Back from Bulgaria

Boink · Sep 7, 2018

Back from sunny, hot and humid Bulgaria. Why there? Too long to explain, but it was AMAZING! Wonderful old-world Slavic culture mixed with sometimes amusing Soviet-era architecture and monuments (did anyone see the recent dark-comedy "The Death of Stalin"?). Got to swim in the fairly salty and slightly smelly (of sulfur) Black Sea. Wonderful people, strange Cyrillic (impossible?) writing and a different currency (since although they are in the EU they are not on the Euro). Thankfully, most people spoke at least some English everywhere we went (especially in Sofia). Did a complete loop of the country for 11 days.
We also spent 4 days in Scotland (where our old friends arranged for me to fly in a two-seater Eurostar EV-97 plane, and ride in a combine harvesting barley!!!), and 4 days in Paris. Good to be back home.

AngliaGT · Sep 7, 2018

Sounds like a good trip.
You should have posted about this before
you left.My Wife has Friends there (Bulgaria).

Boink · Sep 7, 2018

AngliaGT said:
Sounds like a good trip.
You should have posted about this before
you left.My Wife has Friends there (Bulgaria).

We've been told this by others too. It's surprising how many people know someone from Bulgaria... though maybe not so surprising because many of their educated young people are leaving the country for better opportunities. The cost-of-living there is CHEAP with U.S. dollars; everywhere we went we were amazed at how far the dollar went.

And speaking of the dollar, they use the "lev" and it is further broken down to the "stinky" (though I don't recall how it's spelled - with 100 stinkys in a lev). Here's a 50 stinky piece (with the 50 written on the other side). What would you do with it? Go into stinky public bathrooms. :wink-new:

NutmegCT · Sep 7, 2018

Mark - welcome home. Always wanted to see that part of the world.

That coin is a stotinka (50 stotinki), with St George and the Dragon. Interesting how St George appears in so many nations' symbols.

Now to the important things: How was the food????

Tom M.

Boink · Sep 7, 2018

Thanks Tom. I guess the nickname is the "stinky" (and I see the proper name at the bottom of the coin here). The symbol is the national one of Bulgaria.
The food was, generally, excellent (as were many of the wines - visited Bessa Valley winery too). We mostly had fish, but had a huge assortment of other local cuisine.

sail · Sep 7, 2018

Sounds like a great trip! It always reenergizes me to go to different places, see different things and meet new people.

Boink · Sep 7, 2018

Yeah, we like to get out of our comfort zone from time to time... and this country certainly lived up to that.
The Rila Monastery was stunning. The first shot is just a photo I took of a post-card, the other two are mine. There are now only 10 monks there and a good deal of place (high in the mountains SW of Sofia) is a museum with a very small series of room for rent (where we stayed).

NutmegCT · Sep 7, 2018

Mark - how'd you find out about the rental rooms at the monastery?

Got me interested ...

TM

waltesefalcon · Sep 7, 2018

Mark, it sounds like a great trip. I'd really like to visit Eastern Europe someday.

Boink · Sep 7, 2018

NutmegCT said:
Mark - how'd you find out about the rental rooms at the monastery?

Got me interested ...
TM

Can't say I fully recommend it, though here's a nice write-up by another person.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUse...7575567-Rila_Monastery-Rila_Sofia_Region.html
Hot water for the shower was sort of "optional" (but we had been warned and just planned on skipping that). Very spartan... but, heck, it's a monastery.

Boink · Sep 7, 2018

waltesefalcon said:
Mark, it sounds like a great trip. I'd really like to visit Eastern Europe someday.

Walt: if you're looking for a "taste" of eastern Europe, I'd recommend a Rick Steves Tour. He's SUCH a good guy, with such integrity.
https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/eastern-europe/eastern-europe-tour

This is partly due to: driving, multiple languages, multiple currencies and just the educational value of his smallish tours.

waltesefalcon · Sep 7, 2018

Mark, I catch Rick Steves show on NPR sometimes. I imagine that his tours would be rather good.

Boink · Sep 7, 2018

waltesefalcon said:
Mark, I catch Rick Steves show on NPR sometimes. I imagine that his tours would be rather good.

We love using him as he's very educational (with access to things that you'd not be able to do yourself - from cooking classes, to visiting schools or private homes, and special educational guides - a superb cultural experience). It's a bit more expensive than doing your own thing, but, again, we've found the tours are superbly done (and are smallish - such that if a full-size bus is used, there are two seats available person). His guides are excellent. We've done 12 of his tours, and we add on our own independent thing before and/or after a tour (given the expense of getting to Europe).

DrEntropy · Sep 7, 2018

Sounds like an interesting trip, Mark. Personally, I have no desire to set foot outside CONUS ever again.

Mitsy can sorta-kinda read Cyrillic. Her dad and his brother were Ukranian "escapees" from the war, they got church newspapers printed in it. I can recognize "PRAVDA" and that's about it.

Boink · Sep 7, 2018

DrEntropy said:
Sounds like an interesting trip, Mark. Personally, I have no desire to set foot outside CONUS ever again.
Mitsy can sorta-kinda read Cyrillic. Her dad and his brother were Ukranian "escapees" from the war, they got church newspapers printed in it. I can recognize "PRAVDA" and that's about it.

I guess Helen and I have a bit of wander-lust. She wants to go to Africa (and do the safari thing), which I have little interest in doing. I'm keen on Machu Picchu and the Galapagos (in 2020 I think). We aren't cruising people but will be doing the Panama Canal this January.
Can't take it with us. :rolleye:

waltesefalcon · Sep 7, 2018

I took a cruise this summer to Cozumel and the Yucatan. I didn't have much in the way of expectations, I only went to see Uxmal, but I really enjoyed the experience.

Doc, I have always wanted to travel but at the same time there is so much to see in the CONUS that traveling to Europe seems superfluous, but I still would like to see some things around the world. I just won't feel too bad if I never get out there.

Boink · Sep 7, 2018

We're not cruising people (eating, gambling and cheesy Vegas-style shows), but I see a use for them as a floating hotel to get to go to interesting places. We really enjoyed our Alaska one that included a land portion to Denali (and Fairbanks). We've only been on a few, and about the only thing I would avoid is the ones filled with families (and kids).

sail · Sep 7, 2018

waltesefalcon said:
I only went to see Uxmal,

Brings memories back. Drove there in 1970 in a rented rusty Rambler and stayed at the beautiful hotel built in the 50's for archaeologists and tourists.

I'm looking at the photo's above and thinking trouble. My navigator can't read a road map (less frustrating now that I know to never ever listen to her directions) and can get close but doesn't really remember what towns we've been in or where they were. I guess we could always backtrack though since she can place herself in every single restaurant and remember every single thing that she has ordered since the beginning of time.

Boink · Sep 7, 2018

It's amazing, though, what Google Maps has done to change navigation. We used our phone for GPS in northern Italy last year (the Lake District) and it worked like a charm. Of course, it helped that we bought an Italian SIM card (30 Euros for 30 days and 30 gigs of data! - great deal).

NutmegCT · Sep 7, 2018

sail said:
<snip>My navigator can't read a road map (less frustrating now that I know to never ever listen to her directions) <snip>

Somehow the terms "navigator" and "can't read a road map" don't quite fit ...

Back from Bulgaria

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