Day 39 - Sunday 30th May - Santorini, Greece

Finally a sleep in!!! Called for breakfast and they brought it up to our villa apartment balcony for us to eat it. Very nice. Weather - fantastic and sunny! Views everywhere - sensational! After our late breakfast we decided to walk the 10-15 minutes to get to Thira, or so we thought. It took us about an hour to walk through the cobbled footpath along the bay to reach Thira - whilst taking many photos and shopping along the way. Even met a lady, Alison, orginally from Melbourne, who now lives on this beautiful island with her Greek husband and 4 children.

Finally got to Thira, feet a little sore in my brand new leather thong shoes bought in Imerovigli, but all was well. Had lunch in one of the many open air bar restaurants overlooking the white houses and bay. So beautiful!

After luch we finally got to the main shopping alleys so nice and full of beautiful things (we did control ourselves)! Late afternoon we decided to takle the Local Bus back. So much easier on the feet plus a lot quicker too. Had a bit of a rest and a swim before deciding to go to Oia for the sunset. Got there by the Local Bus again right on sunset but unfrotunately it wa a non-event (I mean the sunset). So instead we looked for the blue churches - found them - shopped around and then back to our hotel. So picturesque even at night. We took sooo many photos!

Tonia

Day 38 - Saturday 29th May - Sofia, Bulgaria - Greece, Athens - Santorini

Early call 4:15am for the 3 hour drive to Sofia with lots of hugs, kisses and tears from me! Boarded the plane to Athens where we placed our big cases in to storage, then took the plane flight of "death" for Tonia to Santorini. Georgina had fallen asleep before take off and I had closed my eyes and tried to relax. Next to me on the window seat Tonia sat just about writing out her last will and testament, the flight was that bad! Tonia had her eyes closed and hands over her ears. Very glad to touch the ground and then took a taxi to Irini's Villa Resort in Imerovigli just past Thira. We explored the surrounding area, it was spectacular. We found a mini market and a lovely open-air restaurant - delightful La Maison.

Lynda

Day 37 - Friday 28th May - Bulgaria, Koprinka, Kazanlak

Had a bit of a sleep-in before having a lovely breakfast whichh Yordana had prepared for us of scrambled eggs, bread and coffee. Lovely!

Spas and his family, plus Yanka and her family came over and we all travelled to Kazanlak first to see about dad's land and then to look around the central city of Kazanlak. We returned to Miktor's for lunch before being driven to see the area of dad's land near Koprinka Dam. After this we drove to see the George Dimitrov Dam. Walked the length of the dam before returning to our cars and going back to Miktor's for a special dinner with all our relatives.

We had a lovely evening with all our relatives. We made a speech thanking them for all that they had done during our brief stay in Bulgaria. It had all been such a wonderful experience. We gave them some gifts from Australia as well. Another great experience! Did not have a very late night because we have to get up really early tomorrow morning for our 9:30am flight and it's a 3 hour drive to get back to Sofia!

Georgina

Day 36 - Thursday 27th May - Bulgaria, Gabrovo, Spitka

After having another sleep in (But not so late today) we had breakfast with Spas and his family before heading back to Miktor's house to go see another Bulgarian landmark, the old town of Gabrovo. Most of our relatives came along so there were 4 cars that went. We drove through the Balkan mountains again to get to Gabrovo to visit Etra. Etra is like Sovereign Hill except that it is a typical old Bulgarian village with windmills, waterwheels, weavers and old wares. Looked through this old town before we ate lunch. We also bought some nice silver jewellery and some typical Bulgarian pottery.

On our way back to Koprinka we journeyed to another Bulgarian landmark on top of a big hill called the "Spitka" where Bulgaria fought for their independence from Turkey. We walked all the way to the top of this monument which thankfully was broken up in sections with various memorabilia. Very interesting and great that we had a small break from circular staircases. The view from the top was magnificent. After the Shipka we went to see a grand golden Russian church before returning to Koprinka. We met Boryana's friends who were at a local outdoor bar.

A long day finished off with a lovely meal at a seafood restaurant with all of our relatives near the Koprinka Lake and Dam called "The Wall". We stayed at Miktor's again tonight.

Tonia

Day 35 - Wednesday 26th May - Bulgaria: Koprinka, Kazanlak, Veliko Tarnovo

Our second day at Koprinka and after a sleep in Christinka and Neno & family picked us up and took us out for a traditional Bulgarian breakfast in Kazanlak, which was round bread with spices and we ordered a cheese omelette and Georgina had a mushroom one. We also had coffee. Then we walked to the Thracian King's Tomb 3000BC. This has only recently been discovered. We entered the small doorway to a room with a dome which had beautiful paintings on the roof. Returning to our car we saw another horse and cart - we've seen quite a few of these. We said goodbye to Christinka and her family here and were driven by Spas and Venka to Veliko Tarnovo. Mitkor, Yordana, Yanka, Nikolai and Boryana travelled in another car. Veliko Tarnovo is where Boryana goes to university. We met her here (we needed our English translator) and then went to the palace/castle high up on a hill which had 360 degree views. We had wonderful weather. We left Veliko Tarnovo and returned to Kazanlak where we went to a supermarket. Interesting. Even more interesting was the crane feeding its young high up on a pole around the corner from Spas's house. We ended this lovely day at Spas's place for dinner and a stayover.

Lynda