April 4th, 2011

Just some general observations about Bulgaria. My first reaction upon seeing Sofia up close was a horrible one...I thought it looked pretty bad. Kind of like a war zone...lots of graffiti, many abandoned buildings, lots of concrete, and most of it in disrepair. You could see the communist influence in the bland, boring buildings, the same muted colors everywhere, etc. It was the very beginning of spring, and as only daffodils had "sprung" up at home, here trees were bare, the streets were dirty, and trash was everywhere. I was kind of overwhelmed on the drive out of the airport. As we got to the hotel in the city center, I started to see the real Bulgaria, friendly people, road construction to fix the golden brick road (yes, really, it runs along in front of our hotel!), the area was clean, the park across from the cathedral was nice and full of artists and others selling trinkets. The hotel was beautiful, a mix of old and new. The cathedral was stunning, it's golden roof visible from our room. The imposing statue of the Tsar liberator in the parking lot was really cool. It only got better from here. The drive to Dobrich was very pretty, even with no leaves on the trees, and we drove through several small towns where the main form of transportation was horse and cart. We began to notice that each little house had a garden, and we began to see spring flowers blooming. As we drove into Dobrich we passed farmers fields that looked just like back home. More little houses with red tile roofs. It became clear to us that Bulgaria was a great little up and coming European country. After staying here a week, we definitely fell in love with it's old world charm and friendly people. Not to mention, it's really cheap here. Sofia was priced about the same as Columbus, 10 dollar hamburgers, 4 dollar cappuccinos, but Dobrich was incredible. 5 dollar hamburgers, dollar fifty cappuccinos. The hotel in Dobrich was also incredible, built into the side of a hill overlooking the huge park in the city center. If I could retire today, it would be in Dobrich, your money goes a long way!