I arrived in Tuzla in the afternoon of Tuesday, May 22nd. I was so excited to finally arrive. The day started out with me leaving Belgrade, Serbia via bus. The first bus brought me into Bosnia but into the Republic of Srpska, the Serb controlled portion of the country. The Bosnian boarder agent looked at me quite strangly, and my passport was the only one he took off the bus. Obviously not many Americans take this route into the country. Once in the Republic of Srpska, I had to change buses so I could arrive in Tuzla which is part of the Bosnian Federation.
When I arrived in Tuzla, I couldn’t find a kisok that sold phone cards to the pay phones, only pre-paid cell phone cards, so I couldn’t give Semir- the translator at Bolje Sutra (Better Tomorrow) a call. Semir had given me instructions to give a taxi driver in case I couldn’t get a hold of him. I approached a taxi driver and asked him to take me to “Osnovna škola Solina”- the Solina Elementary School, where Bolje Sutra’s center is.
When I got out of the taxi in Solina, with my big bag, I had many eyes staring at me. Kids stopped playing soccer and adults waiting for the bus paused mid-conversation to watch me pass by. Apparently travelers with large bags in the small village suburb is not normal.
I walked toward the small building that is Better Tomorrow on the side of the school which I had seen in pictures. A million thoughts were racing through my mind. Most importantly was “What am I going to say.” I caught a woman’s eye as I walked past the window and by the time I was reaching for the door knob she was opening it.
“Are you Patrick?” Maurveta asked in Bosnian. Shoot, that was my first line. I answered that I was Patrick. She rushed me into the office to meet Binasa, the director of Bolje Sutra and my new boss. After less than 2 minutes I used up all the Bosnian I could remember. So the three of us sat. In silence. Smiling at each other.
Sitting in silence is becoming one of my new favorite past times. Most of the time I am thinking what I would say, if I were to say something. One begins to really measure the importance of what they would like to say. We sat for about 5 minutes until Mirza, one of the volunteers who speaks English, arrived. I was given a little orientation to Tuzla and the center.
Then it was time to go home. I am currently staying with Binasa, so her husband came to pick us up. Mirza said, “This will be interesting since Binasa does not speak English.” I couldn’t agree with him more. He said that he would pick me up from Binasa’s home at 7 since we were going to a basketball game in the city. That left we me with just 2 1/2 hours of silence and difficult communication, I thought.
Shortly after we got to Binasa’s home, a 3 minutes drive away, dinner was ready. A meal of cold roasted lamb, sheep’s cheese, lots of tomatoes, and bread was served. It was amazing. For dessert we had baklava Binasa had made for her daughter’s wedding the weekend before. Binasa also spoke much more English than she led me to believe. She definitely had an intermediate level of understanding and speaking, but she wants to get better as the summer goes on. We became a little more acquainted with one another.
The basketball game was a lot of fun. It was a playoff game against Sarajevo. The Sarajevo team was far better with players who had played all over Europe and in the NBA. The crowd was mostly composed of football (soccer) fans that were getting ready for the final football match the next day. The arena was the size of the Chiles Center at UP, about 5 or 6,000 fans could be seated inside, if that, and the seats were folding wooden chairs. The entire game people were throwing streamers onto the court. People whistled to boo every time Sarajevo had the ball. They had loud football chants every time Sloboda had possession. The teams from Tuzla, both football and basketball, were called Sloboda which means “Freedom”. The best part of the game was when the ref’s mad a bad call, people would throw nuts and beer at the refs and players. Everything at the game was cheap. Tickets were only 4 km and beers were only 1 km (or $3 and $.75).
Wednesday morning I walked with Binasa to Bolje Sutra and arrived at 9am. I studied Bosnian for an hour and then another volunteer came in from the center at Sički Brod. We had coffee while they talked business. The coffee is quite strong here. Starbucks doesn’t have anything on this stuff. As kids began coming into the center, they were asking to meet me. After a few minutes of watching, laughing and speaking in Bosnian, they began showing off their English to me. It was basic, but very good. Some had much more confidence than others. I noticed the kids signing up for something on the wall. I found out it was a sign up list for my English class. After one day, 40 of the 80 slots were filled. Apparently there will be a class for the parents too!
The first three days were exhausting trying to acclimate to Tuzla. I go into the center each morning with Binasa. The first hour or two are quiet before the kids arrive. It is fun when the kids come in because they want to show off what they know and what they are learning. At the same time they are trying to teach me Bosnian. They certainly learn much more quickly than I do. The good news is that there are a few groups of children who are working with me so I can try to learn things multiple times.
It is difficult to understand the kids sometimes, especially when they get excited and begin shouting. It doesn’t help me if they speak louder, but it makes them feel better. This is something I will remember for when I begin teaching- “Speaking louder does not help comprehension.” The pre-schoolers are also difficult to understand and they just talk at me thinking that I understand. The hardest thing is that I don’t understand pre-schoolers at home. The fact that they speak a foreign language makes it that much more difficult.
Over the weekend, I went with Mirza twice to the Korzo- downtown Tuzla. Friday was a very solemn day. It was the 12th anniversary of the bombing that killed 72 people in Tuzla. Most of them were young people. The bombing happened in 1995, as the war was coming to an end. The young people ofTuzla began going out on weekends. The Serb army sent a grenade into the center on one of those evenings and killed many and hurt even more. There were flowers laid at the site of the attack and at the memorial where most of the victims were laid to rest and a big remembrance ceremony was held.
Saturday evening was much livelier. The streets were filled with young people, strolling through the downtown pedestrian zone. Everyone was dressed up. There were so many people walking through the street it was difficult to walk two people wide. Some people sat and had juice, pop, or beer. It was very lively until about 11pm when most of the people have their curfew. There were some café’s that were open later playing loud techno or hip-hop music.
Sunday evening, Binasa took me over to the neighbors home who were on the second day of a wedding celebration. The party had dwindled to about 35 close friends and neighbors, but the music was still lively and the food and drinks were still going down. There was a wide variety of meats and cheese to choose from. I had some roasted chicken and salami. The hosts made sure I always had a full glass of beer. The people were very hospitable and I felt honored that they had me over on such a special occasion. Some of the men wanted to teach me how to dance the to accordion and violin music so I tried my best. One man said they celebrate a wedding for two days and 10 hours each day. That is definitely a great way to celebrate a marriage.
I am excited to begin my first full week at the center. My Bosnian is getting better by the day. I am still looking for an apartment. It is difficult to find something on the right side of town that is furnished, but we have some leads into some possibilities. Tomorrow, there are some supporters coming to see the center from France and I am excited to meet them. I hope everyone had a great holiday weekend and I will post pictures when I'm not using a dial up internet connection.
Take Care.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Thursday, May 24, 2007
Greece
5-20-07
Greece has been great. The only shame is that it takes so long to get anywhere. We arrived in Athens 8 days ago on the InterCity train from Thessaloniki. It took 4.5 hours, about 3 hours less than the regular train but it cost 3 times more. From the train station we headed straight for the Plaka in search of the restaurant which serves the best Gyros in the world. I led the three of us with only a few small wrong turns to the block where the restaurant used to be. However, the establishment was not there. I felt sick. Three and a half years ago it was the best gyro, now it was a tack Greek and religious art shop. We sat in the baking sun, hear broke and hungry. After settling for another gyro we jumped on the metro headed for the port.
The heat was sweltering. 35 degrees Celsius reported one reader board by the port. We found the terminal where our ferry was to leave and slowly made our way over there. Luckily, no one died of heat stroke.
The overnight ferry was nice. We had bunks on the boat and my room was a little UN meeting. We had a snoring french man, an Indian Engineer, and an account from China who worked for PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Liz, Samantha and I spent the afternoon sunning ourselves on the back of the boat an read.
Around sunset we met Chris, the South African, on his way to Ios for the summer. He promptly introduced me to every girl on the boat. Soon the 4 of us met two girls from the Baltics. One was from Latvia and the other from Lithuania.
They had a grant from the EU to interview young people throughout Greece. The prior 7 months they had traveled the mainland discovering what educational and employment opportunities the kids had. They were embarking on a 7 month mission through the islands to gather "data" to make comparisons. They said it was obvious that the people on the mainland had more opportunity, but they still wanted to do the work since it meant being paid to island hop.
We retired to our cabins early to rest before the fiesta on the islands (I think this sentence was inspired by the Hemingway I just finished). At 6 am we arrived in Santorini. George, the owner of the Villa, met us at the port to get checked in. No sleeping on the dock and hiking into the city for me this time.
The city was very quiet this time of morning. Weird. We dropped off our bags at the hotel and began exploring the city in the serenity of the early morning hours. As we wandered up the caldera rim, a photo shoot commenced, we were taking pictures of nearly anything. The colors of the town were amazing in the light. We also picked up a heard of dogs a few hours.
Later in the day we visited the beach at Perissa. The sand there was a beautiful black. Black sand equals really hot. It hurt your feet to walk on the sand. To make it tolerable, we had to do lots of swimming in the clear blue water. Rough, I know.
On the bus ride back to town we stopped at the Santo Winery, just as the guide book recommended. They were right on. We tried several wines that were all made from grapes on the island, all during sunset from the caldera rim. Simply amazing. It was made more entertaining by the wedding being held on the back terrace as the sun was setting. Now Liz wants to get married there- this means I might get to come back!!
The next day we rent a little jeep and cruised around the island. Highlights included the red Beach, the light house, a nude beach, and wandering through a labyrinth of white houses and blue roofs. For the evening hours, we went out to Oia, where they claim they have the most beautiful sunsets in the world. The sights were beautiful, but I think a Central Oregon sunset during fire season i tough to beat.
The next morning we headed to Ios, the next closest island on the way towards Athens. It is known for it's crazy party scene. We stayed at the "Far Out Beach Club". You had your choice of laying by the beach or by the pool across the street from the beach. During the high season- July and August, is is said that people have drinks in their hands by noon and leave the clubs at 7am. I'm glad it was not high season.
We spent a few good days relaxing by the beach, reading, and visiting sights on the island including Homer's tomb, the author of the Iliad and Odyssey. The island was fairly empty except for people searching for jobs. This was nice since they were a friendly group and they would give you drink specials at the bar they got jobs at.
On Samantha's last night in Ios, we went out to dinner at the taverna on the jetty at the end of the beach. We arrived a few minutes before sunset. They showed us the specials o f the day- still alive in the coolers next to the water. Samantha had grilled shark, liz had seafood spaghetti and I had stuffed Calamari. This dish was amazing. It consisted of an entire quid, cleaned out, the stuffed with feta, tomato, and peppers, rolled back up and skewered back together. It was then grilled on a hickory fire. Oh my, it was soooo good. It was nearly as good as the meals in Romania.
5/22/07
I've arrived in Bosnia and am enjoying it. I'll most more soon.
Greece has been great. The only shame is that it takes so long to get anywhere. We arrived in Athens 8 days ago on the InterCity train from Thessaloniki. It took 4.5 hours, about 3 hours less than the regular train but it cost 3 times more. From the train station we headed straight for the Plaka in search of the restaurant which serves the best Gyros in the world. I led the three of us with only a few small wrong turns to the block where the restaurant used to be. However, the establishment was not there. I felt sick. Three and a half years ago it was the best gyro, now it was a tack Greek and religious art shop. We sat in the baking sun, hear broke and hungry. After settling for another gyro we jumped on the metro headed for the port.
The heat was sweltering. 35 degrees Celsius reported one reader board by the port. We found the terminal where our ferry was to leave and slowly made our way over there. Luckily, no one died of heat stroke.
The overnight ferry was nice. We had bunks on the boat and my room was a little UN meeting. We had a snoring french man, an Indian Engineer, and an account from China who worked for PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Liz, Samantha and I spent the afternoon sunning ourselves on the back of the boat an read.
Around sunset we met Chris, the South African, on his way to Ios for the summer. He promptly introduced me to every girl on the boat. Soon the 4 of us met two girls from the Baltics. One was from Latvia and the other from Lithuania.
They had a grant from the EU to interview young people throughout Greece. The prior 7 months they had traveled the mainland discovering what educational and employment opportunities the kids had. They were embarking on a 7 month mission through the islands to gather "data" to make comparisons. They said it was obvious that the people on the mainland had more opportunity, but they still wanted to do the work since it meant being paid to island hop.
We retired to our cabins early to rest before the fiesta on the islands (I think this sentence was inspired by the Hemingway I just finished). At 6 am we arrived in Santorini. George, the owner of the Villa, met us at the port to get checked in. No sleeping on the dock and hiking into the city for me this time.
The city was very quiet this time of morning. Weird. We dropped off our bags at the hotel and began exploring the city in the serenity of the early morning hours. As we wandered up the caldera rim, a photo shoot commenced, we were taking pictures of nearly anything. The colors of the town were amazing in the light. We also picked up a heard of dogs a few hours.
Later in the day we visited the beach at Perissa. The sand there was a beautiful black. Black sand equals really hot. It hurt your feet to walk on the sand. To make it tolerable, we had to do lots of swimming in the clear blue water. Rough, I know.
On the bus ride back to town we stopped at the Santo Winery, just as the guide book recommended. They were right on. We tried several wines that were all made from grapes on the island, all during sunset from the caldera rim. Simply amazing. It was made more entertaining by the wedding being held on the back terrace as the sun was setting. Now Liz wants to get married there- this means I might get to come back!!
The next day we rent a little jeep and cruised around the island. Highlights included the red Beach, the light house, a nude beach, and wandering through a labyrinth of white houses and blue roofs. For the evening hours, we went out to Oia, where they claim they have the most beautiful sunsets in the world. The sights were beautiful, but I think a Central Oregon sunset during fire season i tough to beat.
The next morning we headed to Ios, the next closest island on the way towards Athens. It is known for it's crazy party scene. We stayed at the "Far Out Beach Club". You had your choice of laying by the beach or by the pool across the street from the beach. During the high season- July and August, is is said that people have drinks in their hands by noon and leave the clubs at 7am. I'm glad it was not high season.
We spent a few good days relaxing by the beach, reading, and visiting sights on the island including Homer's tomb, the author of the Iliad and Odyssey. The island was fairly empty except for people searching for jobs. This was nice since they were a friendly group and they would give you drink specials at the bar they got jobs at.
On Samantha's last night in Ios, we went out to dinner at the taverna on the jetty at the end of the beach. We arrived a few minutes before sunset. They showed us the specials o f the day- still alive in the coolers next to the water. Samantha had grilled shark, liz had seafood spaghetti and I had stuffed Calamari. This dish was amazing. It consisted of an entire quid, cleaned out, the stuffed with feta, tomato, and peppers, rolled back up and skewered back together. It was then grilled on a hickory fire. Oh my, it was soooo good. It was nearly as good as the meals in Romania.
5/22/07
I've arrived in Bosnia and am enjoying it. I'll most more soon.
Rila Monastery
5-15-07
After a short stay in the capital of Bulgaria, Sofia, we headed up to the mountains to visit the Rila Monastery.
The monastery was founded in the 10th century after St. Ivan Rilaski spent 7 years living in the mountains. The complex was rebuilt in the 19th century after a fire. Today it is the most popular tourist attraction in the country. Most people visit on a day trip from Sofia, but "let's Go" guide book suggested that we make it an over night trip. We thought that would be a good idea since it was on the way to Greece anyway.
Once we arrived to the monastery, we followed some directions to the Camping Bor which Let's Go recommended. It was 2 km away from the monastery. When we got to the campground, it looked vacant and abandoned for years. In one corner there were some workers cutting wood planks. We asked if we could check in, in Serbian but no reply. They didn't speak English, and couldn't understand my broken Serbian. I must of said something in Italian, because the old man began speaking Italian to me. Now we could communicate. He said the bungalows were closed. I asked if we could sleep in the field and said that we could for free. I was very happy, but the girls had other feelings. They also gave us a piece of bread and sausage which they were cooking on a fire for lunch. We were amazed at their hospitality, and decided we would give them all names of our own. That definately gave us good entertainment during our hike.
We went on a short hike and then headed to the only store to buy groceries for all of us for dinner. When we returned, the workers were packing up to head into the city where they lived. We had all this extra food. They were very nice and helped us find fire wood and built it for us. After they left we began grilling our meats and even baked some with cheese in a tile, which is on every Bulgarian menu.
After a cold night of sleep for the girls and a good one for me, we went on a hike to St. Ivan's tomb. He had lived on the side of the mountain, so that's where we headed. It was a beautiful little hike. The legend is that if you pass through the cave where St. Ivan lived, and emerged from the hole at the top you were spiritually reborn. Not wanting to miss this opportunity we squirmed our way through the cave where it was dark and quite cool. It was a good experience, but I wouldn't say I felt reborn. Later that day we headed back down to the monastery and then hopped a train to Greece to begin the next leg of our adventure. We were begining to be tired from all the traveling and our bags were getting heavy. Some peopel were struggling more with their bags than the others. Liz and Samantha were definately ready to relax on the beach but I was very sad to leave the beautiful mountains.
After a short stay in the capital of Bulgaria, Sofia, we headed up to the mountains to visit the Rila Monastery.
The monastery was founded in the 10th century after St. Ivan Rilaski spent 7 years living in the mountains. The complex was rebuilt in the 19th century after a fire. Today it is the most popular tourist attraction in the country. Most people visit on a day trip from Sofia, but "let's Go" guide book suggested that we make it an over night trip. We thought that would be a good idea since it was on the way to Greece anyway.
Once we arrived to the monastery, we followed some directions to the Camping Bor which Let's Go recommended. It was 2 km away from the monastery. When we got to the campground, it looked vacant and abandoned for years. In one corner there were some workers cutting wood planks. We asked if we could check in, in Serbian but no reply. They didn't speak English, and couldn't understand my broken Serbian. I must of said something in Italian, because the old man began speaking Italian to me. Now we could communicate. He said the bungalows were closed. I asked if we could sleep in the field and said that we could for free. I was very happy, but the girls had other feelings. They also gave us a piece of bread and sausage which they were cooking on a fire for lunch. We were amazed at their hospitality, and decided we would give them all names of our own. That definately gave us good entertainment during our hike.
We went on a short hike and then headed to the only store to buy groceries for all of us for dinner. When we returned, the workers were packing up to head into the city where they lived. We had all this extra food. They were very nice and helped us find fire wood and built it for us. After they left we began grilling our meats and even baked some with cheese in a tile, which is on every Bulgarian menu.
After a cold night of sleep for the girls and a good one for me, we went on a hike to St. Ivan's tomb. He had lived on the side of the mountain, so that's where we headed. It was a beautiful little hike. The legend is that if you pass through the cave where St. Ivan lived, and emerged from the hole at the top you were spiritually reborn. Not wanting to miss this opportunity we squirmed our way through the cave where it was dark and quite cool. It was a good experience, but I wouldn't say I felt reborn. Later that day we headed back down to the monastery and then hopped a train to Greece to begin the next leg of our adventure. We were begining to be tired from all the traveling and our bags were getting heavy. Some peopel were struggling more with their bags than the others. Liz and Samantha were definately ready to relax on the beach but I was very sad to leave the beautiful mountains.
Sunday, May 20, 2007
Things I have learned in Eastern Europe
5-9-07
-Communism did not promote a strong marine biology program. The aquarium in Varna, on the Black Sea coast, show cases of decaying stuffed sea lions, neons, The European Conger (Conger Conger), guppies, carp, gold
fish, and catfish. The inside reminded me of prison.
-A meal of a salad and entree is nearly enough food for two people. And while I'm at it, let me describe what salads in E. Europe. They include exactly what is listed on the menu, with the most plentiful ingredient listed first. The shopska salad, my favorite, consists of cucumber, tomato, bell peppers, onions and feta. That's it. They are all chopped and tossed together. Another favorite is the yogurt salad. The Bulgarians love their yogurt. This includes cucumber, tomato, onion, peppers, ham lathered with plain yogurt. If you actually what lettuce or any greens you have to specifically order them.
-Communism did not promote a strong marine biology program. The aquarium in Varna, on the Black Sea coast, show cases of decaying stuffed sea lions, neons, The European Conger (Conger Conger), guppies, carp, gold
fish, and catfish. The inside reminded me of prison.-A meal of a salad and entree is nearly enough food for two people. And while I'm at it, let me describe what salads in E. Europe. They include exactly what is listed on the menu, with the most plentiful ingredient listed first. The shopska salad, my favorite, consists of cucumber, tomato, bell peppers, onions and feta. That's it. They are all chopped and tossed together. Another favorite is the yogurt salad. The Bulgarians love their yogurt. This includes cucumber, tomato, onion, peppers, ham lathered with plain yogurt. If you actually what lettuce or any greens you have to specifically order them.
-No mean yes, and yes means no. At least in head nodding this is the case. You shake your head in approval. Nod when you don't want the sausage. Shake when you understand and nod when you don't want a ride from the taxi driver. As you can imagine, this leads to some hiccups in communication.
-Mormon missionaries look the same in Bulgaria as they do in the US.
Short sleeve white button up shirt and black name badge- in Cyrillic. The funniest thing is that Liz and Samantha go to School in Salt Lake City. Samantha even knew friends of one of the missionary from high school. Usually we run into them when we have a beer in our hand which makes it a little awkward for them.
-Liz pointed out today, "Osam Deset" ( said really mumbled) is usually less than one leva. That being said, if anything ever costs a significant amount the people will type it out on a calculator to make the price seem more official.
-Vlad the Impaler- not a nice guy. His reputation lies in unifying Transylvania but also for being a brutal dictator. His favorite means of torture was tying a person's two feet to horses and then impaling them on a wooden spike. He was nice enough to oil the spikes to ease the pain. He enjoyed it more because the victim would live a little bit longer. To commemorate this brutal man, the three of us rotate wearing our Vlad the impaler t-shirts. It also makes it easy to know what I'm going to wear every three days.
More posts to come shortly....
-Mormon missionaries look the same in Bulgaria as they do in the US.
Short sleeve white button up shirt and black name badge- in Cyrillic. The funniest thing is that Liz and Samantha go to School in Salt Lake City. Samantha even knew friends of one of the missionary from high school. Usually we run into them when we have a beer in our hand which makes it a little awkward for them.-Liz pointed out today, "Osam Deset" ( said really mumbled) is usually less than one leva. That being said, if anything ever costs a significant amount the people will type it out on a calculator to make the price seem more official.
-Vlad the Impaler- not a nice guy. His reputation lies in unifying Transylvania but also for being a brutal dictator. His favorite means of torture was tying a person's two feet to horses and then impaling them on a wooden spike. He was nice enough to oil the spikes to ease the pain. He enjoyed it more because the victim would live a little bit longer. To commemorate this brutal man, the three of us rotate wearing our Vlad the impaler t-shirts. It also makes it easy to know what I'm going to wear every three days.
More posts to come shortly....
Thursday, May 10, 2007
A hike through the woods...
5/5/2007
Yesterday was quite the day. We set off shortly afternoon to visit a monastery on the side of a mountain. The lady at the hostel, not Yarina, told us to follow the street signs, so we did. Apparently it was only 6 km away. What she didn’t tell us was that we would be hiking on the side of the freeway. So we kept walking on the two lane road, cars honking at us and flashbacks of the bike trip through Tuscany popping into my mind.
We eventually found the turn off for the monastery and a little trail with the monastery’s name written in Cyrillic. We pressed on down the trail. Soon enough we came upon a complex of buildings and an old church. There were many bee boxes in the gated church grounds. Thinking this was the chapel of the monastery, I swung open the wrought iron gate and tip toed past the bees. Meanwhile Samantha and Liz laughed. Turns out this was not the church we were looking for, although there was a beautiful Madonna and Child gracing the portico of the chapel.
We decided to explore the complex further.
There was a brightly painted porch area with brilliant blue and gold portraits of biblical scenes. On the porch, there was a table draped with a table cloth and an empty glass pitcher. Surely someone must have been around. In the center of the courtyard was another chapel. We walked timidly towards the open door.
When we entered the chapel, we must have startled him. He may have been sleeping there since the chapel was built, many centuries ago. Long white hair and a beard disguised his face. He wore a faded black hat and robe. The priest greeted us in Bulgarian and we thanked him for his graciousness in English.
The church was absolutely beautiful. The
old frescos or tempera paintings were mostly hidden with a thin black layer of soot from years of candles burning during celebrations and to represent people’s prayer intentions. There were a few places where the paintings had been cleaned. The colors were brilliant in those places. Bright blues and reds and greens. They all contrasted marvelously with gold leaf around each saint’s head.
As we left the chapel, I asked the old priest if we could take pictures and relied, “Molim” or please. We snapped a few photos and we were on our way.
Along the road on the way back we found a nice trail leading back to Veliko Tarnovo, so we decided this would be better than walking along the highway. The path was beautiful,.JPG)
taking us through the forest and then the rocky hill sides. Many trails split off along the way and each of them had the same red and white trail markings. Soon enough, we weren’t quite sure where we were. After some debate we decided to follow the sound of a shepherd up the hill. He was tending to his 7 dairy cows each with a different toned bell around her neck. We proceeded down the hill and we could finally see the town across the valley. There were many trails criss-crossing the floor between small garden plots. I decided I should ask a gardener the way to the town center. He confirmed that we were in fact on the right trail. Once we wound our way through the city’s twisted streets back to the center of town. We decided it was time to treat ourselves to a beer. Zagorka, a Bulgarian lager, was an excellent end to our adventure.
Yesterday was quite the day. We set off shortly afternoon to visit a monastery on the side of a mountain. The lady at the hostel, not Yarina, told us to follow the street signs, so we did. Apparently it was only 6 km away. What she didn’t tell us was that we would be hiking on the side of the freeway. So we kept walking on the two lane road, cars honking at us and flashbacks of the bike trip through Tuscany popping into my mind.
We eventually found the turn off for the monastery and a little trail with the monastery’s name written in Cyrillic. We pressed on down the trail. Soon enough we came upon a complex of buildings and an old church. There were many bee boxes in the gated church grounds. Thinking this was the chapel of the monastery, I swung open the wrought iron gate and tip toed past the bees. Meanwhile Samantha and Liz laughed. Turns out this was not the church we were looking for, although there was a beautiful Madonna and Child gracing the portico of the chapel.
We decided to explore the complex further.
There was no movement or activity anywhere. We quietly crept through an arched entry into the confines of the complex. Still, no one to be seen. There were sings of life, however. The flower garden looked well tended to. There were bright white sheets hanging to dry from the balcony gently flapping in the breeze.
There was a brightly painted porch area with brilliant blue and gold portraits of biblical scenes. On the porch, there was a table draped with a table cloth and an empty glass pitcher. Surely someone must have been around. In the center of the courtyard was another chapel. We walked timidly towards the open door.When we entered the chapel, we must have startled him. He may have been sleeping there since the chapel was built, many centuries ago. Long white hair and a beard disguised his face. He wore a faded black hat and robe. The priest greeted us in Bulgarian and we thanked him for his graciousness in English.
The church was absolutely beautiful. The
old frescos or tempera paintings were mostly hidden with a thin black layer of soot from years of candles burning during celebrations and to represent people’s prayer intentions. There were a few places where the paintings had been cleaned. The colors were brilliant in those places. Bright blues and reds and greens. They all contrasted marvelously with gold leaf around each saint’s head.As we left the chapel, I asked the old priest if we could take pictures and relied, “Molim” or please. We snapped a few photos and we were on our way.
Along the road on the way back we found a nice trail leading back to Veliko Tarnovo, so we decided this would be better than walking along the highway. The path was beautiful,
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taking us through the forest and then the rocky hill sides. Many trails split off along the way and each of them had the same red and white trail markings. Soon enough, we weren’t quite sure where we were. After some debate we decided to follow the sound of a shepherd up the hill. He was tending to his 7 dairy cows each with a different toned bell around her neck. We proceeded down the hill and we could finally see the town across the valley. There were many trails criss-crossing the floor between small garden plots. I decided I should ask a gardener the way to the town center. He confirmed that we were in fact on the right trail. Once we wound our way through the city’s twisted streets back to the center of town. We decided it was time to treat ourselves to a beer. Zagorka, a Bulgarian lager, was an excellent end to our adventure.Friday, May 4, 2007
6 days of Eastern Europe
5/2/07- i'm publishing now since I didn't have internet access the last several days.
It's been 6 days since we left Barcelona and it definitely has been exciting. After our overnight flight from Barcelona to Bucharest, Romania, we awoke bleary eyed and dazed in a bleak holding room to go through immigration. When it was our turn to talk to the boarder guard, he asked me why Romania. I said "I want to sight see." He said, "Good luck," and stamped my passport. The taxi ride we took was a crazy ride. Even though the driver ripped us off, it still may have been worth it as he swerved in and out of traffic, passed in the lanes of on coming traffic and using red lights as California stops. He took us straight to the bus station were we quickly bought a ticket to Brasov, the heart of Transylvania. Later that day we took a tour with a group from our hostel to see some of the historic sites of the region. One of these was the castle of Bran, otherwise known as the inspiration for Dracula's Castle. It was a nice day outside, but if it had been a stormy night, there is a good possibility it would have given me the creeps. I'm just glad that Vlad the Impaler was not around or else that would have certainly sent chills down my spine.
We spent the next few days in Brasov. It was a beautiful old town with many sites to see. We spent our time strolling around and eating. The food was amazing. We had several hearty soups and stews that were to die for. The main courses weren't bad either. The best thing was that we could eat multiple course meal including salad, soup, main course and drink for around 10 euro.
All of the people we met at the hostel who had spent any time in Bucharest, advised us against con-artists and blocks and blocks of ugly communist era apartments. With that advice in mind, we tried to minimize the amount of time we spent in the capital city. After checking into the hostel, we thought we would do a quick walk through of town visiting the historical section of the city and return to the hostel for a quiet night in. Our first stop on the tour was the Palace of the People, the 2nd largest building in the world after the Pentagon in DC. The crazy dictator of Romania in the 80's decided to build this behemoth of a building to house parliament and all the other administrative offices of the communist bureaucracy. Allegedly at one point in time the construction of the building used 85% of the GDP of the country. No wonder so many people lived in run down shacks and the infrastructure was in such disrepair. Knowing all this, I was excited to see what building had sucked all the resources from the people.
But when we arrived to the park outside of the palace, we were in for a surprise. It was May 1st. Labor day in communist countries or Polish friend, Lucas, informed us. After all the countries' revolutions, the people didn't want to get rid of the holiday so they kept it. And what we stumbled upon was the National Labor Day Party. No Peter, this didn't compare to Goose Creek in it's rowdiness, but it was one huge party. I would guess there were 50,000 + people gathered in the park. There was live music, rows of port-o-potties and more barbecues than I have ever seen working concurrently. I would say there were probably 100 large grills BBQing small sausages called Mici (pronounced Mee shh). The president had sent everyone- I'm not sure if they were just government workers, or everyone- tickets for 4 mici and a beer. Every man woman and child. There were little kids carrying around 6-packs of tall boys back to the family picnic spot. People were giving 12 tickets at a time and wanted all 48 of their mici for their group. Needless to say, it takes a long time to BBQ enough tiny sausages for 50,000 people. We waited in line with the Romanians to partake in their national holiday. After The lady grilling them up laughed at as as we salivated over the hundreds of mici on the grill. over an hour in line, the mici we received were less than fully cooked. That didn't take away from their flavor. We just used lots of mustard, like the rest of the group, and they were delicious.
The next day was Elizabeth's 21st birthday. It also happened to be the day that we were going to Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria. So we woke up early, enjoyed the pancakes the Canadian women at the hostel made for us, and headed for the train station. We boarded the train headed for Greece. When we arrived at our cabin, it was full of Bulgarians. Once we sorted out where to sit, we crammed into the train car with the Bulgarians. The long train ride went by fairly quickly. We read, listened to music, looked out the window, and played cards. Since we couldn't speak to the Bulgarians things were pretty quiet but when the cards came out things perked up. They showed us the most basic card tricks but it was still fun.
Finally we arrived in Veliko Tarnovo and checked into the hostel. They recommended a restaurant to try for Liz's birthday dinner. We headed down there and had an amazing meal. We each had a salad, shared an appetizer,, and each had a main course. Needless to say that we had way too much food. Good thing it was absolutely delicious. To top it off we had a great bottle of Bulgarian wine. The whole meal was only 30 euro. It was a great feast to have for Liz's birthday. If this is what Bulgarian food tastes like, I'm definitely looking forward to the next week.
It's been 6 days since we left Barcelona and it definitely has been exciting. After our overnight flight from Barcelona to Bucharest, Romania, we awoke bleary eyed and dazed in a bleak holding room to go through immigration. When it was our turn to talk to the boarder guard, he asked me why Romania. I said "I want to sight see." He said, "Good luck," and stamped my passport. The taxi ride we took was a crazy ride. Even though the driver ripped us off, it still may have been worth it as he swerved in and out of traffic, passed in the lanes of on coming traffic and using red lights as California stops. He took us straight to the bus station were we quickly bought a ticket to Brasov, the heart of Transylvania. Later that day we took a tour with a group from our hostel to see some of the historic sites of the region. One of these was the castle of Bran, otherwise known as the inspiration for Dracula's Castle. It was a nice day outside, but if it had been a stormy night, there is a good possibility it would have given me the creeps. I'm just glad that Vlad the Impaler was not around or else that would have certainly sent chills down my spine.
We spent the next few days in Brasov. It was a beautiful old town with many sites to see. We spent our time strolling around and eating. The food was amazing. We had several hearty soups and stews that were to die for. The main courses weren't bad either. The best thing was that we could eat multiple course meal including salad, soup, main course and drink for around 10 euro.
All of the people we met at the hostel who had spent any time in Bucharest, advised us against con-artists and blocks and blocks of ugly communist era apartments. With that advice in mind, we tried to minimize the amount of time we spent in the capital city. After checking into the hostel, we thought we would do a quick walk through of town visiting the historical section of the city and return to the hostel for a quiet night in. Our first stop on the tour was the Palace of the People, the 2nd largest building in the world after the Pentagon in DC. The crazy dictator of Romania in the 80's decided to build this behemoth of a building to house parliament and all the other administrative offices of the communist bureaucracy. Allegedly at one point in time the construction of the building used 85% of the GDP of the country. No wonder so many people lived in run down shacks and the infrastructure was in such disrepair. Knowing all this, I was excited to see what building had sucked all the resources from the people.
But when we arrived to the park outside of the palace, we were in for a surprise. It was May 1st. Labor day in communist countries or Polish friend, Lucas, informed us. After all the countries' revolutions, the people didn't want to get rid of the holiday so they kept it. And what we stumbled upon was the National Labor Day Party. No Peter, this didn't compare to Goose Creek in it's rowdiness, but it was one huge party. I would guess there were 50,000 + people gathered in the park. There was live music, rows of port-o-potties and more barbecues than I have ever seen working concurrently. I would say there were probably 100 large grills BBQing small sausages called Mici (pronounced Mee shh). The president had sent everyone- I'm not sure if they were just government workers, or everyone- tickets for 4 mici and a beer. Every man woman and child. There were little kids carrying around 6-packs of tall boys back to the family picnic spot. People were giving 12 tickets at a time and wanted all 48 of their mici for their group. Needless to say, it takes a long time to BBQ enough tiny sausages for 50,000 people. We waited in line with the Romanians to partake in their national holiday. After The lady grilling them up laughed at as as we salivated over the hundreds of mici on the grill. over an hour in line, the mici we received were less than fully cooked. That didn't take away from their flavor. We just used lots of mustard, like the rest of the group, and they were delicious.
The next day was Elizabeth's 21st birthday. It also happened to be the day that we were going to Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria. So we woke up early, enjoyed the pancakes the Canadian women at the hostel made for us, and headed for the train station. We boarded the train headed for Greece. When we arrived at our cabin, it was full of Bulgarians. Once we sorted out where to sit, we crammed into the train car with the Bulgarians. The long train ride went by fairly quickly. We read, listened to music, looked out the window, and played cards. Since we couldn't speak to the Bulgarians things were pretty quiet but when the cards came out things perked up. They showed us the most basic card tricks but it was still fun.
Finally we arrived in Veliko Tarnovo and checked into the hostel. They recommended a restaurant to try for Liz's birthday dinner. We headed down there and had an amazing meal. We each had a salad, shared an appetizer,, and each had a main course. Needless to say that we had way too much food. Good thing it was absolutely delicious. To top it off we had a great bottle of Bulgarian wine. The whole meal was only 30 euro. It was a great feast to have for Liz's birthday. If this is what Bulgarian food tastes like, I'm definitely looking forward to the next week.
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