Flying Bulgaria

For nearly 10 years, My Man has tried to talk me into taking a paragliding tandem flight.  I always demurred, not interested in spending the money on something I wasn't even remotely interested in.  Instead, I grumbled good-naturedly about his obsession, dutifully researching and booking vacations around his hobby, looking for alternative activities for me and the kids.  

For his birthday this year, I bought him patches for each country he's flown in (to put on his glider bag), and a new patch: Bulgaria.  I had found a place in Bulgaria where the weather was still mild in October and they offered a great deal on guided paragliding.  I was sure I would be able to find some good hiking and cultural sites nearby for myself.

The day we arrived to Bulgaria, I got a text message from the company asking if I would like to enjoy a complimentary tandem flight the next day.  "Sure," I replied.  I wasn't going to pass on free.  And I knew it would make My Man happy for me to try it.  

We had to drive about two hours south to find favorable wind conditions, but I didn't mind since my itinerary was going to take me to that area anyway.  I figured I would take my tandem flight and then part ways with the paragliders to enjoy my hiking and exploring of nearby historical sites.

Before long, we were up on the mountain.  We'd hiked up the last little bit and the view over the valley was perfect.  The sun was shining, it was warm, and (to my surprise) I had a few little stomach jitters about my upcoming flight.  We were set to launch first, though, so I didn't have to wait long.  My pilot set up his wing, explained the procedure, and it was time to go.  And then, I was flying.  

And finally, I understood.  Wow, I whispered, awed by the beautiful miracle of gently soaring above mountain tops, dappled red with the newly changing leaves.  Wow, I thought, as the wind rushed past and there was no other sound.  Wow, wow, wow!  I was filled with joy and wonder and peace as the sun and air and mountains filled my soul.  "This is my meditation," my pilot explained, as we soared toward the landing.  And I thought, yes, and then, YES!  And I knew, My Man would no longer be flying alone.

It was perhaps serendipitous, (for me, not for My Man, though he was a great sport about it) when the wind was too strong for flying our last day and our guide offered to let me tag along with the new trainees for their first day.  I got to learn the basics of the gear, how to put together the harness and wing, how to pack them up.  

I was anxious to learn more but the wind was too strong.  We broke for lunch, hoping it would calm to safe conditions.  My Man and I climbed a hill to enjoy the views (and were nearly blown off!), then we just hung out for awhile.  It was beautifully sunny and I had a book, so I wasn't really complaining, but I did wonder a few times if I should have gone hiking instead.  At one point, a large herd of sheep wandered by.  

At last the wind calmed enough to try some ground handling, and all doubts of whether the wait had been worth it fled.  With my private tutor's help (I think My Man has great post-retirement career prospects as a paragliding instructor!), I finally mostly figured out the basics of getting the wing into the air, controlling it, and simulating a launch.  Of course, I didn't fly off a mountain, and I have a lot more to learn, but it was exhilarating  to begin and I can't wait for a chance to learn more.  I think it's safe to say, I'm hooked.

So although our trip to Bulgaria is over (too fast!), it will always be remembered as the trip where I discovered flying (albeit a bit late to the game).

There were other highlights of course too, though after the flying and training they faded in import.  Let me back up.  We arrived to Sofia too late to fly the first day, so My Man and I explored the beautiful downtown area, appreciating the beautiful art and architecture of the St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, one of the largest Eastern Orthodox churches in the world. 

The interior paintings were especially beautiful and well-preserved. 

We wandered through the local market, then enjoyed lunch in a beautiful cafe overlooking another beautiful church. I saw the oldest building in Sofia (the Church of St. George) and My Man saw the presidential changing of the guard (when a lack of parking options caused us to momentarily split up). 

We saw the memorial to the unknown soldier and the Church of St. Sofia (afterwhich the entire city is now named). And then we headed down to our lodgings about 2 hours south at Rose Valley Lodge. The drive was beautiful. 

After my life-changing tandem flight the next day, I did head off on my own to hike and visit Assen's Fortress, a very old little fortress, turned church in a beautiful canyon.  My Man had flown over it just about a half hour before I got there.

On the way there, I had an unfortunate and hilarious (aka, extremely embarrassing) episode involving me, our rental car, an old British man, and the Bulgarian emergency road service (and a garbage truck). Instead of going into the full story here, let me just warn unsuspecting drivers that in order to put a manual car into reverse, it is sometimes required that you pull up on part of the stick shift first. . . .  Obviously.  

Meanwhile, My Man was enjoying the longest flight of his career, and he pulled it off without his variometer (the device that normally helps pilots discover thermals to stay in the air longer)! In fact, his flight was far enough to shave almost half of the driving time off the way home! Unfortunately, his normal photographer had ditched him by taking her own flight, so there aren't any pictures of his take-off or flight, just the landing and the ride home.

The next day rained buckets and buckets, so no flying, but My Man and I enjoyed a rare and relaxing day of doing almost nothing. We enjoyed lunch at a beautiful little castle winery nearby, watching the rain fall down outside the window.

All in all, it was a wonderful little getaway (much needed after two and a half stressful weeks at my new job!), and My Man seems as happy about my new enthusiasm for flying as I am.  And if you're looking for a great deal on paragliding training, you should check out the instructors at Rose Valley Lodge, who were so good they made me fall in love with flying.  

Adventures in Summer: Mini-Roadtrip & Flying

A couple weeks ago My Man decided that the Saturday he was scheduled to fly out to Baku for a 3-week work trip would be the perfect time to check out a rumored paragliding hill a few hours out of Kyiv (afterall, he didn't need to be at the airport until 6pm and packing wouldn't take that long. Besides--Google Maps obviously didn't know how well he drives--that time estimate was way too high. My Man thought he could cut it in half, easy.). So we all piled into the car (along with a new friend from summer camp, an expat who has lived her practically forever and is pretty awesome), cranked up the music, and set off.

We drove through stunning sunflower fields under dramatic clouds and blue skies. It was so beautiful I hated to blink. The fields of sunflowers, even mile after mile, never got old.

At last, we turned off the main road to find the paragliding hill. We spotted the tell-tale flag at the top of a hill and excitedly unloaded our picnic supplies, started a reluctant fire (the wind was so strong it kept trying to put it out), and My Man got out his glider to try to get a flight.

To be honest, it was a tiny bit of a let-down. The hill was basically just a little mound in the middle of a big cow field. It was pretty, sure, but we'd traveled almost 3 hours to get there and it definitely wasn't going to be a new amazing flying spot. My Man jumped off the hill for a quick sled run and the kids and I roasted hot dogs, played catch, and laughed as the wind blew our hair wild. We were definitely going to make the most of it.

Then I looked over and saw My Man flying over a distant ridge. What in the world? How did he get there?! He'd just landed at the bottom of our hill, hadn't he? Where was I going to pick him up? I looked down and there was My Man walking toward us across the field. I looked up and the wing in the air was gone. Had I imagined it? No, wait, there it was again. Turns out there was another glider flying on the next ridge over (at the actual flying spot!). Excitedly, we hurriedly put out our fire, packed up our picnic and hurried back down the hill to the car to try to find the launch. It was tricky, but eventually we did find it. And it was awesome.

A long soarable ridge with several other pilots, a big open area for the kids to play soccer, catch bugs, and hang out. We didn't have as much time there as we'd have liked (I could have happily stayed all day), but still we had plenty of time to soak up the sunshine, the wildflowers, and the fresh wild scents of the wind.

And this, ladies and gents, is why I married My Man. I would never think something like this was a good idea--too stressful and risky to even think about squeezing in an outing like this the day of a flight, especially without packing first--but because I married an optimistic, spontaneous, carefree man (and because he's slowly but surely wearing off on me), we did go and we had a great time, made some awesome memories, and got back in plenty of time for My Man to pack and catch his flight.

Adventures in Azjerbaijan

When we found out My Man would be assigned for a three-week assignment in Baku, Azerbaijan, this summer, I asked the kids if they wanted to go visit.  "More traveling?!" sighed one.  "It would be nice to have some down time," replied another.  "Not really, but you should go!" answered the third.  Sometimes I think my kids are aliens.  Who passes up a chance to see a new piece of the world?!  But that is fine by me.  We worked out babysitting and I booked tickets to visit My Man on my own.

He arrived last week and scouted out the area, wandering all through Old Town, making friends with a local barber, and getting the lowdown on the best local restaurants.  Sometimes it's nice to let him go ahead and get the lay of the land.

I'd never been anywhere near the Middle East before and although Azerbaijan doesn't technically count, it feels like it should.  Arid landscapes, oil rigs, dome shamed architecture, palm trees, a blazing hot sun--all it's missing are the camels!

It was a fascinating city to visit and by the end I was disappointed I hadn't had enough time to explore more of Azerbaijan (though My Man had already finagled an invitation to go camping with the local paragliding trip a few days after I left, so he will get to see the green, mountainous region!).

Speaking of paragliding, practically the moment I landed, we were getting up at 4 in the morning to meet the local paragliding club to go fly.  They generously allowed me to tag along, and I was glad I did, in spite of the insanely early hour.  The views of the early morning sunrise over the desert were stunning.

We went to two spots and hiked to the top of the hills at both places.  My Man flew three times (soaring until it was time to go at the second place).  On the second hike up the mountain, as I was walking I ran into something that felt like fishing line strung between the bushes.  Turns out it was the spiderweb for the largest spider I've ever seen in real life (not counting tarantulas).  I was very happy that the spider was still on the web and not on me, or the shock may have caused me to scream or fall off the mountain.  It was seriously huge!

But we made it up the mountain in spite of the gigantic spiders and other bugs and My Man took off.  I hiked, took pictures, and read while he flew.

By noon, when we headed back to our hotel, it felt like we'd already had an entire day of fun.  But after a few hours hiding from the sun, we headed back out to explore Baku's Old Town.

Another evening, we headed to Upland Park, a public area on top of the mountain overlooking Baku.  There is a beautiful monument to the soldiers who died in the Azeri-Armenian conflict in 1992 (which is still ongoing).  There are monuments, a restaurant overlooking the ocean, and a mosque up top as well, not to mention a fantastic view of the flaming towers.  Watching the sunset over the ocean and skyline was incredible.

While My Man was hard at work paying the bills and saving the world, I did a little bit of editing work, researched some upcoming trips, worked out, and read.  One day, however, I signed up for a walking tour of Baku.  I figured out the Metro system and headed for the meeting point.  Only no one showed up.  Turns out I was the only one who had signed up so the tour company canceled the tour, without telling me.  So I took a self-guided tour and had a great time.

Old Town Baku is enchanting, surrounded by impressive walls and turrets, it feels like you are inside a castle.  The roads are cobblestone, there are mosques and palaces and tiny alleys and cute cafes and souvenir shops.  Half of the Old Town is actually under water now, but the part that is left is well worth exploring.

And even though My Man had to walk, it was fun to meet up every day after work to go out for dinner and explore a bit more.

And then, practically before I knew it, my trip was over!  My Man has a little over a week left here, but soon he'll be home and we'll head out on our last summer adventure (a road trip to Western Ukraine).  Overall, I'd have to say I can wholeheartedly recommend a trip to Baku.

Summer Roadtrip Part 2: Romania to Odesa (through Moldova) and Then Home

Day 5 of our roadtrip was all driving.  Google Maps announced a 9-hour trip ahead of us when we set off (amid heart-felt but pitilessly ignored pleas from our children to take the resident dogs along with us), but it ended up taking even longer.  If we thought the roads in Western Ukraine and Northern Moldova were bad, they were nothing compared to those we found in Southern Moldova and Southern Ukraine!  But first, we enjoyed story-book perfect winding roads through Romanian forest.

It was absolutely breath-taking.  We rolled down the windows to let the cool, fresh mountain air wash over us as we sang along to our now-repeating playlist.

At one point, the GPS suggested leaving this beautiful road to cut through a village, allegedly cutting 45 minutes from the trip.  We decided to try it and soon found ourselves at the top of a steep dirt road along a village cemetery.  Luckily, we have 4-wheel drive.  The locals looked at us driving by as if we were aliens.  We drank in the colors and authenticity of the detour.

But then we were crossing into Moldova and the roads got worse.

We opted to skip Transnistria this go around (it would have added time to our already way-too-long drive, and who knows what other inconveniences if they decided to stop us to try to extract bribes), and soon we were at the border crossing to leave Moldova and re-enter Ukraine.  At the border, the guards stopped us and asked, "Are you sure you know where you're going?  Romania is the other direction."  Perhaps that should have been our first clue, but we decidedly did know where we were going (Odesa) and as much as we loved Romania, we couldn't go back.  So they processed us through, shaking their heads in wonder.  And then the roads really disappeared.  There were more holes than asphalt.  At the same time, we were hit by a torrential downpour, so strong it was hard to see out at all and the depths of the potholes were completely masked.  The road was also surprisingly busy so we had to be careful about large trucks suddenly veering wildly to avoid a hole.  The rain was so loud it was hard to hear the audiobook we'd turned on (Boys in the Boat--a great book!).  But My Man is a masterful driver and white-knuckled us through.  As we approached Odesa, the rain cleared and the roads improved and we arrived at our apartment in time to take a walk around the city, which was nice, with lots of parks and monuments.

The next morning, we headed to the beach.  I'd forgotten that it was a Ukrainian holiday, and was a bit overwhelmed by the masses of humanity joining us on our beach adventure.

Still, we found a nice little beach hut right at the water to make a basecamp.  My Man, Young Man, and Darling Daughter read most of the morning, with the waves crashing lightly on the beach right outside their hut.

Funny Guy was interested in some more excitement, however, so we headed out to see what else we could find.  He was not disappointed.  There was a huge inflatable waterslide, so high and fast that it continually launched him several feet in the air!  He loved it.

Too soon, it was time to head back to our apartment for a late lunch, check-out, and the drive home.  The roads home were much better, though there were still some rough patches, and we made the drive in record time, a couple hours to spare before bedtime.  We were glad to get out of the car, but I'm already busy planning our next roadtrip through the Carpathians in Western Ukraine, and maybe another one to Poland.  Even though we spent more than 30 hours in the car over 6 days, it was great, definitely a trip to remember.

Summer Roadtrip Part 1: Ukraine, Moldova, Romania

The last day of school, the kids dropped off backpacks, hurriedly ate lunch, and piled into the car as we headed out for a week-long roadtrip to explore Eastern Europe.  Just a couple hours into our trip, we ended up here:

It was pouring rain, the road had simply ended in construction, and we weren't getting a cell signal.  Not the most auspicious start to our trip!  But My Man found a suitable detour and we headed on.  Then we realized that the border crossing Google Maps was sending us to was actually a ferry and that we might not make it before it closed for the day.  We re-routed again to make sure we avoided entering Moldova in Transnistria (an unrecognized republic that claims to be independent but which most countries consider part of Moldova--we had heard that entering Moldova through Transnistria, though faster, would cause some problems when we left Moldova) and avoided the ferry crossing.  The plentiful potholes in the roads were harder to miss, but My Man did an incredible job of navigating the rough roads in the rough weather.  Before we knew it, we were leaving Ukraine and crossing into Moldova.

Moldova is a very poor country, and we noticed a difference as soon as we crossed the border.  There were horse-drawn carts everywhere, the roads were even worse than in Western Ukraine (an impressive feat), and there were fields and fields of sunflowers, potatoes, and wheat.  It was very beautiful.  Normally, on family roadtrips, I read a book aloud to help pass the time.  This time, however, we tried an audiobook.  It was awesome to be able to look out the window as we drove.  I had a moment as we passed another horse-drawn cart with a Moldovan family in the back when it hit me--wow, we are driving across Moldova!  That's absolutely amazing.

We arrived at our hotel around 9pm, and after some yoga to work out the kinks from sitting too long, went right to bed.  The next morning, when we went to check out, we found out the hotel only accepted cash.  We hadn't changed any money into Moldovan Lei, not expecting to need any.  We had USD, Euros, and Hrivnia, but couldn't make the right combination (they didn't have any change).  My Man and the boys headed into town to find a bank while Darling Daughter and I stretched our legs a bit in anticipation of the long drive ahead.

At last we were on our way to our first stop: Old Orhei, an old monastery perched on top of (and inside) a cliff.  The views were amazing.  We didn't have a guide, so wandered around a bit looking at everything.

There wasn't a lot to see, but we were glad to have stopped.  My Man spent a few minutes fantasizing about getting out his paraglider and flying down, but the wind wasn't quite perfect, so he decided to wait for Romania.

We had another border crossing a few hours later and then we were in northern Romania, on our way to Brasov, Transylvania, where we would stay for a few nights.  In Romania, the sunflowers were just opening and there were fields and fields of them!

We arrived at our guesthouse just in time for dinner.  We opted to walk after so many hours in the car and enjoyed a delicious Romanian meal to welcome us to town.  (This is where it became apparent just how much energy the kids had suppressed during the drive, as it took about 200 attempts to get one regular picture of the three kids :D)

The next morning we rose early, ate a quick breakfast, and then the kids and I headed off to Bran Castle (Dracula's castle!).  I had read that it got crowded quickly, so we tried to get there by opening (9am).  Traffic was slow because of several sections of construction, however, so it was 9:24 by the time we got there.  Already, the tourists were there.  (It was probably good we got there when we did, because by the time we were leaving, the line was out the door and halfway down the hill!  The crowds inside were almost claustrophic when we were there, so I can't imagine how bad it got later.)

The castle was an interesting experience--extremely crowded, somewhat eclectic, but still, it retained a charm of its own.  Of course, it's not actually Dracula's castle and Vlad the Impaler (the count after which Stoker's Dracula is modeled) only stayed in the castle about 2 months, but still, it was fairly easy to imagine it as a vampire lair.  And the views were incredible.

After that we stopped for a picnic lunch.  Transylvanian forests are beautiful and even though we didn't venture too far off the road, the spot was serene and beautiful.

After lunch, we headed to Rasnov Fortress (along with about half of Romania apparently!).  It was really hot and crowded, so we opted to take the glass elevator up instead of hiking--a very smart decision!  The fortress itself was interesting to wander around.

Apparently, it was only conquered once--when enemies found the secret path to the fortress's water source.  After that, legend has it that two Turkish prisoners were set the task of digging a well in side the fort through solid rock in exchange for their freedom.  It took 17 years to dig the 500+ foot well, but after that, the fortress was once again impregnable.

After exploring the fort, we headed back to the forest for some quiet reading, meditating, and exploring, before heading back to our home away from home for the night.

Meanwhile, My Man had been paragliding all day.  Taking a ski lift up to launch and landing just a few footsteps from our guesthouse, it doesn't get much better than that.  Conditions were great and there happened to be a paragliding festival going on at the same time, so there were lots of pilots in the air.  The whole trip was planned around the flying here in Brasov, so it was great to see it all come together so well.  We were home just in time to watch his last flight and landing.

Next on the agenda was what I'd been most anticipating: the Seven Ladders (Canionul Sapte Scari) hike.  The first review of this hike read like a horror story.  Seven rickety, precarious ladders straight up cliff faces, slippery from the splashing waterfalls they edged, the whole hike winding through a narrow but gorgeous slot canyon.  The pictures were incredible.  It made me want to do it but also made it sound like if I did, I would be certifiably insane, especially if I brought along our kids.  A bit more searching, however, indicated that the article was old and that stairs and bridges had recently been remodeled and that now it was a beautiful, safe hike.  I was stoked.

Thanks to inaccurate GPS instructions, we ended up getting a bonus hike at the beginning.  Ironically, another family (from Israel), arrived just before us and headed up what looked to be the trail.  I had read that we needed to follow the yellow marks (not red, or we'd end up somewhere else), but we didn't see any marks.  After a few minutes, we met up with the other family and realized they weren't sure they were in the right place.  Frankly, I wasn't either, but it was a beautiful trail and I figured we could hike for 15 or so minutes to see what we found before calling it quits.  When we still hadn't encountered any yellow (or red) trailmarkers, we decided to head back down and see if we'd missed the spot.  Sure enough, there was a turn just a bit earlier along the road that led to the signed trailhead.  Not too far from the parking area, there was a V in the trail, the red trail to the left, the yellow trail straight ahead.  I was glad I'd read that we needed to follow the yellow trail, because at that point there was no indication of which was the way to go to the Seven Ladders.

The hike was nice, along a bubbly creek, through the forest, but longer than I'd expected.  At last, we arrived at the base of the Seven Ladders trail, where you pay a small entrance fee to hike through the canyon (5 lei for kids, 10 for adults, so about $1.25 for kids and $2.50 for adults).  The hike was great.  Perhaps not quite as epic as I'd imagined, but really beautiful and unique.

The ladders and bridges were in great repair and seemed very safe.  There was some water splashing from the waterfalls, but not as much as I'd expected.  The hike to finish the loop back to the lodge was almost as beautiful in a more forest-beautiful kind of way.

The main disappointment was that we couldn't zipline back down as we'd hoped.  There is a zipline (50 lei) that goes from the lodge back almost down to the parking lot, but it's for adults only (they would have let Young Man but not Darling Daughter or Funny Guy).  I tried to pin down the minimum age or weight--they waffled a little, 18 years old, they said first, then "maybe 14" and 45 kg.  Darling Daughter and Funny Guy are both right around 45 kg, but still didn't make the cut.  They were devastated.  Then we found out there is a zipline area for kids under 45 kg at the bottom (20 lei for 30 min; 4 lines).  Funny Guy signed up and loved it.  

Unfortunately, Darling Daughter had pushed a bit too hard on the way up and her legs gave way partway down, causing her to stumble and fall off the path.  Thankfully, she was OK except for some scratches and bruises, but it was very slow and painful getting back down the rest of the way.  Young Man helped out by giving her a piggy back ride most of the way.

And best of all?  The weather had initially forecasted rain, then thundershowers, but we had beautiful perfect weather all day.  We even stopped for a leisurely picnic on the way home, enjoying every minute possible in these beautiful forests.  The thunderstorms finally blew in as we were eating dinner, comfy-cozy back home.

My Man got to go paragliding in the mountains a couple hours away today and isn't back yet (that's why I'm getting this all written up so quickly!).  I got to talk to him for a few minutes, though, and it sounded like another epic flying day.  Hopefully we'll get the full scoop and pictures soon.

Sadly, this is all the time we have in Transylvania.

Tomorrow, we head off to Odesa, Ukraine, via Moldova then Transnistria, so it will be a long day of driving but could be interesting (remember, Transnistria is the self-declared but not acknowledged country that is really part of Moldova).  I was wondering how the kids would react to so much driving in this vacation, but so far at least, it's had great results.  Darling Daughter said it has been her favorite vacation except for Paris, France, and the boys have been positive too.  I almost think I have a harder time with all the driving than they do!  Looks like we'll have to plan some more roadtripping-in-Europe adventures.  Next up will probably be Poland!