Sofia
The Balkans are a rather exotic part of Europe. Some of the countries fall in the list of former communist states, a country like Greece was always a part of NATO, Yugoslavia was a Non Aligned country, and Albania was a pariah state for almost everyone!
Our flight to London was an exercise in self indulgence. We used most of our air miles to buy Business Class tickets. This was followed by a quick layover in Heathrow, and then we took the Bulgarian Air flight to Sofia. The crew in the airline were quite pleasant. I was struck by the variety of different looks the Bulgarians had - from blonde Scandinavian looking women, to some almost Turkish / Middle Eastern looking men.
Our hotel in Sofia, the Best Western Thracia was off the main party street called Vitorshika. The next morning, our guide picked us up for our City tour. The first point was the Presidential Palace. There were only a couple of dressed up soldiers guarding the President's office - obviously, no military coup was expected!
The next stop was the church. It was an old building, with a few faint icons inside.
We then went to the National Museum, which was in the upmarket section of Sofia. It was a great introduction to Bulgarian and Balkan history. Apparently the Bulgars were a Central Asian tribe that had moved to this region. There was a lot of mention of King Simeon, a regular conqueror, killer of thousands, etc, etc. Bulgaria was ruled by the Ottoman Turks for a long time, and that probably explains the Middle Eastern looking people around! Also, Bulgaria seems to have made a lot of wrong alliances after its independence from the Turks. She has been in the losing side of many of the major wars in the 20th century, like the Balkan Wars, World War 1 and 2. Due to which she lost a lot of land to other Balkan powers.
We then walked by the National Theatre, a pretty red coloured building with gold outlines.
Lunch was at a restaurant that looked traditional. It was once a merchant's house and storage. There was soup in a bread bowl, meat in a sauce, and dessert was Balkan yoghurt with honey and almonds. I liked the dessert - it was simple and good. The yoghurt was made with sheep's milk, so it was not sour, but creamy.
Post lunch, we were taken to the main highlight of Sofia, the Alexandr Nevskii Church. My wife, who is Catholic, had never seen traditional Orthodox churches with their abundance of icons. We weren't allowed to take photos inside, but it was a very stark and impressive monument.
The church next door to the Alexander Nevskii Church
The highlight of Sofia, the Alexander Nevskii church
After relaxing a bit, we went for dinner at an another branch of the restaurant that we went for lunch.
Dinner began with a traditional drink called pelin, which was a strong berry flavored alcohol. This one was made in house, and we were convinced to buy some from a store! Dessert was a creamy coffee cake. Of course, we had the Balkan yogurt honey almond combo again as well. We quite liked the food in Bulgaria.
The next day we headed to the Rila Monastery. This is located in the mountains, well protected from the multiple invaders who have crossed Bulgaria on their way to Europe. It was dedicated to a tenth century Saint John. It is a barely used monastery now. The really interesting part was the icon type paintings.
That evening we took a taxi to the capital city, Skopje, in the neighboring country of Macedonia. It was a three hour ride through some very rural areas. There were horse driven carts, along with normal twentieth century modes of transport like cars and buses. The road was smooth, and our driver was an aggressive chap named Saso. At the border, he could speak to the police in Macedonian. A self note: don't want to rent a car here.
Our Hotel was a well rated one on Tripadvisor. Our room was a very large one, and the hotel staff was helpful. We walked to a nearby restaurant that was a really nice one, with live music and good food.
The next morning was a rainy day. Our guide, Suzana, who would turn out be the friendliest guide we had in the Balkans, greeted us brightly. She is an English teacher, and has a Serbian husband. Our first stop was the fortress overlooking Skopje.
This city had still preserved its Ottoman past. There was a bazaar that had not changed in the last few hundred years, save for the products that were being sold. The other interesting thing about Skopje was that many of the new buildings being constructed were in a Gothic style, to impart an European flavor to the city.
A comic aspect to Macedonia is that it is not allowed, by Greece and the European Union, to claim lineage to Alexander the Great. Any statue of his has to be referred to as the "Warriors Statue" while everyone knows who it is actually representing. Bizarre!
Another famous child of this city is Mother Teresa. She was born to an Albanian Christian family in Skopje, and then moved to Calcutta in India. Like Alexander, who died near India, Mother Teresa too spent her life and died in India.
The next morning, we started on a journey that can only be possible in Europe. We had to cross three borders within 10 hours to reach our destination, Montenegro. Our first border crossing was Kosovo, which is not recognized as an official country by many Slavic nations. In an hour or so, we then reached the Albanian border. We bypassed the main cities, so all we got to see was the countryside in both countries. There were still some horse driven carts, which was a real surprise - this must be the only region in Europe where one sees that.
We reached our destination, Villa Drago, in Sveti Stefan, late in the evening. Our driver needed to be paid in cash, and our hotel owner very sweetly lent us the money to do so (this has to be very unusual, but the hotel owners are very hospitable). We dashed to have dinner at their restaurant, and it was fantastic meal of seafood, a platter of fresh fish and shrimp.
The next day we looked out of our balcony, and saw this view of the Sveti Stefan island:-
Famous movie stars, including Madonna, have a residence here.
We had breakfast brought into our room, and served in the balcony. This hotel is highly rated in Tripadvisor, and with good reason. It was the best place we stayed in our entire trip. It is a family run establishment, for the last few decades.
We headed to the old city of Kotor in the afternoon. The city was well preserved, and reminds one of other old European cities. A lot of stone buildings, narrow cobblestone paths, tiny little shops, multiple cafes, etc. Here are some of the photos:-
The following morning we headed to Dubrovnik. It was a quick two hour ride from Sveti Stefan, and the road is parallel to a lovely coastline. We checked into our hotel, and had a slightly unpleasant surprise. We were supposed to be in a sea side hotel, but ended up in a apartment a kilometer away from the sea (the booking address and name were the same). The good part was that there were groceries and restaurants nearby, and the beach was a 15 minute walk.
We met our brother-in-law's sister, Antica, in a funky cave bar. The bar was a multi-level one inside a cave, and very cool for that reason. There were little gaps through which one could see the seawater going in and out. We then headed to the old city for dinner. There were multiple restaurants and since we wanted seafood, Antica's took us to one where she knew the owner personally.It was a tiny place, with excellent food.
The next morning we had a tour of the Old City of Dubrovnik. The entrance was packed with tourists, a large part of them from cruise ships. Once we found our guide, a Germanic looking Croatian, the tour started! She took us to the higher level path, which was on top of the city wall.
The Old City of Dubrovnik has a colorful history, literally! The whole city is painted in Orange and White, giving it an uniquely identifiable image. There were ancient churches, villas, etc., all in orange and white. One of the highlights was the Buda Bar, which is on the rocks, by the sea. Very Cool!.
We then decided to take a side trip to Mostar, in Bosnia Herzegovina. My wife wanted this to be a 10 country trip, and going there would fulfill that requirement! It is an interesting drive, because there is an enclave of Bosnia which splits Croatia. So we had to go to Bosnian immigration, then Croatian, then Bosnian again. All in one hour. They waved us through quickly!
It was fascinating to be in a country that was synonymous with war and destruction twenty years ago. There are not many visible signs from that era, though there were bullet marks in some building, and there were buildings that have not been rebuilt after being destroyed. It has strong Turkish influence, from the Ottoman times.
We walked up to the famous Mostar Bridge, which was built by the Turks. On one side, the Catholic Croatians live. On the other side, the Muslim Bosnians live. There are souvenir shops on both sides of the bridge, run by the Croats and Bosnians respectively. Of course, all the souvenirs are made in China!
There was a beautiful wedding ceremony, in a very old church in the center of Zagreb. Here we are, outside one of the main churches.
After the wedding, many of us in the wedding party decided to go to the sea, which is a couple of hours from Zagreb. The city is called Cricvenica, and is a tourist beach town.
Our next stop was Ljubljana in Slovenia. It is one of those hidden gems in Europe - very beautiful, but relatively unknown. We stayed near the centre of the Old Town, which was colorful and picturesque.
As you can see in the photos, the Old Town is full of beautiful buildings. One of our first stops was the ornate Church, which had gold decorations more commonly found in Spanish style churches in Europe and South America.
Our final stop in this trip was the famous castle of Neuschwanstein. This was the inspiration for the Disney Castle, as seen in Sleeping Beauty. It was beautiful on the outside, but a little more ordinary on the inside. It was built by King Ludwig, who was later judged to have been mad!
The Balkans are a rather exotic part of Europe. Some of the countries fall in the list of former communist states, a country like Greece was always a part of NATO, Yugoslavia was a Non Aligned country, and Albania was a pariah state for almost everyone!
Our flight to London was an exercise in self indulgence. We used most of our air miles to buy Business Class tickets. This was followed by a quick layover in Heathrow, and then we took the Bulgarian Air flight to Sofia. The crew in the airline were quite pleasant. I was struck by the variety of different looks the Bulgarians had - from blonde Scandinavian looking women, to some almost Turkish / Middle Eastern looking men.
Our hotel in Sofia, the Best Western Thracia was off the main party street called Vitorshika. The next morning, our guide picked us up for our City tour. The first point was the Presidential Palace. There were only a couple of dressed up soldiers guarding the President's office - obviously, no military coup was expected!
The next stop was the church. It was an old building, with a few faint icons inside.
We then went to the National Museum, which was in the upmarket section of Sofia. It was a great introduction to Bulgarian and Balkan history. Apparently the Bulgars were a Central Asian tribe that had moved to this region. There was a lot of mention of King Simeon, a regular conqueror, killer of thousands, etc, etc. Bulgaria was ruled by the Ottoman Turks for a long time, and that probably explains the Middle Eastern looking people around! Also, Bulgaria seems to have made a lot of wrong alliances after its independence from the Turks. She has been in the losing side of many of the major wars in the 20th century, like the Balkan Wars, World War 1 and 2. Due to which she lost a lot of land to other Balkan powers.
We then walked by the National Theatre, a pretty red coloured building with gold outlines.
Lunch was at a restaurant that looked traditional. It was once a merchant's house and storage. There was soup in a bread bowl, meat in a sauce, and dessert was Balkan yoghurt with honey and almonds. I liked the dessert - it was simple and good. The yoghurt was made with sheep's milk, so it was not sour, but creamy.
After relaxing a bit, we went for dinner at an another branch of the restaurant that we went for lunch.
The next day we headed to the Rila Monastery. This is located in the mountains, well protected from the multiple invaders who have crossed Bulgaria on their way to Europe. It was dedicated to a tenth century Saint John. It is a barely used monastery now. The really interesting part was the icon type paintings.
That evening we took a taxi to the capital city, Skopje, in the neighboring country of Macedonia. It was a three hour ride through some very rural areas. There were horse driven carts, along with normal twentieth century modes of transport like cars and buses. The road was smooth, and our driver was an aggressive chap named Saso. At the border, he could speak to the police in Macedonian. A self note: don't want to rent a car here.
Our Hotel was a well rated one on Tripadvisor. Our room was a very large one, and the hotel staff was helpful. We walked to a nearby restaurant that was a really nice one, with live music and good food.
The next morning was a rainy day. Our guide, Suzana, who would turn out be the friendliest guide we had in the Balkans, greeted us brightly. She is an English teacher, and has a Serbian husband. Our first stop was the fortress overlooking Skopje.
This city had still preserved its Ottoman past. There was a bazaar that had not changed in the last few hundred years, save for the products that were being sold. The other interesting thing about Skopje was that many of the new buildings being constructed were in a Gothic style, to impart an European flavor to the city.
A comic aspect to Macedonia is that it is not allowed, by Greece and the European Union, to claim lineage to Alexander the Great. Any statue of his has to be referred to as the "Warriors Statue" while everyone knows who it is actually representing. Bizarre!
Another famous child of this city is Mother Teresa. She was born to an Albanian Christian family in Skopje, and then moved to Calcutta in India. Like Alexander, who died near India, Mother Teresa too spent her life and died in India.
The next morning, we started on a journey that can only be possible in Europe. We had to cross three borders within 10 hours to reach our destination, Montenegro. Our first border crossing was Kosovo, which is not recognized as an official country by many Slavic nations. In an hour or so, we then reached the Albanian border. We bypassed the main cities, so all we got to see was the countryside in both countries. There were still some horse driven carts, which was a real surprise - this must be the only region in Europe where one sees that.
We reached our destination, Villa Drago, in Sveti Stefan, late in the evening. Our driver needed to be paid in cash, and our hotel owner very sweetly lent us the money to do so (this has to be very unusual, but the hotel owners are very hospitable). We dashed to have dinner at their restaurant, and it was fantastic meal of seafood, a platter of fresh fish and shrimp.
The next day we looked out of our balcony, and saw this view of the Sveti Stefan island:-
Famous movie stars, including Madonna, have a residence here.
We had breakfast brought into our room, and served in the balcony. This hotel is highly rated in Tripadvisor, and with good reason. It was the best place we stayed in our entire trip. It is a family run establishment, for the last few decades.
We headed to the old city of Kotor in the afternoon. The city was well preserved, and reminds one of other old European cities. A lot of stone buildings, narrow cobblestone paths, tiny little shops, multiple cafes, etc. Here are some of the photos:-
The following morning we headed to Dubrovnik. It was a quick two hour ride from Sveti Stefan, and the road is parallel to a lovely coastline. We checked into our hotel, and had a slightly unpleasant surprise. We were supposed to be in a sea side hotel, but ended up in a apartment a kilometer away from the sea (the booking address and name were the same). The good part was that there were groceries and restaurants nearby, and the beach was a 15 minute walk.
We met our brother-in-law's sister, Antica, in a funky cave bar. The bar was a multi-level one inside a cave, and very cool for that reason. There were little gaps through which one could see the seawater going in and out. We then headed to the old city for dinner. There were multiple restaurants and since we wanted seafood, Antica's took us to one where she knew the owner personally.It was a tiny place, with excellent food.
The next morning we had a tour of the Old City of Dubrovnik. The entrance was packed with tourists, a large part of them from cruise ships. Once we found our guide, a Germanic looking Croatian, the tour started! She took us to the higher level path, which was on top of the city wall.
 |
| Dubrovnik from cable car |
The Old City of Dubrovnik has a colorful history, literally! The whole city is painted in Orange and White, giving it an uniquely identifiable image. There were ancient churches, villas, etc., all in orange and white. One of the highlights was the Buda Bar, which is on the rocks, by the sea. Very Cool!.
 |
| Buda bar |
We then decided to take a side trip to Mostar, in Bosnia Herzegovina. My wife wanted this to be a 10 country trip, and going there would fulfill that requirement! It is an interesting drive, because there is an enclave of Bosnia which splits Croatia. So we had to go to Bosnian immigration, then Croatian, then Bosnian again. All in one hour. They waved us through quickly!
It was fascinating to be in a country that was synonymous with war and destruction twenty years ago. There are not many visible signs from that era, though there were bullet marks in some building, and there were buildings that have not been rebuilt after being destroyed. It has strong Turkish influence, from the Ottoman times.
We walked up to the famous Mostar Bridge, which was built by the Turks. On one side, the Catholic Croatians live. On the other side, the Muslim Bosnians live. There are souvenir shops on both sides of the bridge, run by the Croats and Bosnians respectively. Of course, all the souvenirs are made in China!
 |
| Bridge of Mostar |
Our next stop was Zagreb, where my sister-in-law was getting married. We also did a day trip to Plitvice, which was a forest and waterfall.It was a very pretty, and a small hike to the waterfalls.
There was a beautiful wedding ceremony, in a very old church in the center of Zagreb. Here we are, outside one of the main churches.
 |
 Wedding Church - Coat of Arms of Zagreb on the roof |
After the wedding, many of us in the wedding party decided to go to the sea, which is a couple of hours from Zagreb. The city is called Cricvenica, and is a tourist beach town.
Our next stop was Ljubljana in Slovenia. It is one of those hidden gems in Europe - very beautiful, but relatively unknown. We stayed near the centre of the Old Town, which was colorful and picturesque.
 |
| This house belonged to a deaf merchant, and so the man under the balcony has a finger on his lips |
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| A random building in Ljubljana |
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| The tourist information center in Ljubljana |
Our next stop, after Ljubljana, was Munich, in Germany. We
took the train from Slovenia, to Germany. Like many European trains, it was
fast, and took us through some scenic routes, like the Austrian and German
Alps. There were plenty of little mountain towns that we passed at a high
speed.
Being short on time, we took a night tour of Munich with
Sabrina, an Italian married to an Iranian living in Germany! We first walked to
the famous Church, where every day at 9 pm there is an elaborate puppet show at
the top of the church. These puppets are mechanically operated, and . The next
site was the most famous Beer Hall in Germany, the Hofbrauhaus. It is the
largest beer hall in the country, and can hold thousands of people at a
time!
After Hofbrauhaus, we went to the National Theatre and the
Nazi Party Headquarters, where Hitler rose to power. The National Theatre had a
performance going, and all the audience came out dressed in very formal suits.
I haven't seen that for some time!
Our final stop in this trip was the famous castle of Neuschwanstein. This was the inspiration for the Disney Castle, as seen in Sleeping Beauty. It was beautiful on the outside, but a little more ordinary on the inside. It was built by King Ludwig, who was later judged to have been mad!
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| Neuschwanstein from the courtyard |
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| Neuschwanstein Castle |
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