Koprivshtitsa / Shipka passet og Monumentet

Før vi fortsatte vores tur mod nye eventyr, måtte vi lige en tur omkring Hotel komplekset Starosel, for at forsyne os med endnu et par flasker rødvin.
Et besøg i den smukke højlands landsby Koprivshtitsa er et must. Byen med kun ca 2700 indbyggere ligger smukt placeret med skove, skovlysninger og floden Topolnitsa, omgivet af højdedraget Middle Sredna Gora, i en højde af 1060 m over havet.
Byen er smuk med gamle velholdte huse. Bl.a. findes her Todor Kableshkovs hus. Todor Kableshkov var ifølge legenden den første der affyrede et skud og dræbte en tyrkisk politimand , den 20. april 1876, som var starten på april oprøret.

Vi gik rundt i den smukke by, og besøgte naturligvis byens museum, med ca 300 monumenter af historisk og arkitektonisk værdi.

Vi fandt også en fantastisk smuk restaurant, hvor vi indtog vores frokost foran pejsen, inden turen igen gik ud i den smukke natur.

Vi satte nu kursen mod Shipkapasset for at besøge frihedsmonumentet. Vi valgte at køre så langt op, som vi kunne, da der er næsten 900 trappetrin op til monumentet, og da der var sne nogle steder, kunne det måske blive lidt usikkert.
Turen gennem passet er så utrolig smuk med sine fantastiske efterårsfarver, og det var ren fornøjelse at køre denne tur, selv om det gik opad og opad. Skønheden på denne tur kan ikke beskrives med ord, så kig på billederne, og tænk så på, at hele denne tur foregik mellem 28. oktober og 11. november. Temperaturen lå konstant omkring 18 C, med lidt udsving til begge sider. Det var helt fantastisk at stå i sneen ved monumentet....uden at fryse, velvidende, at vi var rimeligt højt oppe i Balkan bjergene.
Balkan bjergkæden er i øvrigt både det spirituelle og det fysiske hjerte af Bulgarien, og der er spredt ud over hele området masser af klostre og historiske byer.

Before we continued our adventure, we had to get a few bottles of redwine at the Hotel complex Starosel.
A visit to the beautiful village Koprivshtitsa is a must. This city with only about 2700 inhabitants, is beautifully placed by woods, clearings and the river Topolnitsa, and surrounded by Middle Sredna Gora ridge, elevated at a latitude of 1060 m over sea level.
The city is beautiful with a lot of restored old wooden houses. There is the house of Todor Kableshskov. Todor Kableshkov was, according to the legend, the first to fire a gun and kill a turkish policeman at the beginning of the uprising on april 20th. 1876.

We strolled around the city to look at the houses, and went to visit the town museum, with more than 300 monuments of historic an architectural value.
Time for lunch, and we found a small, beautiful restaurant. They served very delicious food in front of the fireplace. Nice.

On we went, out we drove in the most beautiful naturescenes I imagined. The course were set to drive through the Shipka Pass, to visit the Monument of Freedom. We chose to drive as high up, as possible, because, there are almost 900 steps up to the monument, and most of them were covered with snow, so it would not have been so safe to walk all the way up.

The drive through the pass was so incredibel beautiful, and it really was a pleasure to drive there, though we went up and up. The scenery with the autumcolors was amazing, and it's almost indescribable, so look at the photoes. See for youselves, and please remember, this trip took place between october 28th. and november 11th. The temperatur was more or less 18C most of the time. It was amazing standing in the snow....without getting cold, knowing we were quit high up in the Balkan Range.
The Balkan Range are bothe the spiritual and thphysical heart of Bulgaria, and spread around in the area are scenic Monasteries and historic towns, which came to my knowledge later.