Day 211, 31 January 2013, Bansko, Bulgaria. It's Packing Day! The contents of the exploding luggages needed to be corralled, sorted, culled and consolidated before we head back to London for a couple of days. As it is we have our two backpacks being minded by a friend in London and whilst we plan to ship the ski gear to Berlin, still need to turn 3 large bags into two. A reverse "loaves and fishes" if you will. We accomplished 90% of the packing but had to st...

Day 210, 30 January 2013, Bansko, Bulgaria. Doing very little, and loving it. Went for a walk eventually. Seemed the right thing to do after having had breakfast at 9 am and napped and read books all morning. Diabolically slippery and icy around the streets. Scuttled (slowly and carefully) home after a short while. Highlight of the day (lowlight?) was watching a movie in the evening when the lights went out - Blackout Bulgarian style (our street and to the l...

Day 209, 29 January 2013, Bansko, Bulgaria. Final ski day! Got an early start today (note from today's picture - actual sunrise over the mountains! The early bird does indeed catch the photographic worm!) The plan was to pick up the skis from being waxed overnight, get on gondola the second it opened and have 10 minutes up our sleeves before meeting Vasil for our last day roaming the mountain. Ended up being on time, just, after playing musical shops. Went t...

Day 208, 28 January 2013, Bansko, Bulgaria. We are coming to the end of our stay in Bulgaria - skiing today and tomorrow, then a couple of days to wind down before we fly back to London at the dastardly time of 6.40 am. Which wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't a 2 hour 40 minute drive to Sofia Airport. 2 am is the currently scheduled pick up time - almost (almost!) not worth going to bed on Thursday evening. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, had a gorgeous day skiin...

Day 207, 27 January 2013, Bansko, Bulgaria. It being Sunday and officially one of the craziest days to risk life and limb on the mountain, it is a day of rest for the non-grownups. The clouds that have blanketed the valley for the last few days finally lifted and by midday it was the bluest of blue skies and warming sunshine. Which was lucky because it was still below freezing. Bundled up we headed out for fresh air and a stroll around the quaint cobbled alley...