Mountain and Beach

Day before yesterday, when we arrived, we found a bowl of beautiful cherries waiting for us in our apartment. Later, the kids told the owner how much they enjoyed them, and she took us around to the cherry tree in the yard, which was heavily laden with perfect fruit and told us we could pick as many as we wanted. So, yesterday morning, the kids hopped up and made a beeline for the tree. They filled up a gallon bag, which we tucked in with our picnic stuff, after sampling a few.

We took our picnic with us over to Mt. Olympus (which honestly sounds surreal to even type), where we hiked, enjoyed our picnic and engaged in the true Olympic sport of cherry pit spitting. In the early afternoon, we literally felt the fog roll in around us and decided we better head down the mountain before the rain came in, too. It was a wise move, because by the time we got to the bottom and in our car, the rain was indeed coming down.

We came back to the apartment for some rest time. After a couple of hours the rain had stopped, and we were ready to hit the beach. I must tell you it is a little odd, but oh so awesome, to be standing on the beach and look one direction to see the sea and the other direction to see snow capped mountains. We found a cafe with a play area, and settled ourselves in, with some snacks and drinks, to enjoy the beautiful day. Eventually, we decided we wanted some real food, so we moved on to another cafe for dinner, which was a sampling of delicious Greek dishes. We could definitely get used to life in Olympic Beach, but today we are off to Athens and new adventures.

Our Olympic Beach Home

Purple Mountains Majesty
(The sunset view from our balcony)

little cherry picker

Beautiful and Delicious

Mt. Olympus, here we come!

taking a break on the trail

picnicking among the gods

Dad explains the rules of the cherry pit spitting contest

Looking down from Mt. Olympus

foggy, but still breathtaking

Our path went up toward this small peak

Mt. Olympus, as seen from the beach

hanging out at the beach

These two had so much fun playing in the sandy play area

And the most creative use of a stroller goes to...this enterprising beach vender!

Olympic Beach

A month on the road

Unbelievably, we have been traveling a month now! We made it to Greece today--to a little beach town not far from Mt. Olympus, appropriately named Olympic Beach. It's been raining and cool, so we haven't spent much time on the beach, but it does my heart good just to know the beach and the sea are within reach.

Since I don't have much for the tourism report, I thought I'd share, for those of you that are curious, how we are faring with our gear and which items (aside from clothes) we have found to be absolutely indispensable after a month of travel.

First, let me say, we are generally VERY happy with the things we brought with us. The clothes are performing well and none of us have died from outfit boredom yet. Some of the boys have a sock or two with holes in them (which is not really a change from our pre-travel days) and a few items have been accidentally left behind here or there, but, for the most part, the clothes are holding up well and serving our needs nicely. Clothes are pretty much just clothes, though, so what I'd really like to share with you are our top ten non-clothing items (in no particular order).

Top Ten Non-Clothing Items

1. Cocoon Silk Travel Sheet--These seemed a little like an unnecessary extravagance way back when we bought them--when we lived in a house and had enough bed linens to comfortably outfit a small country. But now that we've been on the road for a month, I would say this item is more necessary than not. We've stayed in a few places with no sheets, almost none with top sheets, and some where we needed all the layers we could get just to stay warm--and we aren't even roughin' it! Each of us have a Cocoon silk sheet, and we are so glad we do.
2. Maps Me App--Our car has a built-in GPS, which has absolutely been a godsend. As Clay says, "She knows how to get everywhere!" But sometimes, we are not in the car but still need to get from Point A to Point B, or find a grocery store or a park, and occasionally we want to confirm what the GPS says or just see another view. This offline maps app is wonderful! And, since it's offline, we can access it even when we aren't connected to wifi. The maps do have to be downloaded ahead of time, but this hasn't been a problem. 
3. One SIM Card--We don't have to buy country specific cards and have had great service in every country in which we've traveled. 
4. Daypacks--Everyone has a day pack, and we use them almost daily for carrying a wide variety of things like picnic items, water bottles, car accessible entertainment, typical purse items, jackets, cameras, groceries, small souvenirs, and everything else you can think of. We could not get by without them! (When you click on the word "Daypacks," you will see only my daypack. We do not all carry the same one.)
5. Audible.com--In our old life, we had DVD players in our vehicles and whenever we took a roadtrip, we popped a movie in for the kids. Our Eurocar has no DVD player, and we wouldn't have any DVDs to play, even if it did. Instead, we've been filling our hours in the car listening to all kinds of wonderful books, many of them set in the countries we are visiting (Dracula and The Iliad, for example), which has enriched our travel experience. Not only does it pass the time and stretch our brains, it also spurs some fantastic conversations (in the car and out), which draws us closer. I wish we had been doing this all along and skipped the DVDs altogether!
6. Vapur Water Bottles--Each person has his/her own water bottle, and they go everywhere with us--from the car, to hiking excursions, to restaurants (since there is no such thing as a free refill around here). They can be clipped to belt loops or backpacks or car headrests, or looped over a finger for easy transport. And when they are not in use, they fold up to almost nothing. 
7. Facetime/Skype--We use both services to stay connected to our family back home, and we love them. We can use them any time we have a decent wifi connection, which we very often do. 
8. Travel Clothesline--We absolutely could not do without our clotheslines! Many of the places we've stayed have had washers, but only the Eurocamp had a dryer, and that was for pay. We have three travel clotheslines (all different brands), and they see a tremendous amount of action. 
9. USB Charging Station/International Power Strip--We have a multitude of power hungry devices, which demand to be charged often. These two devices (times two), which make up our charging station, come out of our bags every single night and allow us to charge everything that needs to be charged all in one fell swoop.
10. Playing Cards--We brought many games with us, but, by far, the cards have been our favorite, and we have spent many hours together playing games we already loved and learning to play new ones. Like listening to audiobooks, playing games together has drawn us closer as a family.

Historic Sofia

We took not one, but two fantastic, free walking tours in Sofia today. The first took us by many of the important buildings of the city, and we learned much of the city's fascinating and rich history, from its prominent place in the Roman and Byzantine Empires, to its floundering years under a communist regime, to some of its more recent history. After that tour, we stopped for lunch and a little park play time, before connecting with the Communist Tour in the afternoon, which took us deeper into what life was like in Bulgaria behind the Iron Curtain. The weather was perfect, the city beautiful, and the education priceless. These are definitely not the kinds of things you learn in a classroom! We are off to Greece tomorrow, but Bulgaria has been such a wonderful surprise for us. We would definitely love to come back to this country and spend a lot more time here.

Tours begin at the Palace of Justice

A case of mistaken identity
Some people mistakenly believed the city was named for Saint Sofia,
and so erected a statue to honor her. This infuriated many people, and there
was a great deal of controversy over it, but they ultimately decided to just leave it in place.

The former seat of the communist government

Filling water bottles with heated natural mineral water
from a public fountain outside of a former Turkish Bath House

The President's Office
(They are VERY serious about staying off they step where the guards stand!)

When the city was ready to put in a subway system, they found that the city was built in layers--
the bottom layer dating back to the Roman and Byzantine Empires.
Fortunately, many of the uncovered ruins were preserved.
This is one of the original gates of the city, with walls two meters thick
(or four Watts children, depending on how you measure).

Rotunda of St. George--the only Roman ruin preserved with its roof intact

Weston playing the role of King Boris of Bulgaria
in a little hands-on history lesson.

Clay playing the role of the child-king of Bulgaria.

Ivan Vazov National Theatre

There is graffiti all over the city, but this was quite a surprise!

The lion is the symbol of Bulgaria, so we saw lots of lion statues,
which made someone very happy!

The (other) Hagia Sofia, for which the town was actually named.
The city was originally called Serdica. This basilica was built on a hill and visible from miles away.
People would either come to town to go to the market or the church.
They started saying, "I've been to Sofia," and the name eventually stuck.

St. Alexander Nevesky Cathedral
There is one bell in the bell tower that weighs 12 tons all by itself.
All the bells together weigh 23 tons, and our guide speculated that
if all were rung at the same time, the windows in all the nearby buildings would shatter.

So many statues!

Our soup man was willing to order the traditionally popular tripe soup for lunch.
In case you're wondering, he really did enjoy it.

Behind door number one
Behind this door, there used to be a vast dungeon,
where the communist regime carried out beatings and torture sessions
on anyone speaking out against or not strictly adhering to communist policies.

I was so proud of the boys for volunteering when volunteers were required.
Here they are playing the roles of the various countries involved with Bulgaria during
WWII. Weston is Bulgaria, Max is the U.S. and Clay is the U.K.
(The man in the blue shirt is Germany and the woman in dark gray is U.S.S.R)

Sofia

We wished for more time in Veliko Tarnovo, especially since it was raining too hard this morning for us to explore the fort. We did get some drive-by pictures before we left town, but we would have loved to walk around and really take it in. But, aside from that, we just really loved the city and would have enjoyed being there longer. If we are ever back this way, we will make it a priority to visit again.

After a nice drive, with a pretty interesting lunch stop, in which our order was conveyed entirely by pointing and nodding, we arrived in Sofia, which is a large capital city, but nice. Our penthouse apartment is overwhelmingly purple and teal and a little on the gaudy side for me (with its various mirrored and brass surfaces), but it's certainly not lacking in character, and it does have a lovely view of the city and Vitosha Mountain. We walked down to a nice shopping area for dinner, and, though the sidewalk cafe where we ate wasn't fancy, our entire dinner for the six of us was less than US$20.

Tsarevets--The Place of Tsars

The wall of the fort, even in its ruinous state, is truly impressive

The patio reading nook, which the little boys absolutely loved.
They picked up every Bulgarian book from the outdoor bookshelf and "read" them all.

The master bedroom in our purple palace

bedroom patio doors

This is the view from the patio.
I love how the mountain is ringed in clouds,
as the rain moved out and the sun started to shine.

A public service announcement at a nearby hotel

Sidewalk cafes are so cool!

Nothing makes this guy happier than statues!

Taking a break from our walk to play

Happily Sidetracked

This morning, we fully intended to go exploring in Veliko Tarnovo. Specifically, we planned to see the ruins of the castle/fort that was in place when this city was the capital of the Medieval Bulgarian kingdom, between the 12th and 14th centuries. But first, we decided to stop by the playground to work out some energy. The next thing we knew, it was lunch time, so we decided to have lunch at a wonderful little place across the street from our apartment, with a fantastic patio and spectacular play area. We lingered there, enjoying the day, until much of the day was behind us. Then, we decided we would prefer a nap to a hike, so back to the apartment we went. This evening, we spontaneously decided to eat out again, because eating out is cheap here, the food is delicious, and we simply can't get enough of this city. We regret nothing. Plans are great, but sometimes the best days are the ones that don't follow the plan. Perhaps, we'll see the ruins tomorrow...or, perhaps not.

Big enough to pump himself
(But small enough to still want to be pushed!)

The whole city goes downhill
(Or uphill, depending on where you are!)

Lunch

Any restaurant with a bouncy house is a friend of ours

Oh, happy day!

Bianco Cafe, as seen from our balcony

We just cannot get enough of this beautiful city!

Fun night at the Lino Bar and Grill

Clay found a friend when we left the restaurant

Veliko Tarnovo--A Pleasant Surprise

We left Romania after breakfast this morning and proceeded with something like the opposite of haste to cross the border into Bulgaria. First, we missed an important turn for a toll bridge, which put us right smack dab in the truck-only area. This was seriously frowned on by the truckers, and the next thing we knew, there was a man at our window, yelling at us in a language we couldn't even begin to understand, and indicating that we needed to move ourselves with all speed to the car area. This we accomplished, along with several others who had made the same mistake, by driving backwards about 200 feet, through heavy stand-still truck traffic, until we could exit into the car area. Finally, we made it to the toll booth and paid our fee, before continuing at a snail's pace to cross the bridge, which spanned the Danube River. Once on the bridge, we realized one lane was closed for construction and the two-way traffic was taking turns using the one lane in a somewhat unorganized fashion. It may have just been the heat or the fact that we were all hungry for lunch, but it honestly wasn't the most relaxing time we've ever had.

Once across the bridge, it was time to hand over the passports and figure out if we needed to purchase a vignette (a country-specific toll tag). The sign at the border crossing said you only needed one if you were a commercial vehicle moving agricultural goods, but just past the passport control offices, we saw plenty of vignette venders, as we have seen in other countries where we did need one. This made us feel a little unsure, so we stopped and bought one, just in case. The thing cost 6 Euros, and Jeff had two 5 Euro bills in his pocket. However, when he pulled out the second one, it tore, and the clerk would not take it. He came back to the car, frustrated, but we fortunately had a few Euros in the cup holder, left over from a previous bathroom stop, and we were able to get the tag and move on.

Starting to relax a bit after all the adventures of the morning, we started to look for a place to get some cash and grab a bite to eat. Our car has a built-in GPS, which we rely on for everything, but it couldn't come up with any choices for banks or ATMs within 300 kilometers. We were in a decent sized town, so we knew there must be something, and relying on our own wits and powers of observation, we did find one within just a few minutes. Lunch was not so easy to come by. The GPS was no help there either, so we just drove along in the direction we needed to go, passing closed restaurants or unsavory looking ones, until we finally found a friendly looking little dive that was actually open. There was a serious language barrier, but through pointing and gestures, we were able to order some food, which was actually quite good. While we were eating, a man suddenly starting washing our car, without so much as a word to us. We were unsure whether he wanted to be paid or if this was part of the service of the place, and we had no way to find out. So, after we finished eating and the brave souls amongst us used the hole-in-the-floor, which passed for a toilet, we tipped the man and went on our way.

Our destination for the night would have been a welcome sight, no matter what, after all the previous events of the day, but it is a lovely city, built in layers upon a hill, truly a pleasant surprise. Honestly, Bulgaria was never even on my radar of places to visit, and I may not have even been really sure where it was located before we started planning this trip. And, even then, we really only thought of it as a means to an end, a place to stop enroute to Greece. But, Veliko Tarnovo is beautiful and full of history, and we had the best meal we've had on our whole trip at a restaurant  overlooking the Yantra River. What a pleasant surprise and a happy turn of fate that we ended up here!

Our apartment is at the top of the city.
This is the view from the balcony.

Shortly after we arrived, this rainbow appeared in the sky.
It seemed like a good sign.

We walked the hundreds of steps down from our apartment to the city center.
(And, then we walked back up again after diner, while a light rain fell.)

The amazing view from the restaurant, overlooking the Yantra River

There will be lounging at the dinner table when one side of seats is a sofa.

"Biscuit Cake" for dessert. Oh my!

Bucharest

Our last stop on our Romanian tour is Bucharest, and I don't mind telling you, we are glad we came, but it hasn't been the most awesome stop of our European tour. It is a large, noisy, dirty, ugly, smelly, run-down city. But, it isn't all negative.

Here are some positives:

1. We are very much enjoying deciphering the Romanian language, which, as a Romance language, more resembles the Spanish and Portuguese we have more practice with.

2. This apartment has air conditioning in the living room and master bedroom, which we are super thankful for, as this is the warmest stop we've had so far (high 80s), and this allows us to shut out some of the street noise at night.

3. There was a real-deal bag of ice in the freezer when we arrived. If you haven't traveled much in Europe, you may not appreciate the true value of this.

4. There is a single comforter on the master bed. Romania has been the first country we've visited where this has been the case. Every other place has had two twin comforters instead. (Top sheets have also not been prevalent in our travels, though the last two places we visited did have them.)

5. You can park wherever you want--whichever direction and at whatever angle strikes your fancy, completely blocking in other cars, in the middle of a lane of traffic, on the sidewalk. There don't seem to be any rules about this at all. You are only limited by the driver's daring and imagination. (Additionally, lanes for traffic tend to be more of a suggestion than something that needs to be strictly adhered to.)

6. This is the cheapest country we've visited so far. As an example, we were able to park for several hours, in a popular part of town, for around the equivalent of US$1.

We did also get to visit the natural history museum, which the kids really enjoyed, though the taxidermy work left a little to be desired. (We actually saw googly eyes glued on some of the animals!)

The adventure continues tomorrow, as we head to Bulgaria.

Our statue lover at the natural history museum

The Natural History Museum (Antipa)

Just park wherever/however you want!