Bulgaria

When arrived in the rather cosmopolitan city of Sofia, Bulgaria, there was a puppet festival going on. All around town there were advertisements for the shows. There were even a few 3-D advertisements:




We stumbled upon one such show in a park (they were are held in various parks around the city) and it was a trip. The word "puppet" is much more open ended than we had realized. This show was an intricate performance piece that kept a large group of people, all speaking different languages, captivated the entire time with its human puppets:




We later found ourselves in a landscape which we have not experienced in years, mountains. We visited the ski resort town of Bansko in the Pirin mountains and, it must be said, they were much more impressive than we had expected:




It reminded us of our former lives in Jackson Hole. All the taverns looked like Pepi Steigler's Restaurant, except we could afford food there, so that was better:




The vistas we equal to any mountains we've seen around the world:




In the beautiful town of Plovdiv we enjoyed walking through the old town but ran into a few rainstorms so we ducked into taverns to avoid them. We spent the time having fresh wine from the barrel:




We were not limited to wine, however. They practically give beer away for free in this country. It is not just sold in bars and cafes but on virtually every street corner. In fact, you see it very often at bus stops, since it is cheaper to buy than water:




It is sometimes better to stick with the beer and wine, as the offerings on the menus can be a bit strange:




In Veliko Tarnovo we stayed in the house of some locals and the view was stunning:




We walked on the walls surrounding the old fortress:








After that it was off to the Black Sea coast and the resort town of Sunny Beach:




Believe it or not, some friends of ours (who have obviously not spent the last few years in Peace Corps) own a penthouse suite in this town and put us up for a while. Once installed we had little to do but hang out and watch the sunsets, which is better than we deserve. Thank you, Travelling Campbells:



(You may notice our preference for white wine. It makes us a bit of pariahs in Bulgaria. They adore wine. To say they prefer red would be a massive understatement. They have many, many songs about red wine but only one about white and it goes something like this, "White wine, oh, white wine, how I wish you were red.")

Crete

The amazing scenery tour continues...



We kept island hopping until we were at the southernmost outpost, Crete. Cretans are a proud, mustachioed lot. Mark was deep undercover, only Sam could tell.




This island was much bigger than the previous islands we had visited. It required a car rather than a moto and it our adventures took us on some of the curviest roads in the world.

We went deep underground.



We climbed ancient ruins.



We visited old leper colonies.



And we enjoyed the azure waters of the Cretan and Libyan seas.

Greece - A visit with an old friend

The exodus from Africa is complete. We left Egypt and met up with our old friend, Mark Lister, in Athens, Greece. From visiting ancient sites, to island hopping, mountain hiking, to drinking local wine from the barrel and eating fried cheese until bursting at the seams, it was a great time.

First, a note about mustaches. When one thinks of Greek men one thinks, unless one knows very little of the world, of mustachioed gentlemen. In fact, I believe it was Stuart Campbell's brother Steven who once said, "If ye' been tae Greece sans a mad 'tache, ye' canny sae ye' been tae Greece at all!" Exhibit A - Traditional Greek Dress:

The two Marks, in the interest of cultural intergration, took the example of the mustachioed gentleman in the diorama.

Nailed it.

Now, on to some highlights of the visit:

Saw some photos of Lister's girlfriend and she makes a variation of this face in all her photos.

Old man and the Sea.

Supermodel photo shoot.

Island hopping.



We were going to rent a car but Lister could not decide which one, so we got motorscooters instead.

Go, go speedracer, go!

Moto riders.

Go, go, go, speedracer.

High above the Greek Isles.

Monasteries in the sky.

Looking down on a Greek village.


Typical scenery at Meteora.

Typical Greek island scenery.

Typical Greek architecture.

Route planning.

Route planning.

Trying to figure out where we are.

Donkey riding.

Donkey parking.

Birds.

Tasting local fare.

Sea Babies.

Baywatch Naxos.

Sunrise on Santorini (our hotel beach).

Sunset on Santorini.

The heros of our story.