We’re in Greece! The original plan was to go straight to Istanbul, but the weather conditions in Romania and Bulgaria were such that we wanted to head south quicker. It’s not the picture-perfect Greece of white beaches, hot sun and drinks on the beach, but it’s not freezing at night either!
On day four we leave Zagreb for Serbia and after a short stop in Novi Sad we head south, passing through Belgrade and spending the night in a church car park in the middle of nowhere in Serbia. It’s a bit unusual for us, but the alternatives were a hiker’s car park, which we couldn’t get to because the road was icy, or another church, where we were ‘greeted’ by two stray dogs and a fire of undetermined origin.
We set off early the next day, taking a coffee break in Niš before heading to the Pirin National Park in southern Bulgaria. We’re pleasantly surprised by this country, which we had originally planned just to drive through. The beautiful views of the snow-capped mountains of Pirin National Park make us forget the low temperatures, especially at night.
We spend another half day here, Svenja and Apollo doing a couple of hours hiking while I visit the small town of Bansko. Although quite touristy, it is not too crowded at this time of year and I spend a few hours enjoying a coffee and a good read.
After lunch we get back on the motorway and head further south. We cross the border into Greece in the afternoon and set up camp at a reservoir in the mountains near Serres. Here we enjoy the last warm hours of the day and the sunset over central Macedonia.