Hello mr. Dracula

Welcome to Romania. We arrived to Bucharest airport at around noon. We had talked earlier with the importer of Armada in Romania that we would arrive a few days later, but with the little change in plans we ended up having some nice three days spare to spend in Bucharest. The first thing in these sorts of countries is to get ripped off by your taxi driver, and that we did of course, haha. He probably had his meter running for an hour before we arrived, so that the sum was totally off the hook. And then he kindly gave us a little discount from it and ripped us stupid tourist’s maybe four times the right amount, and we happily walked away. We didn’t notice the scam until later on the evening when we used another taxi, this time an honest one, and the price was totally different.

Anyhow, Bucharest seemed to be a nice place, and after we found a hotel for a nice price, we decided to stay there for a couple of days before heading to the mountains. We spent most of the days just relaxing at the hotel and went out mainly just to eat or to buy something from the store next to our hotel. It really was nice to have a couple days off before starting filming again.

After a few mellow days in Bucharest it was time for us to get back to business. We hadn’t heard anything from the Armada-guy, so we decided to leave Bucharest behind and head to Sinaia, a small mountain village with a ski resort on the Carpathian Mountains. The weather forecast had promised some new snow to Sinaia, and that’s why we headed there. It was a two hour train ride from Bucharest to Sinaia, and when you look out from the window, you can really feel that you’re back in a Third World country again after Greece. There is trash everywhere and there are buildings that are barely standing just next to the rails, and as you go by them you can almost see them collapsing.

We got to Sinaia and everything seemed to have changed. Not that much trash, buildings actually standing and everything seemed to be kind of okay. We had a short lunch at the station’s small restaurant and then headed to find a taxi. When the taxi drove up to the city itself, everything started looking even better. The city of Sinaia looked almost like a common small village from the Alps, except for the spooky towers in every house. Our driver took us to this one hotel, and even if it looked really expensive, it wasn’t. It was a former four star hotel that time had turned into a three star hotel, and we got it for 20 Euros per night per person, not bad. Later on the day we went to shoot some shots in a nearby cemetery, and boy it looked spooky. It wasn’t actually that different from any other cemetery, but thinking that you’re in Dracula’s hoods makes it a little different. All went well and none of us got bitten, and after some fast food dinner we were all good to go to sleep.  

When we were out filming last night, I felt that I might not have enough clothes, and when the next morning came, I got the answer. I was sick, so it was “no ski today, man” for me that day. The boys went anyway, and I stayed back at the hotel watching movies and just lying in bed. Later that day when the boys came back, they had a different impression on their faces than what I was hoping for. Apparently, the snowfall that the forecast had promised had missed Sinaia, and the base-layer seemed to be good as nothing. No snow, no filming. It was time to think our options over once again. We spent the evening hanging out at the hotel and searched for snow via Internet. I went out with Blumi later on to check out the local night-life, while Ape stayed at the hotel looking for the snow for us. Not much of a night-life in Sinaia, though, and so we headed back to our hotel sooner than we had thought.

As there was no new snow on its way, the next morning we made a decision to head to Bulgaria. It seemed to have been snowing there a little bit, and there was some base-layer. At 2.00 P.M. we were on a train again, on our way to Bucharest, and to Sofia in Bulgaria. First, it was the two hours to Bucharest again, and then a nice overnighter of 11 hours to Sofia. On the way from Bucharest to Sofia, there were many passport inspections and the police checked all the lockers on the train trying to find refugees.

We arrived to Sofia at around 6 in the morning, and the next mission was to find a bus that goes to Bansko, our ski destination in Bulgaria. After some crazy wondering and asking-frenzy at the bus stations, we found a bus with a little help from some Russian travelers, who were also going to Bansko. One of the guys found the right bus and we were on our way. It really is hard to find anything in Bulgaria, because all the signs are in Cyrillic letters and English isn’t that widely spoken. The Russian guys on the bus were here to visit their friend, and luckily this guy owns a hotel. One phone call and we had a place to stay in Bansko.

We arrived to Bansko bus station after a two-hour drive and there was a minibus waiting for us to give us a ride to the hotel Chardacite. When the bus drove to the front of the hotel, I didn’t have that much of expectations. From the outside, the hotel looked pretty much what a 15 Euro per night hotels looks like, but from the inside it was something else. Everything was nice and tidy, and the first thing the owner did was to invite us for a welcoming drink to his bar. We quickly put our stuff in our room and headed downstairs where the bar was. The bar was amazing with old wood from a house that used to be there before they tore it down from the way of the hotel. The welcoming drink was a 10cl glass of homemade Raki that had been matured in an oak barrel for five years before serving. Believe me, it was good.

A little oozy from the welcoming drink we put our stuff together and headed to the ski resort. In this hotel it was nice that it had an own driver to take you to the ski resort for just 3 Levas, which is like 1.5 Euros.

First you have to take a reeeeaaaalllly long, maybe 20 minutes gondola ride to even get to the actual ski resort and then you have a handful of chairlifts in your use. The skiable vertical in Bansko is actually over 1600 meters, so they are, as you might say, “big enough mountains”. There wasn’t that much snow, and first we thought that it was going to be the same as it was in Romania, and we just wondered around the resort trying to find any snow to ski. There was a nice base-layer but no new snow. Bummed, we headed back to our hotel to sink our heads in a big jar of Raki and hoped that the next night the snow would come.

The morning came and our wishes had come true. Some new snow, not much, but still some. Ape had to stay back at the hotel to send some mails and heal his broken toe, so we went together with Blumi. As the gondola raised higher and higher, the snow pack did the same. There was maybe 20 centimeters of fresh snow and filming we went. We got some nice shots from the woods and met some Finnish freeriders. The snow above the tree line was really sketchy and it was a no-go-zone. The new snow had come over a layer of ice on the top parts and seemed to be really easily triggered, so we decided to stay in the forests.

Ape was stoked when we showed him the footage that we got from the day, and the one day of healing really had done great for his broken toe. The evening was planned to be a party one, and the previous night when I had told our hotel owner that we love guitars, he promised to buy us one. But I never would have expected him to fulfill his promise. 

He really bought the guitar for us, and luckily we weren’t the only ones to play the guitar. Every guest in the hotel knew at least something about playing guitar, and with some raki and good food we held a one hell of a party. I played the drum, Ilia from Moscow played the guitar and Blumi sang and we had such a great time. Have to say that partying is always fun, but this time it kicked back really hard. The next morning we weren’t that joyful anymore when it was time to go filming. Blumi decided to stay in bed and rest, so it was no choice for me but to go skiing and filming with Ape.

Later on when we got to the mountain I was totally grateful to Ape that he had dragged me to the ski resort. It had snowed maybe another 20 centimeters and now that we knew all the spots, I knew that it was going to be a one superb day of skiing in the trees. First, I filmed Ape for a couple of runs and he filmed me the following one. We had some great time if you count off the getting into the trees part. In Bansko, the top part of the forest is formed from alpine pine trees, and these bastards form a jungle that you almost need a machete to get through. But it was totally worth it I tell you. Good snow and nice steep tree runs. That is Bansko for you. There is a really nice big mountain skiing too, but for that there has to be a really good winter and a lot of snow. They even offer some heli skiing for 1000 Euros for an hour, if you happen to be a big spender.

The next morning Ape had to leave Blumi and I by ourselves, because he had a filming scheduled in Pyrenees with Head Posse for the next week. And a little after Ape had left, we headed to the ski resort one more time. Once again filming felt great and we got some really nice shots, and after a couple of runs we were done. 

We took some scenery footage and headed down the 10 kilometer super green run for some after-ski at the down station. At this point I have to thank the lift and resort manager of Bansko Ski Resort for giving us some ski passes and guidance. The rest of the evening went lying in the bar and talking with friends on Skype and Facebook.

The next morning was the beginning of a day that was to be something else. Our Russian friends from the hotel had planned a sightseeing/bathing trip to the southern border of Bulgaria just next to Greece. First, we went to see one really old monastery with a pretty cool yard with all the old drawings, and an old church with amazing wood decorations inside. The monastery was next to some crazy sand formations that erosion had formed. It is crazy what water and wind can form from this sandy soil, and the pillars where actually almost sky high. After this we went to see the old city and some ruins. When we got there I really thought that maybe I have seen enough ruins for a lifetime, but from the top of the ruins you had a pretty nice view of the sand formations, so maybe it was okay. We also had some not so good lunch there, but maybe I just didn’t order the right course for me.

The one thing I really had waited was to go swimming in the hot springs. And when we got to the springs, I immediately charged to the way of the steam pillars with my speedos and a towel in my hands. Well, it seemed that there was still something to see before swimming, and first we went to see some fish. First I thought that fish and a pond, wow! But later on I realized that the water in the pond was 75’C and the fish really live there. And next to this pond was another one with a turtle in it, haha. And next to that one there was a pond with small skin eating fish in it, and if you put your hand in the pond, they immediately start peeling the dead skin in your hand. What a crazy place, I thought. After the crazy ponds we went to see one more church before finally heading to the hot springs.

The hot springs were something else than what I had in mind. I thought that there was an Onsen (Japanese hot spring bath) kind of nice pools with fresh hot water in them, but no. This was the Bulgarian way. Outside dressing rooms, no heating and almost clean pools. There was one with green water and one with brown water. The latter one was the one I headed into first. The brown color actually comes from the thing called duck weed in it, and it is totally good for swimming. First, the water felt a little too hot, but after a while it started to feel relaxing. Next, I went to try the other one. The green color in this one probably comes from the sulfur breathing algae in the side of the pools and the actual water is clear. One thing I have to say is that it really was hard to speak and host a television-show in the hot water. 

After this there was pretty much just the nerve breaking ride back to Bansko. Some of the people in Bulgaria seem to think that they are rally drivers and they have fast cars, but they really don’t have either of those things. They basically drive like maniacs by passing cars ahead in wherever, and we almost hit some of these idiots for five times during our 70 kilometer drive.

Later on the evening when we got back to our hotel, we found out that our dear hotel owner Andrei Rusef had organized a barbecue party for us because it was our last night at the house. It is amazing how much like home the place felt, at least for me it did. We ate well and talked about skiing and everything, and basically just had a great time staying up until 3 o’clock in the morning.

The next morning we woke up late, too late. My girlfriend was arriving to Athens that very day, and we had to be there at 12 P.M. at the latest. With no flights bought ahead or anything, we got to a bus that headed to Sofia, switched into a Taxi at the bus station (a cheating bastard one) and headed to the airport. I was eating my nails off when Blumi was trying to buy us the flights, and I was just standing there with the luggage next to the check-in desk. Luckily, he managed to buy us tickets and we were heading to Athens.

From there on it was going to be a holiday for us for one week before heading to Scotland, the land of whiskey, kilts and some midget throwing.