It was a week spent in beautiful mountains in Vitosha and Rila National Parks with great company, (fellow travellers from the UK after a winter adventure.) Our days were mostly spent under blue skies on slopes, walking across frozen lakes, winding our way through Narnia-like forests and enjoying the mountain scenery. Evenings we were treated to delicious food and conversation and drinks in front of a fire. The week simply flew by with such lovely company. We were fortunate to have a fantastic guide, who had previously worked in the mountain rescue service, so we all immediately relaxed into our trip and could simply ‘be,’ enjoying our surroundings, feeling far away from home. Perfect.
As I had a few extra days at the end of my trip, I headed back to Sofia and from there travelled to Plovdiv (Europe’s oldest city) scattered with Roman architecture and a quick trip across the border to Skopje in North Macedonia, where Mother Teresa was born. Both cities were very different. Skopje’s Old Bazaar was great to wander through and I loved hearing the call to prayer from the mosque and smelling the Turkish coffee coming from the cafes and seeing windows full of baklava. Back in Bulgaria, I could definitely have spent longer exploring Plovdiv and its old town too. The Roman mosaics were incredible and they have done a fantastic job at making these as accessible as possible to visitors in a great museum: https://www.plovdivmosaics.org/
During my day trips I crossed paths with people from San Diego, Spain, India and New York, all choosing to travel to the Balkans for different reasons. I was hugely grateful for their company over shared meals and laughter on the long road journeys.
Today I am homeward bound again, leaving Sofia in the sunshine to welcome more travellers to explore her sights.