#2 It’s Sunny in Sofia

It is Wednesday afternoon, and yes I know I skipped a day. Tuesday was a thoroughly enjoyable day, filled with nothing but casual talk, strolling the shops in Bellagio, and the like. Quite enjoyable, but nothing was crossed off the “must see” list. True, we made a lame effort to see Villa Del Este, but our departure from Bellagio at 3:45 defined that we had to hurry to get the last hydrofoil back home. That involved a 2 mile walk for most of us, making it just in time. However, it was a great day! Sunny, beautiful villas, estates, and grounds, but most importantly just chances to chat about this and that. In fact, I learned more about fashion in my walk with Ron Morgan, than I have ever known before. (As may of you know, I was starting from quite a modest base). Next time you see me, I will be checking out if your shirt is cut on the bias.

The day ended with Carol and me knowing we needed to leave at O dark 30 to drive our rental car back to Malpenza airport. Then we were off to Bulgaria. A narrow, twisty road similar to what Rob so deftly navigated among way too many cars coming head on at 60-80k was actually fun to drive at sun rise with very few cars. Despite an absence of signs, we made it just fine.

Malpenza airport is unusual. It is Milan’s international airport, and all the ticket counters and gates are staffed by airport, not airline employees. I have never seen that elsewhere. It is huge, filled with people coming and going from all corners of the world. Carol and I marveled at many exotic destinations displayed on the departure boards. Cities we didn’t know, much les pronounce.

A big part of this trip was to visit and meet Stili’s mother, Malvina. We landed in Sofia mid afternoon, and cleared customs quickly. Hoards of enthusiastic Bulgarians greeted friends, relatives, and co-workers with enthusiasm last seen in the movie Love Actually. Lots of welcoming signs, flowers, and warm embarrasses. We had made vague plans to meet our hostess as we cleared customs. We were aided by seeing pictures of her in the past. I approached many asking if they were Malvina, with no luck. After those missed attempts, we met. For those of you who don’t know our son Stephen’s girl friend is Stiliana Milkova, who is a fellow Brown graduate. She is now a PhD student, studying Comparative Literature, at Cal. (Her twin sister is Lili, is a PhD candidate in Art History at Penn). We have greatly enjoyed Stili as a part of many family meals and activities for the past year. Anyway, Malvina is an Architectural History professor, who specializes in the Thracian Architecture. When you meet her, you can see clearly where the twins get their sense of style.

It is now Friday morning, after a non stop day of touring Sofia. Back to Wednesday night. Malvina dropped us off at the shiny new Meg Lozenetz, within the Lozenetz district of Sofia. We were showed to our spacious and attractive room, and took the chance to unpack. We walked to Malvina’s apartment, which was only a few blocks away. It turns out that in Bulgaria, few rent their apartment. Like our condominiums they are owned in a shared fashion. Malvina and her fellow residents supervised the construction of the building they now occupy. Each pays their share of common expenses. This can lead to obvious problems, if the tenants don’t agree on what should happen. However, in this case, there is quite a core of lovely women who share more than just space.

Wednesday night we went to a restaurant called Under the Linden Tree, which is nearly 100 years old. It has been the meeting place of those drawn to Sofia’s soccer and jazz scenes in the 1920s. We shared massed eggplant and garlic (with olive oil), roasted bell peppers, dill, yoghurt and garlic, and a roasted fillet of chicken. All complimented with a local red wine. The food was great, but the chance to get to know Malvina better was the highlight of the evening. As we left the restaurant we stopped to listen to a woman singing Bulgarian folk tunes, accompanied by a man playing the equivalent of the bagpipe. Much like the Mysterious Voices of Bulgaria, if any of you remember that a cappella woman’s singing group.

Thursday was a day of sightseeing and lots more talk about everything from our children to politics. We started our day at Boyana church, which is an ancient, sacred space filled with at least three layers of murals depicting religious stories. It is being restored, and because of the sensitive nature of the walls, only a few people can enter (with a guide) and stay for only 10 minutes. Malvina knew our guide well, and could easily guide this or any other tour in Bulgaria. Then to the National History Museum. This was built during the Russian occupation, and is the site of much of Bulgaria’s rich history. Again, our tour was greatly aided by Malvina’s expertise. What a rich historic past Bulgaria displays at this museum.

We stopped for a late lunch near “the yellow brick road”, in downtown Sofia. Then a tour of the street vendors who sell a rich assortment of cotton and silk cloth as well as beautifully weaved fabrics. In addition, there were lots of tables of people selling everything from Nazi artifacts, coins, and watches. The Nazis apparently made well crafted cigarette lighters, compasses, and other personal items for their soldiers. Somehow they were too repugnant to consider.

The highlight of the day was an evening party at Malvina’s flat with several other owners, all women and their daughters. We feasted on a wide variety of platters of food, each prepared by Malvina or one of the guests. One of the guests, 18 year old Danni, recently won a Bulgarian competition, and is off to Spain to study Spanish for one year starting next week. She could hardly contain her enthusiasm. Malvina and Carol joined Danni is a frantic Bulgarian folk dance, backed by a CD we were enjoying. Well past midnight, Carol and I finally had to call it a day, and probably ended a party which would have kept going for some time.

Bulgaria is changing quickly since its control by Russia. Bruce Mowat alerted me to the fact their stock market was up over 1,000% last year. They elect their president in November, but Malvina is not optimistic. More of the same incompetent, corrupt leaders is expected. This is a huge anchor keeping down the economy of this great country.

I will sign off now, as we have our final day of touring which starts soon. More, later.

D



Answer to Question 1

I am well into my third biography by Yale historian Ron Chernow. If any of you are interested, I heartily recommend Alexander Hamilton, the House of Morgan, and now Titan (John D Rockefeller). Two have won National Book Awards. Each is over 700 pages, packed with interesting insights, and quite readable. However, I warn you, you will need to keep a dictionary near by.
Anyway John D was raised in a penurious setting. Even as a young boy, he had a knack for making money. After buying candy in bulk and selling it to his siblings, his first commercial enterprise was raising turkeys.

Question 2

Without looking it up, what was the last event in which a Bulgarian won a gold medal in the Summer Olympics? I will give you a clue, it wasn’t a man.