Krakow to Tbilisi: Day 3
Our almost private pool
From Belgrade, crossing Serbia and entering Bulgaria. Distance: 640 km
Spent the night in a "Spa Hotel" in what felt like the middle of nowhere. We only discovered the next day, as we left in daylight, that we had taken the very “scenic” route to approach it.
By the time we set off on day 3, we had perfected the art of getting up and out in the mornings and juggling luggage and pets back to the car.
This morning, we made full use of the shared kitchen, made lots of coffee, even had our oatmeal and set off on the next leg of the journey, ready for what the day would bring, especially after the best night’s sleep… remember, these were the comfiest beds ever!
The weather was still a little “dumb”. (Overcast and not very bright). And at this point, Serbia still lived up to its reputation of “so flat land”. But during the course of the drive, we enjoyed the sun coming out and the views changing, till there were mountains and even rivers again.
I honestly don’t remember us stopping much along the way, I suspect we lived on Rest stop sandwiches for this leg of the journey. And always coffee!
But the border gave us a little shock: leaving Serbia was no problem, but as we entered Bulgaria, we had to pay a fine. They had our car on record from the journey Markus had made weeks earlier and he had forgotten to buy the all important motorway tax vignette. But a quick card payment and we were on our way.
I do remember this day being challenging. I had had disturbing news the night before and it weighed on me. Knowing that there were challenges at home, and that I was helpless to do anything from the road and that my task was to get the car and pets and plants safely home, made for a “heavier feeling”, despite the stunning scenery and great conversations we had in the car.
We realised we would not make it to our hotel for the evening in daylight, again, and stopped instead to watch the sunset over the Maritsa River, which was beautiful. We didn’t have a long way left to drive and the stop seemed important. Just being present to the beauty, in the midst of unease and feeling a little rushed. The stop itself was funny. I pulled the car off the road just after a bridge and we ran across the road and the bridge to watch the sunset. I’m sure we looked peculiar as we dashed crazily for the middle of the bridge.
Finding our hotel for the night was also a challenge and it turned out I had not put it into the navigation system as I thought. So we ended up in a small village, after an odd drive down dark and deserted roads, in front of a derelict building, with a sinking feeling. But the hotel was just a short drive away and turned out to exceed our expectations. The room was fine, but the layout of the hotel itself was of the “design by coincidence” genre. And we were desperate to have a swim before the spa area shut. What we forgot was that the clocks had changed the night before, so we gained an hour!
The pool area was pretty deserted, but so lovely and we had the steam room, sauna, salt room and heated loungers to ourselves for most of our time there. It was the relaxation we needed at the end of this day. And we followed it by having a really great meal in the hotel restaurant afterwards. The highlight of this meal being the giant wedge of Baklava with an ice cream layer we had for dessert.
Once again, the pets were settled for the night with some fresh salad and we were happy to have a place to rest, knowing that we also had breakfast waiting for us before we left in the morning.
PS the photos are not in the correct order, and we also don't seem to have any of the spa area. The empty pool outside is not what I was referring to :)
Comentarios