Last Days in Sofia

Our last couple of days were spent in Sofia. Friday we had our wrap up session which got a bit emotional as we realized that our wonderful experience was finally coming to an end. Friday night several of us went to the National Theatre to see A Midsummer Night’s Dream. It was a wonderful production and we were able to follow the story line very easily because the actors were so good at what they were doing. It was very interesting to watch an English play in a Bulgarian theatre performed by a Russian company in the Russian language. That made it very interesting indeed.
Saturday we had free time all day so most of us did some last minute shopping. We walked around Alexander Nevski Church and there was a huge line of people and a band and lots of police. We found out that the three miracle icons of Bulgaria were being united in the church that day. People were in line to be able to touch all three of them and pray to the saints for whatever they needed to pray about. We took it easy on Saturday to help prepare for the trip home.

Sunday was our trip to Vitosha mountain. We drove up quite a way and then hiked even further. A few people hiked all the way to the top but I did not make it quite that far. It was beautiful up there and we had a wonderful view of Sofia from that height. The grass and trees were very green and it was quite windy. We were a little cold when we first got there but hiking warmed us up quite quickly.

Tonight was our farewell dinner. The restaurant we were in was very high and had a wonderful view of the city. We had wonderful food and wonderful company and we had to say our goodbyes to the Fulbright staff. They encouraged us to come back to do a big Fulbright and I might look into that. Sofia is an easy city to get around in and it would be wonderful to come back and see everyone again while teaching or working on a research project. We also started to say good bye to each other. We have been together for forty days now and good byes are tough. I leave the hotel at 4:00am so I will not see most of my new friends again. It has been a wonderful experience that I would certainly recommend to anyone who is interested in learning more about different cultures and societies in an intensive program. I will certainly remember this experience for a long time to come. Farewell to Bulgaria and to all my new friends!

Plovdiv and Winery

We started out with a meeting with the English department of Plovdiv University. They have a large one and have lots of graduates each year. Only about 4% of their large number of grads become teachers because the pay here is so low. It was interesting to hear a little about their program. It does include some practical work but seemed to be more theory based.

We then took a walking tour of the old town of Plovidv. We saw a Roman amphitheatre that they are using today as a place for concerts. If fact, they were preparing for a concert for the evening when we were there. We asked out it and our guide described the singer as the Madonna of Bulgaria so I opted not to go to that concert!

We also saw lots of interesting architectural styles of houses. Most of the houses are built on really small plots of land so like other European cities of the time, the upper floors of the houses stick out over the street to make more room. We had a little free time here to explore and shop.


Afterward, we visited the Todoroff winery. We had a short tour of their cellars and facilities and then a short wine tasting. They make only red wine at this particular winery and the three varieties we tried were very tasty. The one I liked the best was the oldest one and (of course) the most expensive one! We then had a wonderful lunch that included salad, a baked potato stuffed with cheese and ham and then the main course which was a pasta with chicken dish. YUM!! There was a flan like dessert (we call it gelatinous goo) as well as fruit. We were so full afterwards but some made it down to the shop to purchase a little bit of Bulgaria before our bus trip back to Sofia.
We were all ready to come "home" to our hotel in Sofia and have a little more free time to end up the trip. I think we are all a little sad that the trip is coming to and end but also excited to see family and friends back home.

Sozopol and Plovdiv

After leaving Bourgas, we headed to the small, ancient town of Sozopol. It is a bit like Nesebar but not quite as commercial and a little less crowded. It will be packed in August as that is when most Bulgarians take their holidays.
We had some free time in this town to shop and look out at the sea from cafes that were littered all over the town. It also is on a peninsula and it was very easy to walk from one side of the peninsula to the other. We wandered around and I have lots of photos of the ocean and beach from here.
We had lunch at the Windmill restaurant on top of a hill. It looked out over the sea and was just beautiful!
There was a small island not far out and the water was very blue. A man was fishing right down below us and there were boats going by. We had a great lunch there. Our first course was fish soup. I was really afraid I would not like it because it would be "fishy". Not so. It was delicious. It contained fish (of course) but also vegetables and lots of broth. Our main course was a stew that they brought to us in a flaming clay pot. OK, they lit the outside of the pot and it was not really flaming but it kept the stew really hot. The stew was so hot, we dipped it out on a plate to let it cool off so we could eat it. It was also very tasty. Baklava for dessert with ice cream on top. Yummy!
Next we headed for the town of Plovdiv. We walked form our hotel to a really nice restaurant that had a very Turkish feel to it. Plovdiv is the second largest town in Bulgaria so we should see some really cool things here!

Bourgas and Nesebar

So, now we are in the town of Bourgas. It is a town on the sea but has a huge port so not much of a beach. There are lots of tankers and other vessels in and out of the port all the time and it looks a bit industrial down by the water. We went down the road a bit to visit the old town of Nesebar. The old part of the town in located on an isthmus in the middle of a bay. There is a functioning four level windmill right outside of the town. It has a house attached (that is the 4 level part)that the keeper lived in. Other floors were for storage and drying fish.
We started in the archaeological museum which had some nice artifacts from the town's Byzantine past. There were also several beautiful icons.

We then took a tour of several of the churches remaining in the town. One of them is now an art gallery and has early examples of the use of the symbol that we now know of as a swastika. Our guide called it a "so-called swastika". It was used as a symbol of the sun in ancient times long before it was used by the Nazis.
There used to be 40 or more churches in this small town as rich land owners tried to outdo each other but there are only about 20 left. Some have been restored while others have not.
We had some free time here to wander the winding streets of the old town which would be more charming if they were not covered with touristy shops.
We returned to Bourgas and a free evening and are off tomorrow for Sozopol and Plovdiv.

Varna

Our next destination was the town of Varna. On the way there, we stopped at the small village of Arbanassi. We visited an old house that is now a museum and saw how the people lived in the 17th century. This was a rich person's home so it had several rooms that others would not have had. We also visited a church there that was built during the Turkish domination. These churches look very plain from the outside so the Turks would not know they were churches and destroy them.
The town was up on the side of the mountain and we had a great view down to the town of Veliko Turnovo below.
We continued on the the town of Varna so we spent a lot of time on the bus. We passed through an area where there were fields full of sunflowers as far as the eye can see. I think that sunflower oil is a big commodity for this area. I also saw several farmers with a horse and cart going about their daily business. I guess these are what you would call rural scenes. It felt like what you would see in a book or a movie but it was really there.
We got to Varna late and just had enough time to take a quick swim in the Black Sea. There was lots of seaweed as a storm had come through the day before. Once you got past the seaweed, it was great!

The next day we had a short walking tour of Varna where we visited the main cathedral there. The service or liturgy happened to be going on so we watched a little bit of that. It was weird that walked in during service but it was kind of neat to see. We did not stay very long and of course had no idea what they were saying.
We took a short walking tour and then got on the bus to head for Borgas.

Veliko Turnovo

Well, we left Sofia to head for Veliko Turnovo. On the way, we stopped at Etur which is an ethnographic complex that is like a village from the 17th century in Bulgaria. There are several machines all around the complex that are powered by water.
At the gate, was a washing machine where they washed rugs and other large items. The water came down off a slope at such an angle to make the water bubble and roll in the tank. The rugs are then stirred with a stick to help the water clean them. No soap is involved as it would contaminate the water that drained off and into the next machine. It was really cool to see.
The water system ran all through the complex and ran machines for wood carving, pottery, weaving and all sorts of folk crafts. The work they did there was pretty amazing. They were selling things there of course but the best part was watching the craftsmanship and seeing how the water system worked with just gravity.

After this visit, we continued on to Veliko Turnovo which is the former capitol of Bulgaria. We climbed to see the castle which was the defense against invaders. It was set high on a hill of course and it was a very hot day. We were pretty worn out by the time we got to the top. There was a church at the top which was decorated in a very different way than any of the others we have seen. The frescoes in this church were painted during the communist era and were very dark and a little bit scary. We were not allowed to take pictures inside but I must say they were very interesting even if odd. The trip down was much easier than the trip up! It was a clear day with only a little haze. You could see a long way and it was easy to imagine the Bulgarian kings in this castle watching out for their enemies and trying to keep safe. Bulgaria finally was conquered by the Turks who managed to hold onto that rule for 500 years.
Later we met with teachers in the American studies department at the university and had dinner with them back at our hotel. They seem to have an interesting program and are training many students to speak English so they can get jobs in various industries or go on to have an academic job in higher ed.
After dinner, we went down to see the light show at the castle. They had a computerized light show that had music we could not really hear. The lights were impressive and meant to dramatize the history of Bulgaria. That part was a little hard to follow.

Folklore

I am trying to get caught up on the blog but we have been really busy lately! One of the last days in Sofia was spent learning about culture. In the morning, we learned about Bulgarian art throughout history. We learned a lot and I will add some links to pictures we saw later.


We also had some lessons on Folklore through learning more about Bulgarian music and dance. We learned about folk music and some of the instruments used to create it including the doudok. This is the basic pipe or flute like instrument used in much of the music. We also learned about the bagpipes used which are similar to bagpipes in other cultures but in more of a minor key. Bulgarian folk music also has some odd rhythms that are hard to count out. This also makes them hard to dance to! Our teacher also taught us about playing wooden spoons and many basic dance steps.



Later that evening, we went to an incredible restaurant that features folk singing and dancing. It made more sense to us because we had learned about it earlier that day. The singers and dancers were incredible! Two of our participants were called up to dance during one of the numbers. They did great! The performers were in full costume which made the whole experience more exciting.


The final performance of the evening was a fire dance. Two performers carried an icon and walked on hot coals. This is a historic dance performed to show their faith in God. It was really neat! It was hard to get pictures of it, however as it was really dark. Some people were using their flash which made my pictures look weird but I will post them anyway.

Next I will be reporting on our adventures across the country!