Crossing Bulgaria

Our ferry arrived back in Athens, and we spent the day in the city before heading north to the mountains of Bulgaria. We did two fabulous day hikes and explored more ancient cities, the capital Sofia, and walked through a sweet cave!

A bit more of Greece

After gulping down a much-needed coffee following camping out on the ferry for 12 hours, we entered the Acropolis Museum. The museum is beautiful, and helps bridge the gap between the current state of the Parthenon, and how it looked centuries ago.

Feeling satisfied that we had absorbed all the ancient Greece info that our brains could hold, we grabbed lunch at a delicious vegan restaurant (much needed) and began our drive north. Our trip brought us along the coast, and after waking up on the beach, we explored Platemon Castle and the ancient city of Dion.

Rila National Park

Our first stop in Bulgaria was simultaneously overwhelming and awesome: the Bulgarain version of Costco! After finding our first can of black beans in Europe and loading up on bulk snacks, we made our way to Rila National Park, where we spent the night in a beautiful old forest. The following day we took a chairlift up to Rila Lakes, where we hiked a loop through green alpine meadows, visiting clear lakes framed by the mountains.

We were thrilled to be back in the mountains, and with the following day promising even better weather, we planned a hike to the summit of Musala Peak, the tallest peak in the Balkan peninsula (only 7 meters taller than Mt Olympus, much to Greece’s dismay). This hike started with a gondola ride from the mountain town of Borovets, sending us up near treeline in order to have beautiful views for our entire hike. Feeling energized by the mountain air, we cruised along the trail, passing alpine lakes and steadily gaining better views. The summit was great, and we snacked and snapped photos before making our way down.

Sofia

The Musala peak hike took much less time than anticipated, so we decided to stop into Sofia for the afternoon. The capital city has beautiful religious buildings all within a few blocks. We visited a mosque, synagogue, and several churches on foot, and stumbled across ancient Roman ruins that were discovered in the last ten years while the city was building an underground subway. The ruins are beautifully preserved in the metro stations such that some stations feel more like a museum than public transit.

Prohodna Cave

Our stop for the night was the parking area of a huge cave whose name means “The Eyes of God”. While cooking dinner, we made friends with a well-traveled Bulgarian guy who grew up in the area. We took down his recommendations before he hurried off to catch up to his friends. The following morning, we explored the cave. We were hoping to climb as the cave has many bolted routes, but found the walls to be wet from recent rains. Even without climbing, the cave was incredible.

Tsaravets

Before heading into Romania, we explored the ruins of the hilltop fortress of Tsarevets. Prior to Ottoman occupation, this was the seat of the Bulgarian patriarch. Today, the former religious capital is an unassuming town hidden in the hills.

Knowing just a little bit more about Bulgaria than we did before, we crossed the Danube into Romania.