Blog 131 After bypassing Kazalat, a town reminiscent of post-war Beirut, we smashed it down to Plovdiv, which turned out to be a pretty good call because Plovdiv was utterly awesome. Plovdiv's cobbled streets are lit by Victorian lanterns and surrounded by wood panelled Tudor houses, fit for any Dickensian novel. The sight was made more magical by the fact that we'd arrived on day 1 of a 3 day wine festival. The streets and courtyards were littered by lad...

Blog 130 Today was why they call it 'road trip'. Seven hours driving through beautiful country, epic photo stops and snacks galore. It's a shame my Nepal jazz cd has already run its course! Before arriving in Veliko we saw a golden onion domed church, hiked through the mist to shipka tower, sleighed down stairs, browsed the beer section with a bloke from Stoke and queued for far too long for a hotdog! For us, Veliko Tarnovo was a town in cloud. Cold and...

Blog 129 The first challenge of koprivshtitsa is pronouncing the name! The second is to wander freely among Ottoman buildings in cobbled, lamplit streets straight out of middle earth. This is a beautiful village where the only form of transport (apart from our Renault) seems to be horse and cart. We stayed in the hotel panorama, which did what it said on the tin, and ate dinner by the fire side with local wine and a game of backgammon. Dinner tonight was ...

Blog 128 Somehow everyday I think my nose has got pretty severe frost bite and the next time I see my nose will be blackened and disconnected from my face. However it does still seem to be hanging in there. Bulgaria is cold! This isn't necessarily a bad thing because it means we see a sight and then head to the nearest cafe for a hot chocolate to warm up. Back to the same hostel that we came to stay in 3 years ago with the same amazingly friendly staff a...

Blog 127 I was wondering the streets of Istanbul, when a brown faced gentleman with a fragrant moustache stopped me and said "would sir be interested in a kebap, sir?" The answer of course was yes. And with Turkish delight he knocked me up a sandwich. This master of the skewered meat then asked if "sir would like Turkish sauce sir" and with a simple yes I changed my life for the better. TURKISH SAUCE!! After more than a year out of the continent, it felt...