A Surrey in Smolyan

Who knew that going back to my hometown would make for some of the most scenic drives?! Now, what am I going to do with this freshly acquired info? Probably visit the majestic Rhodepes more often.

I grew up in the mountains. I love nature, I love spending time in nature. I’m currently living in an area surrounded by national parks - I’m feeling grateful and lucky all at once. But there’s something about Rhodope Mountains. It’s a land of mystery, folklore, traditions, music and legends. It’s a home to one of the oldest structures built by humans in the world - Perperikon, which is 3000 years older than Stonehenge, just to put things into perspective. In mythology, it’s a “home” to Apollo, Dionysus, Orpheus. The antiquity of this land will give you goosebumps and its beauty will likely leave you overwhelmed. The Rhodopes represent everything that makes us human.  My father had a birthday and I decided to make a surprise visit to my hometown - a solo trip. Of course I had to do it with Monster. The journey to Smolyan and back added 540km to my 720S. But on the second day of my stay, I decided to take it out and explore the natural beauty of the region, which added another 200km. So, in 3 days, I added roughly 740km. Perfection. I'm one of the very few people with supercars, who want to add as many miles as possible. Hopefully, me getting a 720S and driving it everyday and all the time, might inspire some collectors to take their exotics out. Life is really short, you've made it, you bought your dream car, now is time to enjoy it by driving it!

My first stop was Rozhen meadows, where you can see the tallest flagpole in the EU. This flagpole was and still is controversial. Due to the amount spent to build it, it pissed off a big chunk of the population. My opinion is that we need symbols of unity and nothing grater than the flag waving high and proud. Building things costs money, but I don't believe that there's a Bulgarian who won't feel the pride when they see it in person. It that sense, the flagpole served its purpose. The photos don't do it justice, it's massive. I did two attempts at taking photos in front of it. In my first one, I approached it from a private road where I stopped Monster to take photos. As I opened the door and exited the car, I realized I'm surrounded by the wilderness. All types of bugs attacked the car, probably because of its colour. I'm usually very content and chill, but I have one big fear and that is bugs. Yellow stripey things and big spiders can make me lose it. All of a sudden it was me, in the middle of nowhere, alone, with a supercar with an open door and filled with bugs inside. This is me patiently waiting for all the bugs to explore and leave my car, obviously from a distance LMAO :

So, if you plan on going, remember that you're the intruder, its their territory and you have to respect that. They finally left the car and at that point I quickly went in and moved it, but then again I saw a perfect photo op - sheep! It reminded me of old school Top Gear and I had to stop the car and try to capture the magical moment.

As I was waiting for the sheep to come closer, I heard barking, like deep barking. I'm aware that where's sheep there's always a shepherd's dog, but in this region they love the Bulgarian Shepherd Dog. This thing is massive and they were 3 of them, running and barking towards me. I realized I had seconds to get in the car or I'll haver to face FAFO. Even though I have 2 Rottweilers at home, I decided not to take any chances and get in the car. I'm still happy with the photo above, but you had to be there to feel the magic. These are 2 of the dogs that made it to the car the second I closed the door:

This was my cue to abandon my first attempt at taking photos at this location. I decided to head towards the National Observatory. I was excellent in physics in high school, I went to national and international olympiads, I've represented Bulgaria in multiple international competitions. I almost pursued a carrier in STEM with astrophysics as the biggest contender. The reason why I'm telling you this is because I went on a internship at this exact observatory as a high-school student. I even slept there when we watched certain movements in space. I can assure you, we're not alone in the universe. There's a supermassive black hole at the center of each galaxy. Our black hole is called "Sagittarius A". It'll "consume" us eventually. We're so unimportant, you have no idea. Hence why I'm so unimpressed by anything. Astrophysics altered my brain chemistry forever. While you were out drinking, I was watching the stars. We're not the same. LOL It was surreal to come back in a "road spaceship" as I called it.

I stopped to take photos before I started my journey back to Smolyan. It was breathtaking. So was my descend to Smolyan. And there was my Surrey in front of the sign marking the begging of the city. Of course the animal representing Smolyan is a bear.

Gonna end this post with the most iconic photo of all - a boy kissing the McLaren logo, because, citing, "Who knows when I'm going so see a McLaren again, I might as well kiss it".

Little did he know, I'll see you soon, Smolyan!