting/flinging you off. It took 30 minutes to get from bottom to top & we travel up to 2900m. We travelled over pine forests and saw horses pulling felled trees down the mountainside. The top revealed a lake & higher up snow. There were lots of alpine wild flowers. Some venture to the higher slopes but I walked around the lake.
Coming down the chairlift our leader was knocked over as we alighted from one chair to get onto the other. Luckily she was alright apart from being shocked and she is now covered in bruises! It was great being up in a beautiful spot with plenty of fresh air.
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