First stop on the trip was Velingrad. The town is about three hours from Sofia by car. We set out after work on Friday and found ourselves at the hotel about three hours later--give or take. We took a couple of wrong turns, encountered a sea of potholes (which we renamed sharks because they are always there lurking and waiting to attack your car) and we stopped to take a number of photos.

[caption id="attachment_3673" align="alignnone" width="614" caption="View of Velingrad from the Hotel "]<a rel="attachment wp-att-3673" href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=3673"><img class="size-large wp-image-3673 " title="View of Velingrad from the Hotel " src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/IMG_6155-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="614" height="409" /></a>[/caption]

Velingrad is known as a spa town. But then again many of the towns in Southern Bulgaria seem to be known as spa towns. We walked into the hotel at 8pm so it was dark and steam was rising from all three outdoor pools. It was cool. We couldn't soak at night which seems like kind of a silly thing as the pools close at 8pm but we could eat dinner so that's what we did.

We walked to the town and ate at a nearly empty restaurant. Normally, I think that's a bad sign but the food was good and there was live music. Then in a totally small world moment one of our colleagues in the Business Dept at school walked into the restaurant with a big group of her Bulgarian friends. I never expect to see anyone I know when I am traveling in Bulgaria--I mean between students, colleagues and friends I probably don't know more than 500 people total in the country.

[caption id="attachment_3674" align="alignnone" width="614" caption="Aura Hotel (and me in the reflection)"]<a rel="attachment wp-att-3674" href="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=3674"><img class="size-large wp-image-3674 " title="Aura Hotel (and me in the reflection)" src="http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/IMG_6160-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="614" height="409" /></a>[/caption]

The next morning we had a wonderful breakfast at the hotel, Aura, which was included in the price of our room. After breakfast we put on our swimsuits and headed outside to soak in the outdoor pools. We ended up in the jacuzzi. It was lovely and very relaxing. A trip inside to the spa center revealed a sauna and a steam room and an indoor pool which we also used.

I could have stayed at the hotel for a whole week.

But, we were moving on.