European Adventure

April 2017 - February 2018

A 318-day adventure by Angharad Read more

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- May 4, 2017
- ⛅ 22 °C
- Altitude: 607 m
- Bulgaria Sofia-Capital Municipality of the Capital Krasno Selo 42.677807, 23.33582142°40’40” N 23°20’9” E
Day 31
Sofia
May 4, 2017 in Bulgaria ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C
Slept in again until 1 o.O I dont know what is happening to us lol.
We are doing the Arvo tour now haha
We are about to either walk to town or catch a bus. I want to walk but we should probably catch a bus because we are booked in to a day tour tomorrow to the Rila monastery that starts at 9am in the center of town and we have to be there on time meaning knowing how the buses work is the safest option.

So, we ended up walking lol.
And less that 1km in it started raining -.- so the next 5km were super fun!..
It's lucky we brought our rain resistant coats but they were trapping all the heat in so it was very hot in them.
We skipped the park and stuck to the main roads to make it quicker even though the trees would have offered us some protection.
It took an hour an a half but we made it to near the church again. We stopped in to maccas for breakfast and cover as it rained harder. There were a few good thunder bangs too.
We stayed In maccas for an hour or so. The toilets smelt like b.o and old wee.
We then walked to the meeting point even though we were 2 hours early just so we knew where to meet. We walked up vitosho* boulevard and are sitting in a gelato bar with the worlds worst service. I asked 3 times for a menu and ended up getting it myself.
I looked them up on TripAdvisor because I plan to give a crappy review and had a giggle because the last 15/20 said such negative things about the service too.
I've complained about other places but this has been worse because in other places they have just not taken initiative to talk to you but once you have their attention they have been fine.
Here they have purposefully ignored our requests several times.
"Can we please have a menu"
"Yes"
*stands still and doesn't get one*

We then walked back to the meeting place and ran into old mate from yesterday who walks around like he is a bodybuilder but is skinny as crap. I took some sneaky photos of him. What a tool.
We kept seeing him. He might be high. We was doing laps.
It was still raining and we needed to pee so we bought water from a different maccas to get into the toilet and sit inside until we went to the meeting place again. I gave 2 buskers some money. Carrying around 1c and 2c is just annoying.
We waited out front and were thinking maybe it had been called off because we couldn't see anyone and were making plans for a 3rd attempt another day but bless Wills height, he spotted the group. We waited for a while and over 30 people showed up!
Our tour guide was Martin and you could just tell he was bullied in school. But he was so cute, he was putting in so much effort I felt like I wanted everyone to like him and no one walk out of the tour cause I didn't want his little heart to break.
He had really big nostrils.
We started at the palace of justice which he didn't walk about much other than the symbol of the lion. Which essentially is the symbol of Bulgaria. Once it's pointed out to you everywhere you look you will see a lion. Their currency is Levon* which means lion too lol.
Next we went to a church - Sveta Nedelya. It's the site of the highest act of terrorism is Bulgaria.
Basically someone wanted to kill the king so they blew up the top. 200 people died, 500 injured - the king survived because he was late and hadn't arrived yet...
We saw sofias cost of arms which has a lion, mountain, church of Sofia and something else.. :S a goddess?
We saw a big lady statue called Sofia which has no historical value because the politicians got the history wrong and thought this statue was how the city got its name. It's not. It has no relevance to Bulgaria so now it just sits there with no purpose. The lady was Italian..
Hehe
We saw some Roman building ruins as every city has them and we saw the only mosque in Sofia. Even though apart of the Ottoman Empire most of the mosque buildings were turned into museums etc.
We drank from a hot spring bubbler- water temperate is about 37 degrees and smells/tastes a little of sulfur. It's suppose to have healing powers. Ooo
We walked through town which had all the buildings from the communist period and into a train station which had more Roman remains.
The talk about communism was interesting and we got vouchers for a communist tour we might do on Saturday.
Apparently it's a very controversial topic and opinions are 50/50 on it.
Martin has 2 grandparents - one who is extremely pro and one who is extremely against.
We walked out the tunnel to an area I recognized. The guards with the funny hats were back! :)
They are not nearly as well trained as any other guards I've seen. They move their eyes around and one scratched his leg with his foot. Naughty naughty.
They are guarding where the president works.
We walked through to its sort of backyard where stands the oldest church in Sofia - 1700 years old. (St George's church) in front of it is more Roman ruins.
Our guide, Martin had been giving out lollies for people who answered questions correctly. Will got one right and gave me the Lolly :D it's a Bulgarian favourite. I wasn't fussed by it but I ate it. It's like a mint lozenger.
We walked past the national theatre then to the St Sofia church which is how the city really got its name.
Apparently because it is on top of the hill it's the first things traveller use to see when visiting the city so they would say "ahh Sofia" and eventually after centuries they name stuck.
It's the cities 3rd given name.

There was a crazy Greek lady on our tour who didn't give 2 fucks about whether her political views offended anyone.
She made it very clear that Macedonia is Greece and Macedonia the country is the republic of Skopje.
While I recognize that that opinion is very common - ones opinion does not take away legal fact.
It's a country.
And ALSO a section of Greece.
But she kept mentioning it. Lucky no one from Macedonia was on our tour they would not have been impressed. She was so vocal in her views that the guide whispered Macedonia to people so she couldn't hear him hahah
Also the idiot woman wore heels on a walking tour?
The cathedral square was littered in Military personal with big big guns. A little confronting at first but we were told they were only there because in 2 days it's some big celebration day so they were just practicing procedure for Saturday.
Hundreds of them though.
We said bye to our tour guide. Bless his socks - he made so many bad jokes - tipped him 20 Lev then walked to an Asian resturant nearby.
AHHH THE MOCKTAILS <3 <3
My fried rice was great and Will said his calamari and chicken was good too.
We caught a taxi home. This guy actually had a meter so we weren't ripped off. We asked to go to club 35 because that seems to be a well know spot near by.
Now home and keen for bed. Big day tomorrow!

Forgot to mention that yesterday Will had to close some guys back door for him because it sprang open and the guy seemed to know but not care that he was nearly banging everyone's cars.
Crazy drivers.
Which has reminded me this morning we saw a car crash. Not a bad one.
Dude spun out of the corner, did a 180 and dinged another car. The other driver was not happy. I wanted to watch the outcome but Will isn't as nosey as me and wanted to move on lol.

I read this to Will every night before I post and he would like it known that the big big guns were in fact AK47's.Read more
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- May 5, 2017
- ⛅ 17 °C
- Altitude: 573 m
- Bulgaria Sofia-Capital Municipality of the Capital Sofia City Garden 42.695126, 23.32405442°41’42” N 23°19’27” E
Day 32
Sofia
May 5, 2017 in Bulgaria ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
We actually woke up on time! Go team!
We left the house around 7. It was raining so we wanted to get a taxi as soon as possible but we only had 50's and don't trust the taxi driver at the end of the trip to not be like "oh sorry no change" so we walked for a little bit to a servo, bought a drink then jumped into the first taxi we saw.
Another legit driver! He also had a meter and went the quickest way. He also asked if we were Cold and would like the aircon on. That sort of lovely behavior earned him a small tip and he was really thankful and I think, surprised.
We were early so we found the cafe we were to meet at but it was closed :( 95% of things don't open until 9.
So back to trusty maccas we went -.-
Interestingly they don't have a breakfast menu which suits me perfectly but it's still different.
I'm liking Bulgaria more and more. I don't know why I was so put off at first. Possibly because it was dark, we were lost and the taxi driver ripped us off or the outskirts of the city are dodge but now I love it. It has a similar charm to Macedonia but is more established I think.
On foot is much better than by car. You miss so much of the everyday life vibe when driving.
We went back to the meeting place and were first to arrive. We had our names marked off and talked to one of the owners of the company dudes. He was saying that he studied both in Bulgaria and in an American school in Greece and he said the systems where very different. He said the American school had a lot of focus on team work which Bulgaria does not. He said as a company owner that causes a lot of problems because everyone is a lovely individual but team work doesn't happen easily or naturally.
There is about 26 on our tour but the bus has a microphone so that helps.
Will has had to move away from me so he has 2 seats and can sit sidewards so he fits.
We first drove to Boyana church which although beautiful inside was kinda boring. The church only allowed 10 people in at a time for 10 minutes each so we had some waiting to do.
We pre bought our tickets online but the guide made no notion for people to collect tickets. He was really confused and said he has never heard of this before so I showed him the invoice.
He made a phone call and we were allowed to enter and thankfully didn't have to pay again.
Inside didn't have an inch not painted. The artist only used red, yellow, blue, black and white.
We used the loo there which had a big 'free of charge' sign woo. turned out to be the cleanest public toilet I've been in. Like a church toilet. Spacious, empty tiles.
We got back on the bus and are on the way to Rila monastery. I was doing fine before but now I'm exhausted and I think I had a sleep.
We are currently 20 minutes out winding up the mountain.
Will was so very tired so we went straight to the resturant first to get him a coffee and food.
He ordered meatballs, or he thought he did.
They brought a singular meatball out and I had such a laugh.
I had a look around the shops while he finished his small chips.
We bought traditional Bulgarian donuts (Wills meatball didn't fill him) and sat by a waterfall. Took selfies with the GoPro then went walking around the monastery.
It's incredible! I love the wood, white and arches.
We saw a monk :D Only 10 still work here. He was a super old dude too.
I followed him so I could get a photo haha.
We went into the gallery but we had to pay so we left. We could practically see every artwork from the front door anyways and it was just silly saint pictures anyways.
We then went to its museum which had some cool stuff in it. (8Lev)would love to be able to enter the library and see old the old books they have. Only some were on display and some were replicas of ones in the library.
There was a wooden cross carved by Rafail- it was insane!!!!
There were gifts other countries had sent and and this really old door. Like stereotypical wooden with a big knocker.
They had some of the monks personal stamps too.
We couldn't take pictures inside.
We also went to another museum type section (3Lev) which had your basic life stuff like a mill and logging stuff but it also had pots and pans but the BIGGEST pot I've ever seen with humongous spoons.
In the pot you could easily cook 8 -10 fully grown men.
The roof was awesome though. It was like the tower in the first lord of the rings that Gandalf gets thrown against by old mate.
We learnt that it was designed like that for the smoke.
I really enjoyed the monastery. Will was a bit eh but he gets like that when he is tired and hungry.
I had a look at the gift shops but it was again all religious crap. I mean that with respect but I don't believe it praying to saints. Only God.
We paid for audio guides but one was out of battery so Will let me use the working one only it didn't have designated spots to press numbers.
There was only 5 bits of info but they went for 5+ minutes each.
I listened to them of the bus home. Waste of money really. Oh well. I did enjoy watching the lightning flashes on the horizon on the journey home.
The bus ride home was quieter than the journey there. The 5 Italians behind me shut up and had a sleep.
Will was really hungry so when we got back he got a burger. On the way we saw a man holding a lawn umbrella for protection hahahah it was so big!
We then went to the boulevard and had drinks. The roads were very blocked - we don't know what for but there was a very large group of people standing out the front of parliament with a horn that sounded like a duck?
We decided to wait until it cleared to go home.
We sat at a cafe for a bit then Will started crashing hard so we left. We walked across the bridge with pictures so I had a look at the other side. I would have liked to read the blurbs but I didn't want to push it lol.
The first taxi we flagged didn't speak English so he drove off. The second guy I'm pretty sure took a longer than necessary route but it was still cheap so that's ok.
Will is in bed finally so he is happier :)
I'm at dominos writing this.
Movie and pizza night!

The monastery was founded by a monk in the 10th century who wanted to escape. He lived in solitude in a cave. People heard of him and eventually more monks joined and they moved the monastery to where it is now. The cave is about 4km away and founder is buried there.

We also did enter the main church in the monastery, its beautiful and covered with gold. There are the founders relics inside. Supposedly they have magic powers and many many miracles have happened.Read more
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- May 6, 2017
- ⛅ 14 °C
- Altitude: 564 m
- Bulgaria Sofia-Capital Municipality of the Capital Sofia City Garden 42.692969, 23.3234942°41’35” N 23°19’25” E
Day 33
Sofia
May 6, 2017 in Bulgaria ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C
Woke up just in time to talk to mum and dad. We talked for a about an hour. I love talking to them. :)
Cat still doesn't recognize me. It's all an act I'm sure..
I miss him I just want to squeeze him.
Jess called through to talk to Will while I was talking to mum and dad. I'm getting really sad :( I want to talk to everyone too but they keep calling through to Wills phone so I don't get to talk to them cause I don't fit in the screen and/or they call through when I'm not available i.e. In shower, sleeping or talking to someone else :(
Wahhh.
I like listening to their voices though.
That my small whinge for the day done.
Boots apparently rubbed herself against the screen. Stupid Thaddeus, why can't he do that?

Will took forever to get ready. Our convos ended about 12:30 and we left the house around 2/2.30. We decided not to do the communist tour - we will do one in Berlin or similar.
We were going to walk to the center but I made the point that if we walk and the museum is shut because of St Joshua or whatever public celebration it is today - then we will need something to do and might have to do the tour anyway but won't have enough time to eat beforehand (both starving at this stage) so we did end up getting a taxi. The guy didn't speak English but got us to the right spot. :) we keep going to church Alexander because the name Alexander doesn't change with the language.

(While I was whining for Will to hurry up he told me to eat some Nutella, so I did :)
Hardly satisfying but it got me through til after the museum. )

We went straight to the museum to see if it was open and it was - woot! We decided to push through and eat afterwards. The museum had some interesting things but the vibe was nowhere near as good as Macedonia. It had lots of statues, gravestones and all your other general museum type things. There were paintings in the upper section that you had to stand 70cm away from or an alarm would go off. One lady set it off, I had a little giggle.
The highlights would have to be the old helmets and armor. I like looking to see if they have any obvious signs of impact rather than have just designated with time. I also like the weapons and like thinking about how many people (if any) had the weapon used on them.
There were also old animal bones but the best was the jaw of a cave bear dating back 250,000 -45,000 BC so that was pretty awesome.
After the museum we desperately needed proper food so we went searching but most places were just cafes. We did eventually find a place wayyyyyy up the end.
The food was average but there was a cat sitting on the mesh awning above us :)
We got a taxi home and I had a 2hr nap. It was magical.
Will woke me and we went bowling at the joy station directly behind our building. It was pretty hip inside. It had a bowling alley upstairs and downstairs was like this massive bar/club place that had a stage that's obviously booked for events - it also had pool tables and dart boards except it was very clean - more like star city than a pub.
We played 3 games of bowling - it was so cheap in comparison to home. It was about $10 each for 3 games. #winning.
Will won the first 2 games by 1 point and by then 3 points- but I won the 3rd game by 20 so I was the overall winner :D
We remembered to return our bowling shoes ( not like the time me and Andrea walked around Macquarie center in the bowling shoes for an hour because we didn't realize hahahaha)
We then played pool downstairs. You don't pay for one game you pay per hour.
Will won all 3 games it was bullshit. I was smashing him in the 1st game but the silly yellow ball lost me the game. In the first game I broke and then proceeded to sink 3 balls straight. I'm basically a professional.
We then went to club 35 and had cheeseburgers. Delicious again.
Came home and packed and possibly downloaded more movies...
Earlier we also looked at transport to Hungary but it's not really convenient so we got super duper cheats flight to Brussels - 26€ each.
I think it ended up being $209 all up once we added our big bags. So pretty stoked :)
Booked for 2nd June - woo!

Other notes:

-Tourism is up 200% since last year in Bulgaria thanks to Ryanair.

- The Mountain is the closest to any city in Europe and is responsible for their clean air

- Will randomly knew that the Desert pea is the national flora of south Australia ??

- we also emailed grandma and granddad to see if they have received their package and to give them the link to this journal. If they ever read this please know I apologize for the terrible grammar, spelling mistakes, occasional swear word and disorganised thoughts but it's acting as a personal journal - so it's meant for me, not others :)

Plovdiv tomorrow! Woohoo!Read more
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- May 7, 2017
- ⛅ 17 °C
- Altitude: 163 m
- Bulgaria Plovdiv 42.127447, 24.75372142°7’39” N 24°45’13” E
Day 34
Transit
May 7, 2017 in Bulgaria ⋅ ⛅ 17 °C
Wakey wakey.... ehhhhhh -.-
We slept in past 10 because I think the checkout time here is 1. We weren't sure but the reception dude is never there anyway.
We walked to the servo and it took over 20 minutes for us to get a taxi. So many went past but they either already had passengers or didn't speak English.
The dude we finally got was a crack up. He hardly spoke English but spent the whole trip trying to get us take a taxi instead of bus to Plovdiv. He kept speaking Bulgarian and we kept laughing together because no one had a clue what was going on.
We finally got to the bus station and bought our tickets but we were hungry so we got a later bus so we had time to eat first.
My $3 baguette was delicious.
We got the 2pm bus and I slept the whole way. It was fantastic - the bus windows were higher than usual so I could actually rest my head on the ledge.
When we arrived it was pissing down rain and we got saturated while getting our big bags off the bus and running to shelter. We waited for a little while before we attempted to find a taxi.
I showed the driver the address and he said yes so I thought he understood but he drove us to some fancy hotel. I said no and he became really stressed. He took my phone with the address on it into the reception inside for them to translate. We eventually go to the hostel and me and driver clapped with relief when we did.
I was thankful he didn't give up on us and make us get out at the wrong place. He was kind and im thankful.
Our hostel is suspicious looking..
We weren't sure if we were entering the front or back door.
Some chick showed us our room. It doesn't look as advertised but it will do. We are both in the top bunks on opposite sides of the room and I think I might be the only girl in our room lol.
The pillows look dodgy but they provide clean enough sheets.
There are lockers but I don't know how the locks will go so I'm just keeping my passport on me until we investigate more.
Good luck to Will, he might break the bunk.
We sat in the common room and it was super awkward at first but Will started up a convo with an American dude which broke the ice.
We played a game of chess, Will won but I didn't get slaughtered like I thought I would have. I haven't played in years and years.
Will then played the American and won that game too.
We went out for dinner which was ok and then just walked down the old town street. We didn't want to do too much looking in case it takes the awe out of the tour we hope to do tomorrow.
I need a salt shaker omg.
We couldn't find a supermarket. We will need to buy cereal tomorrow.
We bought Oreos hehe.
We went back to the hostel and got invited to dinner. In the spirit of making friends we went along anyway.
We went with this 73 year old man - strange.
Then another Aussie guy and girl and an American.
I love the American girl. She had me in stitches. She reminds me of Tina Fey.
The Aussie girl annoyed the crap out of me. Her accent was wrong and after knowing her an hour she made me sign her 'book' with a personalized note for her, add her in Facebook and look at several ALBUMS on her phone of her travels. I did not care.
Very self absorbed person.
She also whipped out a condom that the manager of the last hostel left under her pillow. She claims to fell sexually harassed but
Uhm, 2 questions, 1 - why would you keep it in the first place and secondly, why would you keep it in your carry bag . Like, she had it on her person at dinner in a resturant...
Attention seeking to the hills omg.

The food they served looked deliciously authentic. We might go back. We walked back to the hostel and were stoked to find out the old guy and annoying girl were from a different hostel.
So they left woohoo!
We spent the evening talking to Nick and Ilana. (Aussie and American) we get on well. They are doing a tour tomorrow and if there is room we might join them.
I'm currently just hopped into bed. It was so difficult not making noise in the dark.
The bed russles with every movement I make.
Going to be an interesting sleep.Read more
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- May 8, 2017
- ⛅ 15 °C
- Altitude: 172 m
- Bulgaria Plovdiv Dzhambaz Tepe 42.145857, 24.75009442°8’45” N 24°45’0” E
Day 35
Plovdiv
May 8, 2017 in Bulgaria ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
What an awful nights sleep.
We went to bed at 12 but I got up at 1 and sat in the common room until 2 because the beds are so ridiculously rickety that i was getting frustrated not being able to move without making sooo much noise.
I am the only girl in our down and 3 of 4 of the other boys snore -.-
The Asian guy below me is so odd. We don't know if he is gay or just Asian in his ways but a really odd person. His English is technically understandable but his sounds are very nasal.
When I was in the common room I wrote my weekly Facebook update and a cat came up to the window so I went outside to say hi :)
I eventually got to sleep but the beds are soooooo itchy. They provided sheets but I'll be using my sleeping bag tonight.
Me and Will kept waving at each their across the room to see if he other was awake.
We woke up around 6:30 and were so uncomfortable we went to the common room until everyone else woke up.
Will went for a walk and got us cereal then once our room was empty of people we went back to bed and got up at 1.
Will wants only private rooms from now on lol.
Dorms are almost like a right of passage though haha.
Once awake we decided to go for a walk to the closest shopping center.
It was either falsely advertised as a mall or they just have crap standards. It was 3 levels but had about 5 shops open and it had no variety. It was all junk stores.
There was a Aldi type place were we needed to buy Will a razor, batteries and food for the rose fields and I wanted salt, toothpaste and more cat food since I'm running low lol.
We got a lot of stuff but when we went to pay our card didn't work for some reason. The lady didn't speak English and she gave me some weirdo extension thing to put the pin into -
Anyway long story short is we pissed off a lot of people. The card failed so Will left to get cash from the ATM but the people behind us couldn't get served until we had so they had to wait. A few people had a go at me in Bulgarian. I just stood there awkwardly.
It felt like he took an hour but he was probably very quick- we paid and I was happy to get out of there.
We got a kebab on the way home but it was a hassle too. They had to get a worker from out the back to translate for us.
The walk is beautiful. Cobbled streets that are frankly quite dangerous and you have to look at the floor every step because it's so uneven but it's fun :).
The vines and old windows are lovely too.
Very picturesque.
We got back to the hostel and I have been shown a new phone app called 1 second a day which you basically upload a 1 second video everyday and it formats it into an awesome mesh of your holiday for you so I've been creating that all afternoon while Will has watched videos on the laptop.
I want to do the tour but Will isn't keen. Tomorrow it is hah.
We are happy we didn't go to the UFO Building excursion the hostel did today. They have just come back and no one has seemed very enthusiastic about it. Apparently they spent along time In the bus and it was wet soooo
We saved money woo!
I wanted to go for a walk to say we did something today so we did. I had a really annoying cough though, like I had a hair stuck in my throat.
We found some remains - don't know what of and an awesome sign that had the direction and distance to different countries.
We got water and then went for a stroll through a park. We found a pond with fish in it.
When we are millionaires we will have one at our house.
:)
The park was beautiful. Will got irritated about my excessive photo taking but I'm just trying to capture the beauty. My phone doesn't do anything justice :(
There was a creepy man with marionette dolls. He had what I think was Elsa and was spinning her around - he had little kid seats set up in front of the show. Odd.
We found this beautiful fountain place and decided to stay and have a drink in the cafe close by.
It has big signs saying you can't go swimming because it's treated water.
Some grubby looking kids were going in at the edges and getting coins out though.
At one point a security guard went sprinting full charge around the pond in the direction and the 10 of them scattered. It was amusing to watch, the guard was just not fast enough. It was like a scene from a movie.
We then went walking around, we found heaps of places that had awesome street art! I enjoyed this aspect more than Will.
We also found a central Perk cafe (Friends) but we had just had a drink so we didn't go in :(
We also saw the biggest dog - it was like a bear!!
We found ourselves back at the resturant from last night which serves traditional Bulgarian food.
Will actually had a vegetable. Amazing.
He had a Caesar salad and really enjoyed it because they used garlic sauce.
We also got a hot pot type thing with meat and vegetable which I enjoyed.
We are now back at the hostel now and people are playing the guitar.
Nothing makes me cringe more.
Nothing is more gay.
Nothing makes me more embarrassed for someone.
No I do not want to hear you play the only cord you know with your crappy voice. No one asked you to sing, please stop.
At least this is the hostels guitar, they haven't lugged it around Europe like some people do.
Those people I can't be friends with. We will never see eye to eye. I honestly can't deal.
God I hate 'jam' seshes in public spaces.
Go to your garage.
Ew.
Rant done.
However over the course of our trip I do expect to meet a lot of hipster fruity people who don't shave their underarms, have dreadlocks, nose piercings, surf, are vegan, meditate, and don't use plastic.
Not keen.

It's now silent. Bless my ears.

The owner made a shopska salad and offered everyone Rakia*
Funnily enough I'm writing this a day late because I only got half way through writing 'Rakia' before I got distracted by the night.
Alcoholic.

I refused at first but everyone was having shot after shot so I thought maybe it was a weaker brew... nope.
I had 2 shots though so I'm proud of my achievements.
I've learned everyone names now.
Patrick is the weirdo Asian
Jacob is the guy that looks like a lumberjack from America
Nick is the nice Australian Pilates instructor
Ilana is the histerical American
Then there is another odd Aussie who's eyes are too close together and another man who has been sleeping the last 48 hours so I don't know who he is.
Patrick was off his face. He is so smiley it's strange and was fascinated by Jacobs big beard and kept touching it. Jacob was not overly impressed.
Jacob is hilarious. He is like a easy going guy that appears bored by everything.
Patrick was like "we should hang out more"
Jacobs response *shakes head and looks at floor* "noooo" *awkward laugh.
Me and Ilana peed ourselves hahah
It's won't ever be funny reading it but his deliveries make things very funny.
We spent the night outside just hanging out with everyone.
Everyone is very different but we had A LOT of fun and I spend a long time laughing.
Patrick kept drinking and fell asleep at the table.
We all went to bed about 1am.
Me and Will asked if we could move rooms because the double bed in the lower dorm became available so we jumped at it - its on the floor and doesn't have barricades so he fits woo!
Only problem is that one of the main slates of the bed is missing so there is an awkward dip in the middle of your back.
Once you find the right placement it's ok though.
The bed wasn't squeaky so I slept brilliantly.Read more
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- May 9, 2017
- ⛅ 16 °C
- Altitude: 168 m
- Bulgaria Plovdiv Sahat Tepe 42.147717, 24.73808942°8’52” N 24°44’17” E
Day 36
Plovdiv
May 9, 2017 in Bulgaria ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C
Surprisingly woke up at 10 unaided. So we will make the morning tour! We smell but will shower when we get back.
We scoffed down breakfast then walked to the meeting point. Our guides name was Daniel and he seemed really friendly. Our group had about 18 people. There was a nice American couple we talked to.
First we saw the town hall then the Plovdiv coat of arms which has written at the bottom "ancient and eternal"
According to our guide Plovdiv is the oldest city in Europe and 6th or 7th oldest in the world.
We then saw a statue who's name I think was Milo. We didn't learn his significance until we walked down to the old stadium and saw the model. Only a portion has been excavated but the original stadiums other end is marked by Milo.
It was a stadium for chariots and horses etc.
Next to it was apparently the oldest ottoman mosque in Europe.
We then walked through the Kapana area which was known at the trap. Because 1, it's easy to get lost and 2, it's hard to leave without first spending money. The shop owners can be very insistent. We admired more of the street art which is encouraged in moderation because Plovdiv has been chosen as the 2019 European capital of culture.
We then went into old town and admired the orientatal looking buildings and found what they called a gossip tower. It's a little room sitting on a wall where the bored woman would sit and watch the actions of others and well, gossip.
We went up a small hill that had a terrific lookout of some of the hills.
Plovdiv is know for its hills.
One of the hills has a Russian statue on it which was packed because today is some Russian day. Should have been listening better...
We walked past some museums and a church - the Church of St Constantine (and Helen?)
Constantine was responsible for legalizing Christianity during the Roman period.
Our tour ended at another theatre.
There were a few other stops along the way but he lost my attention.
Our tour was rubbish HOWEVER we learnt that it was the guides first ever tour so that explains it and makes it actually quite a good tour. My first time I would be a mess so he should be proud of himself. He at least made sense, he just wasn't very engaging.
He had a supervisor with him who helped him out a few time like when we were standing in the rain and he told Daniel to maybe move us to stand under shelter. I thought he was just his friend rather than conworker.
We weren't going to tip because it wasn't good but after learning it was his first time, we did.
There was this annoying girl on our tour who was just an over confident person with an annoying hyena laugh with terribly obvious flirting methods.
I still need to buy my magnet.
Will can't walk past a watch store without having a look.
Because the weather is so crappy and wet there are so many snails - lots of baby ones too I'm taking care not to step on. :)
Will had about an hour nap while I caught up on my journal :)
I went and woke him cause I was really hungry and we went to the place ranked number 1 on trip advisor - for good reason - the food was delightful. I had the pickled ribs and it just fell off the bone. Yummmmmy!
We also had garlic and dill potatoes which were also fabulous.
I bought my magnet on the walk home - a rose.
I'm trying to get things that are relevant to my experience in each county or something I will associate with the country so I'm not necessarily buying the magnet I like the most.
Example - the magnet i liked most was 2 Bulgarian people in traditional dress - while I loved it I don't want it because I haven't seen any people dressed traditionally so it's not relevant to my memories of here.
I'm pre prepping for the rose Fields.
We later in bed and watched 'Kong - skull island" I actually enjoyed it much much more than I thought I would. I then had an hour nap afterwards.
We then woke up and packed - it was difficult getting our food to fit and I've discovered my cotton buds have gone through my bag -.-
Oh well, better than an exploding sunscreen.
We then sat outside with Jacob for a while then the 3 of us went to dinner together at the 'china panda' which, for the price, really hit the spot.
It was like a chicken stir fry with rice type thing.
We then tried to stop more money out but 2 atms denied us.
We don't know why this would effect it but our only thoughts for why our cards had been a bitch is because we decided not to convert it to Euro on our card to try and save money cause the exchange was so bad.
But ever since we have done that 3 out of 4 places haven't liked the card.
It says card 'invalid here'
We will try again tomorrow. It's not an emergency - I have 40€ in my wallet and my NAB card if worse comes to worse.
We walked back to the hostel. There has pretty much been a complete swap of guests.

I don't actually know who works here - well one girl yes but I don't know if a few other people who walk around with extreme confidence are just long term guests or worker volunteers.
Either way - this group of unknowns had dinner tonight and it was fish and it was gross.
Will and Jacob are playing chess :)
We tried to play big 2 before with the 3 of us but we found out at the very end that 2 of the 2's were missing and they are the most important card in the game making it almost pointless..
I'm stapling in tickets and flyers into my book - they stack up quickly!
As we were walking back from dinner "omg a bombs gone of nearby" was a split second throught I had - but it was fireworks with a big kick.
We surmise that it's for the Russian day - something to do with the Russians liberating Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire..?
Will is now having a shave and I'm relaxing.
I will be so less stressed once we have actually been collected from the bus station tomorrow.
I hope our hosts are nice!

On an irrelevant side note. I hate the name Charlotte.
I cannot fathom why you would give your child a name that you know it ranked number 1.
I think your name has such an importance for a persons identity and sense of self worth.
I would honestly feel a little less special if I had to share my name with literal 1/3 of my class. I would be so angry my parents hadn't bothered to put 1 minute thought into picking the word I will be called everyday.
Common names are fine in theory. Charlotte is just destroying me because of the frequency I hear it.
It's an epidemic.
It's the new "John"
Ew.

We're watching videos in bed but I'll crash soon.Read more
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- May 10, 2017
- ⛅ 14 °C
- Altitude: 289 m
- Bulgaria Oblast Stara Zagora Dolno Panicherevo 42.60587, 25.84880742°36’21” N 25°50’56” E
Day 37
Transit
May 10, 2017 in Bulgaria ⋅ ⛅ 14 °C
So the bed is slowly dying. Will put my bag on the bed and it collapsed so we swapped sides. We then swapped back because Will decided he would rather sleep on a slant than with a slat missing in the middle of his back.
One dude snored so loudly -.-
I was less itchy though because I've been using my own sleeping bag so that's good.
We brushed our teeth and did the final morning pack then asked the volunteer worker to call us a taxi. Half way through her attempt we realized we had no money so we tried to make her cancel but she wouldn't hang up the phone. She kept saying just wait. We tried to Communicate we couldn't pay for it..
Either way she failed to get one so no harm done.
We went searching for a working ATM and on attempt 2 we found one. We then had breakfast and headed back to the hostel.
The streets were more crowded with tourist groups this morning.
We ate cereal and I played a game of rummi with Patrick and Tom (weird south Australian guy)
I won. Thanks Noeline and Matt for the practice hehe.
We then started walking the 1.6km journey to the station.
Gah, my backpack is getting heavier I swear.
Partly because I'm carrying the dirty laundry so I have lots of Wills clothes. -.-
I've now put the sleeping bag on the outside of my bag and that makes it really uncomfortably difficult too because it's so uneven and hurts my back.
Once we got to the park we had a 2 minute break for Will to take off his jumper and for me to attach my sleeping bag to his bag. He now has one on each side so his bag is more even too. I carried his jumper :)
In the park there was this person - I had several looks and have concluded it was a man wearing a wig. Will thought it was an Ugly woman but I maintain it was a man - the beard was too bushy, the hair too straight and rigid (therefore probably a wig) and he/she had a uni-boob.
Maybe he just likes sitting in the park and wants to feel pretty amongst the birds...

I think I find the little bag more challenging because the big backpack straps take up all of my shoulders so I have nowhere to flatly lay the smaller straps. I have to put them on top of the big straps and they keep sliding off which is annoying.
Will doesn't have this problem cause he is much bigger.
Considering our packs are pretty much the same weight I'm doing really well because your pack is only suppose to be 15% of your body weight
Mine is way over and his is way under.
We made it to the station - it's the same one we arrived in.
Will sat down with or bags while I tried to organize tickets.
I tried 3 shops before I found the right one.
After having the same convo serveral times..
"Hi, do you speak English? "
"no"
"Nova Zagora?"
*points in different direction*
But I found it! Woo!
It was only 10 Lev each which is brilliant.
That's one less stress. Only 3 more to go.
1 - our bus station is not he final destination so we need to get off mid route which is causing me anxiety.
2 - once we do successfully get off we will need to get our bags from underneath the bus - on our previous bus rides I haven't seen anyone who hasn't been on to the end open up the under compartments so hopefully we can.
3 - actually finding our host.
It's quite the adventure.

We are currently watching the fat pigeon eating anything it can find.

We went to gate 5 which is where we were told our bus would be. There was a bus there waiting but it was only 2:10.
We weren't sure if it was the right bus or not so we asked. It wasn't the most friendliest of responses but it at least answered our question. No, it was not our bus.
We waited for it to leave then Ours pulled in. Ours is much smaller. Our driver doesn't speak English but nodded so hears to hoping we go the right direction.
It's been an hour and a half of the journey.
I really need to wee.
The country side is lovely and I've enjoyed some derelict villages along the way.
There are big holes in the wall so it must be freezing but people definitely live there because there is washing hanging up.
I naturally became tired along the way and had a quick snooze but the anxiety of missing our stop has helped me not go into a deep sleep.
Will is sleeping too and doesn't fit in the seat. The photo I got of his is quite funny.
Poor cotton.
We are at what I think is the stop before ours and I'm THRILLED that we have pulled into a bus station rather than a bus stop on the side of the road. Hopefully we get dropped off at a terminal too.

I have been trying to find shapes in the clouds. It's harder as an adult but is still consider it a success.

Of course our stop wasn't a bus station but a stop on the side of the road. - Nova Zegora.
We weren't sure whether to get off or not but thank heavens Johanna was at the door and collected us.
The stress left my body immediately- we weren't stranded haha.
I really hope mum and dad remember me saying I might not have wifi because I don't and I hope they don't think something's gone wrong. Especially when I can't upload this journal for 2 weeks. I might ask Johanna if I can send an email mid week just to be sure.
In sure Wills parents will be less stressed lols
She had parked in a supermarket car park so we walked to that - she lives about 20 km away. The drive was beautiful.
She lives in a village. Like, a proper village with horse and carriages.
I'm in love.
We are set up in a tent in the backyard. Our mattress is on a diagonal so Will can fit..
the toilet is an outhouse - Will had a nervous laugh. It's the same as Kenya except it smells better because they have sawdust stuff to throw into the toilet after your number 2.
I'm going to have to get use to aiming better..
Johanna took us on a tour to a few of her rose fields - because of the rain they are not ready to harvest yet but she still has some odd jobs for us to help with.
Today I saw the biggest bee I've ever seen in my life. It was like part bird.
I also watched a Different bee up really close pollinating a big beautiful purple flower. I took a video too.
The main house is falling apart so they live in a side room that has a bedroom attached to an Empty room which will be a kitchen and a shower in the back.
The main house only has one usable room and they use it for storage - that's where we have put our big bags.
We spent some time sampling different teas and chatting.
We were starving so when she mentioned dinner we were both relived. It was lentil soup. At first I was disappointed but still Hungry enough to eat anyway but it turned out to be delicious.
There is an outside, old school cooking area with a fire stove and jar after jar of dried things and cooking condiments.
I was so very cold.
Even with my puffy jacket, rain coat, a blanket, Wills snow beanie and sitting next to a fire eating hot liquids I was crystallizing.
After dinner we played cards for a few hours.
It's a German game (Johanna is German) called wizard. It was really very confusing at first but we eventually got the hang of it. It goes for 20 rounds and the rounds get infer longer every time.
On round 19 it was discovered that me and Will had been playing wrong. Though we were playing the same way so i think the lead I had on him was valid.
Only a small thing we misunderstood but it probably effected the overall score.
It was over a matter of HAVING to play a card of a certain colour if you had it - we both thought we could strategically skip.
Oops.
Overall score ended up being me and Johanna tied for first place.
Danny, Johannas partner will be arriving on Monday next week.
Will had a shower while I organized the tent.
It's a tight fit but we will manage.
I'm excited for what's to come!

We also got an offer for English speaking in Poland that we want to have a look at once we have internet back.

I may or may not have Dutch ovened the tent.
It was not good.Read more
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- May 11, 2017
- ⛅ 15 °C
- Altitude: 289 m
- Bulgaria Oblast Stara Zagora Dolno Panicherevo 42.605914, 25.84877242°36’21” N 25°50’56” E
Day 38
Work Away
May 11, 2017 in Bulgaria ⋅ ⛅ 15 °C
At about 3 am we both woke up to the noise of a humongous truck FLYING through the village streets.
Apparently truckers use it from Turkey to Romania to avoids inspections but wow it was loud!
We woke up at 6 to the sound of so many birds chirping. It was peaceful.
We got out of the tent at 9.
I needed to pee all night but I pushed through - I didnt want to go out in the wet.
Breakfast was fancy. Well not overly but I thought so.
It was fresh porridge with cooked cranberry and apple on top with a smashed banana underneath.
For my first porridge experience I quite liked it. Will did not.
The fruit and honey I added made it better.
I also had a tea. I'm liking the tea variety I've had here. I'll definitely be hitting up T2 when home.
There is a rooster and he doesn't shut up but you can also hear dogs barking and sheep.
We got ready, meaning brushed our teeth in the garden, put on our sunscreen (turns out Will bought FOUNDATION with sunscreen in it -HAHAHAHAHAH he looked beautiful <3 hehehe)
and I put on a pair of borrowed gum boots. Our first stop was to the local "hardware store" to see if hey had boots in Wills size. They didn't but they are going to order some in for him and they will be here tomorrow.
We then went to the rose fields. We put on gloves and had a hoe each.
Will was seriously impressive. Even Johanna said she had never seen anyone so quick.
His head nearly exploded.
Thank god he was there though or the 2 rows would have taken me all week.
I was slow at first but did pick up the pace eventually once I got use to the blister feeling on my hand (which I hate) but I was still slow in comparison..
I managed to kill 1.5 rose bushes..
The first one may survive so that's good because I pulled out the whole plant but the root survived but the second time I felt horrible and wanted to go cry in the car.
It's there favourite field because it's the only field with white roses so they are extra special....
The second time I just wasn't concentrating because I was in a rhythm and chopped it in half then pulled out the rose with my hands while Johanna yelled "that's the rose"
Oh god. It was not good.
I knew she was upset/mad but she hid it well and pretended it was ok which I appreciated. I felt horrible. Will just laughed at me.
*** (written by William) ***But after he had finished some of his row he can back and helped me with mine. Will is the best couldn't ask for a better boyfriend plus he's super good looking which is a bonus. All I ever do is sleep must be because I'm a big stupid head. *****

I can't believe I ripped out a rose bush with my bare hands...
Anyway I tried extra hard after that. Johanna went ahead and cleaned around the roses to make it obvious for me..
My blisters felt fine once I stretched them a bit. I just hate the initial felling of tight skin. Neither popped so that's good.
Thanks to Will we finished in under 3 hours woo!

Basically we had to get rid of he ridiculous amount of weeds strangling the roses.
There were so many creepy crawlies in the soil.
Heaps of awesomely camouflaged spiders and millipede type things - and worms. But if I saw a worm I moved it out of harms way of being chopped..
probably why I took longer... hahahah
Johanna took a video of us hoeing which I appreciated :)
We then went back to the house and I had a lie down in the beautiful garden. It's full of insects but they leave you alone and I'm not worried cause there harmless in comparison to the potential garden friends of Australia.
There was lady beetles, butterflies, bees of all sizes, ants and beetle types I didn't recognize.
Johanna put down a picnic rug for me to lie in the sun on.
After a small while Johanna made us lunch. We had shopska salad and Will had a ham and cheese sandwich. Despite what he may think, he is the fussy one.
Afterwards we went for a quick walk around the village - or rather around the block.
People were so suspicious. One lady took her baby inside and left the pram on the street. She had this look of alarm. Lol.
As I've mentioned, I love villages.
Will then had a siesta but I found the tent too hot so I had a shower in the dodgy tub then discovered I was out of clothes so I did 3 loads of washing. Apparently the washing machine will be functional in 3-4 days can't wait.
It was difficult to do in the garden because the floor was muddy so the scrubba got muddy but I managed. I hung them on the line and they should dry quickly because it's very hot.
I then had a sleep on the picnic rug. Wonderful.
I then successfully used the outhouse woo!
Me and Will were having a comp who would go first - #winner
I emailed dad, Helen and Jess to say we would have no internet - I tapped into the wifi on Johanna's phone.
Dinner time - it was spag bowl yessss!
Sooo good.
We then played cards - big 2.
About 15 rounds and I didn't win once which was bullshit.
During our game of cards one of Danny's distant relatives came for a visit - apparently she just lets herself in 3 times a day. lol
She was so small. Will was sitting in a chair and was still taller than her. Might try get a photo next to her too. Hehe
She came to offer cucumbers but Johanna planted some in the garden today so she went for a look. She is going to bring us some sheep milk for tomorrow. Didn't even realise that was thing.
Hopefully we get to go to her house cause she has some animals I can play with. :D

Time for another scheduled sleep.
It's a sleep in tomorrow - we can get up at 9 :D..

Wills toenails are ridiculous- he cut them today for the 5th time since we left.
I am yet to cut mine.
Outrageous.

It's 10:46pm and there are birds chirping so loudly. What retards it's dark out.Read more
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- May 12, 2017
- ☁️ 15 °C
- Altitude: 289 m
- Bulgaria Oblast Stara Zagora Dolno Panicherevo 42.60587, 25.84882542°36’21” N 25°50’56” E
Day 39
Work Away
May 12, 2017 in Bulgaria ⋅ ☁️ 15 °C
That damn bird.
It tweeted for the entire night.
I have never heard such a vocal bird, least of all at night.
We didn't sleep well because of it at got up 9:45.
Johanna had bought us *insert Bulgarian word* from the bakery which is essentially Pastry with feta in it.
As promised the little old lady had brought over sheep milk.
In theory there was nothing wrong with it. It had the same texture as cow milk and tasted similarly enough (it had a stronger kick) but something in my mind was rejecting the thought of drinking juice from a sheep. Illogical but eh.
I did finish my glass like a boss though. Just don't want anymore thanks.
I borrowed a pair of rain pains and we all got to work in the yard de-weeding with the hoes. My hands are much better today but still hurt when I stop.
It was more challenging than yesterday because it required even more concentration. And the dirt had tiles littered underneath so it was harder.
We cleared a Large section of the garden though. Will wandered off and started clearing the grass near our tent to make it easier to get in.
One of the plants bled fluro orange which was weird.
Next up was a supper crappy job.
We got told that there was a path to the out house but it was hidden by inches of dirt.
This took agesss and really hurt both of our backs. I think Will was so put out by the job because it could be done with a high pressure hose and would be 10 times faster but I tried to remind him that that is a privilege and not a norm.
We did manage to clear the path though so I'm feeling pretty proud of our achievement. Looks good but once it rains and cleans it a bit it will look better.
We then had a break and sat around for a bit which felt awesome haha. I was feeling quite cold because my sweat made me wet -.-
We then went over to the little ladies house (Baba Penka) to return the sheep milk and see her animals.
(Baba is Grandma in Bulgarian.) except she wasn't home. We popped up the road to see if Wills boots had been delivered but they hadn't..
so we drove 7km to the next village to get some groceries. The next village is more established.

I've been seeing random coffee machines in the middle of random streets which is bizarre considering the neighborhood.

Some of the scenery on the way was beautiful.
The black cat that Johanna claims isn't hers but lives at her house anyway was less scared of me today. :) I've named it Pedro :)
I then had another nap in the yard while Will watched a movie in the tent.
I tried to nap there but I couldn't stand the heat.
I woke up to Johanna working in the garden. Not sure if she expected help so I felt awkward.
We tried baba Penkas again and this time she was home. She had set the table for dinner for us so I'm so thankful we went over again because I hate thinking of the little old ladies broken heart when her guests don't show up :( even though we didn't know we had been invited to dinner... that got lost in the translation - Johanna isn't fluent in Bulgarian, she can get by though.
Even though it didn't happen and we went, my heart hurts thinking of her sitting at the table alone with a big pile of food that she probably can't afford to give to us..
THANK GOD WE WENT.
She is too cute.
She is missing all her teeth except 2 on the side.
She had a heart attack a few years ago and has recently started talking about her death a lot which is awkward especially when her message gets translated to you.
She is so funny, she looks you straight in the eye and talks and talks even though you have zero idea what she is saying.
Her husband was at the lake with the sheep so we went down to visit.
At first we could only see him sitting on a chair, asleep with no sign of the sheep.
We thought he was going to have his ass handed to him.. hahaha but they were just grazing over a Hill.
There were cows grazing too.
THE SHEEP HAD TAILS. I HAVE NEVER SEEN THAT AND IT LOOKED SO WEIRD.
We walked down to the lake and I felt the water. It was a little too cold to swim in but not Icey.
The lake is artificial and was created in the 60's - there use to be a village there.
It was stunning. I took so many photos.
Lots of cow pats and random shells everywhere.
It's unfortunate but a lot of people don't pick up their rubbish..
A man was fishing too but he shouldn't have been. It's currently illegal because they have to let the supply replenish. You can in June I think.
No one said anything to him though.
I've noticed on every house there are signs that look like missing person posters - today we asked what they were and they are signs in remembrance to the dead and they say along the lines of "this person died 2 years ago, please pray" and they update them as time goes on.
They have been everywhere in Bulgaria but more common in the village. It's Bulgarian tradition to do so.
We walked back to Baba Penkas and looked at her animals. She has rabbits and I was horrified when she picked it up by the ears. It started kicking so I took it off her and held it properly.
They all had the creepy red eyes and their cage was filthy because the son normally cleans it but he is away.
She also has turkeys and chickens and they didn't look well cared for either. I'm hoping the bleeding bits on the rooster was from a fight and not from small scratches that have festered but I doubt it.
She has a cat that she claims to not feed but fed it a lot when we were there. The weirdo ate bread and a tomato.
The cat has 4 kittens which we saw also. I felt so bad for them :( I don't know how there life will turn out but it doesn't look promising and the mum cat didn't show them any interest.
We were served chicken stew which was really salty and Baba kept apologizing but it tasted fine.
I wasn't fussed by the actual chicken part.
I fed the cat a little too.
Baba kicked the cat once to get it away from food but I winced.
I carried the cat to safety haha. It was a bit mangy but purred loudly when I scratched it.
When eating, the trick is to leave your plate full or it gets refilled. She complained I didn't eat anything but refilled my bowl 5 times?!
We then Walked back to the boot store - they had arrived and fitted so we carried them home.
We made comment to Johanna after our walk the other day that people are suspicious of us and run into there homes. She commented that she now she's what we mean. Many people evacuated the area haha.
We played big 2 again. I lost for a while again but then got on a winning streak :D
We also taught Johanna go fish and while Will had a shower me and Johanna played a game similar to speed.
We are now in the tent - I hate it. I'd rather sleep on a flat floor that on a mattress because because of the weight difference it doesn't accommodate for my movements well. It's like being double bounced on a trampoline.

We chatted to Johanna a lot more today. It's becoming easier.
Danny will arrive tomorrow which I'm happy about - more conversation opportunities.

Will finally went potty.
What a big boy. :)

We saw 3 Woodpeckers today which was kinda cool.

That's fucking bird is back... it's 11:14
D:Read more
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- May 13, 2017
- ☀️ 23 °C
- Altitude: 289 m
- Bulgaria Oblast Stara Zagora Dolno Panicherevo 42.605872, 25.84875842°36’21” N 25°50’56” E
Day 40
Work Away
May 13, 2017 in Bulgaria ⋅ ☀️ 23 °C
We slept better last night even though that bird came back -.-
We got up at 9 and had cereal for breakfast. It was a new type we bought at the grocery store yesterday but it wasn't as good. It was only a small bag so we don't have to eat it again cause it's all gone lol.
I was more conscious this morning and ready to go.
It was stinking hot already though so we both opted for shorts.
But I wore a long sleeve shirt because Johanna (pronounced Yo - Hana. I feel black when I say it)
said the roses can scratch up your arms pretty bad.
We drove out to one of the fields, parked then walked about 500 meters over sunflower seedlings before we actually got there.
We took a pair of big scissors and took on a row each. I find it quite fun. The aim was to get rid of all the dead sticks attached to the bushes.
It hurt my back after a while but cutting the big stems was really satisfying.
I made a few boo boos and cut live stems so I hid them at the base 0.O hehehe oops.
(While reading this back to Will he has admitted to the same crime.)
I was the slowest but most efficient at first. Once I realized everyone else was not being as precise I caught up.
The thorns went through my gloves a few times and it really hurt.
One you cut the stick you had to throw it into the lane way but it was challenging. A few times I went to throw it but the thorns attached to my gloves so I ended up hitting myself In the face.
It really hurt Wills back so he used the pitch fork to collect the sticks.
I really did find it fun only it was so hot and I was dripping. Sweat was going everywhere and my eyes were stinging.
I don't know when i last sweated that much.
I think the sunscreen I put on was why it was so much. My pores were in protest.
Johanna and I worked on row 4 together. She is much quicker than me but I'd be worried if she wasn't - it's her job.
I had a try with the pitch fork and got cranky.
It's so much easier using your hands to pick up the sticks - they just fall straight through the fork.
There was one open rose and it smelt incredible, like the soap.
We got some photos of us being farmers then headed home.
We sat around the table for a while just relaxing.
Danny then turned up. I like him. He is easy going and has made a few jokes too.
He showed us underneath there unusable house. They have a boat and bikes which we hope to use.
It's really cold under the house and is where previous owners would have stored food.
There were some awesome big barrels there too.
It was like a pickers dream. So much junk.
We had lunch - Shopska salad, sandwiches and potato salad type thing except they called it a Russian salad?
I then had a beautiful shower and cleaned the layers of crap out of my hair.
The pair have now gone off to do something so I'm laying on the mat with intentions of reading while Will does his first load of washing. So proud.
Will can't find the 2nd packet of Oreos we bought and is a little bummed.
There are so many bees buzzing around my face but strangely it doesn't faze me. I don't normally feel overly comfortable around them.

I had a splinter before and it really really hurt! I thought I had been bitten/stung by something at first.
I had to almost cut a chunk out of my skin to get it out. Little bugger.

No sign of Pedro today :(

My book is so stressful I need to take regular breaks.

Regarding the rose oil business -
They stay in business because the biggest Rose companies can't harvest all their roses - Only a very small portion, because it's a job a machine can't do.
No machine yet exists that can tell which roses should be picked and which should not. All must be hand picked.
The little fields sell to the bigger companies and also have their own smaller businesses, like on Etsy.
We are working on an organic farm.
There are 2 distilleries in town.

I want dinner. The sunset is so late here which is good and bad.
2 more volunteers arrive tomorrow. The yard is going to be cramped with everyone's tents!

When it's cold and you pee in the hole ... because your wee is hot and the stone is cold it makes steam :)
Science is cool. Lol

I finished reading a few chapters of my book and went to sit over with Will who was just about finished watch Logan - he said it's good.
Danny asked us if we were bored and wanted to see a bit of the village. We said yes :)
He drove us through a lot of fields. Grapes, sunflowers, lavender and roses. The grapes are the prettiest.
We got out of the car to look at lavender. It hasn't started yet but if you rub the leaves you can smell it.
We saw some wild rabbits - apparently jackals eat them.
I didn't realise they had Jackals in Europe.
The views were beautiful.
We drove around for about 30 mins.
When we got back in was dinner time.
It was sausage and lentils - :S but I ate it like a polite guest.
Danny is a tour guide in Sofia so he has a lot of random knowledge and he gave us a big history of yogurt because Bulgarians are upset.
He put yogurt on his sausage. Who does that?

I tried it with lentils and it wasn't half bad. There yogurt is better than ours. It has a different texture. It's more watery.
We then played big 2 all together. Danny is very funny.

This whole time I thought the wood shavings were scented when it's actually the toilet paper. Fancy.

It's about to storm we think. There is lots of lightening so far but no rain.
I would love to fall asleep to the sound of rain than that damn bird.

Storm has started :D

Never mind it didn't last long :(
I kept on needing to wee and Will was getting fed up with me climbing over him to the door so tried to go out the back way. As I pulled the zipper down my hand was in immediate pain. So many nettle stings. My hand developed some small hives pretty quickly :( it was itchy :(
It was fine by morning though.Read more
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