I hope that everyone back in the states had a happy and safe Fourth of July! This is not the first time I have been abroad during our nation's celebration of independence, and each time I am struck by the different ways Americans living abroad celebrate this holiday. The embassy community decided to hold their Independence Day celebrations a week early, as Ambassador Beyrle would have already left for his new post in Moscow before the actual 4th. It was a great big party - with many of our Bulgarian counterparts invited to enjoy American dishes and an AMAZING fireworks show. It was an impressive and colorful affair, filled with the big bangs and theatrics I remember from my childhood 4th of Julys on Lake Michigan. No expense was spared and everyone raved about the fireworks for most of the following week. Our Ambassador had the opportunity to personally thank many who worked in the Embassy as well as those Bulgarians who Embassy staff worked with on bilateral issues. The following day, at the Embassy's goodbye party for Ambassador Beyrle and his family, he gave a very moving farewell address to all the Embassy staff - mostly in English, but at times, switching over to Bulgarian. He will be missed here in Sofia, but I wish him and his family all the best in Moscow!
The week was not over yet - on Friday four new friends and I piled into a car and drove down to Greece and took the ferry to the island of Thassos. We spent most of our time on white sandy beaches, dipping into warm and clear blue waters and enjoying the delicious seafood the Greeks are known for. It was a great get-away and a necessary one to recharge our batteries for the coming weeks. Bulgaria, unfortunately, does not have any access to beaches on its western side (where Sofia is located), which means you must travel close to 6 hours east to Varna on the Black Sea or 6 hours south to the Greek islands and coastline. As soon as you crossed the border into Greece, everything changed - the landscape, the architecture, the types of trees (a lot of Olive groves), and even the air - but we mainly noticed the roads. The road quality was markedly better upon entering Greece.
On Thassos we had the good luck to stay at the Emerald Hotel (recommended to us by several Embassy employees who stay there when they vacation in Greece). The Emerald Hotel overlooks Golden Beach in Skala Panagia on the northeastern part of the island. Costas, the owner of the Emerald, attended Michigan State University and was a wonderful host (and bartender) for our little group. With the beach a short five minute walk away, we spent most Friday afternoon and all day Saturday on the sand or in the water. In the evenings we walked the beach's boardwalk and had late dinners of seafood, authentic Greek salad, Ouzo, Greek wine, and feta cheese. Our wallets empty (thanks to the Euro) and our bags filled with sand (how does it manage to get EVERYWHERE?), we departed Sunday morning from our little piece of Greek paradise. Our trip back home was more subdued, but if we ever have the chance to come back, I don't think any of us will hesitate.
Since I haven't seen anything appear on the national news sites (or international ones, for that matter), I did want to let you know that two days ago, a munitions site began to blow up early Thursday morning outside of the city, causing considerable damage to the local houses and businesses and shutting down the airport. No one was killed but the explosions lasted for most of the morning, with officials letting people go back to their homes by late evening. No biological weapons were stored at this depot - just a few older explosives and ammunition. As I live on the other side of the city, I had no idea that this was going on until I got to work and received emails about it. Then, at around 3pm, an earthquake measuring 3.2 on the Ricter scale rumbled through the city (the epicenter was placed 15 km outside of Sofia). Again, I was totally unaware until an email "pinged" into my inbox alerting staff of the event. A fellow intern and I surmised that, had we not been told what was happening outside, we would have not been the wiser - the Embassy can be quite a protective little bubble from the outside world! Again - I am fine and life in Sofia has quickly moved on. But what a way to start the 4th of July weekend!
Tonight is the American Chamber of Commerce 4th of July Celebration. Tomorrow I plan on seeing some more of Sofia (I have less than a month left in Bulgaria!) and I have big plans for the rest of the week with a possible trip to Turkey next weekend. Pictures from my Greek adventure will be posted as soon as I get a more reliable Internet connection at my place in Sofia. Thanks for all the wonderful emails and comments!
~Monica
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Rose Festival and Parade
After several days of rain, some friends I made at the U.S. Embassy invited me to travel with them to the Rose Festival in Kazanlak. With the weather forecast full of rain across Bulgaria, we decided to catch the last day of the two-week Rose Festival and see the parade that marked the conclusion of the festival - rain or shine.
"The fund of the Bulgarian Rose" "The city of Kazanlak"
Kazanlak is a smaller city located in the center of Bulgaria, about three hour drive east from Sofia. It is known throughout Bulgaria and throughout Europe as the place where the famous and expensive Bulgarian Rose Oil is produced. The city is surrounded by fields of rose bushes, a special variety of rose that originated in Damascus and then was cultivated into the Kazanlak Rose. Bulgarians are proud to brag about their Kazanluk Rose and the rose oil that is harvested from the Kazanlak Rose. This rose oil is also known as Bulgaria's "liquid gold," as it is three times more expensive per ounce than gold and is used throughout the cosmetic industry as a base for perfumes and other beauty products. One kilograms of rose oil is extracted from 3000 kilograms of hand-picked roses! Over 2000 people harvest these roses each year, as hand-picking the blossoms is the best way to preserve the roses for the distillation process. The harvesting of the roses lasts anywhere from five to twenty days, depending on the crop. This year the roses bloomed earlier and so the harvest was complete by the second week of June.
We left Sofia early in the morning so that we could arrive in time for the Rose Parade at noon. It was raining when we left and the rain would continue to sporadically meet us as we traveled through small villages and along mountain roads to Kazanlak. The rain refreshed the entire countryside, greening the fields and the trees that passed by our windows. The mountains stretched along the horizon, rain clouds preventing us from seeing their peaks. My favorite things to watch for were the colorful wildflowers that lined the sides of the roads, the flocks of sheep and goats that grazed in the fields below the mountains, and the villages that we passed, each gate and garden decorated with at least one flowering rose bush.
Approaching Kazanlak, we passed by the famous "Valley of the Roses." The fields in this valley were filled with row after row of now-picked rose bushes. There were a few people out in the fields, gathering the remnants of the rose harvest, and we could only imagine what these fields must have looked like just a week ago.
The sun met us as we drove into Kazanlak, warming us as we made our way to the center of town for the parade. We were about half an hour late, but we managed to catch the tail-end of the parade (see slideshow in the sidebar). The main street was filled with rose petals and the air filled with the scent of roses - a nice change from the body odor that usually emanates from such a crowd in the heat of the sun. The main city square was filled with flowering rose bushes and I made sure to get a photo with the famous flowers.
We were only in town for an hour before the rain caught up with us, so we decided to head back to Sofia. The lavender fields were one of my favorite sights on the return trip:
Kazanlak is a smaller city located in the center of Bulgaria, about three hour drive east from Sofia. It is known throughout Bulgaria and throughout Europe as the place where the famous and expensive Bulgarian Rose Oil is produced. The city is surrounded by fields of rose bushes, a special variety of rose that originated in Damascus and then was cultivated into the Kazanlak Rose. Bulgarians are proud to brag about their Kazanluk Rose and the rose oil that is harvested from the Kazanlak Rose. This rose oil is also known as Bulgaria's "liquid gold," as it is three times more expensive per ounce than gold and is used throughout the cosmetic industry as a base for perfumes and other beauty products. One kilograms of rose oil is extracted from 3000 kilograms of hand-picked roses! Over 2000 people harvest these roses each year, as hand-picking the blossoms is the best way to preserve the roses for the distillation process. The harvesting of the roses lasts anywhere from five to twenty days, depending on the crop. This year the roses bloomed earlier and so the harvest was complete by the second week of June.
We left Sofia early in the morning so that we could arrive in time for the Rose Parade at noon. It was raining when we left and the rain would continue to sporadically meet us as we traveled through small villages and along mountain roads to Kazanlak. The rain refreshed the entire countryside, greening the fields and the trees that passed by our windows. The mountains stretched along the horizon, rain clouds preventing us from seeing their peaks. My favorite things to watch for were the colorful wildflowers that lined the sides of the roads, the flocks of sheep and goats that grazed in the fields below the mountains, and the villages that we passed, each gate and garden decorated with at least one flowering rose bush.
Approaching Kazanlak, we passed by the famous "Valley of the Roses." The fields in this valley were filled with row after row of now-picked rose bushes. There were a few people out in the fields, gathering the remnants of the rose harvest, and we could only imagine what these fields must have looked like just a week ago.
The sun met us as we drove into Kazanlak, warming us as we made our way to the center of town for the parade. We were about half an hour late, but we managed to catch the tail-end of the parade (see slideshow in the sidebar). The main street was filled with rose petals and the air filled with the scent of roses - a nice change from the body odor that usually emanates from such a crowd in the heat of the sun. The main city square was filled with flowering rose bushes and I made sure to get a photo with the famous flowers.
We were only in town for an hour before the rain caught up with us, so we decided to head back to Sofia. The lavender fields were one of my favorite sights on the return trip:
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Photos Are Being Uploaded!
See slideshow running on the sidebar --->
Witty captions to follow upload...
~Monica
Witty captions to follow upload...
~Monica
Sunday, June 1, 2008
First comes hail, then comes rain
Well, summer leapfrogged spring here in Sofia (or so everyone tells me) and it seems that the weather wants to compensate instead of go along with the change. I was walking to the downtown of Sofia when I began to see giant rain drops begin to dot the sidewalks. I pull out my umbrella (which I had the foresight to pack into my bag) and the next thing I know, little thumb-tack sized balls of hail are bouncing off of the sidewalk! I walked a couple of hundred
more feet, gazing at awe at the size when the sky opened up and the hail rained down. I ran under a tree for extra protection and watched the downpour of hail with a few other surprised Bulgarians. My handy-dandy camera had a video record feature, so I captured about a minute of the downpour of hail before it turned into rain. My favorite moment had to be the granny crossing the large street in the midst of the downpour, inching along while the traffic waited for her to cross. Alas I did not pull my camera out fast enough (I know, the irony) to capture the moment.
(Video to be uploaded later)
more feet, gazing at awe at the size when the sky opened up and the hail rained down. I ran under a tree for extra protection and watched the downpour of hail with a few other surprised Bulgarians. My handy-dandy camera had a video record feature, so I captured about a minute of the downpour of hail before it turned into rain. My favorite moment had to be the granny crossing the large street in the midst of the downpour, inching along while the traffic waited for her to cross. Alas I did not pull my camera out fast enough (I know, the irony) to capture the moment.(Video to be uploaded later)
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