Bulgaria was so amazing. It inspired me to now want to devote some time exploring the Balkans. It was a short trip, but just enough to fascinate me and keep me wanting more. You know when you’ve gotten so deep into a particular practice like music, prayer, a sport, a martial art, etc. or even a relationship (with a person or something else), you reach a point when the novelty has worn away? Well, I was beginning to feel this way with traveling and exploring new countries and cultures, but then I visited this land between Romania, Yugoslavia, Turkey, the Black Sea, once conquered by Romans, Turks, Genghis Khan---Bulgaria, and it is definitely a place to be totally "wowed” by. I’m stoked to be traveling and exploring once again. In the beautiful town of Plovdiv, which is a UNESCO world heritage site, you’ll find an ancient archaeological site on every corner-and totally well preserved.
We visited "amazing bridges” national park in the mountains which would be such an amazing match for a sister national park with arches national park. I’ve attached some pictures for you. You’ll see. Now that Bulgaria has been accepted in the EU, the trash and recycling system is totally under control, and with this soft-hearted, nature-loving culture, the people rarely litter. The roads and towns were so well taken care of, the sun was shining so brightly, and the huge green leaves were singing in the light breeze—like my dear friend and host Petko said, "something about the way the sun shines here in Plovdiv, reminds me of Rome”.
I spent most of my nights at the artsy bohemian café where we met with such talented, brilliant, open-minded Plovdiv-born fun-loving friends. One has his own tv show about the latest books translated into Bulgarian, another is representing modern young artists in exhibitions in Amsterdam, another is writing an iphone app that organizes your personal wine impressions. And there was neither the American celebrity syndrome nor the anti-American sentiment that I typically sense in most countries. But of course, this was a special group.
