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- Back to Sofia, Bulgaria
- Seven Rila Lakes Hike, Bulgaria
- Rila Monastery and Panichishste, Bulgaria
- Up To Rozhen Monastery, Bulgaria
- Hikes In The Pirin Mountains and Melnik, Bulgaria
- Ribnovo, Dobarkso and Bansko, In The Pirin Mountains, Bulgaria
- Kovachevitsa and Kapsazov's Guesthouse, Bulgaria
- Trigrad River Gorge, Bulgaria
- Hiking Around Shiroka Laka, Bulgaria
- Asen Fortress, Bachkovo and Ezerovo in the Rhodopi Mountains of Bulgaria
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The last hike through pine forests to Govedartzi village and on to Sofia. It was the weekend and there is a big flea market on Saturdays and Sundays in Alexander Nevski Square. Don't miss the flea market...there was everything from antique cameras, coins and medals to old jewelry and kitsch. The group was heading on a walking tour of Sofia but I kept it in mind for tomorrow. The group was leaving but we were staying for one more day. To the side of the Cathedral were all the older ladies (babas - grandmothers) selling beautiful hand-made lace tablecloths and doilies...not of particular interest to me since I've given up throwing big dinner parties for the duration of my life.
Of much more interest was the Alexander Nevski Cathedral, the most spectacular building in Sofia and able to hold 7,000 people, The National Gallery for Foreign Art, Opera House, Vassil Levski Monument, and the St. George Rotunda.
St. George Rotunda
Continue reading "Back to Sofia, Bulgaria" »
Teodor was going to lead us on a all-day hike through the beech forests on Mt. Rila to a high plateau with several glacial lakes. Packed our lunches and I don't know what possessed me, but I also took a card from Gornata Zemya (Upland) Hotel in Panichishte (by this time, who could keep track of where we were staying in Bulgaria). Backpacks on, hiking poles in hand, it was out on the road in front of Upland Hotel, gently heading up. Past the Rila National Park Visitors Center and leaving the road, we all headed into the beech forest. Up...up...up...finally arriving at a small lodge on this small river surrounded by mosquitoes. Here we go again...bites all over legs and arms, one last time. Directly in front of us was a small ski hill and I could see people zig-zagging across it, still going up. I asked Teodor if that is where we were headed and he brusquely answered, "No." Throughout the two weeks, Teodor and I simply did not mesh. I love to ask questions...he hated to answer them. ex-Marine and I have been hiking for years and if that wasn't a trail in front of my eyes....
Rila Trail Map
Continue reading "Seven Rila Lakes Hike, Bulgaria" »
This was our last monastery and THE most famous one in Bulgaria, Rila Monastery. We drove past the Village of Rila and made a short hike through dense forest to the chapel and cave of St. John. St. John of Rila, was a 10th century hermit who chose this valley as an escape from feudal-era savagery. He and his followers established the small cave hermitage and lived there in search of enlightenment. (I felt nothing...not a drop of enlightenment.)
From the cave, it was downhill on a trail to Rila Monastery, the greatest Orthodox sanctuary in Bulgaria. NOW, we saw tourists. Lots of tourists. Rila Monastery was a renowned Christian pilgrimage site in the Middle Ages, founded in 1335 and is famed for its architecture, murals, fortress-like walls and mountain setting.
Rila Monastery
Continue reading "Rila Monastery and Panichishste, Bulgaria" »
Rozhen Monastery was only a five-hour, five-mile hike directly from Melnick. ("Only" is relative to the degree of difficulty.) Up through hot and sandy areas set amid sandstone pillars. Rozhen is the only monastery restored during Ottoman rule which has survived to this day. It was built during the 12th or 13th century, but the present appearance dates back to the 16th century. Rozhen was a regional center of Orthodox Christianity in the 19th century and owned quite a bit of land in this area. The gorgeous murals were painted from 16th-18th centuries and unique wood-carved altars and hundreds of icons have also been preserved. Some of the most important 17th century paintings include the external southern wall with Doomsday, and Jacobs Ladder. The inside walls of the main church were painted in 1732 with more than 150 subjects matters, all beautifully illustrated. Monks, hermits, historic personages, complicated compositions and Biblical themes...a riot of color.
easier trails to Rozhen with only about a 260-foot altitude gain
Continue reading "Up To Rozhen Monastery, Bulgaria" »
Bansko was a two-night stay. An interesting town but not quite as charming as some prior stays in Bulgaria. Would you like to hear a few interesting facts about Bulgaria?
- Bulgarian roses supply 10% of the world's rose oil.
- Bulgaria is the third largest exporter of herbs in the world.
- Bulgaria's yoghurt culture can only be grown in Bulgaria, and
- The red wine from Melnik was Winston Churchill's favorite wine.
It was time for a more serious roundtrip hike to the top of Mt. Vichren, the country's second highest mountain, at 9,558' in the Pirin Mountain range. Mt. Vichren has 176 mountain lakes and over 100 varieties of rare plants ...View image...including Edelweiss. (As many times as Edelweiss has been pointed out to me, I still have trouble recognizing it when I see it. But...I can sing all the words to Edelweiss from "The Sound of Music"...that should count for something... ) There is a strong Mediterranean climate influence which creates this beautiful landscape. Up and up across meadows filled with wildflowers and terrific panoramic views of the entire Pirin range at the top.
hiking through more wildflowers
Continue reading "Hikes In The Pirin Mountains and Melnik, Bulgaria" »
A new day...a new hike through the Pine woods and plateaus via Osikovo Village to Ribnovo. Ribnovo has about 2,600 residents populated by Bulgarian Muslims who speak an ancient dialect. The Bulgarians were forced to convert to Islam during the 1623-1625 period and later. The Bulgarians that didn't want to accept conversion, left their homes and went elsewhere.
Ribnovo is the most biggest village in this area. There is almost no migration to other villages or towns.and the people intermarry. Most of the women wore traditional clothing here - shalvars ( multicolored trousers), aprons and headcloths. Weaving is the local specialty and that included kilims, rugs, goat's hair rugs, etc. Unfortunately, I already have enough rugs, kilims, etc., to open my own shop...difficult to resist each region's colorful output...but ex-Marine was giving me filthy looks and mouthing..."don't even think of it"...
last breakfast at Kapsazov's Gueshouse
Continue reading "Ribnovo, Dobarkso and Bansko, In The Pirin Mountains, Bulgaria" »
The driver made his way down this small lane in Kovachevitsa until he could go no farther and everyone got out and started walking. Already, visions of a hovel for the evening dancing through my head, and there was Kapsazov's Guesthouse, consisting of two lovely homes and a magnificent garden.... with roses blooming everywhere,...View image... lounge chairs and a flowered arbor with a long breakfast table set underneath it. Besides roses, the garden was filled with fruit trees, a vegetable patch and an herb garden.
There are only five rooms, two in one small house and the others in the main house. (Their e-mail contact is: kapsazovs_houses@yahoo.com.) By sheer luck, ex-Marine and I were allotted one of the unbelievably large rooms in the small house furnished with antiques, wood-carved furniture, artwork by local artists and a balcony overlooking the gardens and, yes, there was a bathroom. Now, this is what I call a guesthouse!
Kapsazov's main house
Continue reading "Kovachevitsa and Kapsazov's Guesthouse, Bulgaria" »
The next day, a visit to the gorge of the Trigrad River and Devil's Throat Cave with its waterfall. Trigrad Gorge spreads a mile or so along the Trigradska River. The 700' high gorge with sheer rocks on both sides of the river, forms a narrow rocky river bed which goes underground, resurfaces in Devil's Throat Cave creating 18 waterfalls there, and then reappears on the surface.
From there, a five-hour hike to Yagodina Cave. The trail was actually a gravel path that led through pine woods and meadows along a ridge above the cave. The Yagodina Cave is a complex, multi-storey cave system over six miles long and five stories tall. There have been some archaeological excavations in the cave revealing a Late Neolithic population who occupied it during the winter and produced pottery. They have found a large amount of tools, ceramic productions and a variety of kilns and decorations. There was a special path through the cave to see the formations and hanging Stalactites.
descriptive Trigrad Gorge area map
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Today's approximately three-hour hike stayed in the countryside around Ezerovo following small pathways and old merchant trails through meadows and pine forests. It sounded fine in theory but will always be remembered by me as the big mosquito hike. The route up led first through a forest just filled with mosquitos. I had never seen so many in my entire life and by the time we finally got above them, ex-Marine's legs were covered with huge bites and welts. Alida was the only forward-thinking person in our group and always carries repellent because of allergies. Everyone slathered up but a little too late
The first challenge of the day was to cross over a stream on a narrow, shaky log bridge. Up to now, I always thought of myself as the only chicken when it came to log crossings. Fast-moving water below makes me dizzy, sure-footedness is not a strongpoint of mine...and, in other words, I'm almost guaranteed to fall off without a helping hand and logs do not inspire confidence. It was nice to see that others felt the same way and both Tim and Dimitri patiently helped almost everyone across.
Axel negotiating the log crossing
Continue reading "Hiking Around Shiroka Laka, Bulgaria" »
Assenovgrad is a place of Christian pilgrimage. We hiked across the mountain to visit the medieval fortress of Asen and its beautiful 13th century church, high on a crag. The fortress was only about a mile from Asenovgrad and towered above a river. It was a means of natural protection and served a straegic purpose during the Middle Ages. Saint Mary Petrichka is the most important building on the site, a big two-storied building. There were traces of wall paintings and it was very impressive.
Bachkovo Monastery was founded in 1083 by two Georgian noblemen and is one of the oldest monasteries in Bulgaria. It had collections of old icons, jewelry and coins as well as some of the oldest Christian frescoes in Bulgaria (14th century murals). The monastery had small chapels and we also visited a small holy spring in a nature reserve close by.
Bachkovo Monastery
Continue reading "Asen Fortress, Bachkovo and Ezerovo in the Rhodopi Mountains of Bulgaria" »
A common question from friends: How do you deal with jet lag? Our solution...a prescription for low-dose sleeping pills. We take one only, the night of arrival in a 8+ hour time zone change. Coming back home, sleeping pills the first two nights and that works great for us. For the first time ever in Sofia, we overslept...something that has never happened before, and raced down to breakfast, apologizing profusely to everyone. The group was composed of several couples, a woman traveling alone, a man traveling alone, women friends together from all parts of the country.
Completely awake now, the mini-bus headed to Mt. Vitosha, just outside the city and Bulgaria's highest ski resort at 5,940'. A very short warm-up hike, lunch, and off to Plovdiv. The Old Town of Plovdiv was absolutely charming with timber-frame mansions and Ottoman-era mosques. The bus parked and everyone started walking through the steep cobbled streets, admiring each house from the 18th-19th century with their own style and atmosphere. Some of these houses are now museums. Very peaceful and we were the only tourists at that time of the day. (Most tour groups probably visit in the early morning.)
Plovdiv house
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The Wilderness group was being met by our tour leaders and transferred to the Hotel Gloria Palase (Palace), on Maria Luisa Boulevard, a small 28-room hotel centrally located. If you arrive independently, either arrange for your hotel's shuttle (if possible) or be adventurous and take a bus into town. The taxis will probably overcharge you - just be warned. Legitimate metered taxis are yellow and have an oval sticker on the windshield and a square sticker with rates in BGL. Here are a few information Internet links to get you started: Bulgaria Travel or Visit Bulgaria, but these sites are difficult to negotiate and incomplete. Still, some information is better than no information!
Met by Tim, the Wilderness Travel main trip leader, and Teodor, the local Bulgarian co-leader, it was off to the Hotel. A fast unpack, informational meeting (important fact - tap water is safe to drink) , short walking tour of Sofia's Old Town and Welcome Dinner.
partial Sofia street map
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Air and Rail Transportation? The easiest method for us was flying Chicago-Frankfurt on United, and catching a Lufthansa plane from Frankfurt-Sofia. The following airlines fly to Sofia: Alitalia, Austrian Airlines, Lufthansa, KLM and Czech. It is also relatively easy to train from different European countries into Bulgaria.
Visas? None needed.
Hotels? Two hotels necessary - Sofia, because we decided to stay one extra night, and one out by the Frankfurt Airport for the night before we flew home to Chicago. We chose the Sheraton Sofia Hotel Balkan for the extra night, a grand hotel and architectural landmark in Sofia. Frankfurt? I always go on-line and pick the least expensive hotel by the airport with shuttle service to and fro. This time it was the Albatros Airport Hotel Frankfurt that had the best price.
Continue reading "Bulgaria Planning For "Villages and Monasteries"" »
Those of you who have been reading Travels With Sheila for a while know by now that I'm always interested in a destination not really up there on the radar, but affordable and interesting. Bulgaria is one of those countries. It has never really been on any "top 10 places to visit" list that I can recall which is why an itinerary from Wilderness Travel piqued my interest a few years ago. What did I know about Bulgaria? Absolutely nothing with the exception of Agatha Christie's "Murder On The Orient Express" when Hercule Poirot begins his journey in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, and, the Harry Potter world-class Quidditch team! Other that that...zilch, nada, zero....
This was the first guided tour I'd ever seen and called "Villages & Monasteries of Bulgaria," a 14-day cultural and hiking adventure through several of Bulgaria's National Parks, starting and ending in Sofia, and visiting monasteries including the famous Rila Monastery.
Bulgaria
Continue reading "Visiting Bulgaria's Villages and Monasteries" »
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