Beautiful Bulgaria....

 

....is not exactly what I would call it.

I would say Fascinating or Exciting would be a better description. 

But it's not a better title for this blog post.

The blue line is our flight from Copenhagen to Munich to Sofia with Lufthansa.

The pink like is how we flew back with Austrian Air with a stop in Vienna.

The red line down at the bottom was a whirl-wind car trip that we took to Greece.

I was supposed to write this blog long ago but I had to put it off due to my bicycle accident in the middle of September.  It was over 3 months later that I would be able to sit up and write. The first time I sat up for just over 3 hours was at an HOA meeting in the 2nd week of December.  And I had to excuse myself from the meeting as it was still going on and I desperately needed to lie down and rest.  Anywhoo..... here we are now and I hope this blog post excites you as much as the week in Plovdiv/Kavala did for me.

Lars and Nasko have been inviting me to go to Plovdiv with them for years.  I would always say - Yes, I want to go with you but maybe next time as I have to take care of Jens. Right now is just not the right time for me to go.  Nasko comes from Plovdiv, so of course going there with him would be great way to to see the part of the world where he comes from.  Finally the time came where I just needed to make a break from the nursing home and I said to Lars and Nasko:  I am ready to go to Bulgaria with you the next time you guys head out that way.  They didn't have immediate plans but they ended up arranging a date and asked me: what about these days?  We left Copenhagen airport on September 1 and returned on the 7th. 

This is going to be a hard blog to write because I took over a thousand photos.  I deleted nearly half and have roughly 600 that I saved.  Don't worry, I wont post them all.  Maybe just the first 500.  OK OK - I'll try to keep it to an average of 10 photos a day.  So that would be about 70 total.  Not sure if I can do it.  As I said, it was a very exciting place and I just couldn't stop snapping my camera.

Lets start with departure at CPH airport.

Our flight is that one at 6:10, LH2447 at gate A15.

I texted Lars when I was waiting at the nearby metro.

Eddie: good moaning - metro arrives in just a few minutes.

Lars: we're still sleeping.

I didn't wanna be late.

I was in good time to grab a bite.  The time was 4:20.

Lars and Nasko made it and arrived shortly after 

I started in on my 2nd  breakfast.

Buckle up.  Getting ready to land in Munich.

With the transfer in Munich, the total flight time was 5 hours.

Departure from CPH was 6:10 and we landed in the capital city, Sofia at 12:10.

The problem adventure was getting from Sofia airport to Plovdiv.

And it was quite an "adventure."

Here we are just outside of baggage claim in Sofia.

The plan was to get on an airport bus to the city center but the bus never came.  

So we hopped in a cab.

I'm not aware, that for some weird reason, 

I always throw my head back as I snap a selfie.

Our plan is to head directly to Plovdiv and on the way back, 

we will hit up Sofia.  But already from the start, I am wow 'ed 

by the architecture just on the outskirts of the capital.

From the airport, it was approx. a 20 minute taxi ride to the bus terminal.  I was floored by the bus terminal.  It was so huge.  We walked in and immediately walked up to the ticket window and bought 3 tickets to Plovdiv.  The guys tell me it's about a 3 hour ride.  And we have just enough time to go up stairs and get lunch.  Lunch at a bus stop?   I'm thinking to myself: Oh, that sounds awful and spooky.

Upstairs?  There's an upstairs at a bus station?

OMG - I was flabbergasted !

It was almost like food heaven.

 I just couldn't believe my eyes that a bus stop had all this amazing food to offer.

It was almost all casserole dishes, which I love.

These are traditional Bulgarian dishes.

And to make everything even more WOW, there was a huge out-door terrace.

We finished up our meal just in time to take a potty pit stop and ended up 

being the last passengers to hop on board.

Well....... that was already 19 photos and we haven't even left the bus station yet.  I know I had photos of the ride from the bus station to Plovdiv but I may have deleted them in the group of "not necessarily worth keeping."   I do however have this photo below.  We had just gotten off of a very long and hot bus ride.  This is the summer that southern Europe was on fire.  Everything is brown, and though - still a lot of beautiful greenery here in Bulgaria .  So anyway, at what seemed to me to be just a random bus stop on a random street corner in Plovdiv, we jumped off of the bus and stopped at this little market to grab a quick coffee.  The coffee in Bulgaria is not much more than a thin downed espresso but it still packs a punch.  The coffee hit the spot. Throughout the week,  I always ended up wanting more.

Nasko called a cab and we drove the next 15 minutes to the hotel 

which Nasko had ordered for me.

Pretty fancy place.

Here is the link to the Park Hotel, if you want to see it.

This photo is from the net.

Lars and Nasko own their own apartment.  It's beautiful. It's in a residential neighborhood and this is the closest hotel to their home.  It's called Park Hotel because it is placed right at the edge of a very large park called Lauta Park.  The hotel is situated on the west end of the park and Lars and Nasko's apartment is on the south middle side of the park.  It's about a 15 minute walk from hotel to apartment through the park.

Usually I have all my photos in one long line so I can remember in which order things happened.  But as I mentioned, I had over a 1000 and of the 600 that I saved, I filed them into groups.  So things may end up out of order here but here we go.......

It must have been late afternoon that I checked into the hotel and I met Lars and Nasko the following morning.  They told me just before I got into my room: We have a dentist appointment tomorrow, so you are on your own until we are finished.  If you want, you can wait until we are finished.  Well.... I didn't just want to sit around in my hotel so why not just sit around in a dentist office? - LOL.  I never knew waiting around for someone getting their teeth pulled could be so exciting.  But actually, it was me who needed a tooth pulled.  Nasko said that they could do it and they could do it now.  I thought and thought about it but I passed.  Had it been the last day of the trip - maybe.  I just didn't want to start my vacation with a pulled tooth and what if there were complications?

This is the dentist building

 Inside it was very modern fancy.

But I didn't want to wait for the guys to get their dentures fitted ;-)

 So I stepped outside to see what there was in the nearby area.

Just 10 steps away from the dentist office was this gas station.

Wild - they still have service attendants - see the guys in orange?

So I stepped inside to get a coffee and croissant.  Inside is actually a huge cafeteria and they were serving the exact same type of food that was at the bus station. I really wanted some but they only started setting up the lunch just before Lars and Nasko got their new smiles. And I had just finished my mini coffee and croissant.  I know it sounds crazy but it was so fun to just sit in a gas station cafeteria and watch Bulgarian life.  Also it was airconditioned.  Mega warm outside.

From here we get into another cab and head to the center of town.  Lars and Nasko are giving me a quick and casual guide.  To the right is this and to the left is that and it was all soooooooooo interesting and exciting.  Of course I don't remember all of it.  I just pointed my phone and clicked and clicked and clicked.  Here now are a few pix just from the next few hours.  We were actually on our way to the next cafeteria that had the most amazing food.  All of it typical Bulgaria dishes.

Constructed in the 1850s, the catholic Cathedral of St Louis is one of the largest and most important catholic places of worship.  It was named after Louis IX of France.

Click this link for more.

A few nothing-special pix of the local area.

As we were walking in town, I thought it was old town but it's not.  Old town is actually on top of the hill in the background.  We are headed down a passage that leads under the above street with lots of traffic.  Eventually we make our way to the amazing city center that is NOT old town but it sure looks old to me.

However, the sidewalks are damn old.

Like, 1000s of years old to be exact.

Apparently this passage was built by the Romans. 

(no, the road above it did not exist at the time - obviously.)

Plovdiv was already populated in the 11th century BC.

It's one of the worlds 5 oldest cities and the oldest city in Europe.

I call these guys Lars and Nasko.

But you can call them clown 1 and clown 2.

They really are a lot of fun to be with.

It wasn't my intention to film the boobs and butts.  

They just happened to be there and in the way.  I had to

set my camera on wide angle to get some scenery ;-)

But this is the center of "not old town" It was very active.

In the photos below, is the city hall. 

And the following are just random photos of the delightful architecture.

This poster was in the window of the theater.

I don't know what it says,

 but I am sure it's sarcastic with a bit of truth.

In 2019, Plovdiv was the European Capital of Culture.

Here is a link to get more info on the festivities from 2019.

On the home page, there is a really nice video with an overview of the city.

Click this link to get to the home page.

Or you can just click this link to go directly to the video on Vimeo.

I tried to figure out during what years this man lived.  This is kind of the mascot of the city, you can say.  Like in Copenhagen we have The Little Mermaid.  This is Milyo. Not a fairytale but a real person. All the tourist come here to have their photo taken.  He was very well know for a few reasons.  It is said that he could speak several languages and he would often sit here in town and watch the people go by; young girls mostly.  He had quite a reputation. According to what I could find, it was most likely that meningitis was the cause of him going crazy.  Legend has it, that if you whisper your wish in his ear, your wish will be granted.  It appears that this is what is told in tourist guides.  What they don't tell you is you can also rub his bulge for good luck.  This is the main reason why he was so well known at the time.  Apparently, by the very shinny polished bulge, tourist are aware quite of this fact. 

What is quite amazing about this town is that it is built on top of ancient ruins.  Plovdiv is one of the oldest centers of European civilization - older than Rome and Athens.  

You can see Lars and Nasko on the bridge way in the back, in the center.

Sorry about the glare and the misalignment.  

Because of the reflection, I couldn't even see what I was doing.  

I just aimed and snapped.

It was all too amazing.

But actually we are just passing by.

So all these photo were just quickly snapped.

The guys tell me that we will come back to take a better look.

I kept slowing down the guys with all my photo taking.  

We were actually on our way to go get lunch and we needed to get to the restaurant before they closed.

We just made it.

It was food heaven.  

They were serving the same kinds of delights 

as what was being served in the bus stop 

and as well as in the gas station that I just came from.

I know that sounds kind of odd but the taste is out of this world.

Several of the dishes were already gone.  

But still there was enough food for an army.

Wow !  Already 67 photos and it's only day 2 at lunch time.

And from here on out, I cannot remember exactly which day we did what, but there was another day during the end of the week that Nasko needed to contact a his property agent.  Nasko recently found out that his father left him some property in the mountains.  No one in the family even new he had it.  But oddly enough, Nasko had to meet the woman at a specific bus stop and she was actually in a car driving and not on a bus bench waiting for the bus.  Nasko and Lars assured me they wont be long but if I wanted to tag along with them, I could.  So I did.  Then the rain started to fall so we quickly made our way to a restaurant to wait out the rain.  It was a fantastic place.  So different from what I am used to.  Basically it was 2 places in one - a bakery in 1 half of the building and a restaurant in the other half and a shared out-door covered patio.  Great food to chose from but we just grabbed a nibble from the bakery.

So it was lucky for us that we were able to sit out under a patio cover to keep us dry.

When we were finished and ready to go, there was still a very slight sprinkle in the air..

I had taken my umbrella just in case and I actually had it up for only 3 or 4 minutes.

We are now headed back towards the ruins as the guys had promised me.

In the next photo you can see how the rain fell as we were taking cover in the

restaurant patio.  This was just a few steps away from the restaurant.

I believe the next set of photos are actually taken on 2 different days.

That doesn't matter.  What was so surprising is that the town was filled with ruins and you could just easily pick up a piece and take something home as a lovely souvenir and use it as a door-stop.

A lot of these ruins were discovered long after the city of today was built.

The main attraction is the stadium which was under ground, 

under the streets and buildings when they were discovered.

Great restoration work is relatively recent as the ruins were discovered in 1923. 

Remember this city is one of the world's oldest.

We are standing at the open end of Philippopolis Stadium. 

Behind us are the bleachers where the sports fans would 

sit at the far end. By turning the camera in the opposite direction, 

you would be looking along the stadium which is 

250 meters / 820 feet  long.  

It was built in the 2nd century AD.

The mural on the wall shows what it looked like at the time it was built.

Above the wall mural is an outdoor restaurant - under street level.

And the rest of the city is now above the arena.

It was all very fascinating.

My jaw was dropped in awe almost the entire week.

 

Here is a photo from Wikipedia of the stadium with the modern day 

shops at street level over the stadium.

See this and more on Wikipedia.

Nasko shows no mercy.

I am sure the next set of pix are from another day.

It was here where I could walk directly to the ruins

and pack a stone to take home.

And probably get totally busted at the airport.

There is nothing stopping me from walking down there,

and touching everything and putting something in my pocket.

Rock - anyone?

And then we are back at the main square area again.

I like Atlas, so of course I snapped a few

photos of him too.

 G R E E C E

I think it was day 3, when we all piled into 2 cars and drove south to Greece.  We - is Lars, Nasko, his mother, his brother, his brother's wife, their 2 boys and me. In one car it was me, Lars and Rado (Nasko´s brother) and in the other car it was the rest of the family.  It was a looooong drive. It was a hard drive as well as a very hot drive.  It was a long 2-lane, windy mountain road almost the entire way.  You can't tell from this photo but it was a super windy road.

It was at least 400 miles / 600 kilometers round trip.  It was a bit long for an overnight trip but boy was it interesting and beautiful once we got down to the coast.  I also have to say there were plenty of interesting spots/stops along the way.  Here are a few pix of the drive and the resort town of Kavala.

This is Rado, Nasko's brother.  He's the one who had the same leg operation as me.  He too has a long rod in his shin bone.  That's probably why his name is Rado.  Rado and Lars picked me up from my hotel and we drove to this little dive breakfast window where we met the rest of the family.  People were actually standing in line to buy breakfast at a window.  We had to fill up our bellies so that we wouldn't get motion sickness on the windy mountain roads.

Eventually we make another pitstop to tank up the cars and our bellies - again.

This is Nask's mom, Doris.

We're the same age.  

I met her here in Copenhagen, twice.

Rado's car was very high-tech ;-)

notice the radio dial.

It was funny because Rado kept saying:  

Eddie, you take photo. You take photo.

I was just so amazed by everything and soaking it all in

that I actually kept forgetting to snap some of the sights.

It was hard to capture but there was a river along the way.

There was also a narrow-gage train track part of the way.

I think this was one of the first mountain towns we came to.  

We stopped to stretch, potty and more coffee.

It seemed to be some kind of out-door market day.

I snapped a hundred photos of the land scape.

here are a few.

In the blue car driving is Nasko's sister-in-law, Buriana.

In the passenger seat is Doris and in the back seat are 

Nasko and his 2 nephews, Joboslav and Martin.

Now we are approaching border control.

We will be entering Greece in just a moment.

Here we are now in Greece.  

We popped into a little road side mom and pop restaurant.

The place looked like it had seen better days.  

As I understand it, Covid hit hard on these places 

that are dependent upon tourist.

It was a funny "I Love Lucy" situation because 

not everybody here speaks Bulgarian.

Not everybody here speaks Greek.

Not everybody here speaks Danish.

And not everybody here speaks English.

And the menu was hand-written in Greek.

  

Here Lars and Nasko and the Greek woman who owns the place

are having a mini language session to try and figure out what

we are going to eat for lunch.

I have no idea what is going on but I see that we are 

having salad for lunch.  That was a lot of bla bla bla just 

to order a greek salad. It wasn't much so I made sure to 

eat as many tomatoes, onions, cucumber and feta cheese 

as possible.  There also happened to be a bit of bread and

french fries served.

Ok - were done.  Why aren't we leaving?

We have a long drive ahead of us still.  

We just barely crossed the border.

Why are we still seated?

Let's go!  Let's go!  Let's go!

I don't speak gibberish so how was I to know burgers were ordered 

and that's what we were waiting for?

Eventually I had to have somebody help roll me back to the car 

and then we were on our way down the mountainside to the Greek coast.

Of course I have lots of photos that I took from the car 

but I will just share a few from when we get closer to the coastal town of Kavala.

We have now entered the city center and we are trying 

to figure out how to get to our hotel.

Lars points the way.

The area is mostly one-way streets, so it's not so easy.

Thank goodness the hotel owns this empty lot 4 doors 

down the road so that we could park our cars.

I focus in on our hotel.  Here you can see that we are 

just 45 steps from the amazing aqueduct ruins.

In the video, our hotel is just after yellow and bricked stripped apartment.

It's the one with a man on one of the balconies.

Oddly enough, the hotel originally belonged to a Jewish tobacco merchant.  Kavala has a huge history as far as tobacco goes. It was built in 1927 as a private home for the tobacco merchant and his family.  It became a hotel from the new owners in 2018.  It's really an amazing place that I can recommend to every one.   ((Christine F - if you are reading this, you should pass on this link about the hotel to your work colleagues.  They would find it very interesting.))

The room with the balcony above my head was where I stayed.  

It was quite fancy.

We are here for less than 24 hours so Lars and I played Tourist Rush and we quickly headed out to town to see the sights.  Of course we also went out as one big family to eat and to enjoy what we could take in within the short time that we had.  And in such a short time we really did see a lot and do a lot and eat a lot.  Here now are a few photos from the next 24 hours.

The aqueduct is of Roman origin.  The present structure was bult by the Ottomans in the 16th century.  There seems to be a conflict on exact dates but somewhere between the years of 1520s and 1530s.  According to Wikipedia there was even a structure here before what we see now.  It was a barrier wall built as part of a fortifcation dating back to the 1300s and probably used as an aqueduct as well.

There was a wedding going on in town.

Eventually we got broken up into smaller groups.

Lars and I wanted to go check out the acropolis; 

the fortress at the top of the hill.

It is where the aqueduct leads to.

Here are a 2 vids from the top.

Then we make our way down.

Then it was time for a nice sit down relaxing family dinner.

When evening came, we made a family jaunt down to 

the water's edge at the marina and at the main square.

B A C K    T O    B U L G A R I A

The following day, we all wake up at our leisure, put on our faces and make our way to the impressive hotel dinning room for a wonderful and large breakfast. Something that I haven't seen before, breakfast was served in cute little baskets.  This way, you could take the basket back to eat in your room or take it with you to the coast or simply continue in the dinning room.  Afterwards, it's time to grab our bags and say good-bye to the hotel hosts.  We tell them how much we enjoyed staying at their beautiful hotel.  I was surprised when they handed each of us a good-bye box of traditional Greek cakes.  A little on the dry side, but hey,  if you want cake, just stay home in Denmark.  The cakes don't get any better than that.

With one last wave good-bye, and we carry our little over-night handbag and box of cookies to the dusty parking lot.  We pile everything in the back of the baking hot cars and we are off.  Kavala was just too amazing to stay for only 1 night but that's how it goes when you're on a whirlwind tour.

As we head out of town, I just randomly aim my phone out of the car window and try to snap some last moment memories.

Beautiful blue skies but boy was it hot.  If you remember earlier, I wrote this is one of the hottest summers ever on record in Europe.  A lot of Greece was on fire.  Luckily most of the fires had been put out shortly before we arrived.  Here is a google map screen shot of were we are at, at the moment.  Take a good look at what it says on the screen.

Somewhere up in the mountains we needed a pit stop.  

We were at this very small mountain village.

and they had an amazing but weird market.

For the next 4 to 5 hours, it's nothing but moo, dirt and kindle.

But I have to say, it is beautiful country side and lots of 

beautiful blue skies with fresh air.

Where the freak are we?

How much further do we have to go?

OMG 

We're only at the border!?

After we get out of the car and stretch our legs, and twist our hips,

 with passports in hand, we are ready to cross.

And I so proudly flash my Danish passport. 

Once we passed the border and cross back into Bulgaria, this guy stands at the side of the road to welcome us back home.  Nasko tells me: “Momchil the combat leader” is from the time when Bulgaria was under the rule of the Ottoman Empire. The combat leaders fought for Bulgaria to remain a Christian country and not to become Muslim.

An hour or 2 later, Nasko says to me that we are trying to find a restaurant where we can stop and have lunch.  But there is nothing around for miles.  But he tells me, it's not just any restaurant, its a fantastic place that he and his family have been to before.  To me, we seemed to be lost.  Driving and driving.  Eventually we see signs of life. A little village up ahead.  

We hang a left off of the main road.  

We are getting close. 

I can tell Rado can't remember exactly where it is 

but he can smell and sense it is near by.  

Eventually we get to this amazing restaurant.

On the ground floor of the restaurant is a bakery.

So we pick up a few bites.

After sampling the bread, we pile back into the cars and make our way home.  The next part of the drive was the  hardest.  As the mountain road flattens out and the beauty of the nature fades into the rearview mirror, I am just anxious to get back to my hotel and help round out my already flat saggy ass.  I look forward to more sight seeing in the city tomorrow and experiencing vivid Bulgarian life.

H O M E    W I T H    D O R I S

As I mentioned earlier in this story, I met Doris here in Copenhagen a few times already.  The last time she was in town, about 1 year ago, I invited Nasko, Lars and Doris to come by for a bite.  So get a load of this - the housing is so affordable in Bulgaria, Nasko and Lars bought Doris an apartment.  Of course it helps that Nasko and Lars are independently wealthy and loaded with cash. Million$ It's why I am such good friends with them.  They call me their little gold digger ;-)  Anyhoo..... Doris was living in the country side and Nasko was a bit worried about his mom having some difficulties.  They wanted to move her close to the city so that she could be near doctors and the market.  So the guys found an apartment, totally renovated it and moved her in.  What a wonderful son and son-in-law.  Doris put together some food for us a few days.  One of the things she whipped up in the kitchen is stuffed bell-peppers.  I just love them.  I'm made many for Jens but never quite right.  Then Doris told me the secret.  No wonder mine were always coming out hard and crunchy.  Here is a photo of what she cooked up.  It's so typical of the similar Bulgarian dishes.  These were de-lish !

 

O L D   T O W N

(mixed with not so old town)

For me it was all old.  First of all, if you have read everything so far and have been paying attention, then you now know that Plovdiv is the oldest European city.  While standing in the center of town in front of the old town hall with the water fountain in front of it (one of the photos I posted earlier - about 150 photos ago) I was confused when Lars and Nasko said to me: We'll take you to old town another day.  I was thinking: But this IS old.  There's something older?  

Plovdiv is on the UNESCO list of historical sites and this is why:

I saw so much and it was all so fascinating.  

I don't remember what all of this is but every building has a story.  

I look back at these photos and I am just so amazed at the beauty and enchantment.

Such beautiful restored architecture and history.

 You are not allowed to take photos so I just aimed my camera up and snapped.

Lars stayed out for a smoke while Nasko gave me a quick tour of this building/museum.

The story behind it is in the above photo that goes with the below photos.

Looking out of the window, I snapped the roof tops of old town.

Then we came to the end of the road.  

It should have continued but it was blocked due to reconstruction.

But we were exactly were Nasko wanted to take me.

This was an amazing restaurant/bar at the top of the hill. 

It looks out over the not so old city.

After our delicious brew, we continued our tour.

I am completely wow'ed by this structure.

Trying to light a candle for my friend, George.

Morning Glorious old town.

The amphitheater was used until the 5th century 

when it was destroyed either by fire or earthquake.

It was discovered in 1968.  

Probably at the time they built a road underneath it.

Directly behind the stage and straight down, is 

the main road though town.

It's still all old sh*t to me ;-) but we are now approaching

 the bottom of the hill and moving into more modern times.

 D I N N E R    W I T H

C O N S T A N T I N E

  

I think it was the evening after the old town tour.  We met Nasko's cousin.  His name is Constantine but goes by his nic-name, Kotze.  What a great guy and so interesting and charming.  Here are a few pix from the very nice restaurant that we ate at.  Click this link to see the website of restaurant Smokini.

Kotze is the guy in the back on the left.

As you can see, it is a modern style menu and not the 

typical standard, deep-dish, casserole, traditional style that 

you find at bus stops and gas stations ;-)

P R I V A T E     P R O P E R T Y

After a very hot summer, the weather got a little damp here and there,  We actually just missed the rain while were eating dinner. But on this day, there was no way around the wet weather.  It's been a while since Nasko's father passed away but it's just recently that Nasko found out his father left him a plot of land.  It is shared with another owner.  That owner has been searching for a few years to find the other half owner - Nasko - so that he could make an offer to buy his half.  Finally the other owner made contact with Nasko's little brother who also didn't know anything about the property.  We took a day trip drive up the mountain side and see the property.  This is Nasko's 2nd time to see it and Lars' first time.  The drive up the mountain was fantastic.  Here now are a few shots of our wet and wild mountain car ride.

If you look closely, you can see some "scratches" on the photo.

It's actually giant size rain drops.

This is Rado, Nasko's little brother.  

He had the same operation in his leg like me with 

the metal rod in the bone.  But he had the operation when 

he was 25 years old.

After we take a little stretch of our legs, 

we stop in the fist town we come to 

and it is here where we get off of the main road 

and try to find the plot.

We stop to grab a bite and warm up a bit.

After a bite and a drink, 

we dodge the bullet size rain drops

and quickly hop into the car.

Now off we go.

We finally find the area.  It's pretty big.  Nasko and Lars

are absolutely not interested in selling.  They actually want

to buy the other half but the other owner also wants to

buy Nasko's half.    Luckily there is more than enough 

space for everybody and each their own home.

If you look at the photo and notice that there is a

dirt road about half way in the back ground, that's how

far the property goes to and it's about as wide or more of 

what you see here.

On the next lot is this house that has just complete 

construction.  Now Lars and Nasko are considering this

same house from the same builder.

Ч Е С Т И Т    Р О Ж Д Е Н    Д Е Н    

Л Ю Б О С Л А В

H A P P Y    B I R T H D A Y    

L Y U B O S L A V

Nasko's nephew's birthday was this week and his parents threw him a wonderful family party at a near-by restaurant.  I was honored to be invited.  It was very festive and the boys were having a fun time.  There are quite a few years between the 2 son's of Rado and Boriana, but the boys get along amazing well.  The other boys are the sons of the other property owner.   I will assume that later that weekend Lyuboslave got together with friends his age.  Everybody was either too old or too young.  But nonetheless, it was a very nice family celebration.

Birthday boy Lyuboslav in the green shirt

and his little brother Martin in the checkered shirt.

Family and friends.

Martin likes Spider Man so he had a spider cut into his hair.

Cute - right?

I was totally jealous. 

If I remember correctly, Boriana was a bit disappointed 

because something went wrong with the cake order.

I don't know what it was supposed to be,

but this was delicious.

It was extra moist.

Maybe it was because of all that boy spit ;-)

The boys sure had fun blowing out the candles.

G O O D - B Y E    D I N N E R

It's our last evening now in Bulgaria. 

Rado and Boriana have invited us to a casual 

good-bye dinner in their home.

Rado and Boriana are very welcoming.  I don't 

understand the language but the hospitality is

loud and clear.  It was such a privilege to be

invited into their home and share a meal 

with them.  It was the perfect send-off 

of a great week.

G O O D - B Y E

This next block of photos is a mix of photos during the travel week but it is in reference to Lars and Nasko's beautiful apartment.  

I was soooooo surprised to see how beautiful their apartment is.  Because when you see it from the outside, you kind of wonder if you had sprayed enough CP all over you. (cootie protection - of course)  Do I dare even go in?   I'd don't remember which decade the apartment complex is from but it is from the communist era.  Simple stacked boxes.  One on top of the other.  The guys bought it for practically no money.  BUT .... It needed lots and lots of work.  They completely gutted it and had it brought up to speed. They poured a lot of cash into it and made it look like something from Vanity Fair magazine - really!   I am sorry that I don't have pix to show you but you will just have to trust me.  It is really beautiful.   

Anyway, one of the last things the apartment needed was air-conditioning.  They ordered it from home in Denmark and just a day or 2 after we arrived, the air-conditioner arrived and the handymen came the next day to install it.  

Here is a shot from the a near-by 

apartment complex in the local area.

Almost all of the buildings need paint.

There may be 1 or 2 buildings painted 

or partially painted.

Here is Lars and Nasko's complex.

One apartment is painted as well 

as the entrance.  

So I ended up saying that the guys live at

The Pink Palace.

We are waiting for the taxi to take us to the bus stop.

This is the other side of the apartment.

No paint, but a wonderful balcony.

(above the one with glass) 

And you can see the new air-conditioner.

Here we are sitting on the balcony.  

The air-conditioner was not yet installed.

It was still very hot at the end of the day.

But it was nice that the very tall trees kept

us in the shade.  And it was kind of like sitting

in a tree house.

Nasko's mother's apartment is in the same area.

As mentioned in the beginning of this very short blog,

the very large Lauta Park has a lot of paths with my 

hotel on the west edge of the park and a large apartment 

complex towards the middle southern part of the park.

And when we wanted to meet at my hotel or at their apartment

we would cut thru the park.

It all looks the same so I crossed my fingers that 

I was going the right direction.

1 photo is looking back and the other photo is looking forward.

There were several markers throughout so 

that you wouldn't get lost.  But I managed

to get lost often.  Luckily I always managed

to figure it out.  Of course the phone GPS

was a major help of me getting my baring.

Only 1000 meters to go - but to go where?

Or did I just complete 1000 meters?

Before we left the apartment/hotel, we bought 

bus tickets in advanced.  We didn't want to get

stuck without public transportation to the airport.

Here now are a few shots of our walk to the 

bus station to buy tickets.

It was a beautiful street lined with 

huge trees and paved with cobble stone.

There were several beatiful buildings  on 

each side of the street. Some were in desperate

need of repair and they were doing so to several

of the buildings.  In this area they were

 setting up for some kind of festival.

Here we finally reach the ticket office of the bus and train station.

Unfortunately there is not a train from the airport to Plovdiv.

Below is the bus departure times - Obviously ;-)

F L I G H T    O S 3 0 7   
N O W   B O R D I N G

So once we hit the train/bus station, we have just enough time to make a potty stop before the 3 hour ride back to the capital city.  We toss our carry-ons into the luggage section of the bus, under the seats and off we go.   I was dreading the bus ride back because the bus on the way in was hot and sticky.  But I was so happy about this bus.  It was clean, modern and with air-conditioning.   Also, what was very different about returning, there is a stop at metro station and we are able to take the metro a very short part of the way. It's less than a 10-minute.  But it saved us from having to go all the way into the capital center and switch to another long bus or cab ride.   This means the ride to the airport (1 hour 45 minutes) was much quicker than the ride from the airport. 

We must be now very close to the Sofia but it looks like we are in the middle of nowhere and that kind of makes these modern buildings seem so out of place.  Especially compared to everything I have see in the past 6 days.

These buildings are brand new and you can see in the 

above photo that the tall tower still needs the facade.

And there seems to be not much else around here.

Odd and funny.

The modern buildings are on one side of the 

highway and we are dropped off on the other

side of the highway.  This is where the airport

metro station is located.

That's the bus we just got off of.

Lars is anxious to get on the train and get home.

Here comes the metro.

Between the exit of the metro and the entrance of the airport is this statue of the ancient Thracian singer Orpheus.  He was a prominent figure of the Bulgarian lands.  Orpheus, said to be the son of Apollo and Calliope, lived in Thrace in Northwest Greece, and was the best lyre player in the world.  In the photo you can see a lyre in Orpheus hands. Orpheus played and sang so beautifully that he enchanted everyone who heard him.  He was endowed with super human musical skills.  The history on this is endless and there are different but similar versions of the myth. Just google it if you are having a hard time sleeping.  Maybe you are already asleep ;-)  It's quite a story.  Part of the story is his head and lyre falling into a river yet his head keeps on singing as it floats down stream. Maybe this is where the phrase of "streaming music" comes from.  After all, Blue tooth is named after a Danish king, so..... 

So now we have entered the airport but we walk out immediately 

and hop in a cab.  Lars and Nasko know of a little secret

corner where we can go and have lunch and avoid

airport prices and airport food.  We'll get our last

little bite at this little hole in the wall that probably 

only some airport employees are aware of.  

It's certainly not a place to find tourist.

This is our last real Bulgarian dish.

So now we are back into the airport 

and ready to head back to 

Copenhagen.

Sofia to Vienna

Once we landed in Vienna, the switch was crazy and stupid.

We couldn't just do a normal transfer.  We had to actually

exit and then check-in again.  We ran. We panicked.

Can we make the connection.  Of course we could.

But we for sure didn't know it at the time.

There was even enough time to have a brew before

boarding but we couldn't get anything to eat 

because all the restaurants were closing.  Our only

choice for food was from a vending machine.  So I was 

glad to at least get some flowing dinner.  I wasn't interested in a

egg-salad sandwich on Wonderbread that had been 

sitting there all day in a vending machine. 

We finally get on board.  I looked out of the 

window and I could see that we were not going

to be taking off anytime soon.

We had a flat tire.  The mechanics had to 

come out and switch the wheel.

And then this message popped into

my in-box.

 

S O U V E N I R S 

Before heading to the gate, I made a quick 

stop in the gift shop and bought a few things.  

2 of the things I bought are these shirts.

But the greatest gift I have is something

that I received from Nasko's mother.

This is the best pair of slippers I have

ever had.  Doris knitted them herself.

They are made of really thick wool yarn.

These have been a real blessing.

Since my bike accident, my foot has

been too swollen to fit into my shoes.

I couldn't even fit into a pair of socks the first few months.

So I popped on these hand-made socks

and they are just amazing.  I actually have had 

them on every single day since I have come

home from the hospital.  

I am so crazy about them.

I have them on now as I write this blog.

It has a black bottom part with 

blue and gray strips on the upper part.

On the 2nd to the last sunny day of the season,

I got a wheelchair from the hospital.

Lotta came up to my apartment as said:

Com'on Eddie, you need to get out.

But my leg just couldn't bend enough to put 

my foot on the foot rest so she figure out 

something and then rolled me out to the garden

where I could get some sun. 

Lotta is so amazing - she even had 

a hot cup of coffee waiting for me.

You can see I have a white sock on and a shoe on.

But my right foot was so swollen, I couldn't even

put on a real sock.  These are so comfortable.

They just slide right on and they stay up and they 

are not floppy.  It was a 100% perfect souvenir

and it was made for me with love by Doris.

Thank you so much Doris.

много благодаря

Ти спаси крака ми от толкова много дискомфорт

You saved my foot from so much discomfort.

See you all soon ;-)