We left Gorno Draglishte and continued to Bansko … here we changed vehicles and carried on to Belitsa and its Dancing Bears Park. This park serves as a refuge for former dancing bears, freed from their previous lives.
Morning in Gorno Draglishte
This morning we had a further opportunity to explore Gorno Draglishte – this time by horse carriage.
Gorno Draglishte
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From Rila Monastery we continued to the small village of Gorno Draglishte, less than two hours away. After arrival George showed us around the village with a stop at the washing machine and a short walk into the fields behind … Continue reading
Rila Monastery
From Sofia we made our way South into the mountains, the Rila Monastery being our destination. This Orthodox world heritage listed monastery is the largest and supposedly most impressive of all monasteries in Bulgaria.
The roots of the monastery go back to the year 927, however it was only in the 14th century, that it was moved to its present location. Its church – the Church of Nativity – was built in the first half of the 19th century, it is surrounded by the monastery, a beautiful four level building with nicely decorated balconies. The mountainous backdrop adds to the atmosphere – allowing one to easily forget the hundreds of other tourists.
Sofia
From Veliko we continued to Bulgaria’s capital – Sofia – a three hour bus ride away (without toilet stop … ).
After arrival we went for a quick lunch in a market hall – to the have an orientation walk around town, taking in the most important sights and leaving plenty of time for personal exploration.
Veliko Tarnovo
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Veliko Tarnovo turned out as our first stop in Bulgaria. We had a full free day to explore the city. Most of us joined a free city walking tour in the morning to get some orientation in the former capital … Continue reading
Into Bulgaria
Around Midday we made our way to the train station to catch a train to make our way across the Friendship Bridge – spanning the Danube river – from Romania into Bulgaria.
Bukarest – City Tour
This morning we enjoyed a city walking tour; our guide provided good insights into way of life during Communist times and did show some of the hidden treasures … including one of the churches, that has been moved to make place for the Palace of Parliament.
Bukarest – Palace of Parliament
We made it to Bukarest in the late morning. A quick lunch had to do, as we were scheduled for a guided tour through the Palace of Parliament at 13:15.
The building – often referred to as the second largest on the planet (after the Pentagon) – goes back to the 1980s and greatly depicts the megalomania of Romania’s dictator Ceausescu. In the building process a whole city quarter had been torn down, several churches and other buildings were moved to new locations. Originally only Romanian materials and products were used in the creation of the building … today this still holds true to a big extend, however some non-Romanian products got added (e.g. air conditioning units).
Today the building houses the Romanian parliament and the senate, as well as other administration. The building also serves as conference center and many of the big halls can (as our guide pointed out multiple times) actually be rented for any sort of function.
Continuing to Bukarest
We had an early start the next morning, leaving Brasov to make our way to Bukarest.
