We invite you to call Sarah or Gwen at 1-800-762-4216 to request the full brochure. The brochure will include Important Traveler Information (and answers to most questions) and a Reservation Form. We can send the brochure through the Postal Service or as a PDF attachment. If you would like to receive a PDF, probably the best way to keep the message from going into a SPAM filter is to send a message to sarahb@serioustraveler.com. If you are already on our mailing list, no need to complete the entire brochure request form.
Easter in Bulgaria Tour April 16 - 25, 2011 • 10 Days
$2760 per person double occupancy
Beginning and ending in
Sofia, Bulgaria
Single Supplement: $560
A Taste of Romania Tour April 25 - May 11, 2011 • 7 Days
$1990 per person double occupancy
Beginning and ending in Bucharest, Romania
Single supplement: $570
Dear Phi Mu Sisters, Families and Invited Friends of Phi Mu,
We are presenting two carefully designed tours for Phi Mu travelers this spring, which allow you the option of taking one or both. We have operated trips to both Bulgaria and Romania in the past and we enthusiastically offer these two itineraries. Of course any of your family, young and of a certain age, are welcome. You may make your own air arrangements or we can assist.
I’m fully aware that this is late notice, but we hope you’ll be able to adjust your schedule and participate in this unique Easter experience.
We are asking for reservations by January 6th so we know if we have the minimum required to operate the trip. We hope to be able to add more later. We’ll be in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria for Palm Sunday and tour for 10 days through quaint villages and millennia old cities such a Roman Plovdiv, visiting UNESCO World Heritage Sites, the Valley of Roses, and learning about the Thracians and local customs.
We’ll enjoy private concerts and special events. A highlight will be Easter Midnight Mass at Rila Monastery. Together we’ll discover the enchanting land of Orpheus (the magical musician of antiquity), Dionysus (the God of Wine), and the rebellious Spartacus. With this trip, we’ll have the pleasure of immersing ourselves in these well- and lesser-known cultures. Forget the myth that former communist states are gray and drab. The country fairly bursts with color.
Our tour connects us with the modern Bulgarian people’s peaceful, balanced and joyful lifestyle. You’ll have a chance to meet them at Easter festivities and in restaurants, museums and numerous sidewalk cafés. (Incidentally, the San Francisco Chronicle notes there are more coffee shops in Sofia than in Paris!) The Bulgarians invariably find a friendly way to share their culture with us. We can always learn something new and exciting from one another.
We hope you’ll also continue to Romania. In fact, if you can’t make Bulgaria, maybe you could join us for just Romania.
Please help us spread the word. Sarah and I look forward to welcoming you and preparing you for another Phi Mu adventure.
-Gwen Erwood
Phi Mu, Delta Epsilon Chapter, Purdue University
Read what our past traveler, Jo Weiss, wrote about our Bulgaria trip Click Here (to load PDF)
Day by Day Itinerary
April 16 Arrive Sofia
Saturday Please make your flight reservations from the U.S. on April 15, so as to arrive in Sofia April 16. We will assist with your flight and transfer if you wish.
Arrive in Sofia and relax. Have some free time this afternoon before a welcome drink and informational dinner. Overnight in Sofia. (D)
Hotel Crystal Palace****
April 17 Palm Sunday
Sunday in Sofia We’ll spend the day in Sofia to get acquainted with its history and sites during a sightseeing tour of the city. Enjoy the festival, with concerts on the square by the Bulgarian National Theater Orchestra and St. Lazarus dancers. We have a special festive lunch and then a visit to Boyana Church, a UNESCO site, built and painted between the 11th and 14th centuries. The frescoes, dating from 1259 are considered an artistic precursor to the Italian Renaissance, which started two centuries later. At the National History Museum, you will be introduced to Bulgarian history and can see some of the most significant findings excavated in Bulgaria. (B,L)
Hotel Crystal Palace****
April 18 Sofia
Monday Koprivshtitza
Kazanluk Morning drive to Koprivshtitza—one of the typical Bulgarian towns still preserving the atmosphere of the Bulgarian National Revival period. The town is huddled in the mountain folds 70 miles east of Sofia. The town is said to be a unique combination of rich history and fascinating present. No other Bulgarian “museum town” boasts such a large number of houses and monuments—383 in all, most of which have been restored to their original appearance. While walking in the paved narrow streets, we feel we are transported to the erstwhile revival times.
Have lunch with the priest of the local church and then proceed to Kazanluk. Before dinner you are in for a treat, listen to the strains of an orthodox a cappella choir as the sounds of their voices resonate in the church’s lofty vaults—a truly extraordinary experience. Drive 143 miles total today and overnight in Kazanluk. (B,L,D)
Hotel Crystal Palace****
April 19 Kazanluk
Tuesday Stara Zagora
Plovdiv Morning city tour of Kazanluk — the center of the Valley of the Roses and the Valley of the Thracian Kings. We have the chance to visit some of the original Thracian Tombs and the local history museum with its collections of golden artifacts discovered in the area.
After a lunch break, we continue to the town of Stara Zagora to visit the Neolithic Dwellings Museum. This museum holds the earliest best preserved European dwellings dating back to the 6th Millennia BC. Arrive in Plovdiv—the second largest town in Bulgaria with millennial history. It has a well preserved “old town” with houses built during the 18th and 19th centuries.
Drive 81 miles total today and overnight in Plovdiv. (B,L)
Hotel Trimontium****
April 20 Plovdiv
Wednesday Today we explore the town of Plovdiv. Our tour starts in the Old Town at the Roman theater, and continues to the Houses of the Hindlian and Balabanov’s families, wealthy merchants of the 19th century. Enjoy browsing through the numerous galleries and antique shops located in Old Town. Stop for a coffee break at one of the elegant restaurants in a beautifully restored home before departing to Bachkovo monastery in the afternoon. Lunch near the monastery. It can be in a private home of Efrosina or at the famous monastery’s restaurant. Before we return to Plovdiv we have the opportunity to taste local wine at one of boutique private wine cellars of the region. Overnight in Plovdiv. (B,L)
Hotel Trimontium****
April 21 Plovdiv – Velingrad
Thursday Bansko We leave the fertile Thracian Plain to enjoy the views of the scenic road across the Rhodopes Mountains. Stop in the spa center—the town of Velingrad. Here we join local people to paint and dye Easter eggs and listen to a concert by a group of local gentleman. We continue to the town of Bansko, located at the foothills of Pirin Mountain just below the marble Vihren peak (9,563 feet). The town has preserved its old central part, but is now surrounded by a winter-mountain sport center. Dine tonight at a private tavern in the old town. Drive 115 miles total today and overnight in Bansko. (B,L)
Hotel TBA****
April 22 Bansko
Holy Friday Gotze Delchev
Village of Pirin Melnik Before leaving Bansko we visit the church of The Holly Trinity and participate in the ritual of passing under the table with Jesus Christ’s symbolic shroud.
We drive further southward to reach the town of Gotze Delchev and then crossing the lower parts of Pirin Mountain, we will arrive at the smallest town in Bulgaria—Melnik.
The area of Melnik is famous for its wine, beautiful sand-stone formations and typical architecture dating back to the late Ottoman period. Drive 56 miles total today and overnight in Melnik. (B,L,D)
Hotel TBA***
April 23 All day in Melnik
Saturday Today we explore the town of Melnik and its surroundings. See the old houses, the fabulous sand-stone formations and the Rozhen Monastery. This is the day women are expected to bake the traditional Easter bread (and there may be enough for lunch). We learn how to make it according to the old recipes of Melnik, when we visit a family. Our hosts are young, but the tradition is still well kept in their home.
After lunch we drive to the famous Rila Monastery. We will try to book rooms in the monastery for overnight or will stay at little hotel nearby. Dinner in nearby restaurant with the optional opportunity to participate in Midnight mass at Rila Monastery’s main church.
Both accommodations are extremely simple, just a bed in the room, no TV, no radio, but the serenity of being there at that magic night is a unique once-in-a-lifetime experience.
The exquisite Monastery of Rila (pictured on page 1 of this brochure) is situated deep in the heart of Rila Mountain at an altitude of 3766 feet above the sea level. It is a virtual outdoor museum. Prepared with warm clothes, shoes, gloves and a hat, we can enjoy the celebration that takes place in the monastery courtyard. (B,D)
Rila Monastery or nearby hotel
April 24 Rila monastery
Sunday Sapareva Banya
Easter Sofia Have a leisurely late breakfast to celebrate Easter morning in a restaurant nearby the monastery. We leave monastery and drive northward to arrive for lunch in the spa village of Sapareva Banya—the place with the hottest mineral water spring in Bulgaria. We have Easter lunch with the villagers from Sapareva Banya and partake of home prepared traditional dishes of the day: roast lamb, salads, Easter bread. The holiday is not complete without an Easter Egg battle. Drive 155 miles total today and return to Sofia for overnight. (B,L)
Hotel TBA
April 25 Sofia
Monday
Easter After breakfast, the morning is free until it is time to depart to the airport. (B)
A Taste of Romania extension April 25 - May 1, 2011
Read what our past traveler, Jo Weiss, wrote about our Romania trip Click Here (to load PDF)
Day by Day Itinerary
April 25 Arrive
Monday Bucharest Welcome to Romania! Check in to our well-located hotel and stroll around in Lipscani area. Dinner is at our hotel. (Optional performance at the Athenaeum, subject to scheduling.) (D)
**** Ramada Majestic Hotel
April 26 Bucharest - Sinaia
Tuesday Brasov We start the morning with a visit to the Parliament House, the megalomaniacal project of the communist dictator Ceausescu. Leaving Bucharest, we head towards Ploiesti; its history and today’s activity are related to refineries and the petroleum industry. But not far from the city, hectares of vineyards fill the hills. The area lies on the 45th degree parallel, the same latitude as the French area of Bordeaux. As we are in the wine country, we enjoy a lunch in a winery and, of course, have a taste of wine.
After lunch, we continue to Sinaia, to visit Peles Castle – a royal palace built as a summer residence for the first king of Romania, Carol I. The castle was constructed between 1875 and 1883 in a German Renaissance style. In the evening, we arrive to Brasov for overnight accommodation in the center. Brasov (Kronstadt) was originally a Saxon fortress and still exudes echoes of Krakow. Take a gentle walk from our hotel in the Council Square to admire the beautiful Black Church, Europe’s most eastern Gothic church and one of the most beautiful in Romania. Dinner is at Sirul Vamii Restaurant, accompanied by live piano music. (B,L,D)
Aro-Palace Hotel *****
April 27 Bran - Viscri
Wednesday Sighisoara We drive 30 km southwest of Brasov to visit the famous Bran castle, built in 1377. In 1920 the castle became the summer residence of Queen Marie of Romania, the granddaughter of Queen Victoria of England. The castle is strangely linked to Count Dracula even though it is doubtful that Vlad the Impaler ever spent the night here. Continue our drive to Viscri, located in a remote hidden valley in the heart of Transylvania. Here, an English-Romanian foundation called Mihai Eminescu Trust, has restored part of the church and at least 50 facades in the beautifully preserved village. The white fortified church that gives the village its Saxon name, Deutschweisskirch, is UNESCO-designated. Have a look inside accompanied by a local Saxon guide. The town of Viscri was visited twice by HRH Prince Charles of Wales, who also owns a house here. Enjoy a private lunch with a Saxon family in the village. We head to the fascinating medieval town of Sighisoara for an overnight accommodation right in the old center. (B,L)
Casa Wagner ***
April 28 Sighisoara
Thursday Biertan
Richis - Malancrav Sighisoara is considered to be the most beautiful and complete medieval architectural assemble in Romania and the most beautiful inhabited citadel throughout Europe. The medieval citadel is perched on a hillock and is fortified with a 14th century wall. The rooftop views from the Clock Tower museum are not to be missed! We make an excursion 18 miles west to Biertan, where we find the largest Saxon defensive fortress. With its three surrounding walls, Biertan is considered to be among the most fantastic structure of the Saxon heritage in Transylvania. The fortified church is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Not far from Biertan, hidden in the valley, we find Richis and its beautiful Gothic church, unique in Romania for its stone carvings and the green men. Decrypt the secrets of the church with the Saxon gentleman who opens it for you, Mr. Schass. Then have a private lunch in Richis with a local family in a fine restored Saxon house. We make one more stop in Malancrav to admire the 15th century frescoes of the church, the widest frescoes which remain in a Lutheran church. Outside the church lies the very well restored Apafi Manor. Return to Sighisoara for overnight accommodation. (B,L)
Casa Wagner ***
April 29 Sighisoara
Friday Sibiel - Sibiu Crossing the Transylvanian Plateau, we head closer to the Middle Carpathians. In the mountain foothills we visit the Glass Icons Museum in Sibiel (the largest one in Europe), and then we enjoy a lunch with a view over the village. There is time to explore Sibiu in the afternoon, the first town in Romania that in 2007 bore the title European Capital of Culture together with its twin town in western Europe, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Sibiu has gathered together nearly 80 hectares of old architecture; it is one of the best-preserved medieval towns in southeastern Europe. Dinner is at a traditional restaurant. (B,L,D)
Ramada Sibiu Hotel ****
April 30 Olt Valley
Saturday Hurez Monastery Curtea de Arges
Bucharest We drive south along Olt valley to Bucharest, again passing the Carpathians. We make small detours to visit Hurez monastery and Curtea de Arges. Hurez monastery was built by Prince Brancoveanu in 17th century, while Curtea de Arges is the place where the kings of Romania are buried. Have lunch with the nuns in Hurez monastery. Continue to the capital city. Bucharest’s first documentary attestation dates back to 1459 (only six years after the tragedy of Christianity- the fall of Constantinople), when a princely residence and military citadel were established under the chancellery of Prince Vlad Tepes. The oldest settlement in Bucharest is the Old Princely Court (Curtea Veche), built by Vlad the Impaler as the official residence of the Walachian princes. You can still see its ruins today. Overnight accommodation is in Bucharest at the same hotel as first night. Dinner is at a traditional restaurant with live folk music. (B,L,D)
Ramada Majestic Hotel ****
May 1 Bucharest
Sunday In the morning transfer to the airport. (B)
THIS IS NOT THE FULL BROCHURE
We invite you to call Sarah or Gwen at 1-800-762-4216 to request the full brochure. The brochure will include Important Traveler Information (and answers to most questions) and a Reservation Form. We can send the brochure through the Postal Service or as a PDF attachment. If you would like to receive a PDF, probably the best way to keep the message from going into a SPAM filter is to send a message to sarahb@serioustraveler.com. If you are already on our mailing list, no need to complete the entire brochure request form.
See more pictures
Want to see pictures of our past Bulgaria and Romania tours? Click here for Bulgaria or click here for Romania
Take a look at our pictures from our past Phi Mu Foundation tours by
Foundation
