Back at the end of July we headed to the little town of Kromidovo (near the border with Greece) to celebrate my buddy Metodi’s birthday. It’s a beautiful little village nestled at the foot of the mighty Pirin mountain and offers a nice break from the sometimes crazy Sofia.

Not being a drinker, I actually went to bed relatively early (well, 2am-ish… but that was way before most!) because I wanted to do some shooting the following morning. If some of you follow the blog closely, you know I have a thing for getting up and catching the sunrise. Interestingly, I did the same at his last birthday as well… the makings of a tradition? 😉

 
In any case, at 5.30am the sun was still not up. We walked up for about 20 minutes to a higher vantage point so we could see the valley and Kromidovo from above.

 
The neighboring village was still asleep.

 
We weren’t the only ones who were up. Loved this old couple getting their wagon pulled by the donkey… things are different out in the countryside.

 
Actually, the whole area is known for its good wine (as is Bulgaria in general, by the way).

 
This is the main building of the vineyard next to the village, shaped like a barrel. How cool is that! Bought some lovely organic wine later that day.

 
There were people working in the fields already. This was taken seconds before the sun appeared behind the mountain.

 
And there it was!

 
I have a thing for field / tall grass shots clearly.

 
By 6.30am Kromodovo was on fire. You could hear the roosters going off in the distance, quite idyllic.

 
The image of the lonely horse is perhaps my favorite of the morning.

 
Either that or the one of the golden hills and the smoke coming from the village.

 
I really like the patters that the vine rows make.

 
Tracks leading to nowhere.

 
Yet another contender for image of the day… it’s tough! Great shooting conditions 🙂

 
I wonder what that little building was, overlooking the valley.

 
Morning barefoot walks are good for you. A little painful on gravel roads perhaps, but worth it 😉

 
We even saw this huge rabbit! The image doesn’t really show it, but it was BIG. Guess he’s learned to dodge the foxes over the years to get to being this size 😉

 
On the way back to our camp, we came across this grandpa who was gradually making his way up to where we had been. We chatted for a bit and he told us he does this morning walk every day, despite being over 80 years old. He also said he’d left us a present at our door.

 
And that was his present. Amazingly tasty, home grown, beautiful tomatoes! With a bit of white cheese and olive oil, it was the perfect breakfast… what a sweet grandpa. A perfect start of the day 🙂