Day 12 (April 13) Sofia-Rila-Bansko-Razlog

Adventure Day!

Today was the big day where the action really began, as we took to the Bulgarian roads!

The day started somewhat awkwardly though, as we got a wake-up phone call from the Hostel at 9ish saying that the car rental lady was waiting for us there! We had misunderstood, and assumed that we had to organise picking up the car from the agency (which we were obviously going to leave until we'd had adequate sleep!), rather than them delivering to our hostel.

Never mind... we dashed out of bed, threw some clothes on and walked the 5 mins down the street to the hostel. Here we met the representative from 'Carrent,' and filled out the paperwork. She then took us out to the car and, explaining that the car was only parked legally for the next 20 mins, she showed us how to buy a ticket. This involves finding a little sunken kiosk on the other side of the road, asking for a ticket, and then filling out the details relevant to your car/time/date and displaying it on the windscreen. We were still a bit dazed through this whole process, and basically just hoped that we wouldn't need to buy a ticket from a Bulgarian kiosk for the rest of our trip, as neither of us really followed what to do!

With the car waiting for us, and legally parked for an hour or so, we headed back into the hostel to have breakfast. At this point, our friend Om appeared and asked if he might join us on our drive to the Rila Monastery, as we had mentioned our plans over cold spaghetti the evening before. His was keen to check out the monastery (about 2 hours drive from Sofia) and then catch the bus back to Sofia. Of course we said he was welcome to come, and that we would collect him from the hostel in about an hour.
We then had breakfast, went back to the apartment to shower and pack, and brought our bags back to the hostel where we loaded up the car and collected Om.

The drive was pleasant. A slightly scary induction do Bulgarian driving upon first pulling out of the kerb and entering one of the least organised roundabouts I have ever come across! But other than that, just a pretty drive through the countryside, aided of course by the lady inside the GPS machine, with whom we would come to share many memories, good and bad.

Passing through a small village

We arrived at the Monastery a couple of hours later, and it really was spectacular. Such a beautiful and serene setting in the mountains with snow-capped peaks in the background. We had a wander around, went inside the church and walked around the back along a path through the forest.

Rila Monastery

Us with our friend Om!

After an hour of wandering, Emma and I were hungry for lunch. Om was going to explore for another 20 mins and then catch the bus back, so we exchanged email addresses and bid him farewell.

We then found a little cafe out the back of the monastery with a lovely view of the hills, and had another amazing salad and also DELICIOUS Bulgarian hot chips with feta grated on top. Mmmmm.
We used this time to decide what we were going to do for the evening, as we had a few options. Our vague plan was to stay in the monastery, which we thought sounded like it could be an interesting experience, but when we enquired we found out that it was fairly expensive - almost as much as a hotel, and with only very basic facilities. We also assumed that we would probably be put in a single room each, as the rooms were designed for the monks that live there.
After a bit of discussion, we decided that seeing as we both still had a bit of energy left and there wasn't a lot to do here, that we would kick on and head towards our next destination, Plovdiv. This way we gain an extra day to spend later in the trip, or else find somewhere nice to stay along the way.
So we got back in the car and set course for Plovdiv, opting for a route through the mountains and the well-known ski resort area of Bansko.
The GPS had us arriving in Plovdiv around 8pm, but by 5 I was getting pretty tired and had had enough of driving. We decided that we would try to find somewhere to stay in Bansko, which is a popular ski village, but out of the ski season. We arrived, and found the gorgeous village at the base of the mountain, full of log cabins, ski rental shops etc, but all extremely quiet and very few people around!

Bansko

After finding some unsecured wifi to scab, we opened up TripAdvisor (oh, TripAdvisor), and noted down a couple of hotels with good reviews. We then went to investigate - One was closed until June,  the other was really cute, owned by a Bulgarian woman who was very surprised to see us, and put Emma on to her English speaking daughter to discuss details. Emma then went and had a look inside, and came back with the report that it was nice, but that there were absolutely no other guests staying there, which left it completely void of atmosphere. Back to Trip Advisor...
Next on the list was 'Radenska Palace," a resort-type place with reviews mentioning a lovely spa, pool and massages. Suddenly this town was sounding a lot better! We called, and they were open and had a room available for only 25 euros! So off we went. Radenska Palace was actually in the town of Razlog, a smaller village about 5 mins drive from Bansko.
The place was great! A totally unexpected and unplanned indulgence (but not price wise!).
We had a swim in the pool, a spa and a sauna, then went and ate dinner in the tavern which was absolutely perfect (complete with open fire). We went back to our room feeling completely relaxed and satisfied, and lay down and watched a movie. To complete the picture, at the end of the movie we looked out the window and it was snowing outside!! An amazing day.

Snow outside our hotel room!

Day 10+11 (April 11-12) Berlin, Germany - Sofia, Bulgaria

Day 10 - Berlin - Sofia

This morning I had a big sleep in, while Emma got up early and met an old friend Maria for breakfast. Emma also decided that her visit back to Berlin wouldn't be complete without at least seeing the Brandenburg Gate and the Holocaust Memorial. I was happy to give these things a miss, having seen them both not long ago, so Emma rode her bike past them on the way back to the apartment.

Emma's tourist mission to Brandenburg Tor

                              

We then left the apartment by bike for another social mission, this time meeting Emma's Australian friend Natalie for coffee at cool-bar-by-night/cool-cafe-by day, 'Luzia' in Kreutzberg.

At this stage, we had about an hour or so before we had to leave the apartment for the airport. I had the idea to try a well-known kebab place that Stef had raved about, so we rode our bikes to Mehringdam and despite a warning from Stef that you always have to queue, we were pretty surprised to have to wait 20 mins at 3 in the afternoon! Wow, though. The place is called Mustafa's, and I tell ya, he knows how to make a delicious kebab. It is made with juicy chicken and fried pumpkin, potato and other veggies and topped with feta cheese and various sauces.

We then briskly rode home and got our stuff together ready to head to the airport.

All went smoothly - though Emma's slight concern about the repute of Bulgarian Airlines was not helped by the fact that the plane had no badging, home-brand style. Nonetheless, we touched down safely and smoothly in Sofia and were promptly met by a hostel representative named Ivan who drove us to our lodgings in his early 90's station wagon.

Our Home Brand Plane

Are we gonna make it?

We made it!

                                                

After checking in to our room (we were in a private double, which was actually in an apartment 5 mins walk from the hostel), we ventured out for something to eat via a money change booth, finishing up at a 24-hour Bulgarian diner recommended by the hostel. The food was good, and we had our first Bulgarian Salad of many more to come. Delicious and fresh, packed with ingredients and of course lashings of Bulgarian Fetta on top!

Back to the apartment to sleep and prepare for a big day of Sofia sightseeing tomorrow.

A pretty unflattering photo of our room.                               

Day 11 - Sofia

Breakfast was served in the Hostel (5 mins walk away) until 10:30, we were told yesterday. So, in fairly typical fashion, we left the apartment at 10:25. Half way there, I realised that I had forgot my bag of laundry that I meant to take so I sent Emma on without me, with instructions to hoard some food for me.

When I got there at about 10:35, poor Emma was sitting at the table with a tiny bowl of cereal and 2 spoons, whilst the grumpy Bulgarian lady was clearing all the bread, cheese and meat away, refusing to allow us any after the 10:30 deadline.

Never mind, too much food and we wouldn't be hungry for lunch!

After finishing breakfast and dropping my laundry off, we left the hostel for the town centre, where a free walking tour was beginning at 11. We joined the tour, along with about 6 or 7 other tightarses, and were guided around the main sites of the city for a good two and a half hours. Amongst other things we saw the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (the biggest in Bulgaria), the Church of St Sophia, the mineral spring taps where locals go to fill there water bottles with the tastiest water in the country (We can now vouch for that!) and a temporary exhibition of the United Buddy Bears (A traveling procession of Berlin Bears, each painted to represent a member of the United Nations).

Me with the Aussie Buddy Bear

The coolest bear! Notice the amazing Giraffe and Cheetah on each side. Uganda I think?

Filling up the water bottle

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

After the tour finished, we hit the tour guide up for a few recommendations, among them somewhere for lunch. He sent us to a cute little tavern serving traditional Bulgarian food, and we made the mistake, the first of many repetitions of this same mistake, of ordering way too much food. When something on the menu costs the equivalent of $2-3, it's natural to assume that it will be small. Not so - Welcome to Bulgaria, where you can eat like a king for $10! Feeling sufficiently stuffed, and having tried numerous Bulgarian specialities including cold cucumber soup, we left the restaurant to explore some of the city on our own.

During the walking tour, our guide had recommended checking out a recently discovered Roman Amphitheatre half the size of the Colosseum, of which 1/6 was visible in the foyer of an upscale hotel. Apparently they stumbled upon it after the hotel was established, and the owner of the hotel thanked his lucky stars for such a blessing. So we thought we would set out looking for it. After an hour of wandering around searching for the location of the address that we had for the hotel, we gave up and instead headed for the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, keen to explore it from the inside.

It was well worth the trip back, as the inside was quite spectacular. Although photos were not permitted, we managed a sneaky pic.

                                          

After this, it was time to head back to the apartment and refresh ourselves before the evening. After an hour or so there, we headed to the hostel, where a free dinner of Spaghetti was served every night. It is a nice gesture, but the quality was pretty ordinary. We ate some and sat at the table, where we met Om, an Indian man living in Canada, who was spending a few weeks minus wife and kids backpacking through Eastern Europe, having visited his uncle in London.

We farewelled him for the evening, and set out to a bar we found on TripAdvisor called Dada Culture Bar, supposed to be a nice little hidden away bar with great atmosphere. We found it, and it was exactly as described - really funky, little bar on a quiet street serving cocktails and all the rest. Unfortunately I decided to throw caution to the wind and order a martini. Bit of a mistake there. It was half gin and half sweet vermouth, with a shrivelled black olive dropped in the middle and 3 or 4 ice cubes floating for good measure. Not good. Even so, I managed to get most of it down the gullet. Emma's Daiquiri was much better, although I would probably steer clear of cocktails next time!

After we left that bar we made the shocking discovery that we were only a block away from the hotel with the Amphitheatre! So we found it, and went in for a couple of drinks at their lobby bar, whilst looking out over 2000 year-old ruins below us. Pretty cool really.

A very communist-looking Square we passed on our night stroll

An artistic shot at Dada Culture Bar - procrastinating finishing my martini

Roman ruins in a hotel!

Day 9 (April 10) - Berlin

On excellent recommendation from Stef we ventured to the 'Schwarze Pumpe' in Prenzlauerberg for an all-you-can-eat buffet breakfast for an astounding 5 euro!!!! Obviously we ate enough for both breakfast and lunch and spend a few hours sitting outside in the sun with Lena and Philip, watching the locals wander by.

Lena and Philip at Brunch!

                                

We then wandered to the Mauerpark Flohmarkt (a flea market that takes place every Sunday in a big park where the Berlin Wall used to stand). It was always one of my favourite Sunday activities, and was still as I remembered it except that every Berliner seemed to be there! The beautiful sunshine had enticed them all from their apartments. The market has everything from second hand goods, to homemade crafts, to beer and cake. We wandered through and ended up on the grass in the sun with everyone else. We then met up with my old old friend Luise and made our way to the Prater Beer Garten on Kastanienallee for a large heffeweizen (wheat beer) in the sun.       

Prater Bier Garten

After farewelling all we headed south on the UBahn to Gorlitzer Bahnhof to try my favourite felafel place - and to judge who's felafel reigns supreme! Mike was very impressed and the unanimous decision was 'too close to call'. After the feast we realised we were already late to meet some more old friends of mine at the 'Green Door' near Nollendorfplatz. This was a really classy little cocktail bar with a big green door out the front. The cocktails were a little pricy for Berlin, even at the 'Sunday night special' price, but really excellent for the quality and atmosphere. We had a lovely couple of drinks and catch up, and then headed back to the apartment.

Drinks at the Green Door

Day 8 (April 9) BERLIN... Emma's day to write!

The day began quite slowly (due to the beer consumption the night before) with a sleep in and a long discussion about what we should do for the day. After settling on the Stasi Prison at Hohenshoenhausen, somewhere we both thought sounded fascinating, we realised it would take three changes on public transport AND that we had no breakfast in the flat. By now it was lunch time and we set off on our trusty bikes but only reached Schleisishes Tor where we devoured a hamburger from Burgermeister under the bridge... in an old toilet block.

Me ordering from the toilet block...

After a 45 minute bike ride we reached the old Stasi prison and found the only english tour of the day was scheduled for five minutes later, our timing for things is rarely that good. The tour, conducted by a thickly accented German guy took us through both the old 'submarine' underground prison building and the more modern three floored prison that had around 120 cells and 120 interrogation rooms. It is interesting to note that some of the german tours are conducted by ex-inmates, I guess there are not many places you can get such a first hand view of things. The prison was used by the Stasi from after WWII up until 1989 to house political prisoners. Often they were high profile celebrities or political figures (several former senior DDR politicians/Stasi) and were held for several years and were subjected to psychological torture and interrogation. Shocking to think it happened so recently but a fascinating inside look into one of several Stasi operations.

The Stasi Prison

After cycling back to Kreuzberg it was happy hour and we sat in the fading sunlight at Salon Schmuck on Skalitzer Str. before organising some pre-dinner drinks at our place for some friends. Lena and Philip, two german friends from Australia who are now back in Germany and Isabelle, who was in Berlin to celebrate her birthday. The night was spent celebrating Isabelle's birthday at the sultry but smoky Miss Tipsy Bar in Falckensteinstraße, Kreuzberg.  

Days 6-7 (April 7-8) - Berlin, Germany

I am combining days 6 and 7 because, having drafted out our blog, we realised that we really didn't do a lot these two days! Mainly cafe surfing during the day and bar/restaurant surfing in the evenings.
Notable activities are as follows:
1. Rode into 'mitte' district to find that Emma's all-time favourite cafe had closed down... :( but then found a great new Italian cafe with really excellent coffee (very hard to find in Germany) as a substitute.
2. Met up with my friends Paul and Stef for dinner and drinks on respective evenings, and also visited Paul's great new apartment.

3. Went to Alex's apartment for an amazing brunch that he had prepared for us.

4. Went for a bike ride through Templehof Airport, which is no longer operational as an airport, but still has a few planes standing around. Also according to our tour guide Alex, the terminal is the second biggest building in terms of space in the world. First is the pentagon.

5. A personal achievement - mastered (kinda) riding a bike with no hands! Particularly fun riding down the runway.

Cafe Napoljonska

Brunch at Alex's

Templehof runway

Templehof terminal

                                  

LOOK MUM!

Days 4-5 (April 5-6) - Paris+Berlin

Day 4

I forgot to mention, after furiously 'trip advisering' a few days ago trying to find somewhere special for dinner in Paris, I stumbled across a lunch offer at the restaurant 'Guy Savoy'. Guy Savoy is a French institution, complete with 3 michelin stars and a world famous chef. The offer was for a 3 course lunch for a substantially cheaper price (although obviously still not cheap) than the equivalent for dinner. It was only available for one table per day, and was for people to 'discover or rediscover French cuisine'. I had sheepishly emailed them to ask if they happened to have this table available in the next couple of days. The next day I got an email back, confirming our reservation for April 5... today!

So the day started with an appetite-inducing run around the 11th district, and to the Bellevue Gardens. After finally finding our way back to the apartment (it wasn't easy), we got showered and ready for lunch.

Then we made our way across town to Guy Savoy. We started, obviously, with a glass of champagne which was served from a trolley offering a wide selection. We opted for the house champagne which was delicious and expensive enough!
The maitre'd then guided us, fairly strongly, though the menu and together we arrived at our selections for the 3 courses. The food of course was beautiful, but we both agree that it fell short of mind-blowing... A description we'd attribute to a couple of meals that we've had in Australia.
The highlights were the deserts - photos to follow - which were pretty special, and also the fact that they came around between courses with little savoury morsels, and then again after desert with an additional desert trolley offering an amazing chocolate mousse amongst other things. All in all a very memorable experience.

The savoury highlight - Artichoke soup with Parmesan and Black Truffle (i'd already eaten most of the parmesan+truffle)

Emma's amazing desert

After lunch we went for a quick walk down the Champs-Elysee and headed back to the apartment for a wine induced slumber. By late afternoon/early evening we were ready to set out again, starting with a wander down Rue Mouffetard in the Latin Quarter, and then later meeting Andre and Isabelle again for some beer, cheese and baguette by the Seine.

After lunch walk

Snacks by the Seine

                                    
Day 5

With only a few hours to say goodbye to Paris, we decided to head to Monmatre. Jumped on the metro to Anvers station and wandered up the hill towards the Sacre Cour. Actually 'wandered up the hill' implies a certain grace that sugar coates the reality that we hauled ourselves up the steps, heaving and panting. We then wandered around the artist quarter behind the cathedral, and after a few photos, wandered down the hill. Yes, wandered down the hill.
As we were wandering, we passed a particularly dodgy area with street scammers playing a ball-and cup game trying to lure unsuspecting tourists into playing their game for money. On the same street, I was approached by a man who opened his coat to reveal an array of fake sunglasses. He was in luck - It was only on the metro to Anvers that I told Emma that if I find a cheap pair of sunnies that I liked, I would buy them, seeing as I came to Europe sans sunglasses. SO, after finding a pair of Raybans that fit the bill, we began to negotiate price. He was looking for about 30 euros, and I was more in the 5-10 vicinity. Just at that moment, an undercover police operation went into full effect, and the whole street cleared out. The police asked me if I had bought anything, and I answered the truth that I hadn't, yet. The police then emptied out all of my vendor's merchandise into a garbage bag and disappeared. Little did they know that I had my selected aviators in my hand under my jumper. When we met up with my friend again, I thought I would do him the favour of giving him a token 5 euros for the sunnies that he should have lost anyway and be done with it. He wasn't having a bar of that and after some frustrating negotiation I walked away. He followed us and eventually accepted my latest offer of 10 euros.

After all this drama, it was time to head back to the apartment to collect our things and get to the airport. Picked up a pretty ordinary crepe avec Jambon, fromage et Oef for lunch on the way and caught the metro back.
No dramas getting to Orly airport. A brief bomb threat once we got there, where nobody was allowed into the EasyJet check in area for 20 mins or so, but then checked in and flew to Berlin Schoenefeld.
Found our way to our apartment in Kreutzberg where our landlord Eric introduced us to our bikes for the week and showed us the flat.
 Later that evening met Emma's former housemate Alex for dinner and drinks in Kreutzberg, including (apparently) the original kebab, which was in fact invented in Berlin, not Turkey!! We then headed to Luzia bar and Das Hotel, two of Emma's old favs.

                                  

Day 3 (April 4) - Paris, France

We began today with an expedition back to the Musee l'Orangerie for some full-price Monet! It was worth it though, as there was no line at all and there was plenty of oxygen inside the museum. The museum itself I think is one of the nicest in Paris, with entire walls of Monet, and other well-known artists downstairs, but in a very manageable layout. The entire museum can be adequately explored in an hour or so.

Monet's Water Lillies

Having got all that cultural business out of the way, it was now time to spend the rest of the day focusing on the more important things...
We headed, on Isabelle's recommendation to a very bougois cafe called 'Angelina' to try their famous hot chocolate. Despite forking out 7 euros per hot chocolate, we were not disappointed! A serious rival to the koko-black hot chocolate, and in a really beautiful old-style Parisian cafe.
Next, Emma wanted to show me the stain-glass roof of the 'Printemps' department store. We walked past the stunning Opera house and popped into 'La Fayette' department store which was impressively beautiful on the inside and then went next door to Printemps. The roof is over a cafe/restaurant so we were forced to sit down and have a beer. The things you have to do sometimes....

Us reflected in our mirror tables, with the stained-glass roof at Printemps behind us

After our early happy hour, we headed back to the apartment for a recoup, and then went to meet Isabel and Andre again for a drinks and dinner. This evening we went to a restaurant seemingly in the middle of nowhere, but apparently very well-known to locals, as we had to wait for over an hour before we were seated! The restaurant was called 'Chez Gladines' on Rue des Cinq Diamants.' The food was great and quite cheap - traditional basque cuisine. The advantages of knowing a local!

Days 1-2 (April 2-3, 2011) - Paris, France

Day 1 - Emma's arrival

We are starting this blog from the evening that Emma arrived in Europe. Having already been in Paris for a few days by myself, with just my book and several somewhat antisocial Parisian cafe proprietors to keep me company, I spent most of Saturday eagerly awaiting Emma's arrival. Fortunately I had wifi internet access in our excellent apartment (thanks Hugette!), and was able to literally follow her flight on the radar. At one point over Iraq the plane disappeared for a few hours which I found a little concerning, but it later reappeared and landed safely at Charles de Gaulle.
Emma's flight landed at about 8pm, but because of track works on the RER she was forced to catch the very slow bus, and by the time we finally found each other and got back to the apartment it was after 11.
We then feasted on the cheese, macaroons and Champagne that I had prepared earlier and collapsed into bed.
Here are some snaps from the apartment:

DAY 2

Today began, fairly impressively for someone who the night before got off a 24 hour flight and downed half a bottle of champagne, with a run around the 11th arrondissement. After returning from the run and having a lovely French breakfast of muesli we took to the streets.
First was a walk into the centre to explore the Pompidou Centre, which Emma had never been inside of, and I hadn't for a long time. On the way it began to rain, and we stopped for a coffee in the touristy Bastille area. The coffee was one of the 'push the button and the machine does the rest' varieties for 4.50 euros each. That's about AUD$7 per shit coffee FYI.
When we got to the Pompidou Centre, there was a line a mile long out the front and we decided to give it a miss. Instead there was a free exhibition next door of a Hungarian sculptor which was much less crowded and interesting for half an hour.
We decided, seeing as we were on a museum roll, to head for the Musee de l'Orangerie which houses the most famous Monet water lilly paintings. When we arrived there there was another enormous line out the front and we guessed that it would take well over an hour to get in. So, assuming that the queues were due to the fact that it was a Sunday, we decided to come back tomorrow. We later found out that the queues were because it was the first Sunday of the month, and all museum entries were free. Bummer.

A self take in the Jardin de? Tuilleries

We then opted to walk the fairly substantial distance back home, stopping at my favourite felafel shop in the world, L'as du falafel in the Marais for late lunch. The felafels were piping hot and delicious as ever and Emma was suitably impressed! We then walked the rest of the way back to the apartment and rested our weary legs for a couple of hours. We must have walked about 10kms at least today, not to mention the run in the morning... not a sign of things to come.
This evening we met up with Emma's French friend Isabelle from Berlin who has now moved back to Paris; and Emma's Australian friend Andre who is studying in Paris for 6 months. We met in the 11th arr and ate dinner and drank wine at a cute little restaurant called 'Cafe des Angels' on Rue Roquette.
Over and out.