Bachkovo Monestary & Final Night in Sofia

Posted on September 4, 2023  •  5 minutes  • 947 words

There were 2 monasteries that Ben had mentioned, but with a drive ahead of us and big travel days the next day for all of us, we picked just one…the one that required less out of the way driving. The drive in was beautiful and we were fully immersed in the trees. It was raining and not sure if it’s usually crowded (there was a big parking lot), but it was pretty empty for us. Rain jackets adorned; we walked in. The first thing the kids found were water fountains, and true to nature, they were all SO thirsty all of a sudden.

The place was beautiful. I perfect mix of nature and old buildings for me. The trees around seemed to be very well thought into the function of the space.

Lots of wandering around with zero plan, which is actually a really nice way to see places honestly. For a break from the rain, we popped inside a building. A bit much on the graphics for me, but still had to take a picture of it.

The amazing mosaic floors were a bit more my style, although deathly with the rain. And yes, I wear sandals when it rains. Especially when it rains actually. I can’t handle wet socks. And I mean I really can’t handle it. When they get wet, it’s all I can think about and how miserable I am. On a bike trip in Eastern Europe it started pouring rain on us kind of unexpectedly. Within minutes my socks were soaking and I wanted to cry…we had a decent amount of miles left. I stopped, took off my shoes, took off my wet socks and put on flip flops. 10x better biking on clip in pedals in crappy flip flops than have wet socks. So yes, when I am aware it is going to rain and it’s not freezing, I wear sandals.

Back out side and more adorable buildings. Probably not what they were going for when they built it.

And more fountains. I just love that in this part of the world, there is drinking water everywhere, served from old and cool fountains.

They could have made them so boring, but they didn’t. I am so grateful for that.

And more greenery.

I don’t know the relation between religious buildings and peacocks, but this is probably the fourth time we have seen the relation in the last 2 months. Kids loved seeing them, although a chicken would get the same attention.

Looping back around, we found the old ovens/kitchen. Crazy to think of a place this big with massive fires in it and making a ton of food…with none of the current conveniences. I mean, I struggle some days without a microwave.

The planned drainage here was SO planned. They build the drains into the patios. No pooling water and perfectly draining out of the courtyard. You can see the slopes so well and it looks cool.

We had seen what we wanted to see, or at least what the kids had energy for, and we were getting pretty wet. We walked out to the parking lot and saw a small building up a small path. We decided to go, despite the wetness. We are here, why not? Dan wasn’t feeling well, so we left him in the car.

At the top, a small church maybe? Not sure exactly, but got misty views back down to the monastery and got the heart pumping a bit on the quick walk up.

Back to the cars and headed back to Sofia. Plan was for me to drop off Dan and the kids at our Airbnb and then meet the Allreds at the airport to get the bags! We returned the cars and met up and actually GOT THE BAGS!!! So exciting!

They had all come in of different flights, knowledge from the numerous bag tags that were now attached to them.

We got in a taxi to head back to Sofia, put all the bags in our Airbnb, picked up these weirdos and walked to dinner.

Poor Ben had to endure jokes about ‘oh, what are you going to wear to dinner!?!’, now that he had a whole suitcase of clean untouched clothes he had packed 2 weeks before. Ironically, he didn’t wear any of them since he didn’t head back to his hotel. Such a bummer, we were really hoping for an amazing outfit that night. For dinner, we opted for a Turkish restaurant that was an easy walk and it was so much deliciousness.

Everyone was hungry and we couldn’t order fast enough, but luckily the food came fast.

While the food was good, it was a bit sad knowing we were saying bye to our friends within an hour. They were staying near the airport due to their 6am flight. The trip with them could not have been better! We are so lucky to have great friends and even MORE lucky to have great friends that you can convince to come to Bulgaria with you AND then have a seamless trip because everyone is on the same wave length. It really was too amazing. The bonus of the kids having a friend and Dan and I having adults, all too good.

We warned the kids prior, but I was still dreading the actual goodbye. Sam did seem a little extra huggy that night.

And for out last night in Bulgaria and our last night together, there was only one true way to celebrate it all.

So many hugs and extra hugs when the time finally came. It wasn’t an easy goodbye, but seeds have already been planted for another trip.