When I was little, our people never missed a summer to take me and my sister to the sea and the mountains. And with very little money, they found a way. There is hardly a day that I don’t think about how grateful I am to them for that. Not only because of the wonderful new experiences together, but more because they instilled in me a love for nature, for the wild, educated my eyes to feel what true natural beauty is and to feel great pleasure at the sight of the natural resources of my homeland . Much of my childhood was spent in Blagoevgrad and my childhood feet have traveled many kilometers in Pirin and Rila, where I ate a lot of slices with May Day lutenist haha.
Life turned around and today I live in Plovdiv with a man who had almost never set foot in the mountains (when he reads this he will tell me: “Well, I went to Predela and somewhere!”. Well, well, you went 2- 3 times!) What I don’t like is that I don’t spend half as much time in the mountains as I want. I’m sad to admit it, but the years go by and that’s the fact. Cassidy is almost 3 years old and I thought: “Don’t I want to give her what my parents gave me ?!”. To face a panorama like the one in the photos, to see the horizon of the endless Rhodopes and to have lightning bolts in her heart of admiration , which strike me in these moments. This love is born slowly, it is brought up, it does not happen all at once.
That is why the first stop is Bekovite skali near Ravnogor, quite close to Plovdiv. We ate at a restaurant at the end of the village, where at one time he came to play the bagpipe. Perhaps there is no better welcome in the mountains than the music of a Bulgarian bagpipe. We stopped the car next to the chapel above the village and left. A very slight transition of 30 minutes in the direction that doubles with a 3-year-old child. The trail is large, quite flat and is great for the first steps in a child’s hiking. There is no danger of falling, there is a place to run, there are flowers and many butterflies and bees. And when we reached the rocks, I was amazed what a paradise I missed to see very close to Plovdiv. The view is exceptional! You can see the Vacha dam and the green forests of the Rhodopes, in two words you see a green expanse.There are benches to sit on and just watch the mountain. That’s what we did – we sat down to rest, ate a banana and recharged with Activia for drinking, which is actually a pretty good choice for a short hike in the mountains when you need something nutritious but light. Cassidy loves dairy foods, and I’m very happy that there is such a combination with useful ingredients such as dates and chia – it’s delicious! I usually buy Activia in a bucket, but for the road it is easier and more convenient to drink, another banana, oatmeal cookies, sandwiches. For hiking I like to bring some nuts and apples. We filled our bellies with delicacies and eyes with beauty from the view in front of us and after about 30 minutes we went back.
Well, the bad thing is that Cassidy was apparently just waiting for something to eat and drink, and her head began to weigh with sweet fatigue. Gush and we continue with a sleeping baby in our arms. Going back to the car was like that and it reminded me of the many times I was on my father’s shoulders as a child. For my uncomfortable sneakers, with which we climbed Todorina gate only at the age of 6, for the lightning that struck us during hail, walking on the ridge to Granchar hut, for the most delicious lunch minutes before stepping on Vihren and how much I begged my mother my and my father to take me with them to the Horse. Unforgettable memories that will stay with me forever, and now it’s time to create such with my child!
