We had breakfast on the roof top of the hotel with a beautiful sun rise which made up for the rain on the first night! Then set off for Bulgaria, the drive between Turkey and Bulgaria was spectacular with a definite change in scenery between the two. Bulgaria is a lot poorer than Turkey so there were a lot of run down looking houses and gypisies begging along the way. We made it to Sofia around 6pm and did a walking tour of the city starting at the Aleksander Nevski church which was amazing, the bells were chiming when we got there and we went inside and saw part of a service with the choir singing in Bulgarian – sounded unreal, the paintings on the walls were like a muriel and the priest was waving a big incense stick around. From there we strolled through a little market past the tomb of the Unknown Soldier into the city centre which had a big garden with a band playing and people dancing and playing chess with old school timers, there was a great atmosphere. We stayed in another hotel as it is not safe to camp in Bulgaria and it was amazing!! We had big rooms with nice bathrooms and even a pool – nice bit of luxury to break up the 46 days of camping! We had dinner at the hotel and were entertained by a keyboardist and singer which was great.
 |
| Sunrise from the roof top of the hotel over breakfast in Istanbul |
 |
| The view of Istanbul from the roof top of the hotel |
 |
| Breakfast on the roof top of the hotel |
 |
| Leaving Istanbul |
 |
| Driving back along the river on the way out of Istanbul |
 |
| A castle from the back of the coach |
 |
| Leaving Istanbul |
 |
| Driving past amazing mosques on the way out of Istanbul |
 |
| Driving through the Turkish scenery on the way to Bulgaria |
 |
| Driving through the Turkish scenery on the way to Bulgaria |
 |
| Driving through the Turkish scenery on the way to Bulgaria |
 |
| Driving through the Turkish scenery on the way to Bulgaria |
 |
| Driving through the Turkish scenery on the way to Bulgaria |
 |
| Driving through the Turkish scenery on the way to Bulgaria |
 |
| More mosques on the drive |
 |
| At the boarder - leaving Turkey behind us and heading into Bulgaria |
 |
| Bulgarian countryside |
 |
| Bulgarian countryside |
 |
| A bit of 'coachyoke' on the way - there were games on the go throughout the whole trip and the penalties for breaking the rules included coachyoke: a chosen song was played in the victims earphones and they had to sing the words to the rest of the coach (who did not have the music playing...) |
 |
| Bulgarian countryside |
 |
| Bulgarian countryside |
 |
| The agenda for Sofia |
 |
| Driving into Sofia |
 |
| The Aleksander Nevski church - one of the most amazing churches inside and out that I have seen, the sounds of the choir singing inside and bells ringing in the eerie silence outside sent chills down my spine The bells of The Aleksander Nevski church The choir inside the church (filmed on the side because I dont think I was supposed to be filming in there) |
 |
| The Aleksander Nevski church |
 | ||
|
 |
| The tomb of the unknown soldier |
 |
| Paper cranes decorating the trees in the streets |
 |
| walking into the main square in Sofia |
 |
| Another church along the way |
 |
| Speccy Bulgarian church |
 |
| In the main sqaure of Sofia |
 |
| A brass band was playing the in the main sqaure in Sofia - amazing atmosphere! |
 |
| Locals were playing chess in the main square - the whole city felt like it was stuck in the last century (in a good way!) |
 |
| Fountain in the main square |
 |
| Fountain in the main square |
 |
| The egg of happiness! |
 |
| The Aleksander Nevski church |
 |
| The Aleksander Nevski church |
 |
| Driving back through Sofia to the hotel |
 |
| Our hotel room and BEDS! nice to have a change from the tent and air mattresses... |
 |
| AND there was even a pool (sadly it wasn't open in the hours we were there though!) |
 |
| Dinner... |
 |
| Bulgarian singer provided entertainment during dinner |
