August 23-25….Starting a new adventure in Bulgaria

Today was a profitable day for our Uber Guy, Adam, as he took Rod and Priscilla to the airport at the crack of dawn and then picked us up at noon, exactly on time, to take us to the airport for our flight to Sofia . When we arrived, after having been fed a free lunch and drinks on Bulgarian Airlines, we picked up the rental car we had reserved and set out to find the Airbnb that we had booked for this first night.

Our designated driver, Miles, was able to get us fairly close and, after parking the car and walking around the neighborhood and, finally, phoning the host, we found the place. It was a modest, but clean, two-bedroom apartment that was owned by a young woman who was away at college. Her mother was managing it for her and gave us some information about the neighborhood and recommended a few restaurants.

Sofia looked like a Communist structured city with whole blocks of nondescript, drab, apartment buildings and we were glad we were only staying there for one night. We did find a very good Italian restaurant and had a delicious and inexpensive, compared to Vienna, meal, walked around a bit, then went back to the apartment, played some cards then, went to bed . The next day, we were up bright and early, had a very yummy breakfast at a lovely place around the corner from where we were staying, then headed out to our home exchange in a ski resort in Yastrebets, about a 90 minute drive into the Rila Mountans. This exchange was owned by a Welsh and English couple whom we had met when they were in our home in Mexico a few months ago. They also had a condo in Kosharitsa, on the Black Sea, that we would be visiting later on.

Keith and Janice, our Yastrebets hosts, had given us great directions and we found the resort easily. Even though we knew the condo was going to be small, we were a little surprised at HOW SMALL it really was. There was a double bed and two couches, one that was a hide abed, a tiny kitchen and very small bathroom. Once the bed was pulled out, there was barely room to turn around. We were all in stitches trying to figure out where to put our things and still have room for us but, we would only be staying for two nights so, we could manage .

Our complex of condos was below the fancy Yastrebets fve start resort that is very popular with Bulgarians from Sofia. We walked up to the more upscale part of the resort to check out the tennis courts, that were pretty bleak, and looked at the menu for the restaurant.  It was a little rich for our blood so we decided to go down to the little town of Borovets, see if we could find a grocery store and search for a local restaurant. We hit the jackpot with "Vicky Pizza," and ended up eating all of our meals there. That first night, Pam and Miles shared a delicious steak in a Roquefort sauce and Bill and I both had a chicken dish. I also ordered a "Shopska Salata" which I came to find out is a classic Bulgarian salad made with chopped tomatoes, cucumbers, bell pepper, onion, olives and seasoned with extra virgin olive oil and salt. It's topped with a mound of finely grated Bulgarian cheese and is fabulous. After that, I ordered it every time we went out.

We all agreed that it was one of the best meals we'd had to date and Pam, who is an aficionado on French Fries, declared that the huge serving of fries that came with each meal were the best she’d ever had. The owners, Kiril and Katerina, were a lovely couple who shared stories with us about their life in Bulgaria and gave us some tips on what to see in the area. The Rila Monestary was high on their list so, after returning to Vicky the next morning for a humongous breakfast, we took their advice and headed to the Monastery .

Pam and Miles had a pretty rough night on the sofa bed that they had agreed to take, as the mattress was very thin and they could feel the springs. I came up with the brilliant solution of putting the cushions from the couch on the springs, then laying the mattress on top of the cushions. It was, once again, hysterical watching Pam climb up to try out the mattress but, it worked and they had a much better sleep that second night. I’ve included a little snippet of a video so you can get the idea.

The winding road, through the Rila Mountains, was pristine and very scenic, and when we, finally, arrived at The Holy Rila Monastery, it was hard to imagine a more peaceful place, surrounded by densely wooded mountains, for these monks to reside and live their lives of solitude.  

At an elevation of 3,763 ft. above sea level, inside of Rila Monastery Nature Park, The Rila Monastery, also known as the Monastery of Saint Ivan of Rila, is the largest and most famous Eastern Orthodox monastery in Bulgaria . It’s traditionally thought that it was founded by the hermit St. Ivan of Rila, whose name it bears, during the rule of Tsar Peter (927 – 968). However, the hermit actually lived in a cave without any material possessions not far from the monastery’s location, while the complex was built by his students, who came to the mountains to receive their education.

Today, the Rila Monastery houses around 60 monks and is regarded as one of Bulgaria’s most important cultural, historical and architectural monuments and is a key tourist attraction for both Bulgaria andSouthern Europe.

We spent about an hour exploring the different areas of the complex, going up into the brick tower that had spectacular views of the rooftops and surrounding mountains and the monastery below, admiring the frescos of the icons on the walls outside the church, marveling at the enormous gold chandelier inside the church and watching the intriguing monks that would, periodically, emerge from one of the rooms and wander across the courtyard.

On our way back to Yastrebets, a sign caught our eye that advertised “Antique Junk and Car Museum” so, of course, we had to stop. What a trip. It was this huge space that had everything from very old cars, vintage television and radios and typewriters, tires, baskets, motorcycles, a bust of Mussolini, and a ton of other stuff.

We had dinner, once again, at Vicky’s, took some photos with Kiril and Katarina, went back to our Bulgarian palace and barely squeezed in around the little counter in the kitchen to play Upwords (one of our favorite games of three-dimensional scrabble) before going to bed.