It's been quite a while since I took the time to update this blog. Life has moved way past Spring Break! In a nutshell, following my last post, the musical project took off and "Hairspray" went on tour all over Bulgaria (Varna, Sofia, and Plovdiv). After, everybody went into cram mode to make-up for lost studying time just before final exams. I managed to make it back to California just in time for Mother's Day and gave my mom one of the greatest surprises of her life. I turned 21, traveled to the East Coast to see my Aunt Monica marry Uncle Robert (and escort the cutest little twins down the aisle), got my old job back at Peet's, studied Bulgarian, visited Riverside, caught up with friends, all within the 3 months I was home. 

August 3rd I headed back to Bulgaria (with my parents!) for several major events. First up was Tzvetanka Varimezova's 50th birthday celebration in Sofia. A world-renowned singer, choral director, ethnomusicologist, etc. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVsv7_Rozu4 Choirs from all over the world (U.S., Greece, Denmark, France, Bulgaria) all gathered to celebrate the woman, "who planted musical seeds in gardens," in hundreds of musical lovers' lives. She hosted a concert in Sofia with all of these incredible choirs and it was one of the most breathtaking musical experiences. She then recreated the concert in her hometown of Pazardzhik which was even more spectacular. Due to the emotional connections with the city, it was a far more personal concert. I don't think there was a dry eye in the house by the end. Along with the choirs from abroad, both Ensemble Pazardzhik and Ensemble Trakia performed as well. I will add some video clips of the events to my youtube account soon. 

Following the two nights of concerts, we headed to Koprivshtitsa with the choirs. There, we separated and met up with Larry Weiner and Lyuben Dossev's tour group. My friends Miriam and Varol were both there already and I brought Gergana from Varna. The 4 of us spent the majority of the next several days together. The festival was amazing - music and dance flowing everywhere, the village as quaint as ever, hundreds of people filling the streets. There was a huge contingency of folks from the states, especially within the EEFC community. It was great to walk down the street and constantly recognize people. The first night there, there was a huge celebration in the center square with zurla players. We befriended them and were invited to go to a cafe to hang out. That became a nightly ritual that left my ears ringing for days. My dad had purchased two zurlas in 2005 and wanted to get a lesson from one of the guys. We managed to make it happen and of course, Bill Cope being Bill Cope, he was instantly a pro and played for a group of dancers in the middle of the festival. My dance group, Ensemble Biser, was also there. I found them on a mountain top watching the Pirin region stage. I loved being able to introduce them to my parents! So many connections being made between my life back home and here.

After the festival, we said goodbye to our friends and my parents and I headed to Blagoevgrad. We intended to only spend 3 days in my city, but mom got sick and was having back problems so we decided to stay somewhere familiar. It worked out for the best because they really got to experience life here (minus all the students...Skapto was a ghost town!). We went to all the best cafes and restaurants in town, explored the Old Town, hiked, headed to the Aqua Park, etc. Being back here now, I miss them terribly! We made a lot of memories together and I love knowing they enjoyed this town so much.

We had to send Dad back on August 13 but Mom stuck around for another 10 days, so we went to Varna! There we stayed with Geri and her family, though Teddy also wanted to host us, so we ended up being spoiled rotten by the two families. Constant attention, food, drink, sight-seeing - it doesn't get much better! I knew from the Hairspray tour that I loved the city already but after spending such a solid block of time there, I love it even more. I can't stand being landlocked for too long so having access to the sea was perfect. The entire 10 days, in fact, was nearly perfect.

In an attempt to document all of the many stories from the trip before my feeble memory loses them, I decided to skip the photo montage for the next couple entries. I'll try to add some in later, but for now, here goes!

3/2/2010:

Prior to our trip, I had done research into local craft stores in Prague (since I've been neglecting my craft here in Bulgaria...it's impossible to find bead stores or decent yarn stores - plenty of acrylic though, if you're into the fake stuff) and had a list of spots to look for. The first was "Star Beads" that had been reviewed here: http://www.alltangledup.com/movabletype/archives/000847.html Definitely a helpful blog post! I arrived earlier than the shop opened, so I took the time to stop for a bagel (oh, how I've missed bagels!) and coffee across the street. I absolutely loved the cafe scene in Prague! There were several chains (including Starbucks) but also countless independents. I miss having a local spot to go have a coffee and read or study, in Blagoevgrad there are plenty of "coffee shops" but it is very rare to see anybody bring books or homework and spend a significant amount of time there. 

After enjoying my breakfast, the bead shop was just opening. As the review said, the owner was a very friendly Japanese man who spoke excellent English. After stocking up on my crafting needs, I wandered through Old Town some more. I had read that there was a yarn shop "somewhere after Charles Bridge." This vague information encouraged my wandering, however, I never found the illusive shop. I did find myself back in the Jewish Quarter and this time Kafka's house was open! I was surprised at how small the museum was - only one room - but there was a lot of information on his life in Prague. 

I spent some more time wandering before deciding to be brave and venture out of the area I was most comfortable in. Veronika's boyfriend had recommended a Mexican restaurant to me and I was definitely wanting to try it. It took a few tram/bus rides to get there, but I eventually found 'La Cantina.' Though not very authentic, they did a very decent job on making some tasty Tex-Mex style food. I ordered chips and salsa, followed by cheese enchiladas, and washed down with an ice cold Corona and lime. It helped to satisfy my craving, at least for a little while! Now that I'm back in Blago, the cravings are coming back full force. I suppose the lack of Mexican food is going to be something to consider when figuring out how long I'm going to stay in Europe.

Terka and I had made plans to meet up once she was out of class, so after my delectable lunch I headed back downtown. She wanted to take me shopping! That's always fine by me! We went to a few of her favorite shops and I picked up a top for her birthday night at H&M (yes! There was an H&M!!). After enjoying our girly catch up time, we went and met Sarah at 5pm. We had a little bit longer to kill before Veronika would be free, so I convinced the girls to help me look for a yarn store in another part of town. We managed to locate it, but it was closed (big surprise, since I was there! Confirming that I was jinxed). There was a number on the door so we called and the owner promised to be open the next day. We were all needing to unwind, so Terka took us to a local pub/brewery to have some beer. She had actually been informed they served banana beer, which I was going crazy wanting to try, but they weren't serving it that night. We tried one of their standard brews instead and then decided it was time to go get some dinner at Kobylisy again.  Another delicious meal - I had gnocchi (not Czech in the least, but I still enjoyed it). 

3/3/2010:

March 3 has always been a significant day in our family. It was my Grandma's birthday and on the third one since her passing, it is still a rough day emotionally. I was thankful to spend it in such a beautiful city with wonderful friends, especially because it is also Terka's birthday! What a lucky girl because I am obviously very partial to the day. 

Sarah woke up early with me because I was going crazy with wanting to see the National Museum. I had heard there was a great exhibit on the 'Velvet Revolution,' however, we were very disappointed once we got there to discover the exhibit had already closed. They should actually refer to it as the Museum of Natural History because the majority of exhibits were on artifacts, rocks, and other natural specimens. It was fairly interesting, especially a short exhibit of memorabilia from childhood Holocaust victims, as well as one called, 'Earth,' all about how the planet functions ( I loved the part about earthquakes!). 

After about two hours in the museum, Sarah wanted to see Old Town again so we headed there for a quick breakfast and coffee. Then we wandered until we found the, 'Communist Museum.' We went inside and checked out the gift shop but didn't have time to actually enter the museum. Sarah picked up some cool postcards though! On our way to meet Veronika, we discovered a 'Ben & Jerry's!!' We absolutely had to stop for some Cherry Garcia ice cream (no offense Bulgaria, but you seriously lack good ice cream). 

Once hooking up with Veronika, she had our whole afternoon planned out. First we headed to the highest point in Prague, the look-out tower of Petrin. Nobody else wanted to take the stairs all the way to the top, so I went on my own. The view was so worth it! Right next door is an old attraction, a house of mirrors. We went inside and took lots of pictures of our bodies being morphed into different shapes. Next up was a stroll down the hill towards Prague Castle. We passed by several vineyards - they weren't in season, of course, but I would love to come back and see the grapes in bloom! My first impression of the castle was awe and I could not wait to go inside on a tour. But, alas, my jinx of the trip - all tours were closed for the day. It was still great to walk around the outdoor plazas and see the huge cathedral up close. 

We were all get hungry so Veronika suggested we pick up some food and take it to eat at one of her favorite outdoor spots in the city, Vyšehrad. According to wikipedia (I'm cheating here to remember all the info) it is a, "...castle located in the Czech Republic, built in the 10th century, on a hill over the Vltava River. Situated within the castle is the Basilica of St Peter and St Paul, as well as the Vyšehrad Cemetery, containing the remains of many famous people from Czech history, among them Antonin Dvorak, Bedrich Smetana, and Karel Capek." It was a beautiful place but the temperature had dropped dramatically by the time we arrived so we didn't manage to stay outside for long. We hopped back on the metro and headed to Veronika's mother's bar for a coffee before we had to get ready for Terka's birthday outing. At the bar, Veronika's mom wanted to celebrate our trip, so she gave each Sarah and I a special dessert of pancakes with banana and chocolate, complete with a sparkler on top! I'll add a picture of it soon because it was beautiful! Such a sweet gesture. 

First thing Monday morning, we headed to Veronika's mom's house to <finally> see Pupiček. For those of you who don't know the story: here in Bulgaria there is a major issue with stray animals. Dogs and cats (even the occasional goat, donkey, or horse) roam the streets everywhere. Last semester, there was a large community of these strays that decided to live around Skapto (I'm sure because of all the sympathetic students who would leave food out for them). At the beginning of the term, one of the strays had a litter of puppies. There was one especially sweet puppy that captured the heart of Veronika while she was here on exchange. She wound up falling so in love with her that she decided to take her back home with her. It took a lot of time, energy, and paperwork (including getting Pupiček her own EU Passport!) but she was successful. It's been very different so far this semester without her friendly puppy eyes around and everybody misses her terribly! However, she is definitely not the same little size she was last time we saw her! She's gotten huge:

We enjoyed visiting with Veronika's mom for a few hours. She prepared us a peach cobbler with tea as soon as we got there, and then later made us tasty dumplings and eggs for lunch. 

In between, she showed us pictures of Veronika's childhood (I promised I wouldn't put any of those pictures online!) and several books on Prague. It definitely fueled my desire to see the National Museum and Prague Castle! While there, we also were able to use the internet. I submitted my AIESEC internship application (it's an international student run organization for facilitating internship exchanges - check them out: www.aiesec.org ).

We had a date to meet with Terka and Josef again at 2pm at Kobylisy Restaurant. Once we got there, we had trouble figuring out a plan for the day because the weather was really windy and cold. We said we didn't have a problem handling it though, so Terka decided to go ahead with her plan to take us to Troja River for a walk and then over to their favorite amusement park - Matejska Pout. The walk along the river was a little much for everybody:

Our stomachs very content, we walked around to work off the additional sugar. Somehow though, we ended up at "Viva Praha! Finest Belgian Chocolates" (also the location of the Chocolate Museum) where they were doing demonstrations on making rock candy (as well as handing out free samples). It was incredible to watch these guys work! It took so much manual labor and muscle power to pull on these massive rolls of hard tacky. They then made these incredible designs seemingly out of nowhere! I have no idea how they were able to create itty bitty messages of Happy Birthday and little pineapple, strawberries, hearts, etc.

I really wanted to see the Jewish part of town (especially Kafka's house), so we walked that direction next. Once again, passed through the Old Town Square and wandering a bit before finding the synagogues. 

By the time we got there though, everything was closed! Again, just my luck. It was about the time Josef had to head off anyway, so us girls went to watch the show at the Astronomical Show. Not too sure it should be called a show since it lasted all of 30 seconds! You could hear the collective sigh from the crowd at the end. I did get my first cup of gluhwein (Mulled Wine) to keep warm. Definitely a perk of Prague! 

Terka had some homework to do and Sarah was getting tired, so I decided to go to the top of the tower by myself. The view was a-m-a-z-i-n-g! Worth every cent, as well as the long walk up.

Our morning moved slowly. We finished Sarah's hair first thing while drinking coffee and enjoying the banana bread I brought for Veronika. Here we have the end result:

At about noon, Veronika informed us that she had our day all planned out already! We would be leaving Prague and going to visit one of the most beautiful castles nearby: Karlštejn Castle. The train ride there took about 45 minutes which gave us even more time to catch up (and admire Sarah's new punk style).

 

Once we arrived at the station, we could immediately see the castle at the top or a large hill. It took about a 20 minute walk through a very quaint old town which was lovely. Veronika explained lots of the history to us and we got a lot of information from the signs posted nearby. The castle was founded in the 14th century by Charles IV, the King of Bohemia and the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. 

Veronika explained to us that when she was growing up, schools' would frequently make field trips to the various castles all over Czech Republic. At the gift shop, there was a map that showed all of the castles locations - there are so many! She said a lot of her schoolmates would buy the map and mark everywhere they had been. Normally, the maps would end up covered with pins! I, of course, wanted to tour the inside of the castle. I was mesmerized by it! Sarah, however, wasn't too interested so her and Veronika planned on getting food while I walked through. The next English tour wasn't for 30 minutes so we decided to try out some traditional Czech Spa Wafers (still slightly confused by the name...). They are thin sweet crackers. Not much sustenance but definitely tasty.

Once it was time for the tour, I was enchanted. I couldn't stop imagining the regal royalty strolling through the rooms as other dignitaries rode to meet them for important negotiations (yes, my fantasy imagination ran away with me). I loved learning about King Karl's 6 wives. He was educated in France and met a princess there who became his first wife. She died without bearing him a son so he married again. Eventually, he did get his son: Wenceslaus. All in all, he married 6 times (a German princess, two Polish princesses...and I forget the other two, oops!). We went through the majority of the royal palace, saw the guard's chambers, the royal chapel (Karl was devoutly religious), the King's private chambers, and many other rooms. A wonderful tour! After, I strolled around outside a bit more before meeting back up with Sarah and Veronika.

We spent about 3.5 hours there all together and realized we needed to rush  back to Prague for our meeting with Terka and Josef. We made it just on time. It was so great seeing them again! We spent 30 minutes wandering around trying to find this perfect place Terka knew about. We started to doubt we'd ever find it when we finally did. It was a lovely little tea house (perfect planning, Terka! A tea house was on my list of places to visit). I enjoyed some tasty hot masala and we all shared a waterpipe. I enjoyed my tea so much I bought some to bring back to school (I hope it lasts awhile, I'm drinking it as I write this!). There was a hysterical moment when Sarah randomly asked Josef, "Are your parents huge?" We all looked at her very confused, especially him. She meant are his parents tall, so Josef responds, "My dad's tall, my mom's huge!" We all cracked up! Then he had to leave early to meet up with his girlfriend so we all headed to Terka's favorite pub to try some more Czech beer. While there, she taught me my first Czech phrase: "Můžu dostat jedno pivo, prosím?" Translation: "May I have one beer, please?" Very useful! We noticed that the Olympic hockey match between Canada and the U.S. was on so we watched for a while. During a break between periods, we decided to rush home to finish watching it in the comfort of Veronika's flat. It was an intense game! It even went into overtime before Canada won. The whole day we'd been asking Sarah what she wanted to do and she kept reiterating she wanted to see Pupiček so we made plans to go visit Veronika's mom in the morning.

Day 2 - Traveling

There was a gentleman from Texas sitting by us who immediately recognized our American accents and decided to strike up a conversation. Unfortunately, he was incredibly boring and didn't realize we just wanted to sleep, not chat! We were saved when the ticket collector came around and informed us we were sitting in the wrong cab - apparently we had second class tickets but managed to make ourselves quite comfortable in first class. It was the first time I was glad to be downgraded! Just to avoid the chit-chatter. The ride took about 4.5 hours - Sarah slept the entire time but I couldn't get comfortable to I alternated between writing in my journal and playing sudoku (excellent time killer).

The plans for this trip began last semester. There was a group of students on exchange at AUBG from Czech Republic and Slovakia that I became good friends with and we would always talk about the possibility of visiting. The idea definitely stuck in my head and all of winter break I worked with my parents on figuring out how to make it work. After arriving back in Bulgaria, I started checking on plane tickets regularly. At first it seemed outrageously expensive to go, but eventually I was able to find a flight to Wien for only $75! Such a sweet deal. So, I convinced my roommate Sarah that we should go together and bought the tickets. From there, everything just fell into place. Veronika offered us a place to stay and we began making the finalized plans!

Day 1 - "Last night we were in Piano Bar listening to karaoke and tonight we're listening to Mozart from a public toilet under the Opera House of Vienna!"

    We made the mistake of going out Thursday night to Piano Bar, so after 2.5 hours of sleep we began our journey. As soon as we made it to the local bus station and were safely on board, I fell asleep but Sarah wasn't feeling well. I kept hoping she wouldn't come down with anything on the trip! Luckily she felt better after a couple days. It took just under two hours to get to Sofia and I managed to remember Vladi's advice from when I went to Berlin - get off at РУСКИ ПАМЕТНИК instead of waiting for the central АВТОГАРА. We then found an 'O.K.' taxi and headed off to the airport. We were lucky to be charged a reasonable 10 lev for the trip (BG taxi drivers have a reputation of taking advantage of foreigners and charging them outrageous prices - just ask Prosper!). 

    We arrived at the Sofia airport at 9:45am and went through security quickly to find out our plane was delayed. We succumbed to our exhaustion and decided to purchase two terribly overpriced coffee's from Jimmy's. They tasted awful! Mine was called 'coffee ice-cream' and was literally 1/2 a scoop of vanilla ice cream with coffee poured over it. Fancy, right? The plane finally arrived at 12:30pm and took off at 12:45 (quick boarding!). The flight was painless and they even served a tasty salmon/cucumber/cream cheese sandwich for lunch (I love Austrian Air). I had a window seat and the views were breathtaking the entire way! Snowcapped mountains, frozen lakes, and quaint villages I love how the world below seems like a collection of doll houses and toy cars from up above.

By the time we finished our tour, it was close to time to meet Ashley. Ashley is a girl I went to high school with. We were incredibly close friends the first couple years and then life happened and we drifted apart. Coincidentally, we both decided to go abroad at the same time. She's currently living just outside of Wien, Austria with a host family working as an Au pair (sweet deal!). She invited me to come visit last fall but it didn't work out. I messaged her about this trip and she immediately offered us a place to stay with her host family! So, we planned on meeting her at 8pm at the fountain next to the Opera House after she finished work.

It was so great to see her walk up! What a small world, two girls from San Jose meeting up for a night in Austria! Her boyfriend came with her as well to drive so we wouldn't have to take public transportation out to her house. After dropping our stuff off, we went to her neighbors house to meet up with a group of people for dinner. Following dinner, they took us to their favorite pub. It seemed like a place out of Harry Potter! It was an unmarked building with a single lantern hanging outside, but if you knew where to go there was a great little bar inside! We did have a bit of an adventure at the end of the night. Ashley lost her phone and house-keys so we ended up crashing at her neighbors house until her host family woke up, then we moved into her room. She definitely made up for it though in the morning when she made us lattes and crepes! It was lovely getting to spend time with her (being around somebody I have history with!) and getting caught up. We swapped stories all night about people and places from the past. It did my heart gooood!

What's on the menu for tonight? What appears to be a tasty recipe for potato & tomato soup:

Day 1:

I left AUBG at the crack of dawn on Thursday, October 11 and began quite the day of travel. I walked to the bus station (actually, to the wrong bus station where I hung out for ten minutes before realizing my bus was about to leave down the street). I managed to catch it and settled in for the two hour ride to Sofia. Once there, I had been prepped by Vladi (an RA in my Skapto) on how to properly catch a taxi to the airport without being overcharged. Basically, this consisted of getting in, mumbling where I wanted to go in Bulgarian, putting my headphones in, and ignoring the driver the rest of the way. Guess what? Method was successful! I was only charged 10 lev (which is a very reasonable price). I had alloted plenty of time for getting to the airport in case any problems arose (none did) so I wound up with three hours to kill at my gate. I choose to use this time effectively and managed to complete my reading assignment for International Relations - this was the only time I spent studying the entire trip (oops!). 

My flight arrived on time and I had no problems making my connection in Munich. However, my flight to Berlin had slight issues. Lufthansa "forgot" to book a crew so we had to wait for the back-up folks to arrive. Once they did, we were only a half an hour behind schedule. I eventually arrived at Tegal Airport and was ecstatic to see Miriam waiting for me right outside the security check-point. Following plenty of screaming and a huge hug, we headed out to the buses. It was a quick ride to the Circus Hostel ( http://www.circus-berlin.de/circus_berlin_hostel.html  

<Another belated and incomplete post... I regret neglecting this post, there were a lot more wonderful stories to share>