Bulgaria - Day 4

We were up for an early breakfast at 7.30am. It was a buffet including Mekitsa, a fried dough that can be eaten sweet or savoury. Also eggs, sausage, french toast, yogurt, cereal etc.

The weather was fine and sunny as we set off.

We parked at a chairlift and caught this up to the Bezbog hut at 2240m.

From there we started walking up towards the summit of Polezhan.

At one point we had to cross a patch of snow.

As we got higher the views got even more spectacular.

Finally we reached the summit of Polezhan at 2851m.

We made our way down to the hut, where we had a late lunch. We had a dish with pork and onions, and a vegetable one.

After a rest we caught the chairlift back down.

Later that evening Eduard took us all out to a traditional folk restaurant in a small village. We were served by the "babi" (grandmas) who also sang, then got us all to dress up and generally make fools of ourselves. A great time. The food was traditional, sausages, pies, salads etc., with baklava for dessert.

Bulgaria - Day 3

We were being picked up by Traventuria to go on our 7 day hiking trip at 2.30pm today. Fortunately the apartment owner kindly let us check out late, so we first went for a final walk into the centre of Sofia.

We watched the changing of the guard at the Presidential Palace, which happens hourly.

We then went to the TZUM department store, which was apparently the main attraction of the city back in communist days. It's a bit past its best now, with a lot of empty units.

We took bread, cheese and tomato back to the apartment for lunch, then packed up. At about 2.15 we were picked up by our guide Eduard driving the Traventuria mini bus.

We then went round the city picking up the rest of our group - Roko and Barb from Melbourne, Australia, Mike and Maggie from Cheltenham and Margaret from Shotts in Scotland.

We drove to out first accommodation, the Hotel Grami in the ski resort town of Bansko, about 2 hours away. Our room is nice and we can see the Pirin mountains from our balcony.

After unpacking, we went out for a stroll, stopping at a cafe for a beer.

Dinner was a buffet, with dishes of pork and other meats and salads. Later we walked into the town square for a drink.

Bulgaria - Day 2

We decided to do the Free Sofia walking tour. We were a bit early so first walked down to the National Palace of Culture.

Then we joined the tour at the Palace of Justice, led by Daniel.

We saw the various sights, churches, statues etc.

By the end of the tour, at the main cathedral, it was starting to rain.

We went for lunch at the Dondukov pub, where we had "beer meat balls" which were mainly cheese.

The forecast was for the rain to only last an hour or so, so we decided to take the bus to the edge of the city and go for a walk up the hill paths through the forests.

Unfortunately the rain lasted longer than expected, so we got a bit wet and didn't get very far. We did find a lake though.

Later we went out for dinner at the traditional Divorka restaurant, where we shared dishes, mixed starter with toast, then a bread pot filled with different types of sausages.

Bulgaria - Day 1

We caught a very early taxi to Edinburgh Airport. The Ryanair flight to Sofia was a little late taking off but arrived on time at about 1pm.

We took the Metro to the city centre, getting off at the Serdika station. From there it was only about a 10 minute walk to the apartment we'd booked through booking.com.

We phoned the owner and had to wait a few minutes at the doorstep for him to come and let us in. The apartment is nice but a little lacking in kitchen equipment like pots and pans etc.

The shower is over the sink in the bathroom.

After dropping off our luggage we went out for a walk, stopping at a cafe just down the road for a beer and some toasties, cheese and ham.

We went back towards the centre. Our apartment is just two blocks away from the main pedestrianised street "Vitosha".

We found a load of men playing chess in the park.

The roman ruins at the Serdika underground station were interesting.

It was very hot and sunny, we had a rest on the grass in the park near the theatre.

Later we bought some salad stuff from the supermarket and went back to the apartment for dinner.