Pantheon

Pantheon entrance

Nimes - french city with roman spirit

Nimes is a city situated in south-east France, found by Celts and led by the Roman Empire from 120 B.C. Interesting story is connected with city's emblem. Roman's emperors who were fighting in Egypt many times after fight settled in Nimes, from there come sign of crocodile and palm (crocodile and palm were associated to Egypt of course, beside that palm symbolizes also victory). Inscription "COLNEM" from emblem was meant for Colonia Nemausus, meaning the 'colony' of  'Nemausus'. In one of city square we can find lovely fountain with a crocodile (if You try a little You can jump in and ride on a crocodile:). Roman control was ended by the Visigoths in 473 AD. Nimes is the capital of the Gard department in the Languedoc-Roussilon region. Through the city leads the railway of TGV line to Paris and Lyon.

Nimes Amphitheatrum (fot. Przemysław Sakrajda)

One of the biggest attraction of a city is amphitheater. The best preserved roman arena in France, the biggest amphitheater in Roman Province - Gallia, built at the end of the first century, makes a really big impression. Nowadays inside are concerts and bull fighting. It's 133 meters long and 101 meters wide and contains place for 20 000 people.

Nimes , Roman Temple Maison Carrée (fot. ChrisO) nowadays after renovation

Roman temple - The Maison Carrée
Small Roman Temple also built in the first century, dedicated to sons of Agrippa. Nowadays inside there is a little cinema where You can see story-of-history of Nimes in 3D. Personally i think that it's a fail, we couldn't visit temple from inside without buying ticket to cinema. In XVI century people started to call this temple "Maison Carrée" which in french language means "Square House". In the roman times it was placed in the middle of forum.

Besides these remains in Nimes You can see also:
-La Temple De Diane (dedicated to Octawian August and his family)
-Tour Magne (roman tower to observe)
-Ancient Gate to city (the Porta Augusta and the Porte de France)
-Castellum Divisorium (remains of aqueduct)
-Pont du Gard - ancient aqueduct situated 20 kilometers away from the city (really worth to see) nowadays used as a bridge.
-Catedra Notre Dame et Saint Castor built in 1096
-Beffroi (tower from 15th-century)
- Jardins de la Fontaine (Gardens of the Fountain) from 18th-century

Roman Empire at present

Present countries of the former Roman Empire

(from 117 AD, when the Emire had the largest territory ever)

Albania (100% of territory was part of the Roman Emire)
Algeria
Andorra (100% of territory was part of the Roman Emire)
Armenia
Austria
Azerbaijan
Belgium
Bosnia and Herzegovina (100% of territory was part of the Roman Emire)

Bulgaria (100% of territory was part of the Roman Emire)
Croatia (100% of territory was part of the Roman Emire)

Cyprus (100% of territory was part of the Roman Emire)
Egypt
France (100% of territory was part of the Roman Emire)
Georgia
Germany
Greece (100% of territory was part of the Roman Emire)
Hungary
Iraq
Israel (100% of territory was part of the Roman Emire)
Italy (100% of territory was part of the Roman Emire)
Jordan
Kosovo (100% of territory was part of the Roman Emire)
Lebanon
Libya
Liechtenstein (100% of territory was part of the Roman Emire)
Luxembourg (100% of territory was part of the Roman Emire)
Macedonia (100% of territory was part of the Roman Emire)
Malta (100% of territory was part of the Roman Emire)
Moldova
Monaco (100% of territory was part of the Roman Emire)
Montenegro (100% of territory was part of the Roman Emire)
Morocco
Netherlands
Palestinian National Authority
Portugal
Romania
San Marino
Saudi Arabia
Serbia (100% of territory was part of the Roman Emire)
Slovakia
Slovenia (100% of territory was part of the Roman Emire)
Spain (100% of territory was part of the Roman Emire)
Switzerland
Syria
Tunisia
Turkey (100% of territory was part of the Roman Emire)
Ukraine
United Kingdom
Vatican City (100% of territory was part of the Roman Emire)

Rila monastery

Rila monastery [Рилски манастир, Rilszki Manasztir] is -surprisingly- located in the Rila mountains, in the South-East part of Bulgaria at the height of 1147 m (3763 feet) and it's surrounded by the two highest peaks of Bulgaria, the 2729 m (8953 ft) Maljovitza is reachable in 4 hours, and the 2925 m (9596 ft) Musala is in 8 hours on foot.

If you find yourself in the Rila monastery, our recommendation is to pay attention to the mural paintings, and among them mostly to the "Hell" part.

A scene of the outside Hell-sequence on the main church

Свети Иван Рилски - Saint John of Rila

According to the legend/tradition a guy called Saint John of Rila (Свети Иван Рилски, Sveti Ivan Rilski) worked as a shepherd until he became 25 years old. Then he went to monastery, then became a monk. In order to continue his life in solitude and prayer he became a hermit. As we can read on the gate of Rila monastery, "rocks were his bed and sky was his ceiling", or something similar. He lived around 876-946. And after his death his successors built Rila monastery in the 10th century.
And the facts: "St. Ivan of Rila is considered the patron saint of Bulgaria and Bulgarian people, in his native country and among Bulgarian diaspora abroad.
The Sofia University of Mining and Geology got its name after him.

One of Chicago's two Bulgarian Orthodox churches St. Ivan of Rila Church is dedicated to him.




Mini-history of the Rila monastery:

After the building of it finished in the 10th century, the monastery became a religious center of the area and was led by the patriarch of Tarnovo (Тъ̀рново, Tirnovo, Turnovo) for centuries.

In the 14th century they were turned into a fortress by Hrelyo Dragovol, a feudal lord. Part of the walls and the tower today still remind of that period.

In the middle of 15th century was burned down, and the religious life started again in 1469 when Saint John's remains were brought back from the destroyed capital, Veliko Tarnovo. [these remains even took a short travel in Esztergom, the former Hungarian Capital]

Although sultans officially let the monastery function, the buildings were destroyed many times during the Ottoman authority.

In the end of 18th and beginning of 19th century the monastery was the symbol of Bulgarian national life and Slavic national conscience.

In 1833, a fire broke out and destroyed almost all (wooden) residential quarters.

In 1983 became the part of UNESCO World Heritage.



Personal experiences:

When I arrived, felt like I could stay for days there, but after 2 hours, walking around the place (we didn't want to pay the foreigner entry fee [as I remember it was 4 times more than the one for Bulgarians] for the little museum and my Bulgarian knowledge wasn't convincing enough - so, after 2 hours we tried to go back with a great experience behind us. I can just recommend to travel here for everyone... Probably the most impressing monastery in the Balkans...
And if you would like to stay in the neighborhood, hike a little - or much on the tourist roads around...

Title of picture: View towards 4 of the Seven Rila Lakes in Bulgaria, author: Ivelin Minkov

To get to the Seven (glacial) Lakes we recommend to try another way if you are not an extreme hiker. A (dutch? australian? french?) couple hiked 8 hours from the lakes to the monastery and they told they were coming downwards. They told us that they went upwards by some kind of little tourist train, but I found no information about it...

We haven't been there so I can't take responsibility for the facts below but this is everything I found on Internet:
The Seven Lakes Chalet where you can sleep under roof near the lakes is located in the height of 2196 m (7204 ft). Since Rila monastery lies on 1147 m (3763 feet) you can understand that it won't be a one hour easy walking. You can read a small summary from backpackers who walked up, but for sure not from Rila monastery.
If you would like to spend 839 euro without flight ticket for a 7-day horse-riding in Bulgaria (Rila monastery and Seven Lakes included) in August or September, check out the following page.
In the following, Seven lakes describing page is written that tourists usually take the roads from Sapareva Banya [Сапарева Баня] or from Rila monastery.

We heard that there's possibility to go to the the cave where Ivan Rilski was living according to the legend/tradition but unfortunately we didn't find the way. If anyone knows any information about it, we are delightful to hear (or read) it.


Arriving to Rila monastery (under construction):


- easy way with normal price - taxi: around ?? leva (euro, dollar) from Sofia (cirillic); ?? leva (euro, dollar) from Blagoevgrad (cirillic), around ?? leva (euro, dollar) cirillic from Dupnitsa [return?!]
- harder way, cheap - buses (from Sofia [information desk], Dupnica, Blagoevgrad, even if they don't say, nothing goes back on Sunday)
- not secure, but free - hitchhiking

-> the sure part -> we took a bus between 6 and 7 am from Dupnitsa [Ду̀пницa], the ticket cost 5 leva for person (2,5 euro, 3,5 dollar). Near the monastery gate it was written that a bus goes back between 10 and 11 am but there was no bus... So, the hiking couple and us began to walk down and we could reach Dupnitsa in an hour, the other (French) tourist couple called a taxi, they had to wait much and pay some amount... There are more buses from the close village called Rila (10-20 kms from the monastery)

Thanks for the pictures for Biso, Ivelin Minkov, and yeah, also for ourselves :)

Veliko Tarnovo attractions

The Patriarchate on Tsarevets hill in February

Veliko Tarnovo

Population: 71.251

Elevation: 325 m (1066 ft)
Located: Central-Bulgaria

Short opinion: An extraordinary pearl in the Balkans, in our opinion the greatest place to visit in Bulgaria ... To visit the town attractions and museums, at least 2 days staying is recommended.

Veliko Tarnovo maps: http://www.trapezitca1902.com/Maps.htm

Bulgaria posts

General information about Bulgaria:

Population: around 7 million [less than half of the New York agglomeration, similar to Israel]

Area: around 111.000 km² [almost 13 times more than the New York urban area, similar to Cuba]

History: There was something like Bulgaria from 681 DC to 1018 DC, than from between 1185-1396. After a bigger jump, from 1878 some kind of independence, and from 1908 real Bulgaria. Although was part of the Eastern Block, never was part of the Soviet Union, and part of the European Union from 2007.

Cities:
- 71% of Bulgarian population lives in urban areas
- 18,5% lives in the capital, Sofia (which has a population of 1.404.929)
- 23,5% lives in the are 9 other cities that has the population over 100.000 - Plovdiv, Varna, Burgas, Rousse, Stara Zagora, Pleven, Sliven, Dobrich, Shumen


Currency:
- Bulgarian Lev (plural form: leva), which has a constant value of 0,97 (?) euro.




We recommend places to visit in Bulgaria:
No. 1. Veliko Tarnovo (ARTICLE; ARTICLE)
No. 2. Rila monastery (ARTICLE)
No. 3. Nessebar (ARTICLE)
No. 3. Varna (ARTICLE)
No. 4. Kaliakra (near Kavarna) (no article yet)
No. 5. Sofia (no article yet)

Places we've been to but we won't write long articles about them: (click for little information and/or for pictures)
Dupnitsa, Golna Oryahovitsa, Pleven, Dobrich, Burgas, Shumen, Ruse, Lom, Vidin, Kyustendil, Lom

More:
Bulgaria UNESCO heritage sites (Wikipedia)

Varna - the biggest city on a seaside

One of the most known Bulgarian city - even i heard about it before:) It's laying on a seaside of a Black Sea, every year come there thousand of turist.
How to get cheap place to sleep?
If You go there by train You can really easy find cheap place to sleep - in a Train Station in Warna there are two kind of Informations Offices where You can find cheap place to sleep (even 14€ for double room). You will get key in a office, an adress and form train station You can go straight to Youre room (of course don't count for jazzuzi in a room). There is another way too - go to promenade near see->there are people who try to catch turist to make them sleep in their own places - of course it's un-official but rooms are good and cheap (at least we get one like that in a apartment of some grandmother:)
Food? (my favourite topic!)
I feel obligated to write about food. From deep of my heart i can reccomend restauration called "Godzilla" - we have eate there great food (it's really great!) and the price - if You want to eat as much as You can (pizza, salad, dessert, beer) You won't pay more than 5€! It's in a center of Warna, easy to find. And ! because of my pure love to chocolate - in every country there are in some places kind of coffee/chocolate/tea machines. In Bulgary there are much of them and drinks (at least a chocolate) form them are worth to try.
What to see there ?
Ortodox Church - obligatory to get inside too, near Warna center and near market where can You find and buy in reality everything! Actually all center of Warna is wort to see.
Near promenade there is museum-ship as an atraction - You can go there and even touch it. Its called "Drazki" and it is torpedo boat built by france for bulgaria in the beginning of XX century. This boat took part in Balkans War in 1912-1913 and even "hit" another boat during action.
"Tarzan Park" - You can feel like real Tarzan just 1€, it's really dangerous and it's not so easy to get threw all "traps" - i am sure that they would make it forbiden because of danger in every west european country- but this is bulgary and fun from it is priceless!

Nessebar

What is it?
City on a coast of Black Sea in east Bulgary, in a Burgas Province. The old part of city is situated on island and it's one of the most ancient district founded in Europe (settlement started at 3000 B.C). First owners of a city were Thracians, later city was under Greek, Roman, Byzantine and Turks control.
How to get there?
Buses from Burgas or Warna (tickiet 2,5 € from Burgas, 5 € from Warna), there is too possibility to take a "Water-Taxi" from Sunny Beach which is laying on a opposit coast of sea.
What to see there?
In general it's easy for my to say "all island" -and it's totally true. It's quite small, possible to see everything in a half day. It's UNESCO World Heritage Site. Besides all ancient buldings an really big number of churches You can find there "bleack-sea type of houses" from XVIII-XIX century which are very characteristic- ground floor from stones where are magazines or stores and second floor from wood where are rooms. All island it's very turistic, there are houndred restaurants and many hotels ( in september You can sleep there even for 10€ for person) and! in my opinion thousand of shops. It's very important to write here that Bulgary it's a very very and very! cheap cuntry.

Veliko Tarnovo - undiscovered pearl of Bulgaria

Why go to Bulgaria? Instead of cheap accommodation, restaurants, national parks, the 320 km (200 mi) long seaside, mountains up to 2925 meter (9600 feet), the 2600 years old ancient city of Nessebar, the unique Orthodox churches in Europe, the Dormition of the Theotokos Cathedral in Varna, The Church of Saint Cyril and Methodius in Burgas and the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, in Sofia, monasteries, like the nearly 1000 years old Rila Monastery, there is Veliko Tarnovo (Велико_Търново).

What comes to our mind when we think about... ...?

europe map

Okay, I have to keep writing with Małgorzata, so here is my first post: World Europe map, every country (except islands) that we (together or not together) already saw.

Hope that bigginings aren't always the hardest part---> Introduction

So this is it,our -mine first post. Articles in this blog will be in three languages: English (not hard to geuss), in Polish - I'm from Poland, I speak polish so i will write in polish too and Daniel will write also in Hungarian. We started our trips on the beginning of this year but as far we saw much more places than threw all our life before. We will try to tell what places are worth Your attention and about many others things which for sure won't come to my mind now...
so,please,enjoy Your time here!
"Thank You"