Travel has been always exciting for me and my wife and we sincerely hope that our kids will also have fun when visiting various places in Bulgaria and maybe Europe too. This weekend was very fun, because we visited two different festivals - one was the Walnut festival in a village 10 kilometers away and the other was something  a bit more exciting for us - the Festival of “Elena” fillet. 

And while the first was a lot smaller with less people attending we were able to take the kids with us, but the “Elena” fillet festival was held in a city of Elena where there were expected more than 30 000 people attending. This made us decide to go without the little fellas. They were going to be very frustrated there in such a big crowd. 

We tried to departure from our home early, but all the duties around the kids made this no earlier than 10 AM. Luckily the grandparents were able to take care of them during the day. 


![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmPqdspcHXJzyyDsBCNsaNor9amtsG5x2RPbMTjwGApjWp/img_8971.heic)

The road to Elena takes about an hour and a half from our home and it winds through one of the most beautiful areas of the mountain “Stara Planina”. My fife wanted to drive on the way towards the festival so I had the pleasure of enjoying the scenery nature. All the trees become so colorful this time of the year!

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Usually there are not a lot of cars that drive through this mountain pass road, but now there was a bit more intense. This road goes directly to the town of Elena and it was surely preferred by the most of the people attending the festival. 

Driving with my new car (already 1 year owned) makes it a very nice experience going here and there and I constantly feel more excited and more happy with choosing this exact model. 

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmdBLJiNYkKyDmGAUFvhEXwzrWvB74HGkDjei4ATEC2ZrU/img_8972.heic)

And after a little bit more than an hour, we were already reaching our destination. Having more than 30 000 visitors in this relatively small town, which has a population of about 5000 meant that there has to be some temporary closures of the central streets. We had to park our car about 600 meters from the events downtown. But this is absolutely ok because it was reached in just over 5 minutes!

The festival welcomed us with a big arrangement full of the star these couple of days. 

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmXuRbCyUsXGG3hm4HimLyuwmV2aGG8UdLq4LKWmNTU7M3/img_8975.heic)

The Elena fillet is the thing that makes this region of Bulgaria so widely popular. It’s made by drying a pork leg after being soaked in salt, on the bottom of special wooden casks. People living there make this type of appetizer since years that were a lot of centuries ago and the climate of the mountains made the meat dry very well and stay preserved for more than a year. Nowadays we eat this fillet as a treat or appetizer, but it was ultimately the way these people managed to preserve some meat fresh for the upcoming year and they cooked so many different dishes with it. One old woman said that they used to eat only bread with Elena fillet on top in many situations when they hadn’t have something other to eat and it was the ultimate shelter from starvation. 

And what about having some of it in the company of other homemade sausages? We were starving when we reached the city! Luckily, there was some good beer that was served all around the place. I think Britos is the most refined and tasty beer with the most reasonable price. Everything tasted so great and after a while we were ready to walk around.

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmd5VmuEpKv76YQp2uqDA67SjeT7CnK3Wrjqt4V5VGGYfj/img_8976.heic)

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Now, back to the topic - Elena fillet. 

The locals say that many people tried to dry the fillet the same whey they originally do it in Elena, but they failed always. It’s due to the specifics of this climate that makes the process so refined and the meat becomes so delicate and tender and still lay for a great deal of time. I think this meat is very similar to the Jamon Serrano, but still very different. We cannot even compare the climate of the mountains Bulgaria with the Spanish one!

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmPPVYEzrGuSEe1iRrrj14kaXB7nwiAA4GirPvFrpowbqk/img_8979.heic)

I remember going in Elena about 4 years ago and we were at the place like one month later in the year. It was November. And when we asked for Elena fillet in the restaurant, they said that it was already over. I think the festival is set in a time of the year when the fresh fillers are being settled for the year coming and almost all the availability is getting sold. In my opinion more than 10-15 kilos of meat were selling every single minute to the visitors of the festivals, and while some were buying about 0,5-1 kilogram, others were purchasing a whole legs (hams), which can weigh up to 10-15 kilograms. 

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmSVoeSVr9T1vRNGAkPc4fPXi8evpdRuoRo8JrEDs65bzN/img_8980.heic)

In our brief walk around the place we saw the most interesting fridge magnets ever. What could be more appropriate than Elena fillet theme?

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmYhaaPNyqDHj1tqidkeTiEBPT3xaH53C2KDyuKoNrxtZK/img_8981.heic)

Around the place there were some separate photography locations that were arranged with natural decorations. Let’s have some photos then? At least our old photos of traveling around Bulgaria are constantly popping on my phone and it’s always so joyful to remember all the spots and festivals we visited in time. 

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmXq9hJhhmAVVQ9F4Qv7YzFW2Mm4PFtN5v1dChHbvic5yL/img_8984.heic)

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmaLnUJrc18UYSBjssQhoKMRDg3MmNjn94SFrmB1pemTs6/img_8982.heic)

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The time flies so fast when spent with happiness. So we had to go back to our car and take the way back home. Our kids were already waiting for our return. Walking through the streets of Elena showed us that there were still a lot of car and almost no parking space even though the festival was near its end in the Sunday afternoon. Yet, our car was relatively close to the epicenter of events. 

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmU8L8KCWS4XmxE7h2meS8J9Yf4fkeXkXeLaghyMpuGSrw/img_8987.heic)

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmSwcNiya7utj91Eu1Yt2ceNNeUA8iSKTs17NJQ3UVGuGR/img_8988.heic)

The road back to home was again very picturesque and we even saw some ponies walking not disturbed at all on the road. After all it is a mountain road, so randezvous like this are a common thing. 

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmPidWLeaU4eA9Sj6cfT6Ms2z4WRFJruToU8oJV2tvSMAE/img_8990.heic)

![](https://images.ecency.com/DQmeCn8WaAnLHT43UB43nDUSBJwknpfVXpoxoNUKd2aJtfU/img_8991.heic)

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Soon, after a day full of emotions we were back in our home - the place that always feels most perfect and peaceful. After days like this, we become even more excited about our future trips in the beautiful country we live in. 

Hope that you will like the photos and I’m sure I’m gonna be back soon with more of the Bulgarian beauty. 
See you soon!

[//]:# (!pinmapple 42.92979 lat 25.88078 long d3scr)