A Trip to the Mountains

We had a great time this Saturday!

Last week I got to remembering the many endless summers I spent with my grandma and grandpa at their gorgeous little house high up in the mountains. But when Gran passed away in 1997, the house was left to my aunt, who doesn’t have time to take care of it, and so in 12 years no soul has gone there. Consequently, the yard is now so overgrown with grass and shrubbery that you can’t even see the house from the street.

I thought that maybe it would be a great little adventure if I and Mr. G&C took the train and hiked all the way up there to go visit – not that I would be able to enter, but I just wanted to ‘scratch’ my emotional itch.

So, we took off and got on the train at 7 a.m. for an hour-long ride. Needless to say, I had forgotten how gorgeous the place is:

View of the mountains as you get off the train

The river

It isn’t very clear from the picture above, but there’s a large monument at the top of the cliffs, dedicated to all who died in the September Uprising. Here’s a close-up as viewed from the bottom:

We decided to walk along the road up the mountain to the village, about 6 miles from the train station. Thankfully, it was still early in the morning and the sun wasn’t too hot, but by the time we hiked up there it had gotten very very ‘warm’. Took us about 2 hours, and a lot of panting, but the scenery was gorgeous:

And the very sweaty own selves!

Once we finally made it to the village, I was overwhelmed by an emotional wave. Familiar sights and places brought memories of my dear Gran and all the months we spent there, tending the vegetable garden all summer long. Then we walked to the house, and this is all you can see:

It’s so overgrown that even peeking through the gate I couldn’t see anything but greens. The house that I so miss was barred from my sight.

A very old house in the center of the village

We had lunch and headed back down. This time however, we took the hiking trail.

After about an hour and a half hike down, we came out on the top of the cliffs. Remember where the monument was? That’s the view as you’re looking down this time:

The town and the train station, looked from the top of the cliffs.

After another 2 hour hike down. we made it to the bottom again. We sat and had a late lunch at the restaurant near the waterfall and then headed to the train station. We were so tired by that time that I actually took a 45-minute nap while waiting for the train.

When we got home at 6 p.m. we spent a couple of hours relaxing and went to bed at 8. Yes, that’s right, at 8! I know I slept like a rock, but it felt so good. I am very happy we went, and we might do it again next Saturday.

Kitty Time

Meet the Guard Cat, Hope.

She’s a 6 year-old mix that Tim bought for me for 10 buck from the pet store. I have to say, that was the best 10 bucks ever spent! She’s warmed my heart for almost 6 years now, and I hope she keeps doing that for many more to come.

She’s very easily frightened. If the doorbell rings, she’s off to hide in my closet for the next hour, looking all petrified. My grandma tells me funny stories (when we go on vacation, my Granny comes over to feed Hope), namely, she comes in, there is no cat to be seen, but there’s no food either! My grandma calls Hope the Ghost kitty.

She must have some black-furred ancestors, because she has black freckles on her nose, gums, butt (yes, that’s right), a couple of black whiskers, and maybe 10 black hairs total on her tummy.

She’s also a very playful kitty! She loves to hide under the couch and wait for someone (especially Tim) to go to the bathroom so she can attack your feet. Then she waits for you to make a funny face and goes to hide, waiting to attack again. She pats your legs gently, and runs off again. She also loves pens, coins, and one particular stuffed toy I received a few weeks ago.

When she’s cuddly she likes to get in your lap, drape herself over your arm and purr. Oh, and her nose drips! Yes, her nose gets all wet and starts dripping on your arm. She also likes to bury her head in your elbow.

Custom is when I snuggle in bed at night to read, Hope comes over and plops herself on my chest, purring. She doesn’t move until I go to turn the light off, at which point she re-positions herself on my feet.

She also has a fat tummy, as is evident by the above picture (that’s her back paw hidden under all that).

I love my kitty.

Fabulous Friday!

Lovely Seleta has been hosting a cute event every Friday in order to make people end their work week with something nice on their minds. This is the first time I participate, and I feel excited!

My fabulous thing? Easter.

Strangely enough, our Easter (Orthodox church) is this weekend, a week after pretty much the rest of the world’s Easter. The church follows a different calendar and so some holidays are a bit off.

But I am really looking forward to finishing work today, then coming home and relaxing, because tomorrow we get to paint eggs!

Source

Source

Source

The custom is to wake up before dawn and paint the eggs. The first egg has to be red and before it’s dry you dab some color on your forehead and cheeks (don’t ask why, because I don’t know!). Then we leave it out and name it for the house. The rest of the eggs you can do whatever you want to!

However, we don’t do much before midnight, when we go to the church. And when midnight comes, we celebrate Easter.

We have “egg fights” instead of egg hunts! We hold the eggs, pointed sides up, and smash the eggs together. Whoever’s egg stays whole is the winner.

But, the best part about Bulgarian Easter is the kozunak.

Source

Source

Kozunak is a sweet bread with dried fruits and nuts, sometimes stuffed with jam. We only make it for Easter, but people crave it all-year-round.

This is my Fabulous Friday snippet!

I will make sure to take come pictures over the weekend and post them here.

Have a great day!

New blog on the block!

After spending a couple of weeks trying to convince Tim to create a more professional blog, rather than using the one integrated into MySpace, my quest was finally completed! Here is a link - click me!

Tim has finally been able to work on his lifetime dream - becoming a professional writer. In his blog he will be keeping tabs on his works in progress, future and past projects, as well as rambling (in the good sense of the word!) about the trivial things that happen in our every-day life.

Cheers!

Having a Productive Day

Tim and I went shopping and came back with full bags - I got my so desired 2 Lilac shrubs, 2 pairs of gardening gloves and gardening tools! What is better than that?!


I can't wait to plant the Lilacs. The package says that roots need to be submerged in water for 24 hours before planting, then the stem needs to be trimmed to about 7 inches, and then the Lilacs can be planted. Since they are wrapped nicely, I can wait a couple more days to go and get a few bags of soil (didn't feel like lugging them all the way from the store today).

Tim then proceeded to make his super-secret recipe for home made tortilla shells (since there is no such thing in Bulgaria, and we really miss burritos) and we had the yummiest lunch we've had in a long time. Of course, our guard-cat Hope couldn't resist begging for food, like she always does! Enter Hope...

The oh-so-sleepy-and-lazy kitty had fun sitting on the windowsill, watching people go about their daily business in this gloomy March day. Oh well.