Bright and early, out and about!
 |
| Our accommodations in Melnik, the had the top front floor |
From Melnik, we headed up into the mountains to see Rozhen Monastery and to hike back through the mountains into town. It was a great way to spend a morning and get the legs stretched out! The entire open courtyard is criss-crossed with wires above your head that are ALL grape arbors. It was beautiful! Unfortunately, they do not allow pictures in this active monastery, but it is free and very peaceful to walk around.
 |
| Hiking up from the monastery to the trail head |
 |
| Abandoned church along the way |
 |
| Bulgarian tradition, leaving bracelets in trees |
Our beautiful walk in the mountains:
They were too active for me to capture a good image, but there were butterflies EVERYWHERE.
After our hiking, we climbed into the van for a day of driving and exploration of more small and traditional towns.
 |
| Leshten |
 |
| Leshten |
 |
| Leshten |
 |
| Kovachevista |
 |
| Kovachevista |
 |
| Kovachevista |
On our travels between towns we happened upon this AMAZING (I know, I say that a lot, but we really fortunate on these things that we happen upon during our travels) little winery and newly opened restaurant....seriously, it had just opened a few days prior!
 |
| Beautiful little restaurant |
 |
| Our outdoor seating |
 |
| Enjoying a beautiful day with a nice glass of house wine |
It was a warm day, so I spent some time traipsing through the sprinkler to cool down, and wandering through their large garden, vineyard, and orchard. They grew all of their own produce for the restaurant. We were also spoiled when they delivered us a plate of freshly picked and washed raspberries. The perfect side to a delicious bottle of red.
And further into the mountains we went for our evening, Trigrad bound!
