Road trip

Dreams come true, eye-candy and definitely a good driving lesson.

The route until now:

Sofia

Skopje

... With the Millenium Cross

(Ice Cream and coffee in the valley before) Prizren in Kosovo

(Food and Sports) in Pec, Kosovo

All the views on the way were breathetaking. This is close to the Kosovo-Montenegro border.

 On our way to Zabljak, the tourist city in the Durmitor national park, a huge thunderstorm surprised us and we decided to stay at a camping in the Tara river valley. It was a great decision, as we saw in the morning :)

Eco Oaza, Tara river valley, Montenegro

Morning sports

Tara river

Tara River bridge

My friend - Bobutov Kuk. The highest peak in the Durmitor national park

Crno Jezero (Black lake) at the Mountain range in Durmitor (Montenegro)

More and more mountains on the way in Montenegro

 And we decided to camp in Pluzine in Montenegro and go to Mostar the day after. The small town is right at the beautiful Pivsko jezero.

First sight when exiting the tent in the morning

Pivsko Jezero near Pluzine in Montenegro

More of Pivsko Jezero

And then after some adventure filled roads, we arrived in Mostar, settled for the night and had a beer at the Old bridge. That was awesome! :) 

Travels

23.05.2014.

 * Get the car [CHECK]. A tiny KIA Picanto. This will do.
 * Get out of Sofia [CHECK]. It had some traffic jams at the highway, but we managed.
 * Find the way out of the country to Macedonia [CHECK]
 * Cross the border [CHECK]
 * Get to Skopje [CHECK]

 As we got to Skopje, we could not find our host and at that moment we had no phone with enough money to reach her. But we figured it out quickly. And there we were at Sirma's house - Our home for two nights. Zoya, the host, was very helpful.

24.05.2014.

 The day had two parts:

 Part 1 - Climb the nearby mountain. We were one of the few people on foot, because everyone else took the car. But we got these sights on our way. 

Skopje city

First cliffs

After a nice climb, we rested and took the skylift to the top of the mountain and the Millenium cross. 

Millenium Cross and the mountain ranges to the South

Playground at the Mountaintop 

Frisbee in dangerous terrain 

Part 2 - rest after the climbing and then driving into the city for some dinner and sights in the city. See this link for how the city looked tonight: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10152860671658452.1073741849.93847053451&type=1 

 

Pictures from my phone :

Only one of the awesome (big) statur

Museum of Archeological history

Sculpture. Looks impressive and neat :)

And the food was very nice. 

 Check in for more stories and pictures in a few days ;)

 J.

България

Take you time - I took mine to write this :)
The (not so well photographed) view from my window just now:

I want to start this post with a Latvian saying : "If one moves to a new home on the Jurgi day and leaves the old home uncleaned, then he leaves his blessing for the old home." (Ja Jurģu dienā uz jauno dzīves vietu ejot, veco atstājot neslaucītu, tad tas vecā vietā savu svētību atstājot.)

I believe that this explains why my family is left with a somewhat dirty room. 

Oh. I did change some things in my life. But I want to start at the beginning. At the end of 2013 an idea manifested itself in my mind. I want to go to Bulgaria next year and have a good time in Sofia. Very simple and plain. 

 I considered different options and European Voluntary Service (EVS) was my way to do this thing. A host organization was found, a plan was made, a date was set and so it went. May 3rd.

I enjoyed some nice days with my family:

I packed my bags:

 I partied with my friends in Liepája: 

Went to the Riga airport, got my ticket(s):

 And liftoff with the end destination "Sofia"!

 From the air I saw the city, the Mountains, the Alexander Nevski Cathedral and there I was. I will be staying with the best possible host - Rian - for the first month here and we explored the city together in the first days. It really has a lot to discover. It is a nice mix of Monumental spots, lively streets and many small, hidden places to enjoy. 

 I'll be enjoying spots in the city for the upcoming year and I guess I'll write more about it as well. But up until now I must give my first "Thumbs up" for KANAAL - a beer cafe that will always give me the opportunity to enjoy special beers and tastes that surprise. You can check it out for yourself in Sofia or find their Facebook profile under the likes of my profile. Very soon I'll be going to the park at the Ivan Vazov national theater, which also is one of my early favorite spots. 

 However, what has made my heart beat faster the most, are the mountains in the background. Actually, they are not that far. It's just a city busride away to get to the side of the Vitosha mountain and start climbing one of the many slopes. Me and Rian opted for the Bojana waterfall path, which had nice mountain climbing elements and for four hours I was greatly entertained. And I know for sure that I will want to enjoy these mountains more and more. See the following pictures for an insight - forests, the look back on the city, the waterfalls, the wildlife. We also met a guy who talked to us about God and a dog that simply seemed attracted by our ice creams ;) 

Bojana Waterfall

Salamander Salamander

Sofia from the mountains in the Bojana district

And now it's time for me to go and get more impressions from Sofia, Bulgaria, the Balkans, the people, EVS and oh so much more. I'll be back when there's more to tell.

Please, comment what I should write about/discover and I will try and do that.

Janis.