Divite Petli Hotel Borovets

... hauptsaechlich Bulgaren.

Das Kloster wurde 927 gegruendet und durch seine Lage tief in den Bergen half es die bulgarische Kultur in den 500 Jahren in denen Bulgarien zum ottomanischen Reich gehoert zu erhalten.

In den bulgarischen Kirchen, die wie alle orthodoxen Kirchen reich verziert sind, darf man leider nicht fotografieren.

Gruss
Ralf

8th June

Sofia to Rila Monastery

Sunny am 27 degrees Late storm

After breakfast we left our lovely hotel room in Sofia to drive to Rila Monastery. We made one detour to see some sign-posted rock formations where we drove up a goat track for a while, then climbed a hill and got to see a nice view but with no sign of the rock formations ...

See, et Bulgaarias saab suusatada, selgus juba enne reisi ja võtsime igaks juhuks oma mäeriided kaasa. Ja juba 3.päeval otsustasimegi siis mäele minna. Valisime keskuseks Borovetsi - seda soovitasid kohalikud eestlased kõige enam, kuna keskuses on ka mäeküla elu üsna aktiivne. Meiega tuli ka üks kohalikest eestlastest - Rauni - kaasa. Nii me siis neljakesi teele asusime - Anne, Risto, Marek ja Rauni. Kõku oli jällegi tööl ...

So today we were venturing further afield and heading out to Rila a little village in the mountains about 2hrs drive SW from Sofia and to the famous monastery that was in the mountains a bit above the village. First though we had to find a taxi to get us to the bus station to catch the bus out there. Luckily the taxi was the easy bit and the lovely woman at the bus station spoke English and directed us to the correct bus even ...

The Monastery of Saint John of Rila, better known as the Rila Monastery (Bulgarian: Ščėńźč ģąķąńņčš, Rilski manastir) is the largest and most famous Eastern Orthodox monastery in Bulgaria. It is situated in the northwestern Rila Mountains, 117 km south of the capital Sofia in the deep valley of the Rilska River at an elevation of 1,147 m above sea level. Founded in the 10th century, the ...

... have a cup of coffee. Of course, we were served dinner after a bit of visiting. For dinner we had Maleshevski Zelnik. Like different types of "country meat", they also have different kinds of Zelnik. Meleshevo si the name of the area where Berovo is settled, so this was Maleshevski Zelnik. It is the hardest to make, but I think that the way it tastes makes up for it. While they all gabbed a while, Sashe and I watched part of a movie. I couldn't understand them, but ...

Had a lazy morning since we weren't leaving Sophia until 2. Got moving just before noon and then went in search of food. Quick piece of pizza, of course covered in Ketchup. I'm actually starting to get used to the ketchup on pizza slices! Then I tried to do some travelers errands. Browsed some stores and bought a bracelet for my mama while I waited for my pictures to be burnt to a CD. Made friends with the girls at the picture shop and then went to find more ...

... used to being his own person for much longer. And while his family is really cool, apparently they got more frustrated when they couldn't communicate with him. I think it's a shame to come this far and then go home, but I respect that he knows his own mind and that he made a decision to move onto other things instead of staying and being unhappy. Hopefully this will be best for everyone. And that's another thing, I think it's ...

... the restaurant for some much needed alcohol. Drinking games ensued and Stefan was introduced to 'the d word', thumb master and 18 South Africans singing Shosholoza which was started by the Bulgaria waiter.... Ya! Both Alex's was equally as puzzled. Stefan in turn took it upon himself to introduce us to 'Norstravets' in preparation for our Bulgarian evening. Kevin and Kirst were later fined for public displays of sexual positions...

... getting to the slopes until about 11. As it was our last day on the slopes we decided to hit the runs we most enjoyed for 1 last go. We started off with a cheeky red off the gondola, before heading over to Crystal bar for a steak sarny and to meet up with Pete and Chris. After lunch we headed up the second chair lift for a casual red, then spent the rest of the afternoon on the first chairlift going over old ground and getting a few more black runs in. I even had a go back on ...