Partly because these trips aren't directly related to my day job and partly because this is the business side of the institution, I have to use vacation time from the museum and then "volunteer" for Journeys. Well, this was the most challenging trip I've yet had, between the large group size and all the issues, and it was an awful lot of work. Still, it was amazing, with beautiful places, incredible experiences, and really wonderful people.
A few fewer photos on this trip blog, as my phone with all my photos was lost/stolen on the transfer from the ship to Prague. Overtired and distracted, it was a stupid mistake. But I'd sent some photos to the parents and posted a few on Facebook, so that's what we have. I won't be able to do anything else with them because the resolution I have now is too poor. But hey; while I'm missing the people photos that are definitely lost, the phone was a thing and therefore replaceable.
And so, the trip! Given the holiday weekend, I left two days early for Sofia, knowing I'd need the time to adjust to the time difference and wanting to see the city. It was lovely! Yes, there are commie-condos still. Yes, it clearly was an eastern bloc city. Yes, it's developing. No, my Russian didn't automatically come back, but I did get words and phrases. Yes, I had to really focus on speaking in English because my brain automatically answered the Bulgarian and Russian in Spanish. And I realized clearly that I didn't miss the change in careers. But Sofia is beautiful, the people are friendly, there is lots to do. The smoking is horrible, but the ice cream is plentiful (actually, desserts in general) and I did not encounter a Bulgarian wine that I didn't like. I made a new friend I'm sure I'll see again, and I learned a lot. And, everyone arrived safely! Even if all their luggage didn't. These first photos are from my pre-trip wanders.
The National Theater was across the park near the hotel. Yes, that's cyrillic. The Bulgarians invented the alphabet, which was later adopted by the Russians. Most things in the city are in both the cyrillic and latin alphabets. Yes, some things came back to me....
The Archaeology Museum was right by the hotel, and I went the afternoon I got in, trying to keep myself awake and then crash hard. It was rather good. I wish I knew more about Roman ruins (where are my friends when I need them!) and there wasn't a lot of info available inside, but they had a lot of material and much in good condition. It was really interesting. Many of the trip participants visited it too and really liked it.
There was a new exhibition at the museum too, on Neolithic cultures. Fascinating! Especially since so many of the pieces reminded me of objects I've seen in the Western Hemisphere by pre-Columbian peoples.
It was a national holiday when I arrived, so some museums were open and some were closed. In my quest to be out walking and find (open) museums, I headed through this large park and across the city. This sculpture just screamed communism to me, with its brutal style and proletarian workers.
But the park was large and had fountains and gardens and places for people to sit. At the back is the National Palace of Culture where many concerts are held. I was headed to some museums at the other end, and (accidentally) took a rather long and circuitous city tour out of the park on my way. But it was nice to see another area. And having back-ended my way to the opposite end of the park, I also found a shopping mall which had an electronics store, so I solved the problem of having packed the wrong adapter. Well, the right adapter but for the wrong equipment. Figures.
This lovely part is by the National Museum of Ethnography and the National Gallery of Art. These were closed but lots of people were enjoying the gardens.
A good example of the two alphabets on this military vehicle outside the Presidential offices.
The Presidential offices. We saw the changing of the guard and the entry of a diplomatic procession one morning.
Sorry, I don't remember the church but it's Russian Orthodox and very pretty. This was my last "free" period, and I was determined to get to those two big museums before everyone arrived. I also wanted to see the Cathedral on my way, and I passed this church en route. I also stopped into the National Museum of Natural History, which, I am sorry to say, was a disappointment, trapped in its extremely old-school and original condition. But a mind-blowing assemblage of birds. And, interestingly enough, my second viewing of Smithsonite in Sofia.
The justly famous Aleksander Nevsky Cathedral.
A more "normal" angle for me.
The museums were good though, once I figured out how the building worked. The Ethnographic Museum was largely the focus on one woman's work, but it was interesting. The National Gallery had three exhibitions: one on the permanent collection with many artists from the area that I (sadly) had never heard of, one a photo exhibition from Albania for FotoWeek on man-women which was fascinating, and the other on a contemporary painter whose work was really intriguing.
Maybe it was the rain and humidity; things were definitely warmer than I'd expected. Maybe it was the jet lag and the fact that I slept great the first night and not the second. But I wasn't feeling well. But we had a lovely opening reception and I was excited by the group. The tour directors also were great, one of whom was from Russia and determined that in the next two weeks he was going to revive my Russian. We were off!
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