Trip to Pirin mountain - Eco-trails

      There is a very big variety of Eco-trails and nice places for picnic around Delchevo. Unfortunately there was not enough time to visit all of them. It wasn't easy to decide but at the end we've chosen to take the road to the "Sirniska skala" hill which is at near 1300 m. altitude. It's revealing a magnificent view to the village and to the city of Gotse Gelchev. The round trip its during around 2 hours.

      There is a fountain just where the road starts:

"Sirniska skala" hill:

The chapel "Sv. sv Konstantin i Elena" on the St. Konstantin hill:

The Watchtower:

Delchevo:

Gotse Delchev:

I was so grateful for these rest places! :).

Trip to Pirin mountain - Delchevo village

      Delchevo is a small mountain village located in Pirin mountain at 1050 m. altitude. It's at 9 km distance from Gotse Delchev and at 18 km from the border with Greece. The village has a typical architectural style. I just love the narrow, cobblestone streets and the houses made by stone and wood. Much of the buildings were built in the late XIX and early XX centuries by local craftsmen. Today around 27 of the renaissance houses are considered historical monuments. There is a small  church which has been built in 1838.

      The area around the village is perfect for tourism and there are more and more people going there to spend some quiet and peaceful time. As a result during the past few years Delchevo has changed a bit. There are some new hotels and guest houses. The main square and the city hall have been renovated.  The old school has become Tourist Information Center. But the spirit remains intact.

       The people from Delchevo are very friendly and they are always in a mood to tell you some very interesting stories

Delchevo:

The village hall:

The genealogical tree:

Shapkovata kruchma:

Ethnographic complex Delchevo:

The streets:

Solomontova kushta:

Mangalova kushta:

Popova kushta:

To be continued...

Trip to Pirin mountain - "Pavlovata kushta"

      It's been a while since my last trip but finally we managed to escape again from the daily routine. It was like a trip back in time :). We spent this weekend in a small village in the Pirin mountain called Delchevo. It hasn't changed much for the last centuries. Yes, there is electricity and television and some other extras but you can easily feel the atmosphere of the 19th century.

       We stayed in the Pavlovata guest house. It has three floors. All the rooms are in traditional stile with terraces. There is also a small family restaurant on the first floor with a very nice garden. It's offering very big choice of meals, witch they start preparing in front of you after you order.  I strongly recommend this place to everyone!

       The trip from Sofia to Delchevo takes around 3 hours and a half but you won't regret it. I would love to go back there again :)

Pavlovata kushta:

The restaurant:

The hotel:

The view form our room:

To be continued...

The Bulgarian "fast food"

     What do you know about the Bulgarian "fast" food? When you get hungry and you don't have time to go to a restaurant or to visit some of the pubs here is Bulgaria, you can always buy something "fast" to eat. All you need to do is look around :)

     
      Here are my top three choices.

     The first is the Bulgarian version of the well known pretzel - "Gevrek". You can buy it everywhere. The recipe is very simple. The dough needs to be made first ​​into circles with a hole in the middle. After that they are boiled in hot water with some honey for around 5 minutes. After that the pretzels are baked in an oven for some time until they get the right colour.

Gevreche:

       The second one is "Banitsa" with cheese. My favourite place here in Sofia where you can taste all kind of banitsa is a small shop just in the NDK's subway - it's a part of a fast food chain "Sofiiska Banitsa".  And you might want to try a glass of "Boza" with it. It's a drink, made by sugar, flour and water.

Banitsa s boza:

     And last but not least if you want something sweet you must try the so called "Kazanlushki Ponichki" - а kind of doughnuts. So tasty! ;)

Kazanlushki ponichki.

       I've just tried the below recipe but it's much more difficult than it looks so I am not going to show you any photos for now. I need to get better first :)

Rainbow over Sofia!