Рила

Today my student drove us and her mum to visit Рила (Rila) monastery. It's a beautiful oasis of calm in the trees half way along the Rila valley. On the way we saw more of the stunningly beautiful Bulgarian forests and at the monastery there were some cute cats [See extras]. At the end of the visit we took the car a few kilometres further to see the chapel containing the grave of Свети Йоан Рилски (Saint Ivan of Rila), a 10th century hermit whose followers founded the monastery. The chapel is next to his cave and, with a little care, one can enter, climb through it an out of a hole in the top. I found the hole first and descended. Anyone who can make the traverse is said to be a good person! However, the greatest pleasure of the short walk up from the road was being in one of the beautiful forests that we've been seeing from the road all week.