Globetrotting

After the Western Balkans, an intermediate stop in my itinerary was Bulgaria, before going on to Turkey. After an overnight bus journey (with my name printed in cyrillic letters on it!) from Ohrid, I arrived in Sofia, where I stayed for four nights, with a day trip to the Rila Monastery, which is a two hours drive from Sofia in the mountains.

Sofia itself proved to be nice, even though on the first two days (admittedly, a weekend) it seemed as though the city was fast asleep. The city has some nice buildings and churches to offer, which mostly date from after the late 19th century, when Sofia became Bulgaria’s capital (even though the city had existed for much longer, it was only a small town by then). However, there are also some very old buildings such as the church St. Sofia, which gave the city its name.

Rila Monastery is a UNESCO world heritage site, which is beautifully and secludedly located in the middle of the mountains. It is beautifully restored and has a quite unique appearance, with lots of black-and-white or red-and-white striped arches and walls, and beautiful mural paintings (some of which look like ancient comics).

Today, I left Bulgaria by plane for Turkey, and I have just arrived in Selçuc. I will remain in Turkey, first along the coast, and later in the middle of the country, for the rest of my summer trip (until end-August).

Some pictures follow.