Rudina Mountain 2023

April is almost over and this year it was a bit cold and rainy. This weekend was forecast to be cloudy and coldish again, with Friday being the only sunny day of the week. So husband and I decided - let's clear Friday and go for a hike, it would be such a fun to be along the trails on a workday.

The steep track from the village of Sirishtnik to peak Sirishtnishka Rudina (1172 m) in Rudina mountain is not very popular and yesterday we were the only two people there during the entire duration of our hike. The day, as promised, was sunny with a fresh chill in the air. Because of the cool April the wild lilacs and other trees and shrubs along the track were still not in bloom, unlike last year during the same time.

:The track is short but steep and provides quite a cardio exercise. I'm not in perfect form this spring and I've been thinking of adding running to my workdays, as I need to increase my cardiovascular endurance. At least this is what Chat GPT tells me I need to do to improve my hiking performance, when I asked it, as of course one does nowadays :)

:The scenery from the top of the otherwise low Rudina mountain is quite spectacular, the trail is also called a View to Nine Mountains, as the peak provides a clear view to most of the Bulgarian mountains.

Hike info:

Destination: Sirishtnishka Rudina (1172 m)

Mountain: Rudina

Total length: 8 km

Elevation gain: 480 m

Total duration (plus picnic and rests): about 3 hours

Average difficulty:  4 / 10

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

 

I: lingerie, Houndstooth Hoodie, Sabrina Slims

Husband: men's boxers, Knipmode cargo pants

:The village of Sirishtnik, once prosperous, but now seems almost abandoned

To The Blue Arrow Shelter 2023

A brisk and steep climb to the Blue Arrow shelter on Vitosha on a cloudy day. The forecasts promised rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon, and there were showers in the distance, but we were spared the heavenly water and happened only upon a few scattered snowflakes at the altitude above the 1600 m line.

Although the trail is fairly short, the elevation gain is significant and the climb was a good exercise in expectation of the more interesting and extreme hikes we have planned for this year - it is high time we got out of the comfort zone of easy hikes we've been favouring recently.

Hike info:

Destination: Blue Arrow Shelter

Mountain: Vitosha

Total length: 9 km

Elevation gain: 530 m

Total duration (plus rest): less than 3 h

Average difficulty: 4 / 10

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

 

Husband: men's boxers, Knip Mode cargo pants, Blue henley blouse

I: lingerie, Sinclair Lotte blouse, Houndstooth hoodie

A beautiful find - a white crocus in a field of purple crocuses:

We had never climbed this path in late April and didn't know whether to expect snow at the end of the trail, but at this altitude the snow was gone, thankfully. Up above the 2000 m altitude it will keep at least for a month or longer.

While on the way up I was clad only in a blouse, I was so soaked in sweat and cold on top, that on the way down I put on all of the clothes I had in my backpack.

:Rain in the distance. While we were up, it had rained down in the village of Zeleznitza, where we had left the car.

:The peaks of Rila in the distance. The snow there will keep until June, at least.

Vrana 2023

Probably the best of the Easter Holiday days, weather-wise, was the Saturday. 

Early in the morning I mixed and kneaded the dough for two loafs of normal bread and two other of Easter bread (kozunak), left them to rise and husband and I went for a walk in the Vrana museum park.

We love to visit the park every spring and it is always interesting to compare our impressions with previous years. This year the magnolias were early to bloom and were already withering mid-April, but the sakuras, the lilacs, the rhododendrons and rhubarb trees were far from blossoming. 

  :Although I enjoyed sewing my Queen's Gambit inspired dress, I actually never wear it. I opted to put it on as a sort of a farewell to it, as I don't think it suits my style and I don't feel particularly good in it. As much as I appreciate wearing the things I make, some (many?) of them were mistakes - style-wise / fabric-wise and there's nothing wrong in admitting it and discarding them to make room for better clothes.

:On the other hand, husband loves his new Houndstooth Hoodie and genuinely enjoys wearing it.

:We spent about two and a half hours, roaming the alleys of the park and then we returned home to Easter bread baking and egg coloring. I'm happy to report, my Easter breads this year were a huge success, I plan to write down the recipe in the blog for further reference, as it is a keeper.

:The giant magnolia trees, we found last year, were again in bloom