Bansko!

So my friends and I have our first travel adventure under our belts! For our first trip, we decided to stay close to home, so we ventured to Bansko, Bulgaria for the weekend, a cozy ski town about 40 minutes from our university in Blagoevgrad. Apparently, Bansko is one of the largest ski destinations in Eastern Europe, and even though we chose not to ski, we were still able to have an amazing weekend and experience the beauty of the mountains. We were picked up by the hotel transport on Friday afternoon, and shortly later, were shortly checking into our hotel, which was a quiet, quaint place set off the main road in Bansko.

Our hotel

Quickly dropping our things off, we were excited to explore the town, which we spent the rest of the afternoon doing, choosing where to eat dinner and picking up some authentic Bulgarian candies that were out of this world.

For dinner that night, we went to a Mehana, which is a traditional Bulgarian restaurant. We spent about three hours there, slowly making our way through the different courses and finally ending up with amazing desserts. I had the greatest baklava I've ever had.

The Mehana we ate at, Cardaka Tavern

Baklava!

The following morning, after a delicious breakfast at the Mehana in our hotel, we were driven to the base of the mountain by Carl, our hotel driver, receptionist, and probably owner, who was most likely pretty sick of us by the time we left. Although the weather was cloudy, we took the gondola as far up the mountain as we could and spent the early part of the day in the ski lodge, drinking hot cocoa, eating Bulgarian chocolate, and people watching. After a bit, we made our way back down the mountain and spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing in the sauna and steam room in our hotel.

Being that none of my friends or I have a birthday while we are here in Bulgaria, we decided we had to have some special celebrations somehow! So Saturday night, our reason to celebrate was my half birthday. Yes I know, such an important event. We went out to a place called the Lion’s Pub and ordered the traditional Mexican we’d all been craving since we got here! After a few margaritas, the Lion’s Pub was quickly becoming our favorite place!

Delicious nachos with beans done the Bulgarian way!

On Sunday morning, we woke up to a clear, beautiful day in Bansko! We could see the mountains from our balcony for the first time all weekend! After breakfast, we browsed the souvenir shops one last time, and walked up the road to the base of the ski mountain to get a clearer view of the gorgeous peaks that were literally surrounding us by 360 degrees. We made one last stop at a cute coffee shop, then headed back to the hotel to catch our ride back to Blago! The scenery on our way out of the mountains was equally as gorgeous, riding through snow-covered forests and eventually back into the city of Blago, which we were all surprised to see had gotten some snow while we were gone!

Although we had an incredibly fun time in Bansko, my friends and I all agree that we are ready for our next trip to a place with a bit of a warmer climate: Thessoliniki, Greece in two weekends! And if all goes well, we will be booking that one tomorrow!