Monthly Archives: February 2022
the path that I chose
This post is about a 10km walk from the Chapel Of The Virgin Mary to Lozen. I take the wrong way and end up having a difficult day. The night had been surprisingly okay. I got up and put on a pair of dry shoes from the depths of the Caboose. Then I said goodbye […]
WTF bear tracks?
This post is about a 41km walk from Ihtiman to the Chapel Of The Virgin Mary. It is snowing heavily, and I pass a very cold village. When I went out into the parking lot my heart sank. Everything was white, and it kept coming. I zipped up my jacket, put on my gloves, my […]
this is a knoife
This post is about a day of rest at the Motel Ihtiman. I wash some of my socks, I check out a supermarket, and I order an expresso. I was staying at the Motel Ihtiman. It was a highway rest area, which meant that it was a wee bit expensive. But there was an attached […]
that motherfucker Putin
This post is about a 20km walk from the Gate Of Trajan to Ihtiman. Putin has just attacked Ukraine. The mountains are beautiful. I woke up and laid my stuff out to dry. Then I sat down and stared at my phone. That motherfucker Putin had started attacking Ukraine the day before. I made a […]
The Gate Of Trajan
This post is about a 15km walk from Gorno Varshilo to the Gate Of Trajan. I feast at a highway restaurant, then I marvel at a Roman fortress. It was cold when I woke up in the ruins. And I was hungry. I didn’t have a lot to eat on me, and I was out […]
a murdered man
This post is about a 15km walk from the Slavovitsa Winery to Gorno Varshilo. I see Aleksandar Stamboliyski’s villa and sleep in the hills. The wind had been howling and the rain had been beating all through the night. I was happy that I had found shelter in the winery. I had the whole place […]
no healing today
This post is about a 25km walk from Pazardzhik to the Slavovitsa Winery. I want to visit a spiritual center, but no one is home. The day was grey and the weather forecast said that there was going to be rain in the afternoon. the youth I walked out of Pazardzhik, remembering a conversation from […]
good villages
This post is about a 24km walk from Stamboliyski to Pazardzhik. I learn about martenitsi and pass through an interesting village. When I started walking I finally understood why something had felt off about this place: Stamboliyski was a town that had been cut in two. The railroad tracks went right through its center, creating […]
the dangers of walking
This post is about a 23km walk from Plovdiv to Stamboliyski. I have made a plan to walk to Sofia in ten days. The road is terrible. I was notoriously bad at making decisions, but I had finally made one. In fact I had even bought a ticket. On the 1st of March I would […]
roman theater
This post is about a visit at the Theater Of Philippopolis. I am absolutely in awe of the structures and how well they have been preserved. One thing Plovdiv seemed to do really well was the use of tunnels: there quite a few of them going through the hills that the city sat on. This […]
ugly pretty
This post is about a day spent exploring Plovdiv. I see some Roman ruins, a mosque, some Soviet ugliness, and then I decide to get wasted. Plovdiv turned out to be the prettiest town with the ugliest name: Plovdiv. I didn’t know how it sounded to a Bulgarian speaker, but to me the name evoked […]
this was, like, totally LAAAAAAME
This post is about a 21km walk from Asenovgrad to Plovdiv. I walk on the service lane of a highway. And then there is a terrible bridge. When I looked at the road to Plovdiv on the map I felt worried: there seemed to be no way but the highway. I hated walking on highways, […]
the blue string
This post is about a 21km walk from a roadside chapel to Asenovgrad. I overeat in a restaurant, and then I walk down a bad road. I woke up a few times during the night. Sometimes it was too hot in my sleeping bags. So I would open them a little. Then again it was […]
Iskra
This post is about a 19km walk from Bryagovo to a roadside chapel. I pass the village of Iskra, which got its name from a partisan in WWII. I said goodbye to my hosts and continued walking southwest. This wasn’t the shortest way to Plovdiv (or to my home to Germany) but I wanted to […]
layered hills
This post is about a 10km walk from the Chapel Of Panteleimon to Bryagovo. The road leads past a stunning mountain scenery. At night the temperatures had dropped down to a few degrees below zero. I had been using both my sleeping bags at once, one wrapped within the other, and I hadn’t felt cold […]
make-out point
This post is about a walk from Mineralni Bani to the Chapel Of Panteleimon. It’s a quiet day, and I pass a Turkish village. The road from Mineralni Bani led through quiet, forested hills. There was hardly any traffic. I would walk for a little bit, then sit down somewhere and listen to the birds […]
lyutenitsa
This post is about a 23km walk from Haskovo to Mineralni Bani. I look at a huge monument of the Virgin Mary, then I take a hot bath. My host Ivan had warned me that his house was undergoing renovation, and so everything was going to be pretty basic. I found it perfectly fine anyway. […]
chosque or murch?
This post is about a 22km walk from Aleksandrovo to Haskovo. I pass through a destitute village and see a church that used to be a mosque. Sometimes it’s difficult to say goodbye, and still you do. The sun was warm and the day was quiet when I bid farewell to my hosts and started […]
boostered, looking at pricks
This post is about a visit at the Thracian Tomb of Aleksandrovo. I appreciate the fact that it’s a good replica. I was staying with a lovely family who had a campground in the village of Aleksandrovo. And because they had a car and they were going downtown anyway, I finally had the chance to […]
all we need is love
This post is about a 24km walk from Harmanli to Aleksandrovo. I stop at the biggest refugee camp in Bulgaria, where people are unhappy. The first thing I saw was the wall of the old Caravanserai of Harmanli. It was all that was left of it. Then I crossed a river where I saw a […]