Orlovetz Hotel Pamporovo

... 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 ...

... to explore the old town by 1900. After that I went back to the train station and looked for a place to eat. I found it but its menu was in Bulgarian only. Luckily Maria on the next table helped me to order some salad, soup and fish and a bottle of wine, so we had a nice conversation while sharing the wine. She is a drummer from Plovdiv but living in Vienna now. We talked about politics ...

... had the obligatory cobbled streets and quaint houses. Crazily with the weather the way it was there was a beach volleyball tournament right inthe middle of the pedestrian precint area. We joined the 2 specctators for a few minutes before giving in to the cold and the rain ourselves, they must have been freezing in their little outfits! We checked out the Roman ampitheatre on the hill before heading down for a coffee. To kill a few hours we hung out at the hostel and watched the last few ...

... had no green card insurance. As our paper work from the rental company was not green we had to pay 100 euros to cross into Serbia. Ouch! As we were unable to go any other route we were stuck with paying it. Grumpily we drove through and found the roads poorer than anywhere so far. Not wanting to spend time here we drove through the day on towards Bulgaria where we passed the border without problems. However the roads were dreadful, full of potholes, uneven and slow ...

... he is also an exceptionally funny ****er. We met Pav at dinner at the hotel one night and agreed to head up the slopes to hit the snow the next day. Pav was nice enough to give us a lift to the slopes in his pride and joy, a brand new VW caravelle which he uses for his airport transfer business, "Ski Transfers Bulgaria" (www.skitransfersbulgaria.com). We soon became good mates and hit the slopes a number of times in the weeks to come. Pav hails from the Czech republic and his ...

... back in! At least we still have the stuff, but why all the **** around if she was going to let us through with it anyway?! After the trauma of the check in, the flight was pretty standard, aside from the encroaching hanngover which was beginning to land about the time we were. There were a couple of "go arounds" due to ****** weather before we landed on the icy and foggy tarmac at Sofia and the only reason the pilot didn't get a standing ovation once we were back on the ground ...

... 1075;радо 74;е. И в двата има и движе 85;ие, но и споко 81;ствие.

... A lot of the area around the airport resembled nothing so much as a slum. Lean tos, shambles, and small buildings in such disrepair that it was impossible to tell if they were half constructed and abandoned, or half demolished and abandoned. Further into the city, the buildings we bigger, but not in much better condition. Dirty, grimy and dreary spring to mind as suitable descriptions. There was plenty of communist style architecture around, all covered ...

... 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 ...

... Tyler and Kenny stayed out late so Sinead and I walked back and decided to stop by the ancient Roman theater, the Theater of Philippopolis. The theater is really impressive being that its around 2000 years old, is amazingly well-preserved, situated on a hill overlooking the city, and was so well-built that its still used as a venue for concerts and plays to this very day! I'm excited to come here tomorrow when I can climb around through the stands and go up on the stage!