Always Look UP

Land of Sunflowers

I don't know where to begin ... Bulgaria is amazing. There is so much here ...  history, 6000 years to be exact ... food, delicious ... beaches, amazing, weather, hot, hot, hot ... cost, cheap ... 9 of us went out to a restaurant and we paid, including alcohol it came to $NZ78 approx and it was a very good restaurant. Our accommodation has been approx $NZ40 a night and sometimes that has included breakfast.

We have been taken completely by surprise. We love Bulgaria and want to come back again. Our experience has been made easier by having Tanya and Steve as our hosts and Tany'a daughter Rosi as our driver, educator and tour guide. I am sitting in a very nice hotel on the third floor balcony of the equivalent of an Alpine Village as I write, looking out over the mountains and the village and it is beautiful! There is a lot about Bulgarian countryside that reminds us of NZ ... Lewis Pass ... St James kind of country. Bulgaria is surrounded by mountains. There is so much to say and soooo many photos and I don't want to bore you all so I am having difficulty working out where to begin. Here goes.

Bulgaria has a rich history ... it has been invaded and occupied many times over the years, the most recent being Russia until 1989 ... Bulgaria is now a democracy, still recovering from Communism. The Turkish invasion was one of the worst periods in Bulgarian History. But with that said there is so much here ... Roman ruins that are 1000s of years old ... villages that have been around for 100's of years. Bulgaria is an old country.

I am intimidated by the history and the story of Bulgaira ... NZ feels so young in comparison. Our history is so different ... our architecture is so new ... we are so far away from the great centres. Some of the buildings that we have seen are amazing ... the old churches are works of art, like the Aleksander Nevski Church in Sofia, the Rila Monastery that is hidden away in the mountains and the Tsarevets Fortress in Veliko Tarnovo, the old Capital  ...  have been around for 100's sometimes 1000's of years, they have amazing paintings on their walls and ceilings, beautiful stain glass windows,  carvings on doors and their woodwork, all are pieces of art.  Always look up in Bulgaria ... there will be a mountain, or an old  building or church on a mountainside or beautiful art work on the ceilings and above the doors of these very old but beautifully kept buildings.. We find it hard to stop taking photos, we are wanting to capture every experience but as you all know it is impossible to really capture the experience, feeling or true image of a place in a photo, but we have sure tried.

Their food is so yummy ... fresh goat and sheep feta, sheeps milk yoghurt, yummy ... their tomatoes are huge and so delicious along with their cucumber. The fruit is beyond believable ... water melon less than $NZ2 is beautiful ... their peaches are the hugest that I have ever seen and so are their nectarines. Grapes, fresh figs, berries and so it goes ... so sweet all of it! They have and sell lots of honey and it is delicious. We had herb tea and honey with our breakfast this morning and it is delicious. They make a really yummy pastry ... like yorkshire pudding with fresh feta cheese, or spinach or both inside it for breakfast ... are you salivating yet?

The women dress amazingly ... I have taken some photos. I tried to be as discreet as I could because I did not want to be arrested. They smell beautiful ... they dress themselves up so well and everything is so well co-ordinated ... age does not matter. I have been the only grey haired woman that I have seen in Bulgaria before we reached Teshivo. It is not that the women are super trendy they just look good in how they have put themselves together. The colour of their hair ... shoes ... accessories ... makeup ... perfume ... bags ... they all seem to have big bags.

The countryside is amazing ... so many mountains ... high mountains. Fields of sunflowers ... that can be seen from quite a distance... a brilliant yellow and they look beautiful! There are a lot of gardens ... people grow a lot of their own vegetables and their gardens can be huge ... fruit trees, tomatoes, lots of tomatoes, corn, peppers, cucumbers, courgettes, pumpkins ... and they do not use a lot of chemicals by the look of it. There is a haze over Bulgaria ... like a heat haze ... that seems to be present in quite a few parts of Europe ... Italy, I remember it there, Greece also.

There is a blend of old ... really old and then new next to it. Houses that have been left empty for a long time post-Communism and some of them are starting to literally fall down. We are staying in a small village, Teshevo, at the moment and it is like going back in time. People are still using horse and cart ... and then we come across a BMW on our way back from our walk this morning. A woman was boiling her preserved beans in a black pot over a small wood fire, on the footpath next to our 5 star hotel. We went to the cheese factory up the hill from where we are staying to buy fresh feta ... if you like feta you would love this. Teshevo is wonderful and hidden amongst some of the most beautiful mountainous scenery ... we really love it here it is very peaceful and easy ... we wake up to goat bells ringing in the morning as they are taken of to be milked. Every place we have been taken to is wonderful ...  all different.

The people here are extremely friendly and hospitable. We were invited to a couple's house for some juice and when the man  found out we were from New Zealand he called the Mayor who took us for a tour of the amazing old church in the town centre. It's beautiful inside and they have a mechanical bell system that has been ringing every hour since 1812.

I am not sure I can find words that really describe Bulgaria's beauty, we have been captivated.  Its got the scenery of New Zealand combined with thousands of years of history. Steve and Tanya have really spoilt us and we cannot thank them enough. Tanya's son asked us at lunch today what we are most excited to see and we could not answer ... Bulgaria has exceeded our expectations on every level ... we don't know what to expect next!

Points of Interest ...
1. When people are saying yes they shake their head no ...
2. When people say no they nod their head yes ...
3. We have not seen an automatic car yet ...
4. Their toilet paper is very thick ...
5. We have not seen any iPhones or MacBook Computers here ... too expensive I think.
6. The mafia seem to have quite a big influence in Bulgaria.

Lots of photos ....

Tarnevo Veliko

Monumental Art on the Side of Walls on the Streets ... Veliko Tarnevo ... the old Capital

 Ruins of an old Bulgarian Fortress, built in the 13th Century

Church inside the Fortress

Look Up

Love these Colors ... on the outside of the Church

Gabriel & Petya ... Artists ... friends of Rosi

Pete was thrilled to find this treasure ... Trabant ... Russian

Sofia ... The Capital

Aleksander Nevski Church ... We loved this Church ... we were completely overwhelmed by the beauty inside and out.

 The Art Work on the outside ... no photos inside. Note the detail.

Look up ... did the best I could here ... note the light fixture ... amazing.

A panel on the doors ... everything was perfect.

Colors on a Russian Orthodox Church

Women 

The Coat

Simple but Classy

Lots of Heels ...

A Day at the Office ... note the size of the bag ... lots of big bags.

Love this as a traveling outfit ...

Dressed for the Market

Rila Monastery 

Rila Monastery ... hidden in the mountains on the way to Teshavo ... this is a significant spiritual centre for Bulgaria. The building of this monastery began in the 8th Century and continued being built right through to the end of the 1800s. 

Look Up ... the intensity of colour here is stunning. 

The Doors ... my colours fit right in.

The Setting

Teshavo

Teshavo ... set up in the mountains ... South of Sofia ... we loved staying here.

A Door  to nowhere.

Morning light ...

Back Pack ...

Old and New Side by Side

 A walk in the hills ...

Preserving Beans ... on the footpath ... fire underneath ... 

Kavala ... A Day trip to Greece

Kavala ... Greece

A view of the mountains in Northern Greece where Pete's Grandfather was killed in 1941

Church in old Kavala

The Roman Viaduct which took water into the castle in Kavala 

When I think of Greece I think colour ... here are some shots of colours I liked ...

Blue

I love this combination of colours ... I think lucy with these colours.

The combination of this colour with wood is beautiful.

Colour changes everything ... note the places on each side ... the difference that these colours make is stunning.

Don't be afraid to stand out.

Nothing wrong with Pink.

Lastly Food ... Just a taste.

Autumn Salad in Ternavo ... eat your heart out Alice ... Yummy!

That is cheese in the middle ... 

This fruit came to $NZ20 approx ... I love the fresh figs here.

I love these colours ... water melons galore.

This is like Yorkshire pudding but with fresh feta cheese inside ... soooo good.

Freshly made sheep's milk yoghurt with berries on top.