St Sophia – the patron saint of frisbees.

The Christmas miracle wished for in my previous blog only three-quarter happened. Linda and I arrived safely in Sofia, as did my bag. Linda’s bag however…..

We were greeted at the airport by a carousel lacking one suitcase, but also with an arrivals hall that included Mitch and Grace who had been in Sofia for a day or two. All travel is an exercise in mindfulness – some travel experiences can also provide the chance to learn further problem solving skills. The lack of one suitcase would be a learning opportunity if our glass was half full, however it doesn’t quite seem to feel like a positive learning opportunity at present.

Sofia does seem like the type of city we love wandering through. We have spent some time recently travelling in the Balkans, a part of the world where civilizations meet, overlap, and often coexist gratingly. The Harmony Square in the middle of Sofia is the Balkans typified. From one vantage point I could see Sofia’s main mosque, the Orthodox and Catholic Cathedrals and the central synagogue. (Mind you, I could also see a McDonalds and a gunshop from the same point.) Perhaps also sadly typical of the Balkans – the Catholic church had been burnt down by the Turks in the 1800’s, the Orthodox church destroyed by the Communists in 1924 and the synagogue was ransacked by the Nazis in the 1940s. At least the gunshop and McDonalds have been left untouched ’til now.

In the city centre there is a great market, good coffee, many small food places and plenty to explore. Early days. We are looking forward to getting into a daily rhythm of shopping, exploring and cooking at home in the evenings. Today I doubled my Bulgarian vocabulary (I can now say ‘Thanks’ like a native Bulgarian!) Tomorrow I intend to master the Cyrillic alphabet, which will then leave me the remainder of the holiday to fine tune the nuances of some of the more complex phrases. This will allow me to blend in fully with the locals. How fortunate I am to have been provided with a quality Rosewood education in my formative years.

I am sure my legion of followers are all eagerly awaiting the stories and insights that my immersion in Bulgarian culture will afford them. Both of you, however, just need to be patient. Even a Rosewood scholar can’t do a whole country justice in just a day or two.

F C-S