Bulgaria Day 1 and 2
June 2nd and 3rd, 2019
Link to photo gallery at bottom of the blog
We left Sofia right after breakfast to start our next trek to Rila Monastery which is about 2 hours from Sofia.
On the way to Rila we stopped in a small village, Kocherinovo, that had wood storms nesting on the chimneys of the houses. The nests were huge. Bulgarians consider if good luck to have storks nesting in their chimneys. After roaming the village and photographing the stocks we continued onto Rila Monastery.
The Monastery of Saint Ivan of Rila, better known as Rila Monastery is the largest and most famous Monastery in Bulgaria. It architecture is stunning with its arches and murals.
The tourists were out in full force when we arrived. It was almost impossible to get images without people in them. I also noticed a lot of tourists in Sofia. This very very good for the country as it brings in money and helps creates employment.
After we left Rila, we travelled a short distance for lunch. We had fresh trout, right out of the river beside the restaurant. One of the clients had french fries with white Bulgarian cheese and she also had Bulgarian pancakes, much like crepes, with blue berries. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed the food. Particularly the trout.
We arrived at the Hotel Melnik and it is one if the quaintest hotels I have been in. The town is surrounded by sandstone cliffs. Melnik is very small town but, it is world famous for it's red wine. The wine is very inexpensive. One of our guests bought a beautiful bottle that was the equivalent of about CDN$3. You can buy it in fancy bottles, pop bottles or pretty well anything that will hold it.
After dark we took everyone out to do night photography. We couldn't find the Milky Way but did the stars anyway. Some had never done night photography before so it was a continuing education for them.
We got up early today and walked around the town and then climbed up a steep hill to get pictures over looking the village.
Now we're off to Rhozen Monastery. The journey continues.