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The Hills are Alive
Road trip to Austria September 2025 Day 1 – Laon, France Lying on a beach in the day , sipping cocktails at a beach bar at night holds quite a bit of appeal to me at the moment. Sadly it doesn’t for Steve, hence we are catching a ferry to Calais and motoring through France…
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Bulgaria – Roses and Trains 2025
Velingrad/Lake Batak/Dorkivo – days 9 and 10 we decided to take time out from our spa hotel to visit Lake Batak as we had driven past it last time we came to Bulgaria and it looked lovely – lots of sitting areas and a busy town. We thought we might be able to find a…
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Bulgaria – Roses and Trains 2025
Velingrad -day 8 train to Bansko and back A workout then breakfast ( fruit and a very small pancake) and we were ready to go on our train adventure. The section of the Rhodope Railway we rode takes about 3 hours each way. It’s state owned and is a functioning mode of transport for ordinary…
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Bulgaria – Roses and Trains 2025
Plovdiv/Velingrad day 7 We were packed up and out by 9.30am in order to complete our exploration of Plovdiv. First stop, the singing fountain. Bulgaria is generous when it comes to providing public spaces. Everywhere, however humble, has a well maintained park and Plovdiv is no exception. Everywhere we walked, it seemed that we were…
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Bulgaria – Roses and Trains 2025
Day 6 – Plovdiv A much quieter night was had thank goodness. I decided to research the insanity that is the Bulgarian school prom and it really is madness. Families take out loans in order to pay for their children’s party, clothes and hire cars. It holds more importance than a wedding. Bonkers. Anyway, nothing…
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Bulgaria- Roses and Trains 2025
Day 5 – Plovdiv It was noisy last night but we managed to get through it with ear plugs and the white noise machine. When we asked reception if there was going to be a party tonight they said two! A wedding and a prom. Here’s a tip for you – don’t come to Bulgaria…
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Bulgaria- Roses and Trains 2025
Day 4 – Stara Zagora wanderings /Plovdiv This morning we decided to walk around SZ to see the main sights before we headed off to Plovdiv. As today and Monday is a national holiday to celebrate the invention of the Slavic alphabet (invented by Cyril) we expected to see lots of people around. On our…
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Bulgaria – Roses and Trains 2025
Day 3. Buzludzha monument walk No time for a vibrating machine workout today. A hike in the Bulgarian mountains beckoned and we wanted to start early to avoid the afternoon rain that often bubbles up in these parts. Sandwiches were made, rucksacks packed and it was back to Shipka. This time we took the long…
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Bulgaria- Roses and Trains 2025
Day 2 – Rose Valley Today we were on the hunt for the famous Bulgarian roses. They are grown in the valley between Stara Zagora and Kazanlak and in the past have been a huge source of income due to the price of the rose oil made from them. It’s around now that they bloom…
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Bulgaria – Roses and Trains 2025
Day 1 – Stara Zagora Another week in Bulgaria beckons. This time to explore a couple of things that caught our eye last time we visited, namely Rose Valley and a train journey into the mountains. Due to a very busy week, my packing resembles a teenager’s cocktail made from the contents of his…
Middle-aged flash packers
The ramblings and wanderings of two middle-aged travellers up for adventure
- 2021 – There are no plans. Covid
- About
- Australia/Vietnam Revisited 2025
- Bulgaria – Roses and Trains 2025
- Cabo de Gata 2024
- Costa Rica 2015
- Escape to Italy 2017
- Going round in Circles – Circumnavigating Spain 2021
- Greece – Pottering The Peloponnese 2021
- Into Africa – 2022
- Into Africa -November/December 2022
- Jordan Jaunts 2023
- Mini adventure in Northern Portugal – 2018
- Mission Triglav – Slovenia, Italy, France 2017
- My blog
- Myanmar and Thailand 2019
- Oman 2019
- Oz Odyssey – Australia, Fiji,Hawaii 2016
- Panama 2023
- Return of the Road Warriors – Europe revisited 2019 Liechenstein, Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Germany
- Road Trip to Anywhere – France, Italy, ? 2022
- Roaming the Rhodope – Bulgaria
- Sicily wanderings – on the volcano trail
- Tea, Trains and Temples – A journey around Sri Lanka 2017
- Tenerife 2024
- The Grand Tour – Driving from UK to Turkey and back again 2015
- The Hills are Alive – Austria road trip September 2025
- The Silk Road – Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Azerbaijan 2019
- Turkey – 2020
- Wainwrights Lake District UK part 2 2022 March
- Walking the Wainwrights part 1 – Lake District UK 2021
Middle-aged flash packers 