Bulgaria = Summer 2011

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Michaela, the friend I went to Nicaragua with, is FROM Bulgaria. She invited me to go home with her for a week and she was so nice and worked with my school schedule. We left as soon as school got out for the summer. I spent a week with Michaela and her family. Then, I traveled directly on to Turkey for 4 more weeks, but I'll talk about Turkey in a separate post!

Michaela had also invited a good friend of her's, Julia, and a grad school French friend named Tomas. We weren't quite 4 peas in a pod, but we did have an awesome week! Michaela's Bulgarian parents were so welcoming and friendly and such good hosts to all of us! Michaela grew up in the capital, Sofia, and her parents have both an apartment in the city and they have a sprawling country house that they are building for their retirement. We spent time at both homes and traveling in between.

Our first big adventure was a hike in the Rila Mountains. Despite being summer, Michaela's mom insisted that we each borrow a wool sweater to wear as a layer. We probably would've frozen nearly to death without them! The extra long sleeves doubled as makeshift gloves (as soon as I got home I added to my universal packing list: "pack gloves, even if you don't think you'll need them"). At the lodge at the base of the mountain as we were gearing up, Michaela's mom found a Bulgarian man and paid him to be our guide. "Oh, mom!" Again, so grateful. Not only was our hike cold, but it started to hail, and then rain, and the ground was super slippery and we had some tricky terrain to cross. Depsite all the challenges, the 7 Rila lakes were crystal clear, gorgeous, and totally worth it!

We spent a day in Plovdiv, touring the city and exploring in some Roman ruins. Then we went to Starocel Vineyards, did an elaborate wine tasting with appetizer pairings, and swam in their mineral water pool. It was so warm and relaxing! We spent the night there and had much-needed massages in the morning. Another day we went to Kaprishtita which was near Michaela's familiy's country house. We wandered around, took in the culture, ate great food, and relaxed! In Bulgaria I learned it is ok to put your fork down between bites of food and to let it take a hour (or more!) to finish the dinner on your plate!

In Bulgaria, I had fun learning the Cyrillic alphabet and Michaela would point out words, especially on street signs and menus that were in their alphabet, but if I sounded them out they were an English word. I felt like a kindergardener sounding out a new word. It was super fun!

Thank you, Michaela, Mama and Papa for inviting me to your home and your country!

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Photos

Julia, me, Tomas, Michaela
Little did we know what the Rila Mountains had in store for us!

Starocel Winery
We were in the wine cellar and it was chilly!

Rila Mountains
Thank goodness for raincoats, wool sweaters, hiking poles, and friends!