Super-Massive Über Post Tuesday, Mar 27 2007

The Road Out of Zavet

Ok, so my last post I had promised to add a series of posts pretty quickly after. Well, obviously that didn’t happen, but I do have an explanation. See, I didn’t want to post without having new pictures to show, but my client for uploading them isn’t working. Well, I finally got tired of not posting (and a bunch of people complained about it to me… which was flattering, really), so I uploaded them manually, which is more labor intensive but worth it. Anyway, now I’m ready to post about all the stuff I’ve been up to.

In Ahinora Park

One of the first things I did after recovering from the chaos of the Mardi Gras party was take a hike with Eric out to Ahinora, a place nearby my town that has an few cool archaeological sites around it. The Thracian tomb there was closed, which was a disappointment, but we were able to visit the tomb of Demir Baba. He was an Islamic holy-man who, according to legend, was giant in size and caused water to spring forth from a stone. His tomb and the spring there are still visited as a holy site by local faithful.

The Tomb of Demir Baba

After visiting the tomb we hiked up to the plateau above it. It’s a fun hike, and the view from the top is really nice. There are some footstep shaped depressions in the stone on ground near the edge of the plateau that are supposedly left there by Demir Baba.

A View of the Tomb from Above

After finishing our hike we simply cabbed it back to Zavet. We spent the days in Zavet framing the hike simply being lazy and watching a lot of TV and movies. We were pretty tired from the party and the hike, and Eric was still a little jet lagged.

Eric on the Plateau

Finally we decided it was time to head out again, so on Thursday we went to Veliko Turnovo. We spent most of the day there walking around the old town and the fortress of Tsaravets, which was fun. Eric actually got to see how beautiful Bulgaria could be when it tries. Another convert for the beauty of VT!

The Old Town in Veliko Turnovo

That night we met up with Alden and Melanie, some friends from VT and nearby. We bar hopped across town, and there were some shenanigans involved, but it was a lot of fun.

Me at Tsaravets

The next day we had to get up early and head to Sofia. We met up with Carey there, and after showing Eric a bit of the town it was time to go out and meet with people. We were there for a few days, and it’s a bit of a blur now, but we met up with some folks at the hostel who didn’t know Sofia and we showed them around. There was also some time hanging out with Toni and some of her friends at Lucianno’s.

Monument to the Red Army in Sofia

The highlight of our time in Sofia, however, was attending Courtney’s birthday party. The youngest of the B18s, she turned 23 and was celebrating at a rather swank piano bar in the center. It was a really fun time.

Birthday Girl, Amy, and Damon

Some friends of our mutual friends from when Courtney and I attended a training in Macedonia were there, which was nice. Everyone seemed to have a really good time. I especially enjoyed dancing to the live music.

Carey and Margarita Are Smokin’ Hot!

I was also kind of glad that Eric got to see a different part of Bulgaria, and that it wasn’t all Mehana’s (Bulgarian pubs with cheap beer and cheaper grilled meats). He also seemed to get on well with my friends here, which was important to me. But of course, who wouldn’t get along with Eric?

Eric and Carey Flush Twice, Cause It’s a Long Way to Auburn

Eric and Carey got along particularly well, as I knew they would. I was very happy that Carey got to know another LSU Tiger. We have plans to get together after COS for a game or two in October and November, so that should be fun.

Eric and Courtney Show How to Do It

The Next day Carey had to leave, but I stuck around with Eric. We pretty much spent the day lounging about. We went to the movies and the mall. Ghost Rider, by the way, should be avoided at all costs. Finally Eric got on a night train for Vienna and was on his way back home.

Courtney and Care-Bear.

The next day I showed around one of the folks from the hostel around Sofia, which was fun. After doing so I caught my bus for home and was gone too.

Crossing the Danube Shortly After Dawn

The following weekend, however, I was back on the road. Carey and I were Bucharest bound! We had been wanting to go for a while. So, on Friday night we stayed with Jennifer in Ruse. The next morning we took a 6:30 bus to Bucharest.

Welcome Across the River

We had heard that Bucharest wasn’t all that great, but we wanted to give it a try. Let me tell you, we’re glad we did! It is a beautiful city with wide streets; large, green parks; and gorgeous buildings.

Centrul Civic / Piata Unirii in Bucharest, People’s / Parliamentary Palace in Back

After a long delay at the border (which as far as we could tell consisted of waiting for Bulgarian border guards to arrive at work) we arrived in Bucharest in the mid-morning. We had been dropped off in front of a hotel in the center, which is where we were to meet the bus again the next day. We quickly changed money, got a quick bite to eat, and made our way to a metro station.

Creţulescu Palace

After a short metro ride we got out at the train station stop, which was the nearest one to our hostel. The Funky Chicken wasn’t that great of a place to stay, but it’s apparently the only one in the center or near a metro stop. Still, it was clean and the staff were helpful. It just didn’t have any of the extras I’ve come to expect from staying at nicer ones like Hostel Mostel in Sofia with free internet, breakfast, and, beer and pasta for dinner.

See How Pretty? Revolution Square. National Library in rear, the Memorial of Rebirth on the right.

After getting a map for each of us, marking the sites we wanted to see and also any yummy restaurants we wanted to visit on them, Carey and I set out to discover just how cool Bucharest was.

The End of Days at Biserica Cretulescu

One of the first places we found was a church with lots of frescoes outside of the Apocalypse. It reminded me a lot of Rila Monostary. The churches in Romania were a lot like Bulgarian Orthodox ones, which I guess makes sense.

How Cool is This Building?! You’d Never See This in BG. HQ of the Architects Assoc.

Walking around we saw a lot of cool, pretty, or simply interesting buildings. We had no clue what a lot of them were, though some were labeled in Romanian that was pretty easy to guesslate into English.

Concert Hall “Romanian Athenaeum“

We ate lunch at some place recommended by the guides called La Mamma, which had Romanian food. It was really good. It’s surprising how different the two cultures foods were, since we noticed so many similarities (folk costumes were basically the same, for instance).

I Wonder If It’s a Blood Bank?

In the old town, we did a bit of window shopping. I was looking for a good patch of the Romanian flag and was unsuccessful. Oh well. I’ll order one online, I guess, which I plan on doing for a bunch of others I want, so I might as well.

Manuc’s Inn

We also went into a hugely large shopping center, called Unirea Shopping Center. After enough walking around we got pretty tired and decided to find a place to sit a bit before going home.

Me in Front of the Palace of Parliament

We found the most wonderful place ever. We found Caru cu Bere, a beer hall out of our wildest dreams. Roasted Pork Legs… Mutton Sausages… Liter house brewed beers! We drank a beer each and decided to come back for dinner after freshening up.

Caru cu Bere… Go here.

Upon our return, we found we had a short wait at the bar. While there, I started chatting up a pair of Norwegian girls, Heidi and Mimsy, who were there working on a newspaper story for their paper in Oslo on new EU nations. They were a lot of fun, and we did some dancing and drinking. Fun was had by all.

Mmm… Pork Leg…

Carey and I closed out the night with Heidi, the younger of the two, at a bar down the street. I was so tired by then I basically slept in my seat, but Carey and I ended up walking home in the drizzle after he and her were too tired to go on as well.

Dancin’!

The next morning Carey and I did some more walking around, but pretty much just went straight to the Palace of Parliament to get a tour. This place is HUGE. It’s the second largest building in the world, behind the Pentagon. It has rooms you could literally play a game of regulation football in. Crazy. Everything there is made from raw material exclusively found withing the borders of Romania. Pretty impressive. Oh, and it’s not completely finished yet.

Mo’ Dancin’!

We ended up going back to Caru cu Bere for lunch (that’s right, 3 times in 1.5 days!). We had some mutton sausages, bits of roasted lamb, potato salad, apple and cheese strudel, and homemade lemonade. Everything was really good. We had to rush out though, and I went to the hostel to get our bags and cab it out to meet Carey, who had make sure the bus wouldn’t leave without us.

Interior of Caru cu Bere

All in all, it was a great trip, if a little short. I definitely want to go back. It even ended perfectly. Look what we saw on the way home!

A Good End to a Good Trip

At that point, I was probably really ready for a weekend at home in Zavet, but that was not in the cards. I had to go to Sofia next because my friends Evele and Ula were back in town from Poland! It was also my chance to say goodbye to my friend Margarita, who was leaving Bulgaria for a while and would not be back before I left in September.

Goodbye Margarita!

After splitting up with Margarita and her friend Misho, Evele, Ula, and I went out dancing in Studenski grad. It was a lot of fun, but they wear me out. I didn’t end up back home at the hostel until 4am!

Bulgarian Sky from a Train

After that weekend, I finally had one to myself. It was good to relax at home and not have to deal with travelling. I was able to go to me pazaar day for the first time in a while and buy fruits and vegetables, which were great to have in the house again.

Bright and Cloudy Sky Over VT

However, that was short lived. The next weekend (last weekend) I had to head out to Chirpan to play in the annual soccer tourney there. The pics of the sky I’m posting are from that trip. We had some beautiful skies that weekend.

Orange Clouds Over Balkan Mountains from the Chirpan Train Station

The tourney was fun. We lost the exhibition match of PCVs vs. Bulgarians again this year, and again my team in the 4 on 4 tourney lost, but it was still fun.

Go Team!

The weather was perfect for a game, as you can see, and we had quite a lot of folks show up. It was quite the success.

Toni, Jess, and Melody Support the American Team

The night before the game was Trevor’s birthday, so we had all gone out that night. I went to a disco with Melody and Jessie after the bar, and that was a lot of fun. I had never hung out with Jessie before, though we had met. It was nice getting to know her.

Marking My Man

After the game we all went to Stara Zagora, the large city nearby. There we had dinner at a nice Italian restaurant. We also went to a bowling place after that. I actually won our bowling game, but none of us played well. I guess I just sucked the least!

Sun on Clouds

And that pretty much brings us up to date. In other news, my project for the fitness room is almost finished. I spent 1,500 Leva on equipment, which should be completely installed by the end of the week. I’ll post about that when it’s done. Again, sorry about the long delay in posting. You can see large versions of all of these pics and more at the gallery, which has them all up: http://gallery.deepgrey.net/Koubi/bulgaria_001/bulgarianexperience/