The large Hotel Stara Planina had plenty of food at its buffet for dinner yesterday and at breakfast this morning. Families were milling around, parents encouraging their children to decide what to eat while others waited behind them. The hotel had two large, hairy, friendly dogs roaming around the bar and reception area. As I checked out, a lady was feeding them bits of sausage which I suspected were snaffled from the breakfast buffet. The dogs followed me out but as I offered them no food they transfered their attentions to more promising candidates.
Today I had a short distance to walk, under 20 kilometres, all downhill. I walked through woods of birch and later beech and oak. Higher up the branches of the trees were still bare, but spring had progressed lower down with a show of green leaves. When I woke the hotel had been encased in clouds after having rained overnight, these cleared and patches of sun periodically turned the new leaves a brighter shade of green. I would pull out my camera to take a picture only for clouds to cast a shadow again, making the trees look dull and lifeless, before I had an opportunity to frame a shot. At a small farm, with fences made of roughly cut branches, apple trees in blossom lined one side of the path. The hay was stacked in a large mound to dry.
As I passed fields I had two less friendly dog encounters. In both cases the dogs rushed at me barking aggressively. Their owners called them back without effect, the dogs ignored them. I kept them at the edge of my vision while continuing to walk at the same steady pace and eventually they gave up.
Unfortunately I missed a turn, day dreaming as usual. I had walked a good kilometre downhill in the wrong direction before I realised my error. It was then a long and sweaty climb back up to the correct path. Towards the end of today's walk there was a river to cross, fortunately, although I had to remove my boots, the water did not reach my knees.
Although I had expected to camp tonight, on checking online this morning, a Bed & Breakfast which had previously been full now had a spare room for tonight. I immediately booked it. On arriving it seemed I was unexpected. I explained to someone on a phone who spoke English that I had booked (albeit belatedly) and was given a room, a cup of coffee, a small portion of berries in syrup (a local tradition) and a rakya (a more alcoholic local tradition). There then followed a conversation on Google Translate about dinner and whether I was fasting. I wondered why we discussing fasting when talking of eating dinner, it took me a while to decide she was referring to the Orthodox tradition of avoiding meat and other foods in Lent, which ends tomorrow on Easter Sunday. We settled on fish, it appears there are categories of fasting.
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