[caption id="attachment_461" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="Carolyn &amp; Kate at Rila"]<img class="size-medium wp-image-461" title="CAE and Kate" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/dsc04787.jpg?w=225" alt="Carolyn &amp; Kate at Rila" width="225" height="300" />[/caption]

I went to Rila Monastery today with my friend Kate who's visiting and my friend from high school <a href="http://backinbulgaria.blogspot.com/" target="_blank">Matty</a> and his girlfriend.  I think that a group of four was the perfect size to make the trip to Rila Monastery.  Also, I was happy to have Matty along.  His Bulgarian is much better than mine but given the trip I could have done this on my own as well.  It's just that I still get a little flustered when someone speaks to me to fast or I don't recognize any of the words they are saying to me.

So you can take a bus from the West bus station in Sofia right to the monastery--the round trip ride is 20 Leva. One important thing to know is that this is not the main (or central) bus station so depending where you are living in the city it might be a little bit out of the way.  Nonetheless, this is apparently an improvement from earlier days where you had to take one bus to the city of Rila and then another bus up the mountain to get to the monastery.

The bus that we took today was older and the seats didn't have enough leg room for me.  It was also very full.  When we left the station the bus was completely full.  So it's probably better to be there eariler than we were.  Oh you buy tickets on the bus so you should come prepared with the right change. The bus stopped many times along the side of the road to take on new passengers and to let off  current ones--it appears that frantic waving at the side of the road will cause the bus to stop and that when you want off you stand up walk to the front of the bus and wait.  You may also have to tell the bus driver where you want off.  Luckily for those of us going to the monastery, you just get on, sit down and wait until you get to the front gate of the monastery.  Don't worry though, even with these small stops the ride is only 2.5 hours so it's not absolutely horrible. <!--more-->

And I have to say that I was very, very happy not to have to switch buses in the city of Rila because it was pouring rain.  However, a few minutes out of the city of Rila it started to snow.  Snow slush.  This was not supposed to be how our trip to Rila Monastery was to go. But apparently that's what we were going to get whether we liked it or not.

[caption id="attachment_459" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Rila in the wet snow"]<img class="size-full wp-image-459" title="Rila Monastery " src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/dsc04751.jpg" alt="Rila in the wet snow" width="500" height="375" />[/caption]

The pictures that I've seen of Rila are all bright and sunny.  The sky is blue and the mountains are green.  The monastery itself is a wash of bright colors.  Even though I was going to Rila in December I somehow expected this.  Anyhow, by the time we got there the snow was sticking to the ground. The sun was not out but the day was pretty bright.  The trees were dusted in snow rather than being a bright verdant spring green.  But, it was great.

The monastery colors may not have been as bright given the snow but it was a very inspiring place.

[caption id="attachment_460" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Arches at Rila "]<img class="size-full wp-image-460" title="Rila Arches " src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/dsc04819.jpg" alt="Arches at Rila " width="500" height="375" />[/caption]

Given today, I really understood way one would chose to build a monastery where Rila is.  Well, that and apparently God chose the location and told them to build it there.  Either way, the monastery is beautiful and I hope that my pictures do the place justice.

[caption id="attachment_462" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Paintings outside of the church at Rila "]<img class="size-full wp-image-462" title="Rila Church " src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/12/dsc04765.jpg" alt="Paintings outside of the church at Rila " width="500" height="666" />[/caption]