Saint Ivan Rilski Hotel Bansko

... 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

... 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.

... with some rooms always available for travellers. The Church is stunning with 1200 magnificent murals, inside and out, and also holds Tsar Boris III's tomb; it's believed he was poisoned by the Nazis. We spent the afternoon around the Monastery, and then walked to the nearby village restaurant/pub for dinner. Looking forward to a lovely peaceful evening.

... cobs. So much for grape vines needing temperate climes though - they were all doing fine here. One thing that did keep Kel and I amused was actually trying to see the scenery at some points as the bus had no heating so we were literally scraping the frost off with our fingernails for much of it to be able to see out! And Kel wondered why I never took my ski ********** for the entire trip! We were impressed with our driver's ...

... is www.hotel-magi.hit.bg and you can email them at hotel.magi.velingrad@abv.bg The rooms are quaint, separate bathroom and heated. Still find it strange to just stand inside the bathroom and turn on the shower without having to stand in either a bath or shower bay. Will give an update on the food soon as we have eaten. Went to a nice restaurant for our dinner, it even had a live gypsy band playing. Had a great selection of ...

... was back in England, but he had left the place in the capable hands of a married Bulgarian and American couple who dually entertained us into the small hours. The next day we were due to leave and head for an old stomping ground of Borovets, which was where we went skiing before. That night though me being me I fell very ill, all night with my head down the toilet being sick - Claire was not impressed with ...

... that is suited to each species. It is the largest park of its kind in Europe and now covers over 120,000sqm. The bears were cute but it was heart wrenching to see and quite depressing. A lot of the bears were trained to dance by being forced to stand on a heated piece of metal, forcing them to shift their feet or "dance" to avoid burns. Due to this type of training, they started to "dance ...

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 ...

... She has some good friends who are Muslims, but in gen**al you can't trust them. Politics get mixed in because the mayor h**e is Muslim, and Tzveti told me he gives more money to the surrounding villages with larg** Muslim populations. She was frust**ated in h** inability to explain without some vocabulary, and told me sev**al times that I can't und**stand without living h**e. About 2 weeks ago I joined a friend at a café who was sitting with 3 Roma guys. One of them, named ...

... who i met. And there are more Roma children in the primary school than Muslims or Christians. Of course, it is possible that racism exists under the surface, but i didn't hear any references to the Roma as cheating, dirty or criminals like i have from everyone else, either in Kocherinovo or Blagoevgrad. So this is the first impression of Belitsa, gained in 3 days, i will know more beginning July 1st. But for now it's back to Kocherinovo.