Adventures in Bulgaria

So it has been a while since anyone has used this blog, but I figured it might be an ok spot to share a few pictures.  Deborah has put plenty on Facebook I imagine, but surely the internet is big enough for a couple more.  

In the big park near our house they have all kinds of small attractions for children.  This bungie contraption basically suspends the kids over a trampoline on rubber bands.  Then a guy pulls on their legs then lets go, shooting them up into the air like a slingshot.  This is Eliza flipping upside down as she hurls toward the branches above.  Photo credit to Maddie, who got this with her I pod.

In the same park they have these four-wheel pedal cars.  For about $8.00 we rented these for the whole family and formed our own bike gang.  Eliza was definitely the fastest, a fact that she was keen to point out for the rest of us who were often eating her dust.  The dollar is fairly strong here in Europe right now, so a lot of these type of activities are relatively cheap, especially compared to what they might cost at home.  

There is a small pond at the same park - Borisova Garden.  One day this week we rented a couple paddle boats.  Jonas quickly made it into a bumper car competition.  Fortunately no one fell overboard, although since the pond is only about 2 feet deep I don't think it would have been a catastrophe of titanic proportions in any case.  

We go to the Borisova Gardens nearly every evening.  Here in Bulgaria many, many people spend their evenings relaxing in public places.  We like that custom.  The park is super busy with hundreds of families relaxing on blankets, strolling the grounds, and snacking from the wonderful cafes.  Parks here have plenty of small restaurants and food stands offering all kinds of goodies.  This is one of our favorites so far- a chocolate banana crepe hot off the grill.  Delicious!

We have had lots of time to visit cultural sites here in Sofia.  That is actually the biggest reason why I am here- to practice my language and become more familiar with the culture and history of the country.  This picture is us standing in from of an 11th century church near Sofia.  Called the Boyana Church, it is famous for having some of the earliest frescos painted in a renassiance style.  The artist painted images from the life of the Savior that are some of the earliest to use vanishing perspective to create the illusion of depth in the way that DiVinci did some two centuries late in his Last Supper.  There are also portraits of the patrons who paid for the church's construction, which are considered to be some of the first realistic portraits to be painted in the renaissance style. 

We visited the Bulgarian Military History Museum on the grounds of the Bulgarian Military Academy this week.  Jonas loved getting to see this Soviet-built T-72 tank up close.  The museum was absolutely outstanding, depicting that last 2000 years of Bulgarian wars with genuine artifacts and very nice displays.  Some of this was lost on the kids, particularly the girls, but Deborah, Jonas, and I loved it.  

Bulgaria is a mountainous country with many natural beauties.    Right next to Sofia is Mt. Vitosha, a 6000+ foot mountain.  We went on a picnic on the mountain is weekend at a place called the Golden Bridges.  These are the kids as we did some boulder climbing in the area.  We found a small pool the kids could wade in, although the water (which comes from snowmelt above) was so cold we couldn't even stand in it for more than about 30 seconds.  We entertained ourselves for a couple of hours constructing a dam from rocks, stick, and moss that increased the depth of the pool by a several inches.   When we broke the dam before going, it created a mini flood that washed away some two liters of coke that some other picnickers had put in the water to stay cool.  Oops. 

This is Jonas and Eliza on one of the Golden Bridges.  Maddie and I took this picture as we were standing on top of a mountain stream.  In this area the stream bed is strewn with huge boulders.  In the summertime when the water flow is low, the river is actually obscured by the boulders, and it flows underneath them.  It is an impressive site to see so many boulders 15-20 feet tall lined up.

Almost every park has bouncy houses set up in them.  They usually cost about $0.75 for 20 minutes  of bouncing.  A cheap way to tired Wyatt out in the evening before going home for bedtime. 

This is Jonas with his favorite park activity.   A local inventor has built this laser tag system that works outside even in the daytime.  It really is good- a lot better than any of the laser tag games I have ever played at home.  For about a $1.25 you can have a war with teams in the woods.  Jonas has some pretty mad skills- I think he has won every single time we have played.