Thursday Thoughts: Sofia – City Trees and Wildlife

Sofia’s many parks offer beauty and relaxation, but also the streets and separate old houses are accompanied by trees – now in autumn clothes.

Many people in Sofia and Plovdiv care for the wild animals, birds, dogs and cats, feed them and seem to want them in their city. In one of the Sofia parks, about 5-10 dogs were lying in the grass, sleeping. Suddenly one of them heard my camera snapping and looked up. When I later uploaded the photos, I noticed his ear – he was marked. Hopefully that means the dogs are somehow supervised and taken some care of.

Finally, people also activated their own dogs and we never saw starving or badly treated animals. The conclusion is – the cats own Plovdiv, and the dogs own Sofia!

 

WPC: Peek

From Michelle at WordPress – a wish for a peek…something teasing you to want more…

High up in the Bulgarian mountains you will find the door to this gem…

 

Nicest Restaurant in Sofia?

During our four days in Sofia, we had some delicious food. Eating Bulgarian was of course a must – and here is a short view of our favourite restaurant!

Hadjidraganov´s Cellars in the centre of Sofia, close to the main street Vitosha, is indeed worth a visit. Excellent Bulgarian food and not expensive at all. Rustic furniture, lovely people and live music in the evenings as well. A must if you visit Sofia!

 

It is All About Cats…

In Plovdiv, the old capital of Bulgaria, it was all about culture and – cats. Everywhere in the streets, on window sills and in the parks.

And it seemed the yellow ones were those who ”owned the place…”

Others were peacefully sleeping on the window sills – at least in the old town.

In the newer part of the city, the competition was heavier…and the master himself both fighter and supervisor.

 

 

Seven Day B&W Photo Challenge – Day 2

I was invited by Raj (XDrive) to join the Seven Day B&W Photo Challenge. (Thank you, Raj)

The Rules are
• Seven days.
• Seven black and white photos of your life.
• No people.
• No explanation.
• Challenge someone new each day
Today I would like to challenge Francesca at Almost Italian
Francesca, participate only if you have time, no compulsion. I know you are on the road travelling right now.

 

Seven Day B&W Photo Challenge – Day 1

I was invited by Raj (XDrive) to join the Seven Day B&W Photo Challenge. (Thank you, Raj)

The Rules are
• Seven days.
• Seven black and white photos of your life.
• No people.
• No explanation.
• Challenge someone new each day
Today I would like to challenge Anita
Anita, participate only if you have time, no compulsion. I know you have a new little member of your family to take care of!

 

WPC: Rounded

In Sofia, Bulgaria, I walked past this bar at night, a marvel of roundedness? Click here for more rounded entries on WordPress!

 

 

The Prettiest Town in Ireland

According to the tourist information, the small town of Adare (/æˈdr/; Irish: Áth Dara, meaning ”ford of [the] oak”) in County Limerick, Ireland, is one of Ireland’s prettiest towns.

When we visited, the weather was, as I guess the weather is most here, rainy with short glimpses of sun. And the village is pretty – with thatched roofs and brightly coloured houses. About 3000 inhabitants, so I felt rather at home – the same size as the village I live in. Above is the main street.

Despite the rain, we ventured out towards Desmond Castle, on the north bank of the river Maigue. And we were lucky – the sun came through!

 I will be away for a couple of days – see you soon!

Back to Ireland – Ruins and Cows

Looking through my photos from Ireland – I found an old abbey I had not posted on. I am convinced there were not many visitors, as we only saw it from the car. We were looking for a nice place to have our evening picnic – I wanted cows and my husband wanted ruins – and we found the perfect place!

To get there, we had to park at the church, climb some fences and walk a straight gravel road over the meadows with grazing cows. Just my thing.

I wondered how this abbey had looked when new – it was still impressive out there in the middle of all the green. Not much sun, but we had our fruit and sandwiches sitting on the ground against the wall. The Irish landscape offers never-ending glory.

The farewell was accompanied by the most gracious crowd (in the header), and lastly by a lone beauty standing by the road. I really have to go back to Ireland – soon.