May 21 2012
Здравей from Bansko!
We have arrived in Bulgaria after a very long day of travel. We left Harrisonburg at 12:30 on Saturday afternoon and arrived in Bansko at 4:30 in the afternoon Sunday, local time With a seven hour time difference from the East coast, that is a travel time of 21 hours. We were exhausted once we finally arrived here in Bansko but we tried our best to stay awake and finish out the day to get on a regular sleep schedule. Once we arrived in Bansko, Andrew and Daria led us on a tour of the city. We walked through the downtown center, with stone streets and sidewalks. I’m amazed at the beauty of the buildings and the wonderful backdrop of the Pirin Mountains. The city is friendly, with countless villagers coming up to Daria and greeting her with a homecoming welcome.
On Monday we went on another tour of the city, including a stop at the Orthodox church in the center of town. The church was filled with beautiful, colorful artwork on the walls, ceiling, and pillars. The front was filled with traditional paintings of icons. Later in the day we stopped at a museum that had a gallery filled with traditional icon paintings.
We passed many stray street dogs in the city center, Nigel even befriended a few of them. We have had many delicious, home cooked, Bulgarian meals. The food and city has been great to us. I look forward to the many exciting travels to come on the trip.
-John Barry