Hotel Elitsa Bansko

Hallo zusammen,

wie im vorigen Eintrag erwaehnt bin ich zum Rila Kloster gefahren, dem Jerusalem Bulgariens, UNESCO Weltkulturerbe und in 1000m Hoehe in den Pirin Bergen gelegen.

Von Sofia bin ich zunaechst mit dem Bus nach Dupnitsa gefahren, 60km im Sueden, 2,50 Euro fuer die Fahrt. Dupnitsa ist tiefste Provinz, englisch spricht hier niemand (und ...

... late and missed the gondola ride that would take me up to the mountain, so I was stuck in a city where half of it was empty (its major industry is skiing in the winter), having nothing to do. I walked the streets, used the hotel’s wifi to go to internets and relaxed. I ate a simple dinner and tried their "draft wine", I guess it means homemade wine without filtering, and it was cheap and nice.

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 ...

... would have been colder than that! Unfortunately on this trip back into town we hit peak hour with an expensive tariff taxi so instead of it costing us 7 leva (£3.50) we had to get out and walk when we realised the meter was already on 31 leva and we were no where close to home yet (and that we only had 25 leva on us - a quick stop at the ATM and all was good besides we walked it faster than the cab would have driven it!

... cup of tea from their cafe. It's funny here, everyone in Bulgaria thinks that tea should always be flavoured, not normal flavour, and that it should be drunk black. I ask for milk and they don't seem to understand. When I finally get my message accross, (Bulgarian is very similar to Russian) they give me my milk but still proceed to put lemon in my tea. Yuck, they obviously don't know what happens when you mix lemon and milk together.

Last night, I was in bed and began thinking about what my summer would be like had I not come here. I had never even considered how crazy this whole idea is until I had actually gone ahead and left the U.S. But I suppose it will all work out as God intends. Saturday night, the mellingers played host to a missions group who was heading back to the states. Basically we had a diner party, which included the local pastor and ...

... they stepped on a hot spot of the dirt or ground. Some of the bears were standing in the same spot for minutes on end just shifting feet and taking one step forward and then one step back. The rangers who worked there explained this was either due to the hot spots on the ground or too many years of horrible mental torture. Such a sad place, but definitely an eye opener and worth the visit ...

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 ...

... way 25 and not what you would think of as a superstitious old lady, came into my room to tell my something and closed my window!! i freaked out at her a little bit. i don't like heat. and when i sometimes drive in a friends car here in belitsa on a hot day with the window down, with a nice cool breeze, my friends really worry that i'm cold. i mean we're driving slow i'm definately not cold. there have been many occasions of other ...

... I was keen to move on so bee-lined straight for the main attraction, the gold-domed Aleksander Nevsky Church. Built by the Bulgarian people to commemorate many thousands of Russian, Ukrainian, Finnish, Moldavian and Bulgarian troops who died in the liberation of Bulgaria from the Turks in 1877-8, this is one hulking and bizarre blob of ...