2016 Eastern European trip- WONDERFUL starting on 7th May 2016

BULGARIA  and our pre-trip overview

Oh WOW, as the day's got closer to our holiday, the more excited we became. This year would be an excursion like no other.!!!  The plan ...... TO VISIT 8 COUNTRIES !!!!....... We would be travelling in excess of 6000 km.  This journey would surely take it out of the Old Girl, continuously up and down mountain ranges and steep inclines at almost every turn. ..........WILL SHE MANAGE IT????.

We spent the 1st week Spring Cleaning and tiding up our "Base Camp Home" in Rikitnitza, and of course popping in to say hello to all our local friends who in our absence looked after our little hamlet of a home. Together our friends keep and eye on both our home and (Old Lady) Camper Van which is a blessing indeed. We love these folk, they're so uncomplicated, down to earth, humble people that are just so easy to bond with. More importantly though was reigniting the LOVE we have for our adoptive parents, Mama Maria and Papa Petko. These are ... " One in a Million" type people!!!!
Words cannot ever successfully describe our love and affection for these wonderful folk. May God Bless them everyday !!!

As luck would have it we arrived absolutely in time for Papa's 84th birthday get-together.

Check out the pic's to see how vibrant he is !!!

Of course there was time to celebrate the Orthodox Easter with and at our wonderful next door neighbours home which he had being modifying during the previous year. It looked great by the way.

(Puts our home to shame )

 The time came for the annual Vehicle license which it sailed through . ( lol, I think every year we take it in they simply shrug knowing that we're only there for a few months or so, and of course most mileage is done outside of Bulgaria.

 Thereafter it within no time that we were off on our journey, albeit slowly. The Old girl's top speed's only 90 km p/h.

As luck would have it we had a puncture on very 1st day not even 200 km from home......

(oops, maybe I should have bought new tyres.)

After enjoying a Mac Donald's deviation as celebration of successfully replacing the offensive tyre we were off again, this time hopefully to arrive at our first and final sleep-over destination within the borders of Bulgaria at a lovel town called Kyustendil. Thereafter we would be heading into the "Wild Wild Eastern Europe ....." and  "The unbeknown !!!!. "

As it happened we arrived in Kyustendil pretty late and just before the sun was destined to disappear for the day. Aha, and then it happened. The skies opened so there we were cycling around in the rain, huddling up under cafe awnings and the like until approximately 10 pm when we decided to call it a day ( night).
We did however still enjoy some sunshine, allowing us to appreciate the local sites on on bikes.

 We were very
 impressed with Roman baths and other historic buildings on offer and spent loads of quality time just soaking up the experience.

 The next day we were fortunate to happen across a natural spring
water supply so time was spent filling our house water tank before moving on.

SKOPJE
The road into Macedonia turned out to be most pleasant, allowing for much ground to be made on our way. Arriving early and as planned, it allowed for an extensive wander-around, cycle and the like.  What a place!!!. Everywhere you looked you could see these beautiful sculptures, lovely buildings, bridges etc.

It became apparent however that most of these buildings and sculptures were erected between the wall coming down and the EU


Impressive but surely the money could have been channelled elsewhere?  . A similar experience took place in the Romanian Capital of Bucharest when the then dictator flattened many historic buildings so as to accommodate his interpretation of success via a show of opulence.

 Skopje is the capital of the Republic of Macedonia, in the center of the Balkan Peninsula. Over time it has experienced Roman, Byzantine and Ottoman rule. The 15th-century Stone Bridge connects the Ottoman Old Bazaar (Čaršija) on the Vardar River‘s north bank with contemporary Macedonia Square to the south. The Skopje (Kale) Fortress overlooking the river has defended the city for centuries.

 Yep, you know it, ......... we were happily soaking up the sites of Skopje when my bike developed a puncture. there I was embarrassing Bryony by asking passes-by ( those riding bikes silly) if they had a pump, puncture kit or the like. One guy was kind enough not only a supply a pump but also the muscle to inflate the tyre. Sadly however this euphoria this was short lived and resigned myself into pushing the damned thing up the loooong hill and back to the Camper..... The things one goes through hey!!

By the way, it had a wonderful Old City which turned out to be mostly shops selling everything from Food to Clothes, 2nd hand stuff etc.  As it was a Sunday no real shops were open hence no puncture kits .......


Having now spent the greater part of a very pleasant day enjoying and walking the city we were off to Ohrid in the southern part of the country.

Getting there by nightfall was not going to happen so we ended up sleeping over at a petrol station. A very organised spot indeed.


I guess the next day and somewhere in-between all this, I found time to find a pleasant lake where we had a delicious lunch prepared by B while I was feverishly repairing the bike tyre.

In fact we spent so much time there we slept over as it was such a pleasant spot. These are the cool things you can do when not pressed for time....

A MAJOR REGRET !!!!       (2 actually) 

Ohrid is a small resort city on the hilly shores of Lake Ohrid in the southwest of the Republic of Macedonia. In the city’s compact old town, medieval churches, monasteries and open-air ruins stand alongside traditional houses with red-tiled roofs. The massive walls of the centuries-old Samoil’s Fortress, at the top of the hill, dominate the city skyline.

Firstly:               I cannot seem to find any photo's of our trip to Ohrid between 8th- 10th.

Secondly,          And even more disastrous, we travelled through Albania much to fast due to other peoples concern for our safety. 

It was only much later that it became apparent that not only were the folk relaxed and laid back, but the cities were teeming with young folk. This is most uncommon everywhere else we've been within the old "Eastern Block" countries as mostly the youth leave looking for employment and such....... 

We will be back to enjoy a few more days discovering this country in the future.