Bulgaria - Magical Meadows in the Mountains
Are you ever like "what the actual heck am I doing?" I feel like my family and friends (the few loving readers that I have) think that Ive got it together, or at least think that I'm doing this fearless and with the utmost confidence, or maybe they don't. Either way, people generally seem to think that I dont get scared but I did get a little nervous for this part of my trip and Im really not sure why. In April I bought a ticket to a music festival called Meadows in the Mountains, which is set in the Rhodope mountains in Bulgaria. About a month before the festival I got an email saying they were looking for volunteers so in exchange for 24 hours of work I would get my ticket covered and room and board. Big baller on a big budget so I said I would definitely do it. This was my first proper music festival so I really had no idea what to expect. I think I was nervous because with traveling everyone doesn't really know what to expect but I thought for music festivals people would have their little groups of friends who have been to millions of festivals together and wouldn't really see a reason to interact with anyone else. I was mistaken.
I arrived in Sofia from Skopje and immediately (shouldn't quite say immediately because I was hopelessly lost and it seemed as though every person couldn't manage to point me in the direction of the city center which seemed a bit odd but alright) came across two lovely Irish girls from my hostel who also happen to be going to the festival so be grabbed dinner together. We stocked up on snacks for the festival and even then when I was mesmerized by the bread slicer in Lidl the guy getting his bread sliced was also a festivaler. My two roommates as well, Catherine and Julia, some of the sweetest girls Ive ever met, were going to Meadows. They were everywhere. I felt reassured that, based on the Irish girls, Catherine, Julia, and bread slice guy that the festival was going to be a good one.
The next day I woke up to catch the 7am shuttle which was actually at 9am from the airport. Im so glad that my turkey of a brain was not paying attention when I looked at my ticket because I wouldnt have met the loveliest group of people: Harry, Jasper, Liv, Alex, Ben, and Tash (and Jordy but that was later). Also big thanks to middle school gym for teaching me cool frisbee throws that continuously seem to impress those like Harry. Their shuttle was suppose to arrive at 5am but never did so a party and some frisbee ensued. When we got to the village at the base of the festival I checked in for all my volunteer stuff and thought that would be the last of seeing that bunch, but they let me crash in their tent because of the rain and from then on I became a part of their family. Thanks guys! The volunteering was super chill. Shifts were jobs from catering to lugging boxes of prosecco (midn you the name, mountains!) My favorite shift was on Friday where I manned the gate with the guards. I was curious to see what Bulgarian people thought of the festival and this was, at least according to the guards, a festival with "too many hippies and not enough clothes". Well alright. They were good fun though. I remember first entering the festival site on Friday amazed by the all the funky outfits and characters that were roaming around. LIke where do these people come from? It was like the first day of school. Thankfully I had my Meadows family who helped me get my funk on and always looked out for one another. That was the most beautiful thing about this festival. It was small enough (3000 people) where you felt like you knew everyone. By day 3 your like ohh hey its chaco guy and the pantless man and bee goddess chic. A little family formed so pretty much everyone there was caring towards one another. Also, anyone who knows me knows how much I love a good boogie so those days I had off I was off in the forest dancing away. OOh also another extra for Meadows were the crazy cool effects. Im talking sound, F1 speakers (shoutout to Jasper and Ben for educating me) and disco balls that shot out streams of light at night thanks to the fog. This little village just transforms all in the span of 4 days (from what it seems it transforms in a good way) 4 days flew by like that. It felt like I was just introducing myself to everyone and now they're giving me bracelets and hugs to remember our good times. Thank you guys for adopting me and making me feel like I fit right in. My heart is so full!
I spent two nights in Sofia after catching up with Catherina and Julia over some Bulgarian wine as well as taking a lovely bike ride around some of Sofia's multiple parks. I decided to go to Veliko Tarnovo for two nights just to see something a bit different (and also cause Hostel Mostel, the hostel I was staying in Sofia, had one there and they have free breakfast). Also can I just say that Bulgarian food surprised me with its tastiness. I was thinking meat and potatoes but no. The freshest tomatoes paired with sheeps cheese and eggs and a nice cabbage salad. Veliko Tarnovo was quite cool because I also ran into two festivalers, Luca and Ally. Both delights. We took a tour one day to a cultural center and the weirdest thing Ive ever been to, an abandoned ufo looking building created by the Bulgarian gov in 1981. It was abandoned in 89 and is now home to street art and decaying concrete. Imagine just taking a stroll in the woods and you come to a field with a massive ufo building with a shiny red star on top. what the actual heck? I headed back to Sofia for one more night before heading off to Belgrade. Bulgaria has got a lot to offer. Mountains, beaches, monasteries, weird communist era buildings, but of course a place to meet really great human beings.
I arrived in Sofia from Skopje and immediately (shouldn't quite say immediately because I was hopelessly lost and it seemed as though every person couldn't manage to point me in the direction of the city center which seemed a bit odd but alright) came across two lovely Irish girls from my hostel who also happen to be going to the festival so be grabbed dinner together. We stocked up on snacks for the festival and even then when I was mesmerized by the bread slicer in Lidl the guy getting his bread sliced was also a festivaler. My two roommates as well, Catherine and Julia, some of the sweetest girls Ive ever met, were going to Meadows. They were everywhere. I felt reassured that, based on the Irish girls, Catherine, Julia, and bread slice guy that the festival was going to be a good one.
The next day I woke up to catch the 7am shuttle which was actually at 9am from the airport. Im so glad that my turkey of a brain was not paying attention when I looked at my ticket because I wouldnt have met the loveliest group of people: Harry, Jasper, Liv, Alex, Ben, and Tash (and Jordy but that was later). Also big thanks to middle school gym for teaching me cool frisbee throws that continuously seem to impress those like Harry. Their shuttle was suppose to arrive at 5am but never did so a party and some frisbee ensued. When we got to the village at the base of the festival I checked in for all my volunteer stuff and thought that would be the last of seeing that bunch, but they let me crash in their tent because of the rain and from then on I became a part of their family. Thanks guys! The volunteering was super chill. Shifts were jobs from catering to lugging boxes of prosecco (midn you the name, mountains!) My favorite shift was on Friday where I manned the gate with the guards. I was curious to see what Bulgarian people thought of the festival and this was, at least according to the guards, a festival with "too many hippies and not enough clothes". Well alright. They were good fun though. I remember first entering the festival site on Friday amazed by the all the funky outfits and characters that were roaming around. LIke where do these people come from? It was like the first day of school. Thankfully I had my Meadows family who helped me get my funk on and always looked out for one another. That was the most beautiful thing about this festival. It was small enough (3000 people) where you felt like you knew everyone. By day 3 your like ohh hey its chaco guy and the pantless man and bee goddess chic. A little family formed so pretty much everyone there was caring towards one another. Also, anyone who knows me knows how much I love a good boogie so those days I had off I was off in the forest dancing away. OOh also another extra for Meadows were the crazy cool effects. Im talking sound, F1 speakers (shoutout to Jasper and Ben for educating me) and disco balls that shot out streams of light at night thanks to the fog. This little village just transforms all in the span of 4 days (from what it seems it transforms in a good way) 4 days flew by like that. It felt like I was just introducing myself to everyone and now they're giving me bracelets and hugs to remember our good times. Thank you guys for adopting me and making me feel like I fit right in. My heart is so full!
I spent two nights in Sofia after catching up with Catherina and Julia over some Bulgarian wine as well as taking a lovely bike ride around some of Sofia's multiple parks. I decided to go to Veliko Tarnovo for two nights just to see something a bit different (and also cause Hostel Mostel, the hostel I was staying in Sofia, had one there and they have free breakfast). Also can I just say that Bulgarian food surprised me with its tastiness. I was thinking meat and potatoes but no. The freshest tomatoes paired with sheeps cheese and eggs and a nice cabbage salad. Veliko Tarnovo was quite cool because I also ran into two festivalers, Luca and Ally. Both delights. We took a tour one day to a cultural center and the weirdest thing Ive ever been to, an abandoned ufo looking building created by the Bulgarian gov in 1981. It was abandoned in 89 and is now home to street art and decaying concrete. Imagine just taking a stroll in the woods and you come to a field with a massive ufo building with a shiny red star on top. what the actual heck? I headed back to Sofia for one more night before heading off to Belgrade. Bulgaria has got a lot to offer. Mountains, beaches, monasteries, weird communist era buildings, but of course a place to meet really great human beings.
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