Novotel Plovdiv

... given it was put on by the local community and was free. There was plenty of singing, dancing and of course a fencing demonstration when you least expected it. The sun had set and were sitting att he top of the ampitheatre taking in Plovdiv at night - an incredible sight.

Unfortunately the main museum we wanted to see was closed as it was Monday. However, we did get to enjoy an old traditional home with some really great local artwork on ...

... in Plovdiv and Vienna, and M. Jackson, because his death was the biggest news and she is a musician.

When I went back to the station to catch the train at 2130, I was happily surprised: I expected to spend the next 12 hours sitting up, but I found out that got a sleeper! And besides that, the whole car was filled with jolly and friendly international travelers. It was not a boring night.

9th June
Rila Monastery to Plovdiv
Sunny 31 degrees

We left the lovely Rila Monastery to drive to Plovdiv. It involved some backtracking to near Sofia and then on to the motorway to Plovdiv. Unfortunately, once again, the area is very smoggy and spoils what would be lovely views of the countryside and mountains. We arrived in Plovdiv and found our hotel ...

... The hostel was really a converted flat, decorated in IKEA style furniture with a young couple running it from one of the rooms. We showered and retired after a big trip.
May 29th - Plovdiv to Istanbul
Unfortunately, today it rained. This was a bit of a pain as we had to wait all day to catch a night train to Istanbul. Thankfully, the young couple in the hostel were really nice and said we could come back and hang out with them for as long as we wanted. We had some Bulgarian ...

Saturday 16th May. We packed up and were on the road reasonably early and headed towards the border of Croatia where we crossed the border and drove through past Zagreb and towards Serbia. All was good and roads were fine though we had to pay tolls along the motorways we soon added up but it was a quicker way to drive there than the free regional roads. At the border of Serbia things got interesting as the border controls insisted we had to pay insurance as they said ...

... with a big statue on the top, although I didn't know if it was a tourist attraction. The map was written in Bulgarian and so I didn't even know who the statue model was. Anyway, the way to the hill top was very rugged and, in addition, around the hill top, I lost the way. Actually, I regretted climbing the hill at that time. When I barely reached the top, I found a family with a small kid and wondered how they climbed up the rugged ...

... but before Sozopol, it does not appear on many maps and is a place that normally only Bulgarians go to as they are the only ones to know about it, but it is far cheaper than it's neighbouring resorts and much much quieter. The hotel was good and was only around 8 quid a night for a double room in English money. This was about a 2 minute walk to the beach which was a good beach with lots of very soft sand, warm sea which is very shallow and allows you ...

... there are 22 and you haven't travelled, and your parents will pay for you to do it, go! You might just get the chance to buy a Bulgarian Maxim! * * * Well that was about it for our sojurn in Bulgaria. Before leaving we had another meal at "background" and felt like pampered yuppies. We bought some "authentic" designer clothing at fallen-off-the-back-of-a-truck prices and stayed up way too late at our hostel one last night before climbing on another bus to take us back to Skopje...

... is not a bad thing, it's a place of great culture and inherent beauty unfortunately left to seed after an era that showed no love for such heritage either. They call the architecture here 'Revivalist-era' and it dates from the mid 19th century. It's certainly unusual and highly decorative, with various designs painted directly on white, brown, blue or orange ...

... to catch the bus to Rila (Rilski in Bulgarian) Monastery. It was a 3.5 hour bus ride. I tried my hardest to stay awake to take in the countryside, but alas, fatigue overtook me. I decided I could at least stay awake on the way back, but again, my resolution failed. Those 7 hours of sleep probably have saved me from shear exhaustion however. Mary was concerned about my jetlag, but I reassured her that it was mere sleep deprivation. Rila monastery was beautiful, with such an air of ...