A Crossroads - Bulgarian Adventures: March 2011

My roommates are two Bulgarian twin sisters, Rositsa and Elitsa (or Rose and Elli, as I call them). They are simply the sweetest and the first moment I met them, I knew I would never be uncomfortable in my home here in Bulgaria. Back on St. Patrick’s Day evening, Elli invited my friends and I to come watch something extremely special she and others had been working on for the past five months; a show called “Bright Little Stars of Blagoevgrad.” It was a bittersweet hour and a half of singing, dancing, and poem recitation by children from the Home for Children Without Parental Care in Blagoevgrad. Another words, these children, aged two to twenty, were orphaned, but that didn’t hold them back. This night was their night, all eyes on them, and they performed their little hearts out. Yes, the little ones were adorable and made your heart sing with joy when they sang their songs and recited their poems, but it also made your heart ache with pain that a child as amazing as these had no one to care for them, no house to go home to. The cherry on top was when a teenage girl, with a voice to become a rock star, sang the song “Pray,” and even if it was by none other than Justin Bieber, the message was sort of heartbreaking and eye-opening at the same time.

Erin and I on St. Patty's Day!

Now that I’ve gotten my share of sentimental, touchy-feely writing in, time to move in. Although St. Patrick’s Day is not really celebrated in Bulgaria, it’s always been a meaningful holiday for me, so my friends and I celebrated with a fun night out. I may have even brought out a little Irish dancing from the good ol’ days.

That weekend, the international services office at my university, with whom my friends and I have had a lot of contact with help for planning trips, organized an overnight trip to the Melnik region of Bulgaria. This region is about an hour and a half south of Blagoevgrad in the southwest corner of Bulgaria, bordering Macedonia to the west and Greece to the South. It was a sort of carefree trip in the way that our schedules were planned out for us and we didn’t have to navigate to all the sights on our own. First stop was in a sleepy little town called Rozhen. They say Melnik is officially the smallest town in Bulgaria, but Rozhen for me seemed to fit that category. Rozhen Monastery is quite a hike up a steep mountain. Surrounding us 360 degrees were beautiful views. Rozhen Monastery is one of the few medieval Bulgarian monasteries preserved until today. In Bulgaria, Martenitsa is a tradition which symbolizes the coming of spring. People wear red and white yarn bracelets beginning March 1 until they see the first bud, then they tie it to the plant or tree or whatever it may be. So atop the mountain outside Rozhen Monastery, my friends and I got rid of our Martenitsa bracelets on the blooming trees.

Martenitsa

Tying my Martenitsa to the branch

Emily and I outside Rozhen Monastery

Melnik from the Kordopulov House

After Rozhen, we moved on to Melnik, a town known for its winemaking. We walked to the Kordopulov House. The Kordopulov family was one of the most famous Melnik wine retailers; the house and wine cellar was turned into a museum. Touring the wine cellar and the caves was very neat. The wine wasn’t exactly like what I’m used to, but it was fun to try, nonetheless. A nice traditional Bulgarian lunch followed the Kordopulov House. Next stop on our journey was an area called Rupite. It is best known as the place where Baba Vanga, the Bulgarian prophet, lived her final years and is buried. Rupite is a large open field surrounded by beautiful mountains. Natural hot springs are scattered throughout the field, which is actually the crater of an extinct volcano. Another interesting fact about Rupite is that excavations have revealed remains of the ancient town of Petra built more than 5,000 years ago.

Girls and I wine tasting

Natural hot springs at Rupite

Statue of Tsar Samuil at Samuil's Fortress

After Rupite we had a quiet night in the city of Petrich, and Sunday morning began with a visit to Baba Vanga’s house in Petrich (google her! Very interesting story). Last stop on our little weekend journey was at a place called Samuil’s Fortress right on the Macedonian and Greek borders. In 1014, the Bulgarian army lost a tragic battle to the Byzantine army. The story goes that 14,000 Bulgarian survivors were blinded and released, leaving one per every 100 with just one eye to lead them home. Tsar Samuil had a heart attack at the horrific sight.

It was nice to have a weekend to explore Bulgaria more and dive even deeper into its fascinating history. It’s difficult to imagine that three months ago, I knew not a clue about the past of a nation as special and important as this. That is proof of one flaw with the Western world: the West is all we learn about unless of course we open our minds up and give ourselves the opportunity to see the rest of the world, because no place or people is more important than the rest.

Some shots that are too good to not remember!

My girls at Samuil's Fortress

Courtney enjoying herself

Erin being a cutie pie

Well, my readers, in the purposes of keeping this post within a reasonable length and for my own sanity seeing as I have papers waiting to be written and books waiting to be read, I will try to sum up the past nine days in all their glory with the shortest, most incomplete sentences possible, though these places and experiences deserve much, much more.

Barcelona!

Beautiful La Sagrada Familia

Friday was a day of travel. Taxi from school to bus station. Bus from Blagoevgrad to Sofia. Tram from Sofia bus station to airport. Flight from Sofia to Barcelona. Metro from airport to hostel. This was pretty much the pattern of transportation that we dealt with during every switch of locale. Needless to say, traveling is exhausting but an experience worth every penny, or Euro cent in this case. Arrival at hostel around 9pm was followed by a mad dash to find the closest, cheapest, Spanish cuisine. Mission accomplished. Traditional tapas and the best sangria I’ve ever had. Following indulgence, we called it an early night. Saturday and Sunday. We explored Barcelona from corner to corner. Our feet hated us but what could we do? When in a city as amazing as this, you have to do it all. Go all out. La Sagrada Familia. Words do not do this place justice. One of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Thumbs up to Mr. Gaudi. A visit to the Park Guell followed. Amazing experience walking through the dirt paths with cacti growing everywhere, Spanish musicians playing their guitars around every bend, the sun pouring down, and a breathtaking view of the city. Cheap but delicious lunch followed. Next, we ventured down to the waterfront. Saw the port and profiles of sailboats and yachts plastered against the late afternoon sun. Boy, had I missed that sight. We shopped and took in the beauty of the Mediterranean surrounding us, the scent of salt water a familiar and wonderful smell. Walked the boardwalk out to the mall on the water and then the boardwalk along the beach. Pointed to a different building every other minute saying “I want to live there!” Dinner that night was as cheap as we could go without completely sacrificing our taste buds. Pizza. It never fails. Delivered to us in the bar/lounge at our hostel. Sharing a pitcher of sangria, we made a night out of ping pong and apples to apples.

In front of a waterfall in the beautiful Labyrinth Park

Sunday was filled with a visit to the beautiful Labyrinth Park north of the city, filled with gardens, waterfalls, and well, a labyrinth. We then walked the beautiful downtown streets of Barcelona, where we were surrounded by more Gaudi architecture, Spanish street musicians, hidden roads, and stunning churches. Being the broke, traveling college students that we are, when it comes to food, we manage to shop around, and we’re usually pretty successful at achieving our goal of cheap but delicious. For our lunch on Sunday, mission accomplished once again. Gelato followed, although we were headed to Italy the next day, Barcelona didn’t do too bad at all in the gelato department. Happy and rejuvenated, we headed out on another major trek to Montjuic Mountain, which pretty much covered the entire western side of the city. We saw the National Palace and the Olympic Stadium, where the 1992 Olympics took place. After a cappuccino break at a café embedded into a hillside overlooking the city, we headed back down to flat ground and grabbed a quick dinner by the water. Again, on a budget, the cheapest flight we could find from Barcelona to Roma was at 6:25am, so we had to begin our pattern of travel around 2:30am Monday morning. Needless to say, Sunday was an early night. Barcelona. Beautiful. Warm. Ocean. History. Culture. Food. All words that will lead me back there one day I hope. But now, I was ready for Roma!

Famous Colosseum

Roma!
One word I will use to descried Monday. Long. We had been up since 2am traveling and arrived at our hostel, only to be sent to their sister hostel due to overbooking, around 10am. One problem. We couldn’t check in until 3pm and all we wanted to do was climb in a bed and sleep. Quick sum up of how the next 5 hours were spent: food and lounging around wherever we could, whether it be a restaurant, bookstore, or the hostel computer room. The time we’d been waiting for finally rolled around, we slept till 8pm, then got up for free pizza offered by our hostel. Pizza in Italy. Awesome. The next day. Tuesday. Once again, we had an entire city to explore in a short amount of time. First stop. Colosseum. Despite the on and off drizzles of rain, still a beautiful sight. Didn’t go inside, but stomped the grounds surrounding it filled with Roman ruins. Walked some adorable little backstreets and eventually stumbled upon the Trevi Fountain. Made a wish and threw in a coin. Chance or fate, right across from the Trevi Fountain was a Bulgarian Orthodox Church. In Rome, possibly the most Catholic of all cities in the world. And Bulgaria, of all places. Our home. Needless to say, we were excited. Next stop. Working our way to the Vatican. Sort of unreal to actually be standing in a place as beautiful and important as this. St. Peter’s Basilica. The place of burial of St. Peter. One word. Breathtaking. Simply breathtaking. We then walked the maze of halls filled with beautiful murals and artifacts to the Sistine Chapel. Once again, unreal. Spent a good half hour sitting in the Sistine Chapel trying to take in as many details as possibly of Michelangelo’s famous work. No photos allowed, unfortunately. Vatican. Check. But was I really just there? I kept asking myself. It seemed too surreal to be my life.

Trevi Fountain

Pantheon

The remainder of Tuesday was spent lounging around the city and our hostel. Free pizza for dinner. Some drinks. Good times. Wednesday. Set out on our trek to the Pantheon. One thing about Italy I loved so much was I constantly found myself walking along the adorable little back streets then out of the blue, they’d open up to a large beautiful plaza. In one of these plazas, we discovered the Pantheon. A café stop followed, where hot tea and fruit salad served as my lunch. We had a late afternoon flight to Florence, so unfortunately we had to say goodbye to Rome. Once again, I know Rome is a place I someday would love to come back to. Truly, such a special place.

Firenze!
After our flight was rerouted to Pisa due to bad weather in Florence, the airline bused us to Florence, where, other than a little wind, the weather seemed beautiful. A splurge on a delicious Italian dinner followed check-in to our hostel, where I got the gnocchi I’d been waiting for. Thursday. We joined a free walking tour offered by our hostel, in which we saw the Medici library, Santa Maria Cathedral, Casa di Dante Museum, Palazzo Vecchio turned town hall of Florence, and Loggia dei Lanzi, which housed a dozen or so famous statues. All stunning places, and astonishingly as much a part of Florence today as back when they were built. As we walked around Florence, I fell more and more in love with the city. It is every bit the picturesque place I thought it would be.

The girls and I in front of Santa Maria Cathedral

We walked along the Arno River, browsed the shops and street vendors, found lunch at a “make your own Panini” place for only 3.50 Euro, and of course couldn’t go a day in Italy without gelato. Hostels in Italy. Well, we lucked out. Once again, we were given free dinner. Our choice of spaghetti prepared in a few different ways. Yum. A relaxing night of card playing kept us busy for the rest of Thursday. Friday. A beautiful sunny day in Florence. We explored some more, walked the bridges on the Arno River, shopped and basked in the sun. We had a late afternoon train to Bologna to catch. Florence was easily the most beautiful city I’d seen. A place I can picture myself living and never, ever getting used to the amazing views around every corner. But onto Bologna and new sights!

Bologna!
Let’s see. After missing our train connection, we finally made it to Bologna. Just two hours after we had originally planned. Instead of staying in a hostel, we decided to do it real cute this time and stay in a bed and breakfast. Well, it wasn’t the typical New England bed and breakfast I may be used to. Still, it was an experience. We had an amazing dinner out that night. Some of the greatest tortellini I’ve ever had. Then again, Bologna is known for its cuisine. Shouldn’t be too surprised. Saturday. We had less than a day to cover the city. We grabbed a map from a random hotel and hit all the sites we possibly could. First stop. One of the remaining gates when Bologna was a walled medieval city. Under which we could see part of the network of canals which is beneath the whole city and used to supply energy back in the day. Saw many more stunning cathedrals, Biblioteca Salaborsa, Piazza Maggiore, Palazzo D’Accursio, and much more. Walked down an adorable street known for its amazing restaurants. Found a cute pasta shop. Climbed one of the Two Towers, both of which are leaning. After a scary climb, atop, we were rewarded with an amazing view of Bologna. Next. Walked along the beautiful covered sidewalks of the university, randomly entering churches and museums and anything that peaked our interest just a little bit. One unique thing about Bologna. Every building seemed to have some historical meaning. It is a modern city but built within structures with so much history, and it has been preserved beautifully.

Gate to Bologna from medieval times

Again, referencing back to our need to conserve as much money as possible, the cheapest flight back to Sofia from Italy was out of Milan. So later that afternoon, after another delicious pasta lunch, we took a train to Milan. What do I have to thank Bologna for? Well, its carbs, first of all. But when in Bologna, you have no choice but to experience its famous pasta cuisine. It’s more than worth it. Second, its historic beauty may not be one that is as talked up as others, but it is there. Masked, but left open to the public eye to enjoy. Onto Milan.

Milano!
This was not exactly a huge stop on our spring break agenda. Our train didn’t arrive till around 7pm, then we had to work the public transportation system to get to our hostel. For dinner, we walked a few blocks to a grocery store. Bought some tortellini, pesto sauce, bread, tiramisu ice cream, and wine. Could a dinner get more Italian? Made use of our hostel kitchen, and enjoyed a night of indulgence. Unfortunately, in order to arrive at the airport on time for our flight back to little Blagoevgrad, we had to leave around 8am. So we were able to see very little of Milan. But Italy had treated us very well, and I do not doubt that Milan would have been equally as stunning.

Homecooked tortellini with pesto, wine, and tiramisu ice cream

So there you have it. Nine full days of traveling. Exhausting traveling filled with experiences I am sure I will never be able to replicate, and will one day tell my children about when they are heading off to their own adventures. I wouldn’t trade a single minute, a single mishap, a single surreal moment. So thank you, Spain and Italy, for your hospitality!