When we left our noble hero, he was riding horses going “whyyyy does nobody know how awesome Bulgaria is?”
Things happened since them. Hot things, cold things, pretty things, and random things.
Plus, Halloween at Dracula’s castle.
Here’s a recap of our last 2 weeks in Bulgaria.
The cold things
Before the hike, everyone was all “make sure you pack plenty of food!” This led me to think it was a proper grueling Colorado-like hike.
But once we got there… we drove a bus up half the mountain.
Then sat on a chairlift for the other half.
So it was more “walk around on the top of a mountain then spend 20min climbing a peak” kind day. Not the 6 hour “I just kicked your ass, mountain!” kinda hike I was expecting.
But hey, I ain’t complaining. Here’s the view from the top.
And there’s a dog who greets you at the top. Apparently, his owner is one of the nearby cabins and just lets him do his thing.
Woke the puppy up from his nap. He seemed cool with it.
Mountain dogs are awesome. I asked “aren’t they afraid the dog will run away” and the guy answers “Why would they?”
Makes sense now that I think about it. American dogs are spoiled. They can run off and they’ll find some kid who will pet them and give them a hot dog. If mountain dogs run off they find mountain lions. Not nearly as enjoyable.
The hot things
After such a grueling hike we had no choice but to reward ourselves by sitting in a hot spring drinking multiple large cups of $2 wine.
That hot spring wasn’t all that hot so nobody was in it. Luckily there were 9 more to choose from
There was a tub of ~10 locals hanging out speaking Bulgarian. Then a couple of us joined them. Then a few more. Next thing those poor guys knew, their lovely hot spring was overrun but ~15 Americans yammering on in English. So they got up and left.
That’s how you make friends, baby!
Once we were recovered (and slightly impaired) we went next door for dinner. Which involved infinite meats and fried cheeses.
Go out for some Bulgarian sometime. You won’t be disappointed
The pretty hot things
For some reason, I went to a ballet.
Oh wait, I know why. Because there were belly dancers and dude’s jumping and spinning around on their knees.
Weird thing about this show: They start off telling the story of the Iliad. They get about halfway through, then after intermission, they abandon it entirely and go into random traditional Bulgarian dances.
Even though it was fun and cooler than I expected, I’m all set on ballets for the next 10 years.
Random things
Some of the best days of this trip have been the days you find yourself in a random small group of people stumbling about town for no apparent reason.
Nowhere to go, nothing to do. You’re just kinda…going…
You walk through a pretty park…
Then in said park, you find a bar. And you accidentally spend two hours there.
“Wow isn’t nature beautif – oh look, a bar!”
Then continue your meanderings and find a ropes course. Obviously, you start putting on the harnesses because, “Why not? All the cool kids are doing it.”
But the guy working there is not impressed. He gives you a good talkin’ to.
There’s no point paying for it because the sun will be down soon. So you hop in the swings nearby. Close enough.
Some days you just gotta swing
Bonus things!
One other cool thing happened I forgot to mention.
Another pretty hike in Bulgaria with a pretty waterfall.