Day 6 Rila Monastery
Today in Bulgaria ⋅ ☁️ 0 °C
We left at 7:30 this morning from Pirot Serbia to have breakfast at our favorite pastry shop but they were closed on Sunday. So we decided to drive directly to Rila Monastery and stop at a restaurant just after Rila town for an early lunch. With the delay at border checks, driving slowly around the hairpin bends and tight turns up the mountain, we finally got to the restaurant at 1230pm.
Lunch was the yummiest meal so far. We had a stew of tripe, veal and mushrooms in creamy sauce, grilled trout, cheesy flatbread and broccoli with blue cheese sauce. Washed it down with Aryan, a yogurt drink. No one smoked while we were having our meal and it made it so enjoyable. As we were deciding on coffee and dessert, the lady at the next table lit up a cigarette so the thought for dessert and coffee work quickly vanished, we paid and left.
When we got to Rila Monastery it was thronging with people and there was absolutely no parking left. We had to drive about 2 km down the road to get parking. The booking system for staying here at the monastery was a very informal one through a WhatsApp message. We got no confirmation and no idea if they had received our reservation. We waited till 2pm for the office or guest stays to open and the monk knew of our reservation. We got the key and the room was very basic but had an ensuite, and most importantly, heating. By about 330pm the crowds had disappeared, and we could move our car to the monastery carpark.
Rila Monastery has spectacular architecture and frescos. It survived the Ottoman Empire as it was protected by the Sultans of the times. It's very peaceful now and attending the 5pm mass was very calming and peaceful. The mass was sung and chanted. The Rafail Cross is housed in the museum here. The cross is hand carved out of wood which took the craftsman 12 years to complete, with 650 people carved in the cross. Rafail lost his sight when the cross was finished. Very intricate and precise work. Dinner was half a leftover sausage and bread from lunch and an old sausage roll from day before. We were too full to eat much more.
Walked 8.43km today.Read more
Day 5 Pirot Serbia
March 21 in Serbia ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C
We have a fantastic Airbnb host in Pirot. She sorted out our parking fine and with it comes parking till Monday. We had breakfast in a bakery called Kod Vuka where we ordered our breakfast borek and toasted sandwich. A sandwich to takeaway for lunch and for our hike. A gentleman came in to the store, and as he was leaving presented us with 2 complimentary sweet rolls and a broad smile. We think he's the owner of the shop.
After hearty breakfast we went for a drive and a 6.3km hike at Kozci Kamen, then to Rsovcsi to see the cave church of St Peter and Paul.
The hike at Kozji Kamen was absolutely spectacular. The views were breathtaking. Hopefully, the photos would do it justice.
From Google about the mud houses at
Rsovcsi.
Mud houses or earthen structures, are traditional dwellings found in regions like Rsovcsi for several key reasons, primarily revolving around sustainability, climate adaptation, and cost-effectiveness.
They are built this way for the Dowling readiness:
Natural Insulation (Thermal Mass): Mud walls have excellent thermal mass, meaning they absorb heat during the day and release it at night, keeping interiors cool in the summer and warm in the winter.
Locally Available Materials: They are constructed using materials readily available in the area, such as soil, clay, and straw, making them highly economical.
Cost-Effective and Sustainable: Mud houses are generally inexpensive to build and have a very low carbon footprint, often being constructed with little to no industrial processing.
Durability and Maintenance: When built with proper techniques (like protective roofing) and maintained, mud houses are durable and can last for generations.
Cultural Heritage: The technique is a reflection of local tradition and often involves community cooperation to build, strengthening social bonds.
Some of the structures are barns, but others are actual dwellings.
The St Peter and Paul's church was locked but we managed a photo from the window.
The church of St. Peter and Paul in Rsovci is home to "Jesus the Bridegroom," a depiction of Jesus that is notable for his bald head.
There is some disagreement about the origin of this fresco. Some claim that it was painted in the 13th century by an experienced artist who had traveled from Sinai, which is a source of old painting styles and techniques. But many of the inhabitants of the Rsovci village claim that the fresco is the work of the people seeking for God's help during hard times.
The fresco is located on the northern wall of the church, which is itself remarkable. Built inside a cave, the walls have a glassy surface that results from water draining from the church ceiling. Many people believe that the water is healing. Until recently, the church was in disrepair, but recent work has been done to restore the church. Since 1981, the church has been protected as a national cultural heritage site by the Republic of Serbia as a national cultural heritage site.
After the visit to the church we went for a drive and had lunch on a forest track amongst the trees.Read more
Day 4 Pirot Serbia
March 20 in Serbia ⋅ ⛅ 2 °C
It was the last morning in Sofia. As we had packed the night before, we headed to a local breakfast about 1km away from the accommodation. Breakfast was very delicious and interesting, consisting of scrambled eggs with Bulgarian sausage and goat cheese and a banitsa,a filo pastry filled with eggs and cheese.
After breakfast we went in search of an ATM machine to withdraw cash. Although my card had a $3000 limit, most of the ATMs we tried from different banks only allowed cash withdrawal of €200 per transaction with a fee of €3.44 each time. You can however withdraw as many times as you wished.
We will endeavour to use the card as much as possible.
As we still had time before checkout, we took a stroll through the Roman ruins and the long way back to the accommodation stopping again at St Alexander Nefski Cathedral.
After checkout, we trundled our suitcases almost 2km to the Europcar rental office, bringing such fond memories of the past Europe trips.
The adminstrative bit of car rentals done, we were off to Pirot Serbia in a red hybrid MG3. We had booked a non hybrid car so were thrilled with a hybrid especially with today's soaring petrol prices.
We were held up at the border crossing for almost an hour. We had lunch whilst waiting. A small packet of corn chips from Perth and my squashed muffin that I did not eat on the plane.
The most scary bit was driving on the other side, steering always veering to the right and only once drove on the wrong side of the road with cars honking and coming at me. We made it to 2 old churches and arrived safely at the accommodation in Pirot in one piece.
We were recommended Ladna Voda Restaurant by the host when we arrived so we tried. The table 4 rows down lit her cigarette in the restaurant. When she has finished, another person at table lit up. Thankfully they finished and left before our food arrived. When we finished our meal we were almost ready to look at the dessert menu and coffee when the restaurant owner lit up. We cancelled that idea very quickly and left the restaurant.
Walking out to the car we found we've got a parking ticket. There were no signs for parking payments or machines so we assumed that this tiny town had free parking. Fortunately the fine was only A$17.
Walked 10.4 kmRead more
Day 3 Sofia
March 20 in Bulgaria ⋅ ☁️ 0 °C
We woke up at 4am due to jet lag but managed to sleep till 7.30am. Breakfast was homemade muesli from Perth with local Bulgarian yoghurt. First stop was Sophia Jewish Synagogue. It forms the Square of (Religious) Tolerance, a near-rectangular area hosting four major religious houses of worship within a few hundred meters, symbolizing peace and coexistence; the Orthodox St. Nedelya Cathedral, Sofia Synagogue, Banya Bashi Mosque, and St. Joseph’s Catholic Cathedral.
Bulgaria did not send jews to the concentration camps in World War 2 . The local government used diplomacy and procrastination, the locals and orthodox church protected the Jews. When Bulgaria could no longer put off the delay of sending it's Jews and thousands were rounded up onto the trains, there was huge protests by local Bulgarians around the station and train. The orthodox bishop actually laid down in front of the train and said that the train would only depart over his dead body. The Jews were unloaded from the trains. Before another roundup of jews could be organised, the war ended.
After the synagogue, we wandered through the women's market and the first stall that caught our eye was the mekitsa (like langos) stall. Mekitsa is a light deep fried dough, sometimes known as Bulgarian donut. We shared a cheesy one to start and after walking through the market returned for the one filled with custard.
The market mainly sold fresh fruits, vegetables and clothes for women and was set up in the Ottoman period so that women could do their shopping as they weren't allowed in places where men went. The fruits and vegetables had such beautiful bouquet (an apt description of one of our good friends back home). We bought blueberries, an apple, some dried figs and cinnamon crystallized ginger. Lunch was had at a local Bulgarian restaurant. We have noticed that food is served piping hot, but on cold plates, coupled with the 2⁰C, our food is cold when we eat it. Still yummy though.
In the middle of the market was a huge Church of St Cyril and Methodis. We had to check it out. Looks unloved from the outside but the inside frescos and marble flooring and gilded crosses and chandeliers were stunning.
Next stop was Banya Bashi ( Bathhouse ) Mosque. Ruby had to cover her head and go to the women's section upstairs while I remained downstairs with the men. I didn't want to use the scarves provided incase of nits and I also could get away with it.
Now we come to the highlight of our day. We had to take a tram and a bus for 45 mins, to get to but it was so worthwhile. We visited the UNESCO World heritage site, Boyana Church. Again nothing much to look at from the outside but the frescos dates back to 1246.
There was a lovely old historian giving us information about the paintings and the implications and the evidence of 3 painters that did the work. He spoke about the paints used in the day and how advanced the technique was. He highlighted the realism and psychological insights of the murals.
He said that no naughty child had ever cried in this church no matter what the nationality since he started, as the energy in the church calmed children down, he added even children with autism.
We were fortunate that we could stay longer than the 10 mins allowed as we were the only ones there after 3 Italian visitors left shortly after we arrived. We must have spent at least ½ hour in the church.
What an amazing place good energy, the skill, talent and superb techniques. Reminded us of Scrovegni Chapel in Padua, Italy. The guide told us that it was rumoured that Giotto was inspired by Boyana Church. Given that Sofia was a stop along the Silk Route, that is very plausible. We sat outside the church for a while to contemplate.
We forgot that the door of the buses open on the right hand side. We were approaching the bus stop when the bus arrived, we ran for the bus but there was no door to enter. Luckily the bus driver was kind and waited for us to work it out. I think we weren't even at the correct stop.
We ended the day with a fine meal of veal head (boneless) and tripe stew at Moma Restaurant.
Total distance walked 9.5kmRead more
Day 2 Sofia
March 18 in Bulgaria ⋅ ☁️ 4 °C
6 hours sleep on the plane Monday night, and 4 hours sleep in bed Tuesday, waking at 1.30am and unable to get back to sleep. It's now 8.40pm in Bulgaria, 2.30am in Perth. I'm in bed, body weary but not sleepy. I don't think I'm jet lagged. I'm just time confused.
We had boots on bitumen shortly after 7am in search of breakfast as last night's dinner was just instant noodles. The restaurants along the main street of Sofia, Vitosha Boulevard, just 50m from our front door were thronging and we did not feel like being part of that. Breakfast was at a quaint little bakery which had tables only by the street. So in 2⁰C, we sat eating a Bulgarian sausage roll literally a sausage in a bread roll, some walnut and jam pastry, washed down with coffee. Our 600 fill down puffer coat kept us snug.
A most uplifting and blessed morning followed as we seem to have attended mass sung in 3 churches. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral was the first. What was most obvious upon entrance was the huge space in front of the altar as there were no pews. Beautiful sung hymns in acapella sounding like Gregorian Chants, by just 3 men. We visited St Sofia Church,
a geographic points marker building for Bulgaria, Poland and Hungary,
St Nicholas the Wonder Worker Church and St George Rotunda Church before our second breakfast at another bakery selling banista. Ducked into a hotel to use the conveniences then we were on a hunt for camera shops because to replace Ruby's deteriorating camera strap All this was done before meeting the waking tour at 11am we've we learnt interesting quirky facts about Sofia. For instance, Sofia was not named after the main statue that stands in the middle of the city but was named after a church, St Sofia Church. This church was built by the same architect who built the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, and was known as Little Hagia Sofia. In 1825 the communist seperatists sponsored by Russia assassinated a prominent general to lure the military and political elite into the St. Nedelya Church where ia bomb was planted at the general's funeral. Tsar Boris III escaped death because he was late. As a result, Bulgarians are always late.
We found an authentic Bulgarian food cafeteria after the walking tour that was very reasonably priced. Three name of the cafeteria was written in cerialic text so we can never find it again.
To top our crazy walking day, we visited the National History Museum and spent 2½ hrs looking at Bulgaria from 16BC to 1986.
Ruby wanted to add the National Cultural Centre at the end but input my foot down and said no.
Our total distance walked today was 16.6 km.Read more
Day 1 Flight from Perth to Sofia Bulgari
March 17 in Bulgaria ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C
Day 1 Flight from Perth to Sofia Bulgaria
Our flight from Perth to Sofia had 2 stopovers.
One in Singapore and another in Munich. Total flight time was 26hrs but it did not feel long as we had a good sleep from Singapore to Munich.
The stopover in Singapore wasn't long but we still had time for a mushroom chee cheong fun ( rice noodle roll) snack.
The stopover in Munich was for 4hrs so we decided to walk up and down the length of the airport terminal for half an hour. We decided to charge down both corridors flanking the shops and eateries. However, we were stopped by a big burley black policeman demanding to know what we were doing. I meekly answered that we were exercising. He growled and said it was a restricted area and we were not permitted entry. We hightailed in the opposite direction.
After a quick catch up with Kai on the phone we proceeded to our departure gate only to find that we had to clear immigration. The immigration officer told us that if we left on the 15June, we would have overstayed our 90 day allowance in the Schengen region by a day, meaning that we would have committed an offence. He said that in Germany, that would result in us having to go to the police station, file a report, front up to the magistrate who would certainly dismiss the case as it's only a day overstay. However, we would definitely miss our return flight. He said that he had no problem letting us in but suggested we either got an earlier flight or leave the Schengen area for at least 2 nights.
We think we'd just drive over the border from Bulgaria to North Macedonia or Serbia. There are a few border towns that look interesting just about 2 hours from our planned itinerary in Bulgaria. We might even drive to Skopje about 4 hours away for it's Ottoman architecture. We do not need a visa for North Macedonia or Serbia, so visiting for 2-3 nights is the plan. The fun of travel begins.
We arrived in Sofia to lovely weather of sunny 12⁰C.
As we were too early to check-in, Ruby and I decided to get public transport. It was just one train on the Metro, €0.80 per person and a 15 min walk to the accommodation. Got in the train with no problem, but when we got off the train, there were 2 exits in opposite directions both with 2 flights of rather steep stairs. Looking at the map on my phone, we slowly climbed the steps with our cases. About ⅓ way up, a lovely young couple asked if we needed help. Ruby handed the lighter of her 2 hand carry cases to the lady and I told the guy to take the other part of my case and both of us worked carry it up. He just said he'll do it and just whisked my case up the steps. Our first encounter with travel angels and they came together, in a pair. Of course Ruby's friend Murphy had to travel with us and it was the wrong direction with no way to get across the road but back down the subway and up the other flight of steps. Would you believe, another young couple stopped to help us, another guy took my case all the way up the steps. It was absolutely amazing.
We didn't waste too much time unpacking but hit the ground running by signing up for a communist walking tour at 4pm. Nicolai the guide was very informative and personable. After the tour we went to the place the guide recommended for dinner but Moma was fully booked. So we booked for Thursday's dinner. We walked down the main street, Vitoshi Boulevard which was thronging. We were exhausted and all that merry-making and dining just did not suit. So back to our accommodation and instant noodles for dinner instead. When my head hit the pillow, I will be out like a light, Ruby on the other hand would be researching where best to go to leave Schengen area for 2 nights and a full day.
We walked 14.4 km today.Read more
