The monestary we're at is named for "the 40 Martyrs."  We never learned exactly what the 40 Martyrs did.  We ate a picnic breakfast, again under the grape arbor with the ever vigilant cats trying to get their share.  Which was all very nice, but what about coffee?  Some of us need our coffee.  So we packed up and took off in a light rain, which was refreshing after the oppressive heat and humidity we've been dealing with.

We stopped at the closest village, which I'm sorry to say I do not know the name of, and went in search of coffee.  We found a nice little outdoor cafe.  In this village I took a picture of this charming farmer with his horse cart; he thought it would be funny to hop up on the back of one of his horses for the picture, which he did. 

I have been careful about taking pictures of the locals.  Apparently it's considered rude unless you ask first.  I am learning to point to my camera, then at whatever I want to photograph, and asking, "Okay?"  This usually seems to do the trick, although Anna took a picture of a cartload of gypsies (it was quite a sight) and then they extorted two lev from her.  (Less than $1.50, so not really that bad.)

After coffee, we started riding for real.  It was a long uphill, and I sucked--I had to stop and walk my bike several times and I was feeling kindof pukey all morning.  (Actually, this was the norm for me, though I'm not sure why.  I felt sick to my stomach most mornings but perked up after lunch, usually).  Even with general pukiness, it was a pleasant ride/walk, very beautiful.  We only rode 26K (less than 20 miles) for the day but it wore me out!  I also threw off my chain but fortunanately I was able to fix it quickly.

We ended our day at "St. George's Monestary" (I think--frankly, they all begin to run together) and had some lunch--very nice bean soup and Shepherd's salad, which has a bit of everything in it.  We checked into a real hotel, which is part of the monestary.  Not luxurious, but it's okay.  Then we toured the church, and I took a nap.

Later I walked around the grounds and had a very animated conversation with a young monk.  Neither of us had a clue what the other was saying, but it was fun.  (I read that this monestary is known for it's chatty monks.)  I also saw a few interesting birds--a Eurasian Jay, a wagtail, and a cute little fly-catching bird of some kind with a nest in a crevice in the church wall.

I forgot to mention at the last monestary, there was a very funny cat.  She sat on a porch railing directly under a swallow nest and watched it, I guess hoping one of those babies would topple out right into her mouth.)

This monestary is surrounded by beautiful cliffs,  and there is a famous cave nearby where revolutionaries hid.  Neanderthals used to live there, too, and they also found the bones of the biggest cave bear ever found in Europe.  (We just saw one bone, though.  The rest are in a museum.)  It's a nice cave, but nothing as impressive as some I've seen.  There is a place that has wonderful acoustics, though, and they sometimes have concerts there and invite visitors to sing.  Zach actually has some voice training.  He wouldn't sing when we asked him to, but once the attention was off him, we couldn't shut him up!  (And he does have a nice voice.)

The following picture is actually a roof.  In and around Sofia and other places they use terra-cotta shingles, but around here, they use stone.  It's no wonder roofs cave in here all the time!

We walked back to the hotel and I walked around again.  I had another animated conversation, this time with a group of laborers who were doing some landscape and repair work around the monestary nad had just knocked off for the day.  They saw my "Birds of the Meditarranean" field guide and wanted to point out the birds I might see in this area.  We tried to find a common language (one spoke Italian, I speak some French; that was pretty much a nonstarter).  But in the end we settled for some English and lots of gestures.  I told them where I was from, and they knew the soap opera "Dallas," which was apparently very popular in Bulgaria.  They asked for my phone number, but fortunately I don't have one.

We had dinner at the hotel, the usual selection.  Tonight I had the "pumpkin" with yogurt, dill and garlic.  Very tasty.  The waitress also misunderstood and brought us an extra dish of ice cream ("three balls," they call scoops "balls").  The extra dessert didn't go to waste.

And now, to bed.  It is very humid and our clothes, which we wash in the sink each night, are not drying very well.

More tomorrow,

Kara

Another late start today, but I think we've finally realized that we're on B.T. (Bulgarian Time).  We went down to the hotel restaurant and got coffee, then had another picnic breakfast (more bread, cheese, fruit, tomato and yogurt).  Then we loaded the van and took a tour of the church, which of course was beautiful.  All the churches are so ornate, with every inch covered in frescos and icons.

Krum drove us to a spot where we could avoid riding on the highway, and finally we were off.  Uphill.  And more uphill.  I was really feeling the heat today, and we were all drinking tons of water.  We even put this huge bottle of water in the van in case we needed it, which we did.  Even though every village has fountains with delicious water, we were consuming it at prodigious rates.

I felt like we were climbing real mountains today, though of course they were only small foothills.  We took frequent breaks whenever we found a shady stopping point.  Amelia hunted down some wild strawberries and wild sour cherries.  I walked my bike up a lot of hills, but I was happy not to need the "sag wagon."  Given my lack of training, I was happy to even remotely keep up, although there is no question now that I am the weakest link in the chain!  The downhills were so much fun, though.  I went screaming down some hills.  I don't know how fast I was going because I don't have a speedometer (or an odomoeter, so I don't really know how far, either).  But it seemed fast!

We ended our riding in the town of Tryavna, which is renowed for its woodcarving.  Tonight we get to stay in a real hotel with a real shower/tub--what a treat.  Soft beds and two pillows each, we thought we'd gone to heaven.  Sad to say, no A/C.  But at least it is dryer here and our clothes are drying faster.  Just as we rode into town, there was a row of fruit vendors.  Penny is buying fruit in this picture, but Amelia is the one who bought unbelievable amounts of berries and peaches each day she could find them--and none of it went to waste, especially the raspberries and cherries.  Just look at those tomatoes!  They have the most delicious tomatoes here I've ever eaten.

We showered and went to lunch at a nice restaurant--Krum has done an excellent job finding us places to eat.  Sometimes they have an English menu, but often poor Krum has to translate the entire menu for us, then interpret for the waiter.  I was disappointed in my "tabuleh" salad, which was about 90 percent parsley (blech).  But I made up for that with a cheese omelet and french fries.

After lunch we walked to the "old town," which was the center of the Arts & Crafts movement of the late 1800s.  Once the Bulgarians were "free of the Turkish yoke," the arts and crafts they had carefully preserved at monestaries were allowed to blossom, and it showed up in the architecture.  The buildings with lots of beautiful walnut wood and carvings are found many places in the country, but most notably here.

  This is just a normal street in Tryavna (that's Anna and Penny, shopping) but you can kind of get an idea of what the old town looked like.  There's just a lot of attention to quality and detail.  Not nearly as fussy as the Victorian counterparts in the west (except when it comes to the wood carving, which is unbelievably ornate.  Usually on interior ceilings and moldings, however).

The woodcarving museum was beautiful, but it was very small and crowded.  We paid to have an English-speaking guide, who went on and on and ON about the revolution but told us very little about the carving itself, so I took a quick look at everything and ducked out to speak with the young woman ticket-taker, who spoke very good English.  I asked her if she'd been to England or America, and she was shocked I would ask.  She has never left her village.  They apparently have extremely intense English instruction at the public high school here.  She loves her home and would never think of living elsewhere, although she said she would like to travel.

I rejoined the group after the tour and we did some souvenir shopping.  I am also hunting for a contact lense case and a pair of regular (not biking) shorts, two things I managed not to pack.  I have been using a couple of empty plastic cream containers for my lenses, which is fine until I have to pack the lenses to go home.  Shorts are a problem, too, as apparently if you wear bigger than a size 4 you aren't allowed to wear shorts in Bulgaria.  (That is how it seems to me!)

Here is a herd of shop cats.  Every store seems to have one.

  I didn't see this, but some of the others told me that a boy went down to the river to catch minnows in a bucket, then carried them up to the shops.  He fed  each cat a minnow, which they loved.  One kitten grabbed her minnow and ran into a shop to eat it, and the shopkeeper was yelling and trying to shoo it outside.

I took a long nap while Rob, Penny and the boys played bridge.  Rob is a bridge teacher, and he was giving lessons to the boys.  I never in a million years thought they would like it or even agree to it, but after the first lesson they were begging every night to play.  Later we went to dinner.  I had some sesame fried chicken bits that were out of this world, along with my favorite shopska salad (tomatoes, cucumber, and a bit of pepper and onion, topped with cheese).  Drank some beer--Bulgarian beer is yummy.  All is right with the world.

I found some M&Ms and nuts at a liquor store on the way back to the hotel.  I have discovered it is essential to have some munchies for the road, as our lunch stops are ridiculously late.

As I'm going to bed, there is a very loud party going on outside at the restaurant, with drunk people singing at the tops of their lungs.  Good thing I brought earplugs.

Music and partying went on outside our window until the wee hours, so I still didn't sleep well despite earplugs.  Krum has decided to pick a different hotel for the next tour (though I have to say the breakfast buffet was yummy).

We packed up the van, then took off riding directly from the hotel.  Some of us (not naming names) took a wrong turn, but fortunately we recovered quickly.  We had a tough climb today.  I was feeling like a Tour de France sprinter in the Pyrenees.  But I actually did a bit better climbing and only had to walk my bike on the last little bit.  At the top there was a monument to the children who lost their lives in protecting the resistance against the Nazi's in WWII. 

(I didn't realize this, and I may have mentioned it before, but Bulgaria sided with Germany only because they were about to get invaded if they didn't.)  There was also a national park here, with a funny sign translated into English--it said something like, "please do not molest the wide animals."  The English translations here are often hilarious--they often settle for the almost-right word.

The downhill was awesome--I grinned the whole way down and the boys whooped and hollered (of course, they whoop and holler on the uphills, too--I don't know where they get the breath).  Anyway, it was a long way and very fast.  At one point the road was washed out but we all somehow managed not to plummet off the side of the mountain.

We passed the Village of Etura--more on that later, because we return.

At the end of the day was one final climb to the monestary where we were staying that night.  I confess, I wimped out.  I rode the sag wagon the last 5 km.  The others climbed, and they were so excited and proud of themselves when they reached the top that I was kicking myself for not at least trying.  This was probably the low point of the trip, and it took me a while to get over it.  That probably sounds silly, but I was really down.

Our rooms at the Sokolski Monestary were pretty grim.  Everyone but Rob and me had hot water, at least.  Our water heater didn't work.  And no towels.  But this was probably the prettiest church of all, and I took some great pictures.

  After our cold showers, we drove into the industrial town of Grabova for a lunch of pizza.  Bulgarians love pizza, and I have to say this is pretty good.  Grabova is known as the capital of Bulgarian humor, and from what I can figure out, Grabovans are the butt of jokes just like Aggies or (excuse me for being politically incorrect) "Pollocks."  They even have a museum of humor here.  Never mind all that, I just liked the way the town looked.

   It reminded me of fairy tales, for some reason.

After lunch we returned to Etura, which is a recreated 19th century village with craftsmen plying their trades and selling their wares.  We saw bell-makers, knife-makers, ceramacists, wood-carvers, and there was a water-powered sawmill, which was kind of interesting.  It was all a bit too touristy, like an amusement park, but I did buy a darling egg cup for my collection.  Here is a lovely painted wagon from Etura:

Back at the monestary we toured the church.  They have some caves around this one, too, where revolutionaries hid out from the Turks.  We had a few sprinkles of rain.

Dinner was at a little restaurant just outside the monestary.  I had some wonderful pork meatballs, and the usual french fries, bread, salad, and beer.  One very pitiful, hungry mama dog got a few of our leftovers.

A large party was at the next table celebrating something (possibly an anniversary) and they had musicians--violin, bagpipes and a lutelike thing).  They began dancing, and they invited Anna to join in, so I did, too, because when else am I going to get the chance to do genuine Bulgarian folk dancing with genuine Bulgarians?  The steps were pretty simple and I had it down by about the end of the dance.  One very sweet lady put her arm around me and said, "Now you are Bulgarian," which almost made me cry.  Here is a picture of the older couple, the lady in her traditional costume, who I THINK were celebrating an anniversary or birthday.  That lady could dance up a storm, too.

Now we go to bed, and there is another loud group outside our door.  Seems to be our karma.  Tomorrow is our last day on the bikes--35 kilometers.  And I am determined to finish on the bike even if I have to crawl up the hills.

More later,

Kara

The longer I am here, the less I care about accommodations.  A rock-hard cot in a stuffy, tiny room with a dirty bathroom and cold water shower with noisy neighbors hardly phases me.  I slept like a log.

We had more leftovers for breakfast, supplemented with leftover pizza, but we were able to buy some hot coffee from the snack bar).  Then we rode down the big, bad mountain that I skipped yesterday.  I felt so guilty I couldn't really enjoy the downhill because I thought I hadn't earned it.  The descent was actually cold.  I started thinking about those Tour de France guys, and how they stuff a few sheets of newspaper inside their jerseys to protect their chests when descending from the Alps or Pyrenees.  Now I understand why.

At the bottom of the hill we loaded up the bikes because of the heavy traffic in Grabova, which we had to travel through to get to our next destination.  We stopped at a gas station/convenience store, and we ate a second breakfast (you can see why I did not lose weight on this trip).  We had yummy croissants and I bought some nuts for later.  We were all marveling at how nice the bathroom was.  It was definitely American-style, much nicer than you will find in the average McDonald's.  At this point, it didn't take much to impress us.

Finally we unloaded the bikes and had a fantastic ride, some flat, some rolling hills, then a nice little ascent but I stayed on my bike most of the time.  I think with a few more days' riding I could have gotten strong enough to tackle the bigger hills, but alas, this is our last day.

We saw a goat-herder, crossing the road with her herd.  The lead goat, a big billy, wore a bell.  By the time I flagged Rob down and got the camera from him, I'd missed the best pictures, but here is the bad picture I did take:

  Then my camera batteries gave out, so that was that for a while.  We saw men with scythes cutting hay, and other men with wooden pitchforks stacking it up, amd men driving homemade horse carts hauling the hay.  Alas, I have no pictures, though I'm hoping to get some from my traveling companions.

Anna and Penny took a wrong turn.  They were at the back of the group, and for some reason Krum left the spot where he'd been parked to direct us.  But Rob quickly rode to catch up with them and turned them around.

We had another gradual ascent, very gentle, until the turn-off to the St. Michael's (?) monestary.  Then it was a hideously steep 4 km to the top of the mountain.  Zach, who was getting stronger every day, rode all the way to the top.  Rob could have, but he was kind enough to ride very slowly next to me as I walked my bike most of the way, stopping at every little shady spot on the road to gulp air and drink water and complain that I was going to die.  I have never sweat so much in my life.  I looked like I'd been standing under a waterfall.

Everyone else walked most of the hill.  But, darn it, I made it under my own power.  (Not that rescue was an option, as Krum had disappeared with the van.  He was up at the top, probably talking on his cell phone, which he did a lot.  In addition to being a cycling guide, he was also an attorney and was working on some type of rug export deal.)  I felt that I had redeemed myself after yesterday's show of wimpiness.

Finally we arrived, and we paid a bit of money to the nun to get a tour of the monestary.  It was really beautiful, lots of nice icons.  Amelia and I made friends with a nice, big dog on a chain.  He was supposed to be their watchdog, but he was actually very friendly.  Amelia gave him some water and a few tidbits of food.

Max, Zach and Rob elected to ride down the hill, but I thought that sounded more scary than fun because the road was so steep and twisty.  The rest of us loaded up the bikes.  At the bottom of the hill we collected those testosterone-riddled males, who apparently had a blast, and we drove to lunch.  Nice little restaurant, the usual fare, except we got some bahklava for dessert.  I always thought bahklava was Greek, but Krum was surprised when I said that.  He maintains it is Turkish.

Krum gave us the option of taking a fast highway to Sophia, or a scenic back road through the mountains (through the real mountains, not the foothills we'd been riding).  We opted for the scenic route.  On the way we stopped at a guest house where Krum's brother was staying with a cycling group from Denmark.  They were on Day 2 of their tour, a different itinerary from ours involving more mountains, I think.  (Our tour was supposed to be "easy."  I would hate to see "difficult.")  The Danes spoke good English and it was nice to chat with them and compare notes.  We all got something to drink, and the woman who lives there showed us her beautiful garden and allowed us (Amelia, the fruit fanatic) to pick fresh strawberries and apricots.  The apricots were divine.

Afterward, we drove some more, through the beautiful mountains.  It really was gorgeous scenery (and me with my nonfuctional camera) but I was well and truly sick of that van by the time we arrived back to Sophia.  We were all looking forward to a reunion with Rob's other two sisters (Zach's mother, Jane, and Marion) and his niece Annie (Zach's little sister).  They were scheduled to arrive that day and were staying at the Hotel Serdika, where we stayed the first night.

Unfortunately, we were lost, and the natives were getting restless.  To appease us. Krum stopped at a McDonald's, where we could get ice cream cones for .39 lev (about a quarter in American money).  He figured out where we were, and we drove some more.

Finally, he pulled up to this strange hotel in some strange suburb and announced with a flourish that we were finally at our destination.  I think he expected cheers, but there was dead silence.  This wasn't the Hotel Serdika.  Apparently there was a small communications snafu; the tour normally ended at a different hotel than we started.  After Krum insisted this was where we were to stay for the night, we gave in.  We unpacked the van and said our awkward good-byes to Krum.

We were able to call the Hotel Serdika and leave a message that we had been delayed and would arrive the next day.  I have to say, this other hotel was very nice--with a double bed, a fancy bathroom, and huge towels (most of the towels we were given at other places were the size of dish towels).  And air conditioning!  I wanted to stay there indefinitely.

More tomorrow,

Kara

The Hotel Z'Dravetz, where we stayed last night, was the nicest of our journey (and probably the most expensive, though it was included in the biking package).  It's located in a rich suburb up in the hills where there's lots of construction going on (a big hotel, a shopping center).  There was supposed to be a nice view of the city, but with a foggy mist hanging on, we couldn't see it.  We did have a lovely breakfast--the highlight being we could get all the coffee we wanted.  Also, donut holes, which the boys were happy to see (and some of us old folks didn't mind them, either).

Rob and I took a walk around the neighborhood.  We saw a Eurasian collared dove.  I have seen these at home--in particular, my friend Victoria Chancellor has a pair that hang out on her patio.  But they are definitely imports, someone's pets that escaped or were let go.

We took two taxis back into the heart of Sophia, quite a long ride, and rendezvoused at the Hotel Serdika with Jane, Marion and Annie.  Now there were 10 of us, which was a bit unwieldy as we attempted to snake our way around the city.  We had to cross lots of heavily trafficked streets with no lights to help us, and it made me nervous.  We returned to the archeological museum (free admission on Mondays, yay!) and saw some of the cool stuff we missed on our first visit, including some Thracian artifacts (Thracians were first settlers, from 8th Century BC to 1st Century AD.  The gold jewelry was particularly intriguing to me.  Some of it you could take out and wear today--it was so beautiful and so remarkably preserved.

Afterward, Rob and I set out on our own.  We found some replacement batteries for my camera, then bought sandwiches at a snackbar--the woman ahead of us did a bit of translation for us.  Then we went to the park to eat.  Rob made a valiant effort to eat cucumbers, because they are in absolutely everything, but he can't stand them. 

We walked to the Presidential Palace and watched the changing of the guard, which happens on every hour.  It's kind of strange--the building is just right there on the street, no special fences or anything.

 It's hard to see, but these guys are goose stepping.

Then we went shopping.  There is a very nice, new indoor market with some fast-food restaurants and vendors selling fruit, bread, nuts, souvenirs, jewelry--just about anything you'd want.  Since we'd already seen most of the tourist attractions in the old town, we just kind of hung out, explored the underground tunnels and whatnot.  I just like to people-watch.  The women, in particular, are so pretty and so well-dressed.  Many wear very high-heeled shoes, and I don't understand how they don't break their ankles because the streets and sidewalks are in poor repair.

We returned to the Finland restaurant for dinner, and I finally got to linger over my risotto with veggies.  It was so good.  (I'm not sure why it's called "Finland," as the menu seems to feature ordinary Bulgarian food.)

  Now you can see the whole family: Cousin Max (still making a face after everyone else stopped); Jane, me, Amelia, Rob, Penny, Marion, little Annie (she's in the aqua cap) and Max, who should be wearing a polka-dot jersey because he was our own "King of the Mountains" (and if you watch Tour de France you'll know what I'm talking about).

Back at the hotel, we did laundry.  But at least things are drying a bit faster here.

More later,

Kara  [Next] [Previous]