Smederevo After the second night in Smederevo, I parted with my kind hosts who treated me like family. The day was Friday, the 13th and I was a little worried that things could go wrong. I needed to get by bus from Smederevo to Belgrade, the capital of Serbia, and from there to take the […]
Smederevo, Serbia – Budapest, Hungary 2017 Read More »
Niš– Smederevo My first impression of Smederevo on the previous night was not favorable. Grey concrete buildings and air filled with smoke made me hastily cancel my reservation for the second night in this city. The owners of Maslina Rooms looked disappointed and then perplexed when I asked if I could have breakfast at their
Serbia 2017: Smederevo Read More »
Niš My last night’s premonition turned out to be true. Good luck does not last forever. In the morning my gold earring went down the drain in the shower, literally. It was inexpensive, just a long earring shaped like an icicle, but I liked those earrings. Trying not to dwell on the loss, I had
Serbia 2017: Niš– Smederevo Read More »
Bulgaria, the Rila Monastery I am going to Serbia today. My route from Blagoevgrad is via Sofia. At the bus station in Blagoevgrad while waiting for the bus I made a mistake of waving my hand in front of my nose because a woman was blowing cigarette smoke into my face. Seeing my gesture, the
Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria – Niš, Serbia Read More »
Blagoevgrad The Cardinal hotel in Blagoevgrad was my home for 2 nights. The room was worth its rate of 40 lv ($24) per night. In the morning I tried to have a long shower which is hardly possible in Bulgaria. Water heaters do not have large tanks for that. Hot water lasted long enough to
Bulgaria 2017 (The Rila Monastery) Read More »
Stara Zagora The heavy rain stopped during the night and the sun broke through the clouds. The weather was definitely improving. Today was going to be a traveling day, no sightseeing. My goal was to get from Stara Zagora to Blagoevgrad via the shortest route, i.e. without going to Sofia. I was in Sofia before,
Bulgaria 2017 (Stara Zagora – Blagoevgrad) Read More »
It was sad to leave Byala. The past few days were sunny. The Black sea calmed down after a storm; its waters became clear and inviting again and everyone in the city headed for the beach to use perhaps the last chance to have a swim this year. The weather changed overnight. It was drizzling
Bulgaria 2017 (Byala – Stara Zagora) Read More »
Colombo to Kandy In spite of the conditions in which we spent the night I woke up rested. Both of us showed no ill effects from eating the local food. Our breakfast consisted of power bars and tea from the same glasses that we used the day before. Our goal was to visit Sigiriya, an
Sri Lanka (Kandy – Sigiryia – Kandy), April 2016 Read More »
Colombo to Kandy From Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia we flew to Colombo, the capital of Sri Lanka. This island country was first partially occupied by the Portuguese in the 16th century, then in the 17th century by the Dutch. In the early 19th century the British seized the entire island, made it a British colony and
Sri Lanka (Colombo to Kandy), April 2016 Read More »
In spring 2016 we planned to have a driving vacation. The Death Valley, Zion, Bruce Canyon and Capitol Reef National Parks were on our bucket list for several years. We were dead serious about going there this time. One day my husband Sergey came home from work and said that he saw online cheap tickets
