Iconic monument to Saint Sofia, patron saint of Sofia, Bulgaria
The glorious beauty at Belogradchik
Bulgaria is one of those countries we visited years ago, absolutely loved, but never went back to for whatever reason. Considering our fondness for the Balkans over the past few years, we decided another visit to this southern corner of the region was in order. Having visited many of the popular places on our 2016 visit, we proposed a more "off the beaten track" type journey this time.
Old style kiosk/cafe Bulgaria
Old style toilet, can't believe these still exist in Europe!
Old style shop frontage, Bulgaria
New style Rich trying to get off the beaten track, Sofia
Sofia never grabbed us as a vibrant city, maybe that's just because we haven't spent enough time there. This trip, we enjoyed a quick few days catching our breath and familiarizing ourselves with the complexities of a new country. Our less than salubrious accommodation indicated to us the level we were now on, being in a more expensive, European country! But the neighbourhood was interesting, with many pleasant Socialist-style apartments and tiny magazins (shops), and still close enough for an easy stroll into the centre. It was a superb place to get our bodies moving again, with perfect temperatures in the mid twenties, fresh air, plenty of parks full of mature green trees, and Communist statues, old buildings and Orthodox churches galore.
Neighbourhood park with murals, Sofia
Church steps, Sofia
Brutalist monument, Sofia Central Station
Young acorns, Sofia park
Grand architecture in central Sofia
Sneaky pic during a Sunday service, Sofia
A happy surprise was the friendliness of the locals- we had remembered from our first visit to Bulgaria that the people were quite stern faced. This trait was not so noticeable to us now.
Although Bulgaria has been in the EU for more than 10 years, they, thankfully, still use their own currency, lev. After working out banks, exchange rates and a rough idea of the costs of basic items, and we were ready to head out and enjoy the country!
Our neighbourhood in Sofia, Bulgaria
Typical old style apartment door with letter boxes
Summer in the parks, Sofia
Sal had a slight obsession with a place she had seen online- what should have been a short day trip out of Sofia. The town was Bankya, and the site was an abandoned Communist-era resort, out of action for years. The only train for the day to Bankya left at 5.30am, and thanks to jetlag, we were already up and at the platform waiting for the train in plenty of time. When the train failed to arrive, we questioned the staff, who informed us it had already left from platform 4. We were waiting at platform 4, but the woman said, it left from the other platform 4 - the only bloody railway station to have two platform 4s! Plan B (from outer space) was taking the metro to the end of the line, and then a bus to Bankya. This took considerably longer, but got us there.
Excellent and far-reaching metro system in Sofia, Bulgaria
The town was in an unexpectedly rural setting and quite beautiful. It was once the centre for people taking mineral baths from the healing waters, and the old spa dating from 1910 had recently been restored to its former glory. The park surrounding the lovely building was full of ash and horse chestnut trees, and a great dose of fresh air.
Elegance in the spa town of Bankya, Bulgaria
Bees enjoying the sun and plenty in Bankya park, Bulgaria
Park paths in the spa town of Bankya, Bulgaria
But our main aim was to head to the "Path of Health" in the forest, and onwards to the resort. When we came across it lying in ruins amongst the weeds, we were blown away. Completely open and free to explore, the buildings were in a terrible state of disrepair, but we were easily able to imagine it in its heyday. It was built for the Communist Party in the 1970s as a sanatorial complex, but the prime minister at the time, Todor Zhivkov, took a liking to it, eventually moving in and keeping it as his residence. Apparently he stayed there until the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989.
The construction and scale of the place was unreal, and the Communist-style 1970s drama of the architecture was extremely appealing. Unusual geometric concrete designs rose out of the overgrown garden and we were able to enter the interior and poke about. Sal was a bit freaked out to do this, but Rich had no fear and walked up the dark staircases and into looming hallways. It was an extraordinary site and we were glad we had made the effort in order to reach it.
Through the gloom to a back garden
Fabulous shapes
We adored the geometric design
Admiring the Communist architecture
Spooky inside
The mighty structure survives
Being the train enthusiasts that we are, Bulgaria is the perfect place for us to indulge in this kind of travelling. The railway system reaches most parts of country, although not quite to our first destination, Belogradchik. A five hour journey in an older style Bulgarian train with no AC made us feel as though we were out of practice travelling long distances. Some simply stunning gorges with soaring rock faces high up, thick forest and a gushing river below was nearly enough to take our minds off the heat.
On arrival at Oreshets station, we discovered a completely empty, seemingly abandoned little town, apart from one old man sitting out the front of a shop. We approached him to ask whether a bus existed, to which he replied a firm, "Ne". Eventually, we got the super friendly guy to understand our destination was Belogradchik, and after him trying to persuade us to stay in Oreshets, he rang his mate to taxi us the half hour into town. Meanwhile we sat and had a cold beer and a "chat", as we all cheerfully struggled to understand anything the others said.
Helpful citizens of Oreshets (and Lada), Bulgaria
As our calm driver in his ancient yellow Lada drove us into Belogradchik, we were incredulous at what we saw. We had tried to read and look at as little as possible of our destinations in Bulgaria before arriving this time, and as a result, we were astonished upon approaching Belogradchik. The town below us was completely surrounded by other-worldly huge rock formations rising out of the ground towards the sky in strange groups, resembling forts or castles. We couldn't wait to explore!
Glimpsing the rocks on the way from the station, Belogradchik
Stunning red rock shades, Belogradchik
Our lovely room awaited us in the centre of town, a vast improvement on our Sofia digs, and we spent our first evening with a picnic at the look out, contemplating the setting sun's light on the rocks, and the beauty of it all.
Our first glorious evening at the Belogradchik rocks
Our magical few days in Belogradchik wasn't enough, but we packed in as much as we could, accomplishing more hiking than we had done in years and giving Rich's new knee a really good trial. It, and he, performed brilliantly, and he was so happy to be able to have these new opportunities opened up for him again.
Communist murals are everywhere in Bulgaria
Rickety little house, Belogradchik
Former beauty, Belogradchik
Never far away from the rocks, Belogradchik
Steep staircase in town
Early sunset, Belogradchik
Find the tiny Rich!
Short walks out of the town centre in the cool early morning found us in gorgeous woodland, with birds twittering away, and not a soul to be seen. The slightly overcast weather was a blessing, as the days heated up, we still enjoyed hiking in the shade of the forest. Atmospheric beech and oak trees prevailed, huge rocks beside the trails covered in moss, and the whole place had the feel of being inside of a Grimms fairy tale. Groves where the sun rarely hit were dark and witchy, with trees bent over on each other. Then, when the forest cleared, suddenly, we looked up and the enormous, tall, weirdly shaped rocks were above us, thrusting upwards from the forest floor. It was easy to imagine giants from another world frozen in time. Splendid look out points showed off the character, the complicated shapes, stunning reddish colours and even the many faces in the rocks extending miles into the far distance. A few days of exploring this phenomenal place had us feeling sore, but in a wonderful way!
Green, green forest, Belogradchik
Lush trees and rocks, Belogradchik
A witchy copse in the deep forest, Belogradchik
Taking a lunch break amongst the pines, Belogradchik
One of many faces in the rocks, Belogradchik
Belogradchik rock show
A shorter train trip to the pretty town of Vratsa was equally as scenic as our first journey, and upon arrival, we were pleased to see that the historic building we had found to stay in was also a cafe/bar. Even before checking in, we collapsed into some comfy chairs and enjoyed a glass or two of Bulgarian wine, whilst eyeing up the scene on the main town square. It was actually pretty dead in the day, but unbeknownst to us, came alive for the entire night as bars and clubs attracted revellers with loud music and drinking.
Arriving at the grand Vratsa station, complete with giant chandelier
Exhausted!
Pretty central Vratsa town
Mighty statue in Vratsa town square
During the day, we opted for some gentle hiking, along the local river, and back along a "Heritage Trail", complete with intricate instructions and information on signs- it would have been good if we could read Bulgarian! As it was, we winged it, and found ourselves on what appeared to be the trail of an ancient culvert.
Richard picking cherry plums, Vratsa
The picturesque start to the "Heritage Trail", Vratsa
Although we were travelling at quite a fast pace for us, we were thoroughly enjoying our Bulgarian travels and looked forward to the next part of the journey in the east and centre of the country.
Our route during the first phase of our Bulgarian trip
