Early Autumn Manastirishte 2025

After the high mountain hikes in July and August and the sea vacation in Greece, this weekend we opted for something easy and comfortable as a pair of old house slippers :) - the trail from the village of Plana to peak Manastirishte.

Despite the cold nip in the air in the mornings, September is still warm, even hot on some days. Yesterday was one of these days, with lots of sun and a few photogenic clouds, scattered on the blue sky.

For our experienced legs the hike on Plana felt more like a walk in the park and we climbed the peak in less than an hour.

Hike info:

Date: 13 September 2025

Destination: peak Manastirishte (1338 m)

Mountain: Plana

Total length: 8 km

Elevation gain: 160 m

Total duration (plus picnic): 2 and a half hours

Average difficulty: 2 / 10 

The scenery is becoming more autumnal, with yellow grass and first yellow and red leaves here and there.

We had our picnic on the peak - tasty tortillas and a cold beer, with a view to Vitosha's formidable slopes and ridges.

Me-made items, worn on this hike:

Husband: boxers, Burda Cargo pants, Burda blouse

I: lingerie, Burda Jeans, Burda raglan blouse 

And back to the village along an alternative trail. Manastirishte is one of those staples in our hiking repertoire, where the drive to the starting point takes almost a long as the hike itself, but it is worth it every time, as we just love the place, its casualness and tranquility.

Banana Muffins

The more one knows about cooking, the more free one feels to experiment and create concoctions in the style of "the contents of my fridge". Thus today I mixed a batch of banana muffins and they turned out so delicious, that I decided to write down the recipe for further reference.

What I had were a  bunch of bananas, that according to husband were not very tasty, some open cup of yogurt and chocolate chips, and of course, flour, eggs, sunflower oil and other household staples.

 Ingredients:

• 1 average banana
• 1 egg
• 60 g sunflower oil
• 50 g sugar + a pinch of salt
• 100 g yogurt
• 200 g flour
• 8 g baking powder
• vanilla extract
• chocolate chips 

 Preparation:

Mash the banana, add the egg, the oil, the yogurt, the sugar and a pinch of salt and mix. Fold in the flour with the baking powder. Add the vanilla extract and stir in the chocolate chips. Distribute the batter into 12 muffin forms and bake in a preheated oven at 190C until golden.

The resulting muffins are very fluffy and the semi-sweetness (only 50 g sugar) allows the taste buds fully to appreciate the distinct banana taste and the bitter-sweet flavour of the chocolate chips, a classic and timeless combination.

Best enjoyed with a cup of freshly brewed hot coffee or tea. 

Kalyves Polygyrou 2025

We just returned from our vacation in Greece, which further confirmed my love for this country - I love the sea, the food and the sun there and the laid back atmosphere at the seaside always charges my batteries, at least for a while :)

We chose a comfortable accommodation right on the shore in one of the Greek villages on Halkidiki.

The fact, that we were practically on the beach, allowed us to have a very flexible individual program. I love to wake up early and to have long walks, which I did, while the boys still relaxed in bed. One morning I woke early enough to welcome the sunrise at the beach. Every morning I was able to have my coffee on the beach, I ran on the sand early in the morning and cooled in the quiet waters of the sea, it was bliss.

In the evenings husband and I went for walks around the shore

or enjoyed a cold beer on one of the terraces, facing the sea.

Enjoying a mug of cold beer and buyurdi at a lovely local restaurant

We also explored two interesting beaches not far from us. The red rocks of Metamorphosis on Sitonia was an amazing place with stunning red rocks, green Mediterranean pines and little coves. We found a perfect place under a big pine tree, providing natural shade and spent a glorious afternoon there, swimming, diving and basking in the sun.

Another interesting and very different beach was Agios Mamas near Kassandra. It was a wild long sand strand, with lots of seagulls, sand lilies and very hippie vibe, I loved it!

On our way back we visited the Petralona cave - one of the most richly decorated with stalagmite formations caves that I have seen, and I have seen plenty of caves in Bulgaria; definitely worth the little detour from the route.

We are so happy with our Greek vacation, can't wait to return to the sea next year.