Another superb hike, in an incredible environment as we again reached in excess of 3,300 feet of elevation gain. At this rate, we might be achieving height but it seems to correlate closely to the level of stress on our bodies. Love it!
That's the end of the road, Fella."
At the top of 'our peak', Jen reads the 'newspaper' before breakfast. I remember the days when she spoke to me. (Before she could read.)
The views from high above the town of Busteni were (fill in the adverb).
Some days, things occur that one would have difficulty inventing or would be considered of deranged mind should one relate the event. We won't tell you our secrets but thought we'd share part of our trip from Busteni, Romania through Belgrade, Serbia and onto Sophia, Bulgaria, our arranged destination. Turns out it was not meant to be which as my Mom is wont to say, 'Things happen for a reason and often turn out more favorable.' Let's see.
The journey commenced on Wednesday and terminated in Bovorets on Friday afternoon. It included a stay in the big city of Timisoara, Romania, followed by another sleepover in Belgrade. No time was available for hiking or much else as we negotiated the roadways of Romania which are under-developed for the country. Besides the one freeway we used, most of the roads are narrow and pass through town-after-town, speeds reduced to either 40 or 50 kms per hour (25 mph). The roads are superior in Serbia although from where we entered, an out of the way border crossing, it seemed we went back a few centuries. The border was so low-key and seemed to come upon us from 'out the blue' that I foolishly asked the officer if it was in fact Serbia across the fence. Had he a better command of English and less discipline, imagine the answers he could have given. One that springs to mind might be, 'Heck, I don't know. I've never noticed it before or bothered to think about it'.... and many more.
Nevertheless, the experience of traveling through the small towns and villages was most pleasant—I think earlier days were probably a lot better than modern technologists think—not forgetting we come from a wonderful era that did not provide computers, television or all the I-gadgets. Yet milk was delivered to the front door, doctors made house calls because after all, how could one get out of a "sick bed"? Interesting how much I sound like my Mom and Dad. They're a tough act to follow. And, by the way, I no longer drink pure milk since they stopped deliveries. Go figure! (Continues at the end...)
Telephoto lens.
House on a hill, an abandoned hut.
Jen part-way into descent.
'Ride 'em slopes cowboy'.
Nothing like a good sweat.
Enjoying watching the change of seasons...except for the cold spells.
Delightful position before entering the forest.
One more of the town at over 3,000 feet, through the gap.
Some perspective. The peak we reached is above and beyond the one on the left.
The density and colors are nature at her best.
Cheers,
Jenni and Jeffrey
Narrative continues...
After we had made a reservation for the ski resort in Bovorets, our hero decided to use 'points' to have a weekend stay at the Intercontinental Hotel in Sophia and treat his bride to luxury. Imagine hot and cold running water, an inside toilet with paper, a mattress and duvet and hopefully, no barking dogs. Can life get any better? Generally, in fact most times, hotels do not suit us but we had another reason for the decision. Staying in the big cities with a car is also painful. We arrived finally in the Bulgarian capital, parked in the 'blue zone', which we subsequently had confirmed as an illegal action. We then presented ourselves at reception where we were welcomed warmly. After handing passports to the young woman and thinking of taking a well-deserved rest, the receptionist asked whether we had confirmation of our reservations. After a moment of contemplation, I retrieved the recently received present of a Kindle from my bag and showed the same to the woman. To a passerby, it must have looked like the two of us were 'with it' gadget-wise, not something we have a need to feel that proud of. The woman, obviously sharper than the technology genius, mentioned casually that the reservation was for the previous week. Oops! Well, let's get nostalgic—nothing wrong with calling back the past.
I pointed out that the incompetent who had made the reservation had help from the hotel. 'What makes you say that? " she inquired.
"Well," I began although things were anything but well. "If you look at the first day of the reservation, it is clearly September 21st."
"Da," she answered. I love this word and would like to adopt it. It means, of course, 'yes'.
"But if you look at the confirmation from the hotel, it is dated the night of 22nd, meaning you confirmed a reservation for a date booked at least 30 hours in the past. This time I retorted with the equivalent "Duh!" By the way, I still have doubts I could or would have made that mistake.
It seemed very strange to have booked something in the past and if so, unlikely a computer system would allow it. After all, we may not be quick but we're not that slow either.
There we were, in a new city, well the city is very old; we had not visited it before. We did not know where we would stay for the night, the car was illegally parked, the hour was late, peak traffic was building, the bladder was full, and we had a decision to make about our immediate future. At the time, although we were not upset with the hotel group, we were not ecstatic either. Having negotiated the traffic, found illegal parking and wondered what to do with the car, staying at the hotel did not appear attractive. In the meantime, the receptionist said we could use the internet; the valet attendant said he'd fetch the car but as it was a rental, I declined, with appreciation. I took another look at the traffic and returned to Jenni who was struggling to connect to the internet and we both knew the decision we would make. We don't often need to communicate orally; we had to get out of 'Dodge' and quickly.
We also knew there was only one place to head—McDonalds. However, we really had no idea where to find one and the congestion did not help either. Why did we need to eat at that juncture...sounds dumb? We do a lot of dumb things which often is, funnily enough, fun. We only drink at McDonalds but the internet provides us with flexibility. Fortunately, we found one, extended our stay from the front end in Borovets by two days, threw down the tea, and headed south. Awaiting us on the Apart-hotel sidewalk stood Kris, a Bulgarian who has in fact spent time in the United States as a 'green card lottery winner'. Over the period, we enjoyed his company and broken English, too. Apparently, he enjoyed our non-existent Bulgarian.
"Why can't you speak Russian?" he asked. We considered that a rather unusual question. Heck, he should know how many other languages I can't speak although 'Da' covers many East European countries and Russia. He thought a name such as 'Lazarov' met the test—I believe Lithuanian would have been a lot closer. As Mom says, 'All's well that ends well.' We had a superb nine days at Kris's apartment, most of it outside on the challenging mountains, originally reserved for five. To top it all, IHG group admitted an error on their part, we did too, and the hotel group reinstated our points. Decent gesture. Da!
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