Tag Archives: travel

What was 2011 for Alex–and what should 2012 be?

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Well, I don’t want to make full year analysis. But, honestly, so many things happened the last year.

  • We traveled so much – two big trips around Bulgaria, many small ones too, one trip to Turkey (Istanbul), some trips in Romania, one big trip Bulgaria-Germany, a trip weekend in France….
  • We moved to Germany – at some time we decided that it would be a good thing to continue living together in Germany… so it was done
  • I found a new job in Berlin – again Software Quality Assurance. A very good company, great team, wonderful colleagues. So far, so good. I am very happy with this luck
  • We found a great apartment in Berlin – honestly, this is a hell rental-market here. For one apartment so many people apply with documents. And in the center the prices are extremely high, but the noise… well.
  • Mü got accepted to study what she wanted on first place.
  • I finally started doing something about myself – a bit of running, conscious eating, etc. So far I’m down 10 kg. Not too much – I got a long way to be back in the shape I was. But at least it’s a start.

 

What do I want in 2012 (Alex)?

  • Lose at least 10 more kg – nothing more to say here.
  • Get running seriously – hopefully I will be able to attend a couple of run events… nothing much 5k, 10k maybe. A thing to give some adrenaline, some belief in myself.
  • Do some hiking – that’s a funny thing to say in flat Berlin. But if situation allows – travel is OK
  • As I said travel – in the TODO list should be at least some new countries and people. I don’t yet know what – Spain, Portugal, Italy, Poland, Czech republic… all countries I haven’t seen yet. Hope Mü wants to do these with me wlEmoticon smile What was 2011 for Alex–and what should 2012 be?
  • Mountains – I’m afraid to make big plans here. And small mountains are included in the hiking. But I still dream about high peaks, crampons in the summer, fresh, thin air. No words here, just wishes. Alps are nearby, that is a good thing.

4-9 March 2011–Auto trip around Bulgaria

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IMG 0748 Kopie 4 9 March 2011–Auto trip around Bulgaria

Well, let’s see – 6 day autotrip with about 2000 km. around Bulgaria

The route was something like that

  1. Day 1 – Ruse, Sofia, Rila monastery, Sandanski (where we slept because Melnik was fully reserved for the night)
  2. Day 2 – Sandanski, Petrich (Rupite), Samuilova fortress, Melnik, Rozhen monastery, Pazardzhik (where we slept in an awful hotel, named with the great name Elbrus)
  3. Day 3 – Pazardzhik, via a small curvy road with some dams, Trigrad gorge and the two caves nearby (Yagodinska cave, Dyavolsko gyrlo cave), Shiroka lyka (where we almost got to see the  traditional Bulgarian kukeri festival – something like westerners Helloween wlEmoticon smile 4 9 March 2011–Auto trip around Bulgaria ), Bachkovo monastery
  4. Day 4 – Bachkovo monastery, Asenova fortress (which was closed due to the snowstorm that started previous night), Plovdiv (the old city and the Amphitheater), Panagyurishte (where we initially intended to sleep, but didn’t find appealing), Strelcha (where we stumbled on a Thracian tomb and took a look at), Koprivshtitsa
  5. Day 5 – Koprivshtitsa, Klisura, Sopot, Karlovo, Kalofer, Koprivshtitsa – all revival Bulgarian cities. And we decided to stay in Koprivshtitsa because the hotel we were staying was so great, and the city itself is lovely.
  6. Day 6 (Final) – Koprivshtitsa, Kazanlyk (where we saw the Unesco thracian tomb), The ‘Hainboaz’ mountain pass (due to Shipka pass being closed from sliding trucks and snow), Veliko Tyrnovo, Ruse

In other words – 6 great days with all kinds of weather, but mostly funny. I’ll allow myself to post a link to the Picasa Web Galleries again…. ~HERE~

 

Edit: I’m uploading a map of the trip:

Untitled 283x300 4 9 March 2011–Auto trip around Bulgaria

Bulgaria autotrip – yupeee

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In two days me, Muh and two of her friends will start an autotrip around Bulgaria. Tomorrow we’ll pick them from Otopeni airport in Bucharest, rest a bit and head to an early start.

Basically we will repeat the 2009 Rodopi trip and 2009 again South Bulgaria-Greece trip partly – visiting Rila monastery, Melnik pyramids, Rozhen monastery, Plovdiv the old city, Asenova fortress, Bachkovo monastery, Trigrad gorge, Dyavolsko gyrlo cave, Yagodinska cave.

Of course with some slight addition – after all the will be a whole six day trip around Bulgaria – not 3 or 4 day as before. We are planning to see Koprivshtitza, Tyrnovo, Shipka, Gabrovo, Tryavna again.

I just hope the weather will be OK – the spring is not exactly visible in this part of the world icon smile Bulgaria autotrip yupeee It’s still minus something, extremely cold, and some great north wind is expected, according to the forecast icon smile Bulgaria autotrip yupeee

Well – whatever it is…. I’m sure we’ll have fun. The old Audi is ready, my fellow travelers are ready, the map is drawn, the trip outlines are put. What’s left – well, a couple hours more.

Приятен път (or Nice travel) to wish it in Bulgarian

Tourism in Bulgaria–tips, ideas…

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Since I’ve seen some searches for ‘Bulgaria tourism’, ‘Rodopi tourism’, ‘Rila lakes’, Bulgarian mountains, ‘Mountains in Bulgaria – I decided to offer something like:

Friends – please use the contact page. Write your questions, I’d try to help everyone. So far I’ve helped tourists from Belgium, USA, Romania, Ukraine, Turkey with ideas, contacts, etc.  I know that information in English or any other language except Bulgarian  is a bit hard to find sometimes. And I’ll do whatever I can to make your vacation, travel, hike around Bulgaria better settled.

So – if you need information on Bulgaria, Bulgarian mountains, travelling in Bulgaria, hiking around, or just information on the country itself: feel free to use the Contact page, or drop me a few lines at alex (_AT_) technobeast.net (the spaces, underscores, AT and brackets should be substituted with the @ sign, I hope you know that) wlEmoticon smile Tourism in Bulgaria–tips, ideas…

Good luck wlEmoticon smile Tourism in Bulgaria–tips, ideas…

Alex

About Couchsurfing

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I don’t think I’ve shared this ‘interest’ of mine until now.

I read about Couchsurfing on the blog of Ivan Ilarionov – itilien. He was travelling around in South America on a very tight budget and that’s why Couchsurfing was something good for him. So I thought – let’s see. And on December 1st, 2009 I became a member.

Haven’t had many experiences so far, but may I say they have been some of the best. I’ve hosted travellers at my place a couple of times – let’s say 5-6. Had many requests since then, though some of the surfers have cancelled their requests, or I had to decline due to unavailability. The stories I’ve heard, the people I have met so far, their travels, adventures around the globe, their positivity, openness…. I don’t know how to describe that – it fascinates me.

Some day I hope I’ll have the opportunity to travel like that – take a couple of months and get to know the people of a country, not just the regular, crowded tourist objects. Because this is what makes a country – it’s people.