добре дошъл, or, welcome in Bulgarian! Thanks for joining us, on our blog you'll discover the immersive culture, the astonishing nature and the unique lifestyle of the Bulgarian people that we were exposed to on our trip! Hope you enjoy!
DAY 1 - September 21
(Picture 1) The air traffic control tower in front of the mountains as we land. (Picture 2) Art work inside the main terminal at Sofia International Airport. (Picture 3) Planes waiting to take off. (Picture 4) Front of the main terminal where passengers are being dropped off. (Picture 5) Our form of transportation for the next few days, taxi.
Bulgaria is located in the southeastern region of Europe and lies along the edge of the Black Sea. The country is surrounded by; Greece, Macedonia, Serbia, Romania and Turkey (1). We flew into Sofia, the capital, and largest city of Bulgaria (12). When we arrived in Sofia, we were greeted by a blast of cool air and temperatures around sixty five degrees, most of Bulgaria has a nice temperate climate, however in the areas around the Balkan, Rila and Pirin mountain ranges there is a highland climate (4). Thankfully we went to Bulgaria in September, and there was no bad weather to disrupt our flight. We ended up packing long pants, sweatshirts, but nothing too heavy because it wasn't needed. We took a taxi (Picture 5) to a small hotel about 30 minutes away from the airport, and after we unpacked we met up with our tour guide for dinner. Everyone we had met there seemed very nice and welcoming, and before flying to Bulgaria, we did some research, and according to the U.S. State Department, there are no travel advisories for the country of Bulgaria (17). Before we went to Bulgaria we also picked up a few phrases:
"Hello" - Здравейте (Zdraveĭte)
"Hello my name is _________" - Здравейте името ми е __________ (Zdraveĭte imeto mi e _______)
"Good day" - добър ден (dobŭr den)
"Good evening" - добър вечер (dobŭr vecher)
"Do you speak English?" - Говорите ли английски? (Govorite li angliĭski?) (7). That night we had a dinner of delicious Mish-Mash, which consists of Eggs, Peppers and Cheese (9) with the owner of the hotel, who was unfortunately let down by our failure to comply with Bulgarian traditions (when toasting be sure to keep eye contact, and never eat before a toast has been given (3)).
(Picture 6) Mish-Mash a typical Bulgarian meal, that we ate the first night.
DAY 2 - September 22nd
(Picture 7) The streets of Sofia are flooded with celebratory yells and colorful Bulgarian flags swinging everywhere. (Picture 8) The entire country participates in the celebration on this day. (Picture 9) The Bulgarian flag high in the sky.
The Bulgarian Flag
The flag of Bulgaria is a tri-colored flag, (As seen in picture 9) consisting of three equal-sized horizontal bands of (from top to bottom) white,green, and red. The flag was first adopted after the Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), when Bulgaria gained independence (5). The national flag at times was charged with the state emblem, especially during the "People's Republic of Bulgaria". The current flag was re-established with the 1991 Constitution of Bulgaria and was confirmed in a 1998 law. Over time the flag has changed, but has remained practically the same.
DAY 3 - September 23rd
The second day we were in Sofia was September 22nd, and in Bulgaria it is celebrated as Independence Day. On September 22, 1908, the head of state, Tsar Ferdinand, promulgated a manifesto proclaiming all Bulgarians free of the Ottoman Empire rule, and claimed himself a king of an independent country. There were many parades and most of the streets in Sofia were closed making travel a pain but it was still a lot of fun (8). We went to see Rosen Plevneliev, the President of Bulgaria as he gave a wonderful speech. Plevneliev has an unusually high approval rating among Bulgarian politicians, with approval from 51.7% and the disapproval of 18.1% (6).
The Saint Sophia Basilica
The Saint Sophia Basilica
On the third day of the trip we awoke at nine o’clock sharp and toured the Saint Sofia Basilica Cathedral. The church was not always a church the Ottomans captured it soon after its construction and used it as a Mosque, it is now respected as a museum by both religions (13). After we toured the church we went and saw the Philip Koutev National Folklore Ensemble sing traditional folk songs at the Sofia Opera and Ballet (10). The current opera house was built in 1953 however the original opera was founded in 1890 (14).
(Translation)
''O to the Heavens Our soul you bring On wings of music My heart you sing Bring us the songs of our dreams For we are the children of our dreams
On wings of beauty My soul you take me to Heaven All my life is in gratitude for this bliss Angel of Love's Bliss Bring your blessed songs to my heart Music is the great healer of the soul''
Bulgarian folk costumes consist of pants, shirts, and vests for men, and dresses and aprons for women. The aprons, dresses, and shirts are usually embroidered in regional colors and folk motifs. Red features heavily in Bulgarian folk dress, but black, green, and white are also a part of traditional clothing from Bulgaria's various regions (11) (As seen in video above)
The Iskar Gorge
After our lunch we took a scenic drive from Sofia to Mezdra through the gorgeous Iskar River Gorge. The drive took us through fifty miles of profound beauty and was definitively the most memorable part of our trip (20). The Gorge was created ages ago and is the know as 'the jewel in the necklace' for tourism in the area (15). While me where on the road we noticed that there was a lot of deforestation created by acid rain and the pollution. Most factories in Bulgaria are outdated and create massive amounts of pollution harming the environment (2).
DAY 4 - September 24th
The Roman Theater in Plovdiv
On the fourth day of our journey we left Sofia for Plovdiv the second largest city in Bulgaria. Plovdiv has less than a third of the population of Sofia of 340,000 (12). After checking into our hotel we went to see the Roman Amphitheater in Plovdiv. The Amphitheater was constructed in the second century A.D. when the city was under Roman rule and know as Philippopolis(16). While we were in the two cities we noticed that Bulgarians pass the time similarly to the rest of the world. We saw a lot of Volleyball men's and women's, wrestling, also they have many holidays which they celebrate with friends and house parties (19).
Recently
The city of Yambol has had extreme flood warnings the last few days because the banks of the Tundzha River are likely to overflow soon. A state of emergency has been declared all along the River and the historic city of Yambol is on high alert.(18)(12)