The day after my birthday, we continued our trip in Bulgaria. The capitol, Sofia, was an interesting city with a very elaborate underground road system. We don't often drive on a tram track, passing a bus station, and crossing intersections, all underground. It was a fun experience! The St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral was impressive in looks and size. It is one of the 50 largest Christian church buildings by volume in the world!
The border crossing from Vidin (Bulgaria) into Calafat (Romania) was a very interesting experience. First we had to pass a 9-kilometer long line-up of trucks, waiting to cross the border.... It was just a two lane road, so cars and campervans were passing them in the opposite lane! We were initially a little hesitant to do so, but quickly realized that if we did not want to stand here for days, we had to do it as well.
Both Bulgaria and Romania are within the European Union, but neither is a Schengen country. This means everybody has to stop at the border for a check of their goods, which results in long line-ups for mainly truck drivers.
We spent our first night in Romania at an abbey in Maglavit. John and Myron asked permission from the abbess who granted us permission to stay for the night, in this most beautiful spot.
We often use an app called Park4Night to find our next place to stay. There are different filters you can apply to find the spot you are looking for. Sometimes we are looking for a campsite, so we can take a shower and/or do laundry, other times we are looking for nature and a free spot.
In Arad, Romania, we found Mures Floodplain Natural Park, where we could stay for free for the night. It had the feel of FortWhyte Alive, a beloved place of ours in Winnipeg.
Everyone who has been following our previous blog knows that we are enthusiasts of finding "big things". Well, here we found a heron!
We continued through Slovakia into the Czech Republic to visit Prague. John and I have a very special place in our hearts for Prague as this was the city where we had our very first date, many many years ago :)
With the kids we enjoyed the many sights that make this city so special; the Charles Bridge, the Old Town Square with the Astronomical Clock, the Prague Castle, and the Jewish Quarter.
Our campsite was next to Prague's White Water Centre where we could see the national team members practice.
Prague also has some really cool art. The Dancing House, or Fred & Ginger, has been built on a historical piece of land in the city. It was the location of a house destroyed by the U.S. bombing of Prague in 1945.
The Head of Franz Kafka, born in Prague in 1883, is a kinetic sculpture with 42 rotating panels. Once an hour it all rotates for 15 minutes, to end up as a statue of Kafka again.
And... at the end of a long day of sightseeing, we got drenched in rain. Our first real rain in a long time.
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