16 August, early in the evening, I decided there couldn't be a better birthday celebration than travelling.
Sofia, Poduene exit
When one door closes, another opens. Glojenski Monastery rejected our demands for spending the night there, but a Scotish guy opened his guest house, his home-made cherry flavoured rakia and his heart to our songs and stories.
Maluk Izvor, at Max' place.
Finally, we succeeded to make the Monastery, to see the notorious father Nectarius and to feel happy from the awesome time last night and lovely view in front of us in the morning.
Glojenski Monastery and my dear friend Veselka - the best hitchhiking buddy I could ever have.
We were trying not to step on others' hearts on our way.
On the way down from the Monastery tru the enchanted wood.
We skipped the chicken meals in Glojene. All we needed was a cup of bean soup and a glass of rakia.
After a nice conversation along the river in Teteven we moved forward to... the place of the guys, who picked us up from the road. Their invitation was uncertain but we took it in without any second thoughts. Thanks God they had no second thoughts as well. And their house appeared to be... a bus.
What a great hospitality these boys showed! Let alone they shared all their food with us and found a home-made rakia after we drank all their beer but they even allowed us to sleep on the 2nd floor!!!
The only disadvantage is that the door doesn't close automatically after you :D
They made the fire, we made the salads.
Aglen, a small village around Pleven, where I thought I will understand more about the past and childhood of my friend. It turned out she understood about me more...
Dupkata (The Hole), River Vit, hours of taking out the innermost happenings from our past.
Saying goodbye to one place to greet another.
It took me 28 years to visit Pleven, walking tru the past of someone else...
We were here and there, almost all around the city - walking, resting, laughing, drinking, talking. One of the best hitchiking trips I have ever had in my life. One of the best surprises happened to me during it as well when Ali, a dear friend of mine from Wadi Rum, called me from Mecca, Saudi Arabia to tell me that he is paying his duty at the time of Ramadan. I was in the middle of the Pleven's center in a speechless felicity of his religious feat, knowing how he feels, knowing that I couldn't talk with him for a long, because I know 10 words of Arabic and he could say 10 words in English. What we shared however is called energy. All that journey revived the energy of the past and future, made two close friends closer and one birthday unforgettable. A painful past story turned into a nice memory, a nice almost current experince turned into a painfull nostalgia, a future idea turned into a desired goal. However time is playing with our perception, no matter you can remember the past or know the direction of your winds, all you have is now. And it is up to your imagination what form your life is shaping now.
