The Hermit Life

Monasteries are meant to be a place of solitude, to give you peace and/or enlightenment in your life. However, between the times of 06:00 and 21:00, Rila Monastery is meant to be a place for pilgrims and tourists to snap photos and fill their empty plastic bottles with fresh mountain water – us included.

Using an app on Matt's iPhone

We were first struck by the pure beauty of this place, but didn’t really grasp the true meaning behind building a “village” in a river valley, surrounded by a perimeter of nothing but mountain ridges covered in evergreens. It wasn’t until the last remaining stragglers left and the sound of the nearby river emerged, amidst flocks of birds dancing in the evening sunlight, that it hit us. The sole purpose is in fact isolation – somewhere you can collect your thoughts or just let them go.

We were able to sleep here at the monastery, and although a bit on the pricey side (30 LEV / person), it was worth every penny. We hadn’t slept that great in weeks and, for the first time in awhile, Matt opted to write postcards and I attempted to capture the intricate Church of the Nativity in ink, in lieu of surfing the web.

However, we do feel bad for the monks here, having to deal with the hordes of tourists (like us) that come through and disturb their home, since the monastery is still very much active. It’s a bit ironic, in a way, that this particular monastery is the most widely visited in Bulgaria, while the founding father, Ivan Rilski, taught his disciples the path of spiritual perfection through life as a hermit, a.k.a. Bulgarian Monasticism. 

We are thankful that they opened their doors to us and were able to experience even a milligram of what life might be like as a hermit, deep within the Rila Mountains.  

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Um, I Think That's A Bed Bug!

Here in Sofia, we just had our first brush with the inevitable traveler’s bug – The Bed Bug (cue Phantom of the Opera score).

It’s crucial to understand that in the backpacker world, claiming to have spotted bed bugs in your room is a serious accusation, so we felt it necessary to provide evidence.  After chasing the fugitive around the wall with an iPhone light and mangled zip-lock bag, we finally managed to cuff, fingerprint and lock-up the little sucker to show the front desk. One look from the receptionist, and we knew we had escaped utter misery.  Thankfully we found it before we went to bed. No harm, no foul, and now a pair of backpacker stripes.

Image Courtesy of MedicineNet.com

NOTE:
To preserve the integrity of the hostel, we shall withhold their name. But it’s important to note, they were incredibly understanding and immediately moved us to an upgraded room as soon as they saw the culprit. (They promised to fumigate the room the next day, as well.) So, please do not let this little anecdote deter you from trying out the hostel life. This is a very rare occurrence, and it can happen to any place, anywhere in the World, including 4-star hotels.
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Day 54 - Kazanluk (Live From Shipka)

Since the beginning of the trip, we've been recording one minute videos at the end of each day - as a sort of video diary. However, after playing back a few of these clips, we started noticing some consistencies, in the form of 'The Googly Eye' and 'Mr. Sleepburg McGee.'

First things first, what's a 'Googly Eye' you ask? Well, Chris has an eye condition called, 'Amblyopia.' In short, one eye stays focused in one direction, while the other one - 'The Googly' - pretty much does what it wants. She had a couple operations when she was little to realign it, but often times, when she's tired, it revolts and floats off into the distance. "Hello? The camera lens is over here!"

Secondly, for those that know him, Matt can pretty much fall asleep anytime, anywhere, especially if he's left alone with nothing to do, i.e. waiting for Chris to get out of the bathroom so they can do their daily video before going to bed. It's either twiddle his thumbs for 30 minutes or fall asleep. He typically chooses the latter.

So, with natural causes against us, we've made an executive decision to start taping our daily videos the day after - when we're fed, awake and partaking in some sort of activity. It serves as a kind of foreshadowing for the next day's recap. 

Here's one we did to explain the happenings of DAY 54 in Kazanluk, BULGARIA (saw Thracian tomb copy) - while we were walking to a 5th - 4th century BC Thracian tomb in Shipka (just outside Kazanluk) on Day 55.

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Fields of Gold

I think when Sting wrote the song, 'Fields of Gold,' I'm pretty sure he was talking about crossing the border from Romania into Bulgaria (Bucharest > Veliko Tarnovo), where infinite rows of golden faces stretch as far as the horizon. When you think you've seen the main event, along comes an encore presentation.

 

SIDE NOTE:
Our friend thought it was a bit creepy that all the sunflowers' heads were facing the same direction. If you really think about it, it is kind-of a strange phenomenon. But, what can we say - they like the limelight.

Romania...You Were Good To Us

We spent the greatest number of days per country, so far, in Romania.  Our original plan never even took us into the country, but now that we've been...it's crazy to think we could have passed it by.  The car did give us some added flexibility and the Latin-based language made travel easier, but it's hard not to think this country isn't maybe one of the best hidden secrets of E. Europe.
  

It started when we spent a few nights in the smaller towns of the Maramures region.  Sparky (our tiny car) acted like a mighty warrior on the dirt roads that brought us into this part of the country.  I'm not sure if it was the horses and carriages or all the guys walking around with GIANT sickles, but I definitely knew I wasn't in the city anymore.  It was refreshing to see how self sufficient people were living there.  We saw people of all ages, probably ranging from 15-95, tilling the land and cutting hay grass to dry for the horses (sometimes doing this in nothing, but shorts and a bra).  It seemed like almost every house had some piece of land for agriculture and a small area for livestock.  Each of the guest houses ("Pensiones") had their own recipe for a traditional plumb schnapps, and took pride in the fact that their food came directly from their own backyard (and family milk cow).

We left with our bellies full of homemade meals and feeling pretty content, but little did we know there was a whole other world of fortified churches and castles yet to come in Transylvania.  It's pretty awesome morphing back into a kid and exploring these places.  Plus...like Christine mentioned in the previous post...having to find the local "key keeper" to open the door!?  I mean...how great is that?

The grand finale of the trip was our drive through the Carpathian Mountains on the Transfagarasan Road.  Being one of the only two people who drove manual transmission, and the only one who was ok driving on hills, I was designated the primary driver for the road trip.  I love driving...even at home in flat Florida...so I was happy to be chosen as the driver.  What I didn't know was that I was going to get to drive on one of the most amazing roads I'd ever seen before.  The Transfagarasan was pretty much all that and more. (Thanks to Dustin for encouraging us to go on this road.)

Oh and...on our way to the Transfagarasan Road, we saw a giant lake (Lake Vidraru) and got out of the car to realize that we were actually driving over a massive dam!  Sometimes it's the unexpected experiences that leave the biggest impressions.

It was good times in Romania and I think we all agreed that anyone who comes near E. Europe should take time to see at least a part of this unique country.