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Abroad, Guests, Iceland

Adventure: Georgia Koseva in Iceland – Part two

posted by Dario
Dec 11, 2018 895 0 0
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Sky full of colors

  • (Places you can’t visit)
  • Part two

(Places you can’t visit)

Part two

“Travel is more than the seeing of sights; it is a change that goes on deep and permanent, in the ideas of living.”

The biggest cliches are usually true. And maybe this is why they are cliches.  Ordinary and time-worn,the phrases like “Go where you feel most alive”, “The journey is the destination”, “Live, love, travel”, impersonate the hidden desire of every free spirit, with curiosity for the unknown and thirst for adventures. So is Iceland banal. In front of you – an endless horizon and yet you’re impressed by your soft steps in the moss. Behind you – an active volcano, but you keep staring at the orange pink clouds. In the distance – you can hear a vigorous waterfall,but you admire the taste of the clear Icelandic water from the river. This can go on forever… because Iceland is a cliche where you sleep under the stars,chase the waves, gather tiny stones as a memory and you are happy, as someone will say that the world is just this little island where problems and everyday issues do not exist.

Our adventure in Iceland began with a walk in Thingvellir National park and then we drove long towards the, interior of the island. So long that the sun was way gone and everything around was complete darkness. We’ve decided to spend the night near the Langjökull glacier. We were driving on a dirt road and with the time flying by, we were this close to giving up,but the place wasn’t that far… When in the middle of the darkness a thin, not very bright green line irradiated in the sky. It kept changing its shape,becoming brighter and fading within seconds.

That was it – we weren’t really looking, not even expecting the Aurora, but it found us. Don’t talk me physics,this is pure magic. Somewhere between the driving and the shoving of my face into the windscreen “so I can have a look too”, we found a really comfy place where we pitched up the tents over a blanket of soft moss. Comfortable will be quite ambitious to say the least for this first night. I would rather say explosion of emotions. While dining, we were freezing but somehow, we made a couple of long exposure pictures of the Aurora. But even that couldn’t keep me awake, so I hurried myself to sleep. (Mistake number one – never fall asleep while still cold.)

So logically, the morning after I woke up still freezing and in my usual bad mood, but it didn’t last for long because when I got out of the tent I realized where we actually were. In the middle of nowhere. Literally. Far from any trace of civilized life, but what a place! On one side of the road everything is covered with moss until the glacier river, which goes into the lake nearby and in the distance,  you can see the massive glacier. On the other side of the road there were only huge rocks and no sign of life at all. We were joking that it’s the perfect place to film a movie about Mars.

So, we drove off, excited about everything we were going to see for the next one week, but who would tell us that the thing we’ll remember forever deep inside of us has no name and destination.

And really – the journey itself was my favorite“destination”. The small towns with their colorful churches that we went through while stopping to refuel. The gorgeous mountains, volcanoes and volcano fields covered with moss are said to be the homes of the elves.

Little waterfalls in the distance, with no access to them, but there is a small farm underneath them. The meadows by the road where you can see the Icelandic sheep threading quietly and the Icelandic horses, wild and obedient at the same time.

We were mostly driving on the ring road which goes around the island. It is nonetheless picturesque, but I was more attracted to the dirt roads. Not only they gave us the time to explore every detail of the horizon but they took us higher and lead us to different “roadside attractions”. One of those roads goes to the isolated mountain Vestrahorn. Somewhere on the side of the road there is was lake merging in one with the sky and all you can see is the endless blue horizon. From time to time a view to the ocean unveils – seemingly quiet and peaceful from distance.

But no matter how unbelievable everything was, I took it as normal. I took it for granted. It wasn’t there because of me. It was there before and it will be there way after I’m gone and as beautiful as it is – I’m just a bystander. I will never know what it’s like to have a farm under a waterfall or to prepare for the winter, because as they say, winter is tough out there. And I would just pack my backpack with the little stones and good memories and leave. It really is beautiful, but there are many beautiful places on Earth.

As I made my peace with this, Iceland surprised me and transformed me into a cliche for a couple of minutes. The day before we left while we were driving to the Snaefellsnes peninsula on the west coast, we were spending the golden hour on the road as usual. And somewhere there on the winding turns between the mountains, the low clouds below us colored in the spectrum of pink and orange. On places you can see the blue still sneaking as are minder that everything is real and it’s the same sky from a moment ago. Pink Floyd playing and the golden light is hitting the front of the car. With every next turn the colors would be brighter and I would be less likely to believe it’s real. In moments like these you just wonder whether to cry out of happiness, to scream out of excitement or to stay silent and try to remember everything.

Right there, still in euphoria I thought (although my mixed feelings about religion and everything that has to do with it) that heaven is not a place. What people are looking for is not a destination. The most beautiful scenery isn’t always the same. The most precious moment isn’t universal. My heaven was an absurd mixture of colors, light, music and the result from a week of sleeplessness and my dulled senses from everything we saw during that week and believe me – even three months wouldn’t be enough to explore the island. But maybe this is the purpose of visiting Iceland – to find your cliche even just as a guest. To remember it and to keep it in your thoughts from now on. Heaven exists, lasts just a couple of minutes and everything less than that is just filling the rest. And to end that cliche I’ll tell you: Look for the moment you can’t put into words. Who knows, you might as well find it on the edge of the polar circle?

Text and pictures Georgia Koseva.
You can follow Georgia and her adventures on her instagram profile

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Travel Blogger

Dario Dionisi



If you want to know something more about me – my soul is a traveler, my origin is Italian and my true essence is a faithful friend. I am always open to new ideas and will be very happy if you want to contact me at dario@beyondsofia.com

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To the Rhodopes we go! On this adventure we visit To the Rhodopes we go!

On this adventure we visited Sitovo waterfall - a place far away from the human and industrial hand and completely preserved by the surrounding nature. 

It is located in the Rhodopes, 30 km from Plovdiv, right at the junction between the beautiful Rhodope villages Sitovo and Lilkovo. They can be reached by a unpaved, but relatively flat road. The left road continues to Sitovo, and the right - to Lilkovo. 

Under the bridge at the fork, which turns to Lilkovo, the passing river has formed a cascade of waterfalls. The waterfalls have a maximum drop of about 2 meters and are extremely picturesque as you can see from the pictures.

 #Waterfall #Bulgaria #hike
Skakavitsa is the name of the highest waterfall in Skakavitsa is the name of the highest waterfall in the Rila Mountains. Located in Rila National Park. The waterfall is located on the Skakavitsa River in the Skakavishka Valley at the foot of the eastern slope of Kabul Peak, Northwestern Rila. It is located at 1950 m above sea level, and the height from which the water falls is 70 m.

The hike can be challenging during the winter but the final destination is pure wonderland. Although you can visit the waterfall every season because it is always “working”. Skakavitsa is in fact one of the most majestic and amazing waterfalls in Bulgaria, so don’t miss to visit it.

#Bulgaria #Waterfall #hike
Happiness is having a travel partner and dog like Happiness is having a travel partner and dog like Yuki-Doro!

Can't describe how much I love this little sassy piece of fur. 😄

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The water falls from a height of 49 meters, making the waterfall the highest in the Rhodopes.

This waterfall is absolutely magical so it is worth to do the hike to reach the place even if at some spots it is a little bit difficult but the pleasure and views at the end is worth doing the hike!

#bulgaria #hike #dog
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There we went to the beautiful village of Manastir. Near the village is situated the waterfall "Holy Spirit". Its height is about 15 meters and is the highest in the period April - June. The waterfall is located on the river Manastirska and is about 1.5 km walk from the center of the village of Manastir. It was declared as natural landmark in 1965, and the area of 0.5 ha around it is protected.

Curious fact:
The village of Manastir is the highest altitude village on the Balkan Peninsula - 1500 meters above sea level.

#Waterfall #Bulgaria #hike
Our last gem waterfall in Belasitsa mountain will Our last gem waterfall in Belasitsa mountain will be the Sramejlivetza waterfall or directly translated in english the Shy waterfall.

The waterfall is located on the river Kameshnitsa between the villages Samuilovo and Kamena. It is locked by a rock in the shape of the letter "P", which surrounds the entire gorge, starting from the waterfall. It is 21 meters high, making it the highest waterfall in the Belasitsa mountain.

It is quite impressive and its totally worth it to go over all the obstacles that the trail has.

#waterfall #bulgaria #hike
Exploring the Mangaro waterfall another nature gem Exploring the Mangaro waterfall another nature gem of Belasitsa mountain.

#Bulgaria #waterfall #hike
Let’s open the season of the waterfalls! Finall Let’s open the season of the waterfalls!

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The first waterfall is called waterfall Dubitsata - an easily accessible spot. The hike is around 40-50 min depending of your speed of walking.

It is a wonderful place to explore and to dive into the Belasitsa mountain’s nature.

The face of our mountain expert Yuki-Doro is the living proof of this experience!

#Waterfall #Bulgaria #hike
Click bait post! Just joking, or maybe not? Last Click bait post! Just joking, or maybe not?

Last week we had the chance to visit once again one my most favourite Eco paths in Bulgaria – View to nine mountains.

I always say that only because you visited a place once that doesn’t mean automatically that this spot is not worth visiting again. On the contrary, it is much more worth it to do that. In that way you can see how the place has developed, changed or just refresh your old memories here or even create new ones!

An adventure is always an adventure no matter whether the place is new or old, it is just up to you and how you will live it!

#bulgaria #hike #dog
The Radetzky was an Austro-Hungarian passenger ste The Radetzky was an Austro-Hungarian passenger steamship built in 1851 in the shipyard in Óbuda, Hungary, and used for regular services on the Danube, mainly between Orşova, Austria-Hungary and Galaţi, Romania. Named after Bohemian nobleman and Austrian general Joseph Radetzky von Radetz, it is most notable as part of the history of Bulgaria as the ship which revolutionary and poet Hristo Botev and his band bloodlessly hijacked and used to reach Kozloduy, Bulgaria.

On 29 May 1876, after the ship left the port of Bechet, the Bulgarian revolutionaries, who had boarded it from different ports disguised as gardeners, forced the captain Dagobert Engländer to change course and transport the group to the Bulgarian port of Kozloduy, from where they would attempt to organize an anti-Ottoman uprising as a follow-up to the already crushed April Uprising of the same year.

Nowadays the steamship Radetzky is a national relic of Bulgaria. A village in Sliven Province bears its name, Radetski, and national writer Ivan Vazov wrote a poem based on the events of May 1876, which is today a popular patriotic song called Still White Danube Undulates.

#Bulgaria #history #museum
God's Bridge also known as Jabokrek, is a natural God's Bridge also known as Jabokrek, is a natural rock bridge in the Chirensko-Lilyashki karst region about 15 km north of Vratsa. It is about 20 meters high, 25 meters wide, and along its main axis the "tunnel" formed by the Lilyachka River is about 100 meters long. During the dry months of the year, the river under the bridge dries up and there are several ponds full of frogs. Hence the other name under which this rock phenomenon is known.

The place is quite phenomenal and it’s very interesting to explore. Here you can easily hike for an hour and enjoy the nature that offers not only this but a long side river with small waterfalls, amazing panoramic views and also a bit of history thanks to the vicinity of Borovanska Mogila where remains of a fortress from Roman times are found.

#Bulgaria #nature #hike
Dive in the animal kingdom of Budapest. Being hug Dive in the animal kingdom of Budapest.

Being huge fan of animals, it was a must for me to visit the zoo of Budapest after hearing so much positive feedback.

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During my visit here, I was surprised how well divided the the zoo is, every continent had its personalized building where you can enjoy the rich variety of animals and plants.

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Most of them can be found in the centre of the city in the so-called Jewish neighbourhood, also known as the creative spot of Budapest.

#Budapest #art #graffities
The little cultural art universe of Budapest. The The little cultural art universe of Budapest.

The Museum of Fine Arts is a magnificent example of how well preserved and maintained can one art space be. It is made up of international art (other than Hungarian), including all periods of European art, and comprises of more than 100,000 pieces. 

The Museum's collection is made up of six departments: Egyptian, Antique, Old sculpture gallery, Old master paintings gallery, Modern collection, Graphics collection.

Visitors can enjoy the enormous variety of pieces of art from different decades making this museum one of the best spots to visit in Budapest.

#Budapest #museum #art
Hungarian’s most iconic building ✨ I am sure Hungarian’s most iconic building ✨

I am sure that when someone hears about Hungary one of the first thing that pops in their mind is the building of the Parliament and for a reason. It is one of the most beautiful administrative buildings in the world! 🤩

Building this impressive edifice took 17 years, from 1885 to 1902, based on the design by the architect Imre Steindl. Richly decorated, both inside and out, was inspired by the Houses of Parliament in London, thus it was designed in Neo-Gothic style, although it also bears Renaissance and Baroque stylistic flourishes. The third largest parliament in the world, it was built on the 1000th anniversary of the foundation of the state of Hungary. 🤓

Nowadays you can visit the building with a special tour that will show you the most significant places inside and explain you details about the evolution and roles that this place took part in, in the past and now. 👀

#Budapest #building #architecture
Budapest – The little Paris 👀 Many people de Budapest – The little Paris 👀

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The answer is yes, in a very strange way. While exploring Budapest I could see the resembling style and symbol of East Europe but at the same time I could feel the Western influence in the buildings, atmosphere and in the overall view. 🧐

The city is a unique mix of both Europes, showing an interesting and intriguing side of the cultural treasure that our continent has. But probably one of the most important events that marked this place is when Budapest became officially a city in 1873, when the three neighbouring cities of Pest, Buda and Óbuda united.  The unification was extremely important and lead to a rapid development of the city that we can see nowadays. 🤓

#Budapest #Hungary #capital
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