Articles from this Category
26 June 2018
I had only booked the tour to Rila Monastery yesterday afternoon so it was lucky that there was availability at the last minute. It is not easily accessible by public transport. The bus left at 0900 from behind the St Alexander Cathedral (cathedral for the Bulgarain patriachate). We had the intention of visiting the Cathedral […]
25 June 2018
We had booked the 1030 bus from Veliko Tarnovo’s station to Sofia. We walked downhill to the station. The 3h bus ride was all smooth except Kim needed the toilet as a result of the diuretic effect of his blood pressure medication. The driver obliged with a stop since the onboard toilet was locked off. […]
24 June 2018
We joined a free walking tour today at 1100. There wasn’t much that we hadn’t seen per se, but the knowledge and the anecdotal snippets given by the guide were very informative: The Cyrillic alphabet wasn’t invented by/for the Russians but for Bulgarian. It wasn’t invented by St Cyril but his students based on his […]
22 June 2018
With a 1030 departure to Bulgaria’s old capital Veliko Tarnovo, we had a leisurely start with some muesli and milk before a taxi ride to Hotel Horoscop where the bus would leave from. Here we finished our Romanian money with coffee, pastries and some takeaway sandwiches. The Pegasus van service (pre-bookable online) was god-sent and […]
16 June 2018
No breakfast was supplied at our hotel so we had some fruit and muesli. I was in a rush to get going. My brain wasn’t functioning and I kept thinking we had to be at the free walking tour at 1000 when it was in fact 1030 at the central city park about 20 minutes […]
17 August 2017
Above: Palermo Cathedral. Laundry day After a really bad night sleep (4 hours) of going to the loo with some diarrhoea, I thought it would be good to take another loperamide capsule (in addition to the one through the night). I was less bloated after 6 days but confidence was down, not knowing when I […]
16 August 2017
We had the day to explore the sights of Palermo. First up was the Catacomb of the Capuchins. A couple of wrong turns made the short drive into a long one (distance-wise but not too bad time-wise as it was largely on highway). Arriving at the Catacomb, we had someone ask for protection money for […]
15 August 2017
Today we change sides, moving from Catania in the east of Sicily to Palermo in the northwest. It was a better way of exploring the further parts of the island and Palermo without having to return to do a long trip. It was my fourth day of feeling bloated but life goes on, on the […]
14 August 2017
My bloatedness seems to be continuing (third day). But today I also felt drained. But we went out anyway, driving northwards past Taormina. We ended up in the beach area of Santa Teresa di Riva, a stretch with nice smooth stones. The water was as clear as southern Albania. We stopped for a coffee before […]
13 August 2017
We allowed ourselves to wake up without alarm today. With the shutters closed, it was a late wake-up and breakfast. We left after 1000 for a drive down to Siracusa where we walked to its historic centre Ortygia. Ortygia had at its heart an old Greek temple now used as its Cathedral. Apart from that […]