Up early for a sunrise.

And now the Daily

Vidin is a Danube port on the edge of the Bulgarian-Serbian border.

Breakfast first with a cup of coffee

The Belogradchik Rocks are a group of strange shaped sandstone and conglomerate rock formations located on the western slopes of the Balkan Mountains.  The result of millennia of weathering, river erosion, freezing, and countless other factors, these formations are considered Bulgaria's great natural wonder. Many rocks have fantastic shapes and are associated with interesting legends.  There is a very unusual fortress that is built right into the striking Belogradchik Rocks.  The fort wasbegun in Roman times and then greatly extended by Bulgarian tsars and the Ottomans. Of note, the tour guide did mention that 80% of the population was Christian and 10% were Muslims.

Among two of the most famous and most curious legends surrounding the rocks are that of the Madonna and the Schoolgirl. In the legend of the Madonna, a beautiful nun falls in love with a man on a white horse, gets pregnant, is cast out by the monks and as she is leaving the nunnery, day turns to night and all, Madonna, monks, man on the white horse are turned to stone forming the rocks.

The schoolgirl’s legend is remarkably similar. It also concerns a beautiful girl (who seem to be especially prone to being turned to stone) , replace the nuns with a mean schoolmaster, her love interest is a blacksmith, and this time she is being chased by the schoolmaster and runs into a bear, when—kazam!—as before all are turned to stone.

This is one of the folklore of a girl going to school (see above and below) and to the left of her is a bear.

This photo was taken from the hotel across the rocks which had a great view

These are two people from our Cruise. I took this picture because I wanted to show the tourist attraction and yet the lack of security cables or safety net for those "crazy" enough to want to get a picture while standing on the edge.

A picture of me standing close to the edge....but not too close. I had a guy take a picture of me and he asked if I wanted a video to take in the surrounding area...I answered that I wanted just a picture....in case I fell, I didn't want the video to record my yelling !!! lol Look down to my left at the people going through the gates...that is where I came from...and they still have to go even lower to that whitish rock at about 3 o'clock on the picture.

You can see why this rock formation is so sought after by tourists. The view is spectacular.

The walk up was easier than the walk down

Getting ready for supper after a hard day

Where else can you sit and have a meal and look out upon the water as the ship is slowly sailing towards another destination

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