VIIIth International Meeting Bulgaria 2018
Bulgaria tour – Diego Endara, an eccentric guy from Ecuador. He is passionately in love with Bulgaria and has already written 3 books about it. He managed to gather a group of ex students in Bulgaria and their families from around 11 countries, mostly from middle and South America. And here they are, in Bulgaria, for their excellent Bulgaria tour. Of course, I shouldn’t forget to mention that Diego suggested an itinerary. We forked on different routes for almost a year.
Eventually, a little bit tight but good program came as a result. Some of these students (successful people and professionals today) studied in Bulgaria 30 years ago. Very few of them have come back to Bulgaria once or twice for these 30 years. But 2018 was the year they all met here, in Bulgaria. It was a great and memorable experience for them… We are looking forward to entertain you again, Diego.
The tour
Sofia
Meet the guide at Sofia Airport beginning of September, 2018. Check in into a hotel in Sofia. Dinner in the hotel and overnight. Everybody is tired from their flights.
Sofia – Vitosha Mountain
That was the day devoted to Sofia. A sightseeing tour Sofia – to see if Sofia has changed for the last 30 years. Sofia is the capital of Bulgaria and it’s not a big metropolis (just like whole Bulgaria – small and full of beauty and surprises). But it’s a modern, youthful city where churches, synagogues, Ottoman mosques and communist monuments live together peacefully and in harmony. Sofia is an old settlement with the previous name of Serdica.
The tour offers a good mixture of traditional and modern Sofia. Well, has Sofia changed? Has Bulgaria changed for the last 30 years? Some time spent on Vitosha Mountain. When one lives in a big city, where life never seems to stop and the city is at the foot of a mountain, is considered lucky. Vitosha Mountain means relaxation and it’s a great opportunity to slow the pace down a little bit.
Rila Monastery – Melnik
This day started with a visit to the Rila Monastery. This is the place that preserved Bulgarian culture alive in the years of the Ottomans (Istanbul day trips). Declared a National Museum and a National Historical reserve, The Rila Monastery is in the List of World Cultural Heritage of UNESCO. It also became a National Museum and a National Historical reserve.
The monastery is one of the symbols of Bulgaria. (When we talked with Diego about the tour, it became clear that people wanted to see Bulgaria. To see its mountains, sea, monasteries…) Our journey proceeds to Melnik, the smallest town in Bulgaria. This is a place with lots of history, famous for the sand pyramids and the great wine produced there. The Rozhen Monastery, built in 1890, has fine frescoes and amazing wood carvings.
Vratsa – Ledenika cave – Belogradchik Rocks
Vratsa is not a very big town, in the north-west part of Bulgaria. Here we are aiming the Ledenika Cave. It is 16 km away from Vratsa. The cave has some of the most beautiful halls and formations – ‘The Magic Lake’, ‘The Passage of the Sinners’. In the cave visitors can see the most attractive hall on the Balkans. It is the The Concert Hall. The hall gets its name from its great accoustical qualities. Due to them, many live orchestras perform there. Not less beautiful are the Belogradchik Rocks. That was the next place our group wanted to visit. It took more than 200 million years for these astonishing formations to be shaped. They have rusty red colour because of the great amount of iron oxide.
Koprivshtitsa – great culture, Bulgaria tour
Koprivshtitsa is one of the few Bulgarian towns, where architecture from the Revival period is in really good condition. That, in fact, is the biggest treasure of this small town. Koprivshtitsa and its houses which are now museums. Surely, to visit this place (like everywhere else in Bulgaria, actually) meant a lot to these ‘students’. Because, one can easily say that there is a special place in their hearts for Bulgaria only.
