Change of plan

The weather forecast for the last couple of days wasn't so good so our leader decided to change the routes round so we could climb this mountain and be finished before the rain came.
We started out by a gondola ride of 1000m or more to about 2300m and then had another 650m or so to climb to the top of the highest peak in the Balkan peninsular/SE Europe - Musala, 2925m (8m higher than Mt Olympus).
This area was busy with parties of school kids going up but was still a nice walk past glacial lakes and across the face of the mountain before finishing up the ridge. The views from the top were excellent (I nearly blipped a panorama) and we passed some endemic Rila primroses, but we could see the clouds gathering back the way we'd come so didn't linger too long (and they headed to the peak before we got back to the gondola).
Back at the hotel there was time for a swim in their small pool before another good meal - it was a good way to spend our wedding anniversary.