Smolyan
Smolyan is one of those places I never visit unless I really have to. It’s a decision rooted in my terrible motion sickness which seems to be able to find its way to show up even if I am driving. Fun fact about Smolyan – there is no way to access it which does not involve curves – steep, 180 degree, left, right, up, down, each and every way snake turns. Some are even known to the locals as airport curves – so sharp and high up in the mountains they are that with the lack of side rails drunk drivers fly off the curves directly into the abyss. The dark local humour aside, those curves are wonderfully picturesque in early summer and this is the reason I ventured to give Smolyan another shot. Smolyan itself greets you with a familiar socialist architecture. That architecture – and in particular the theatre which used to be the hottest disco in town – brings back fond memories of what seems a lifetime ago when a school trip brought us with my high school class to view the stars in the local Planetarium (or elsewhere depending on your alcoholic levels). Once your motion sickness (or star seeing as the case may be) wears off and your heart and soul stop swaying left and right, you will notice everything in Smolyan is green – pine trees here, pine trees there, pine trees everywhere. Weather it was the season or the motion sickness pill, it was the first time I noticed that charming aspect. Come to think of it, I also didn’t remember that Orpheus and Eurydice statue ... what motion sickness can do to you! Be as it may, if you do not have my genetic curve allergy, Smolyan and the nature around it can be a beautiful destination (not only to see stars…).
