We interrupt this travellogue to remind you that I have a CHAT coming up.  Tomorrow (Thursday), July 13, 7 p.m. Central Daylight Time.  To find the chat room, go to my web page (www.karalennox.com) and look on the lower left for a chat button.  Looking forward to seeing you there!

And now we return to your regularly scheduled program:

Breakfast again at the hotel, yummy as usual.  Anna is going home today--she'll catch a taxi to the airport shortly after breakfast.  She's been a wonderful traveling companion and I will miss her.

The rest of the group wanted to visit the Rila Monestary, which is the largest and most fantastic monestary in these parts.  They boast a famous wooden cross that was carved with a pin.  But getting there involved a two-hour taxi ride, and Rob and I agreed we just weren't up to it.  So we let the others go with some misgivings for the sights we would miss.

So we walked.  And walked, and walked.  I FINALLY found me a pair of shorts.  I had to buy men's shorts because I simply could not find women's shorts in a large enough size.  I bought them from a street vendor, and they cost 4 lev (about $3).  They look like they will fall apart at the first washing, but for now I'm happy to find them. 

We were also looking for an internet cafe, because we have not checked home since we arrived.  It's the longest I've ever gone without checking my e-mail.  Struggling to sound out Cyrillic letters, we find something that says "Internet" and we follow the signs.  However, what we find is the small office of an internet service provider.  I guess we looked really disappointed when we realized this was not a place open to the public, because the guy agreed to let us use his laptop to check our e-mail.  So we did, as quickly as we could so as not to inconvenience the guy too much.

Bummer, I have a rejection waiting for me!  Ah, well.  There are many more fish in the sea, or publishers in the world.

Afterward we thought we were heading back into the center city (old town) but we got really, really lost.  Thankfully we had a map and we were able to find our way back, but not before walking our feet off!  We stumbled across this cool building with a beautiful carving--possibly communist-era, glorifying the worker.

 We returned to the hotel where I changed into my shorts (yay!)  We bought a calzone from a bakery/snack bar, and we walked to a nearby park to have a picnic and watch birds.  We saw some common blackbirds (they sing so beautifully) and some little birds I couldn't identify.  The little buggers drove me crazy, darting around so fast, and just when I'd get the binoculars focused, off they would go.

We walked through several parks and ran across a huge monument to someone freeing Bulgarians from the Nazi's.

  You can see how huge it is--that teensy person is me (in my new Bulgarian shorts, ahhhh).  We watched some skateboarders in a section of park designed just for them, with ramps and jumps and such.  We really enjoy people-watching and window-shopping, looking at the cars and the signs and trying out the street food.  We bought ice cream at a liquor store.

We rested at the hotel again, and bought some "Coke Light" and cherry juice at the hotel bar.  Then we met Rob's family returning from the Rila Monestary.  They had great tales to tell and I was a little sad I'd missed it.

Penny, Amelia, Rob and I found a new restaurant.  It's next door to the Finland, which we like, but we wanted to try something new, and it was yummy.  I had that sesame-crusted chicken skewer again--I'd enjoyed it once before at some point.  Also ate my favorite shopska salad (those incredible tomatoes) and a side of risotto with mushrooms.  And a beer.  Oh, it couldn't get better than this.  The restaurant had some cute kitties begging for food, so we gave one some bread soaked with meat juice.  She snapped it right up.

Back at the hotel, we sat in the lobby and watched tennis.  I read from a Bulgarian real estate brochure that was translated (loosely) into English.  Their real estate ads seem to focus on building construction--they tell you exactly what sort of heating system is installed, what kind of insulation, what kind of plumbing.  Our theory is that during the communist era, a lot of shoddy, substandard housing was built, and now people are able to focus more on comfort.  We take it for granted in the U.S. that we'll have heaters that work, but the Bulgarians don't.  (One amenity I didn't quite understand was the apartment that came with "free lightning.")

Rob played bridge again with the boys, and then we went to bed.  I logged something like 24,000 steps today, which is 3-4 times my normal even on a good day.

More tomorrow,

Kara

Now, back to Bulgaria and the Hotel Serdika breakfast buffet ...

...which I'm getting a little bit tired of, but since it's included with the price of the room and it's good food, we eat it. 

We split up again. Rob, Marian and I went to the city garden to birdwatch.  We saw hooded crows (they're very pretty, two-tone black and gray).  Then we visited the icon museum, which is in the crypt of the Alexander Nevski cathedral.  It's pretty amazing--icons dating from 1300s to 1800s.  It's interesting to see the style evolve.  Early ones were very stiff, and they did the same scenes again and again--Christ the Pancreator (I'm not even sure what this is), Virgin Mary and baby Jesus, St. Nicholas and St. George (they are very popular guys here), the 40 Martyrs (I am still ignorant of what the 40 Martyrs did).  Later, many different subjects became popular and there was much more creativity in how figures were portrayed.  Poor St. George got tortured a lot.  He was scourged, they burned his feet, they stretched him on a wheel, and finally they beheaded him.  His trials are a popular subject (ick).

The weather was incredibly hot.  Marion went to the Ethnographic Museum, but if I try to do too many museums, my feet protest.  I call it "museum feet" and it comes from that slow shuffle-walk-stand that we all do in museums.  So Rob and I did some more walking.  We got more calzones for lunch (because yesterday's were tasty) and did some more birdwatching at a different park.  I saw a Eurasian nuthatch--cute little critter.

In another park, we found all these roman ruins--just the stuff that wasn't good enough to go into the archeological museum, strewn about where you could climb on them, sit on them, etc.  In this country, roman ruins would be in a museum.  Here, they throw them into an obscure park.  I saw some more of those elusive little birds and was able to get a better look at them.  They were great tits.

We got more ice cream (it's easy to see why I didn't lose weight on this trip despite all the bike-riding and walking).  I finally found a good hat at a street vendor's booth (I'd been borrowing one from Amelia, but it was too big, too floppy and too hot).

After another nap at the hotel, we went out again to the outdoor mall using as many underground passages as possible because they were cool.  We stumbled across the original Roman gates to the city.  Here I am, just casually leaning on an 1800-year-old wall:

 Note the stylish new Gilligan hat.

When we got to the market we sat for a while and enjoyed cold Coca Cola.  I rarely drink soft drinks anymore but that was the best Coke I ever drank because I was so hot and thirsty!

Back at the hotel, we met up with everyone and walked out to dinner, picking a restaurant at random.  The food was good but the waitress thought we were hilarious--I think because we were dipping our bread in olive oil and vinegar rather than drizzling it directly onto the bread.  We had some communication breakdowns but all in all it turned out well.  I had two beers because I was so thirsty and beer was cheaper than water.  (Yeah, this is my kinda country.)  This was our first dinner without Max; he had to fly home today.  I know Zach will be lonely without him.

  Starting with Rob (to the left of the umbrella stem) and moving counter-clockwise:  Rob, Zach (Rob's nephew), Penny (Rob's stepmother), Jane and Marion (Rob's youngest and oldest sister, respectively), Annie (Rob's niece) and Amelia (Rob's middle sister).

I have probably walked more than I should.  Although my usual foot problem (plantar fasciitis) hasn't bothered me much, I now have shin splints.

More later,

Kara

Thanks to all who came to my chat last night!  Areta, don't forget to e-mail me so I can send your book!  There's an e-mail link on the left of this page.

Now, then, back to Bulgaria.

In an attempt to relieve the monotony of the hotel breakfast, I constructed a scrambled-egg-and-bacon sandwich.  Pretty tasty.

Today the whole group took two taxis to the National History Museum on the outskirts of town, which is not to be missed.  It's huge and wonderful and very interesting, and I'm only sorry we had such a short time to spend there as I missed a lot.  The thing I found very interesting is there was almost nothing in this museum reflecting the influence of the Turks.  I mean, the Turks invaded in the 1300s and occupied until around 1876.  That's 500 years.  Yet we saw only one small display case of a few Turkish things--a sword, a hat and some clothing, a bit of jewelry and that was it.  There was much more space devoted to the revolutionaries who organized the revolt--diaries, weapons and everyday items.  Some were reproductions.

We grabbed a snack at the museum (I had some peanuts), then Jane and Zach headed off in a different direction--they wanted to ride the ski lift up Mount Vitoshe.  (We were very close to the Vitoshe National Park, which is a skiining and hiking mecca for the city dwellers of Sofia.)

The rest of us walked to our next destination, the Boyana Church, which is a very old church with some extremely impressive frescos from the 1300s.  We wandered a somewhat precarious route, using our map, and still had to stop and ask a couple of times where to find it.  There was a pretty steep admission price (by Bulgarian standards) but we thought it was worth it.  We could have paid an extra 10 lv (about $7) for a guided tour in English. There was a guide standing by.  But we all decided we just wanted to see the little church and the frescos and move on.

Well, the guide had other ideas.  He was an older man, a historian who was clearly passionate about this church and he wanted us to really appreciate it.  So we got the lecture anyway, or at least some part of it.  The man gave Annie, Rob's 10-year-old niece, the key to the church and awarded her the honor of opening it, which he said was a very big honor and she should make a wish, that it would come true.

 And here is a picture of the older part of the church:    We were only allowed ten minutes in the church, as the frescos are fragile and the guardians of the church are very protective of them.  They are currently being restored by some experts, but we could see them very well despite some scaffolding.  They were amazing paintings, showing lifelike, three-dimensional images 200 years before the Renaissance.  The Bulgarians maintain that the Renaissance started here--and perhaps they have a point.  Our guide described each image and what it meant.

In the woods surrounding the church, I saw a chaffinch.  I only knew what it was because Penny identified it.  There were some humongous trees that looked like redwoods.  If they weren't redwoods, they were a close relative.  Here is Rob standing next to one.

Our next item on the agenda was a hike up a mountain in the Vitoshe National Park, which we were right on the edge of.  Marion went on a mission to find the trailhead, and her unerring instincts led her right to it.  It was a beautiful hike through the woods, which involved some challenges for SOME of us (not naming names, but I was drenched with sweat).  Our goal was to reach a waterfall, but we ended up stopping at a picturesque spot near the river/creek for refreshment.

 That's Penny, sitting on a rock enjoying a snack, and way in the background is Amelia, exploring a side trail that leads down to the river.

We felt a few drops of rain, and as we weren't really dressed for inclement weather, and the others in our party were thinking about the train they had to catch that evening, we decided to head back down though we did  not see the waterfall. .

Once we were back in the village at the foot of the hill, we weren't too sure how to get back to our hotel.  There were no taxis to be found.  So we decided to chance public transport.  We saw a busstop, and a woman standing there waiting, so we figured a bus would come soon.  We asked her if the bus went into Sofia, to the city center, and she explained that we could take the bus partway, then get off and catch the tram, or streetcar. (She spoke a few words of English and the rest we got through sign language).  Sure enough, an ancient bus came by, and we all got on.  We were ready to pay, but there seemed to be no way to pay, and no one seemed to care.

The bus did, in fact, take us into the city, and the lady told us where to get off.  There was a trolley station across the busy street.  We crossed, and pondered the rather confusing schedule, and Marion bought us some tickets (50 stitinkos each, or about 30 cents).  It was amusing watching her using sign language to indicate five adults and one child, but she got the job done.  We hopped on the first trolley that arrived with what we hoped was the correct number.  It did seem to be heading for the center city, but then it started to turn around and we hopped off.  Fortunately the streets looked familiar to someone, so we were able to blunder our way back to familiar territory.

I did a little shopping with Marian and Amelia, then we returned to the hotel to rendezvous with Jane and Zach, who reported that the ski lift was incredible--a very long ride with spectacular views.  They wandered back to the city center much the same way as we did, so I guess all of Rob's family share that adventurous gene.

We had one more dinner together, at our favorite, the Finland.  This is our last night in Bulgaria.  The others were staying longer, heading down to the Black Sea coast.  I was sorry we hadn't planned to stay longer.

This is where my journal entries end, and nothing else notable happened.  We got up at 3:30 a.m. to catch our flight back home, and our return trip went much more smoothly than the one on the way over.  We flew to London, then to Dallas, and there were no problems--except British Airways lost my bag (again).  Fortunately, they found it and delivered it to my house the next evening.

And that's it!  Thanks for reading.

Kara