All-Bulgaria Trip Part II

Our first stop after Sofia was Kazanluk, a small city in a valley between two mountain ranges that divide the country North and South. We timed the visit for the Rose Festival there. Roses are harvested and distilled to rose oil (at a very small ratio of input to output) which is used in the perfume industry. It is a lucrative specialty product that has been produced in the region for a few centuries. Roses are a big theme there:

The pictures above are from a Rose tourist centre in the area. Left is an amphitheatre at the centre which was set up for big events. On the right is a old car from the Soviet era, a Moskvich. It was a blast from the past for Veronica. 

Veronica had a medical school friend, Darina, in the city, who took on an active role in our festival participation. We had VIP seats at a show in the city courtesy of her. Good show, and it included a drone light show at the end, my first time seeing that. She and her son, Georgi, were lovely people who were generous including me in the conversation (with Veronica translating as needed). 

Then it was on to Tarnovo, which had been the capital of the second Bulgarian empire (12th-14 century BC). In this transition, I was suffering from food poisoning. Enjoyment in the trip dropped a bit, but luckily I always travel with Imodium. Worst night I had quite vivid delirium dreams. You know, the kind that make no sense but seem so real you keep trying to work out what they mean. Bad day or two and a few more during which my stomach looked suspiciously at every thing I put in it. I did recover enough to get some sightseeing in Tarnovo (officially it is Veliko Tarnivo, "Great Tarnovo") which is pretty impressive. As you can see, if you live in Tarnovo you have to work pretty hard not to have a view.

The shot above shows the mix of well maintained buildings and ruins that is typical of everywhere in Bulgaria I have been. The country is not doing well economically and its population has decreased steadily since the end of Communism. Of course, it might just be that Bulgaria has been settled for so long they have reached a steady state of construction that Vancouver has not had time to get to yet.

After Tarnovo, we went on to Varna, a city on the Black Sea. On the first day, we drove North to see the edge of the Northern plains (similar transition from mountains to foothills to prairie East of the Rockies into Alberta) and Cape Kaliaka, which had been settled for millennia due to its geography that allowed for easy defense: narrow land access and steep cliffs to the sea. It was my first view of the Black Sea:

On the way back to Varna we had lunch a famous fish restaurant which was at the end of a dubiously steep one lane road (we parked at the top and walked down). 

Veronica had organized us some really excellent accommodation on the trip, but the fanciest place was the one in Varna. It was a big studio, which I would describe as a bachelor pad. Look, it even included a sexy woman:

A day on the beach in Varna and then on to Nesebar:

Nesebar is another defensible sea-side town that has been settled since ancient times. It is a peninsula (island with a causeway?) town with original buildings. It is a pleasant tourist area now. I would go back there to stay longer at this time of year, which is warm (for a Canadian with Finnish heritage) but not yet high tourist season. We were rained out on our last day and decided to come back to Perushtitsa and end the road trip a day early. 

End of the trip (part III) is a week in Perushtitsa. I am giving a talk tomorrow at the University of Plovdiv to see if there is any possibilities of collaboration. 

All-Bulgaria Trip Part I

 I am three quarters of the way through a month long vacation in Bulgaria. My wife is from here originally (25 years ago) and she still owns the family house in her home town of Perushtitsa near the city of Plovdiv (second largest city in the country). It is my first time here on a trip that has been delayed for three years (one year because of family issues and the next two due to to COVID). I am glad to be able to be here finally and it has been great so far. It is a beautiful country with varied geography and the area has a reach history dating back seven millennium.  It is also enjoyable to see where my wife is from. 

My wife picked me up at Sofia airport when I arrived. She had been here a week already, concentrating on visiting her Bulgarian-only speaking friends and family. She had rented a car and had been "upgraded" to a larger vehicle due to lack of availability. This has happened to me before, and it never feels like an "upgrade" when you end up with a larger vehicle than you want. We later changed to a more manageable car, but the first was a huge old Daimler. Besides the difficulty navigating narrow European streets, it was a huge gas (well, diesel) hog. However, we managed the first few days with it. I should say that "we" really meant Veronica, who has been my driver, tour guide, and translator. I have said thank you a few times. Because of her I have been able to see parts of the country (and eaten some local food) that would have been hard without her local knowledge. 

On the day of my arrival, we made our way to Rila monastery and stayed at a nearby lodge.

The next day it was on to the family home in Perushtitsa, where we spent a few days hiking in the local hills and taking day trips on the bus to Plovdiv. Veronica's daughter and her children were there visiting their father/grandfather and we all spent some time together (both Veronica and I get along with her ex-husband, who is also a mathematician). Some picture of Perushtitsa below. It is a small town near the mountains. Veronica cannot go 5 meters without seeing someone she knows. I was introduced around and (I think) passed inspection. Views from our hikes:

Some of the local house architecture:

One of the hiking destinations is a local monument:

The all-Bulgaria road trip began in earnest. First stop was back to Sofia where we exchanged the car for something more manageable and fuel efficient. Some interesting architecture there and I was introduced to some more relatives. 

And the last shot: a nice G&T with a beautiful woman, it doesn't get better than that. Next post: the all-Bulgaria tour continues to Kazanlak, Tarnovo, Varna, and Neseber. 

 

 

Fifteen Pounds of COVID

These last years of COVID have been hard on all of us, mentally as well as physically. The severity of the issues COVID has brought and the impact vary a lot. I had a minor professional impact: I worked more from home and there were terms when I lectured online. My salary was not affected. I never tested positive but probably had it (omicron). I did not have any serious symptoms and claim vaccinations for the win. I got married two summers ago and it was a nice celebration with a small group on our terrace. Despite the fact that it should not have been a big deal for me, it has had a significant impact on my life. I underestimated the importance of the regular in person social events that helped to regulate my mental health. My signs of COVID "fatigue":

• many Korean dramas watched
• hours of playing old computer games 
• too much gin drinking
• the weight gain of the title 
• so few blog posts
• lack of commitment to online social groups

Those last two would help me find build the mental health I have been missing, but as a friend told me recently, "but that doesn't work when you don't have the energy to do the things that would help." This blog post, which I have been meaning to write for some time, might be the corner turning. I might as well get to it as COVID does not seem to be going anytime soon.  

Alien Light Bulb

There was a strange, faceted light bulb that we found in the basement storage room in our house in East Vancouver. The house was built in the early 1950s and we moved in in 2002 (ish). "We" here is old we, me and my ex-wife and the kids. The bulb was there and worked through all the time we owned the place, came with me after the separation, and was in a bedside lamp in our apartment. After all that time, I began to think it was some kind of special, eternal bulb, but it did burn out recently. If you look closely, it says it comes from Phillips in France, so it seems unlikely that it is alien technology after all. 

Birthday Trip

 My wife just had a milestone birthday. I find it difficult to figure out what to get as a present on these occasions and other men my age have said the same. Maybe it is different for women or for other cultures or generations. I was racking my brain and consulting friends for ideas when she said, "all I want is to get out of town for a few days." So she organized a trip to Tofino for us. I also enjoyed having a change of scene. We stayed at a resort right on the beach. We had in mind that we would be watching storms but instead we had some quite nice weather and very little rain. 

Here is the birthday girl on the sunny beach

Some interesting things we found on our beach walking 

Veronica's original birthday plan was to take family and friends to a night of dinner and dancing at Federico's on Commercial Drive. Of course that plan was not possible during COVID and we heard it had closed down permanently. 

Plants and Pottery 2020

I have been back at pottery this year, using the UBC studio run by students (I am a "community member"). It was shut down for a while over the Summer, but then reopened with limited capacity and a booking system. Some pictures below of what I have been doing, mixed in with our gardening efforts on the terrace. For me, a successful garden means beautiful, perennial plants that you can eat. This really limits you to herbs, and we had a good crop of those. We also had some vegetable success. There were a couple of squash plants that really produced for us. 

I got married this Summer

Yes, I know this post is overdue. My desktop is cluttered with pictures ready to post on other blog posts, so I behind on more than just this one. 

I had wondered whether we would actually get married as we are older (on the side closer to 60 of 50s) and have both been married before, both with two adult children (and one grandchild) from our previous marriages. We (and the bank) own an apartment together, and in Vancouver that is a considerable commitment. Sometime in the Spring I began to think that getting married was a good idea, and Veronica accepted me. 

It would have been a small wedding, but ended up even smaller because of COVID. We had it on our large balcony (it is like a patio but on the second floor so we call it a terrace). We had just family and one friend each. My nephew is a pastor in Terrace and he flew down to do the ceremony and that really felt special, and we got a bit of religion. My father is living with us and was the best man. He gave a heartfelt but humorous speech to the bride. Veronica's close friend was her her maid of honour and her daughters gave her away. 

Here comes the bride and then the ceremony. 

Then we were married, good job!

Then an excuse for a family reunion. We had a catered lunch and of course a few gin and tonics. 

All that socializing can get tiring, especially in uncomfortable, formal clothes.