All right, it’s time for two truths and a lie…

• Ice cream is delicious
• Going hiking in Birkenstocks is a good idea
• It’s hard to find peanut butter in bulgaria

That is all.

In lieu of the regular mumbo jumbo, here’s some info on a current event in the hostel…

Someone’s been in the good shower for 2 hours.  The water isn’t running. Knocks on the door have shown that the guy isn’t dead. Conjecture runs rampant. Current theories are:

• He’s shaving things 
• He’s using drugs
• He’s picking his face
• He’s video chatting silently naked in the mirror 
• He’s plucking his eyebrows…..very slowly
• He’s trying to poop and is really constipated 
• Mirin’ hisself in the mirror
• He just wants some private time
• Jackin it 

Of course we’ll never know. Just thought you might want to know a little more about my daily life on the road.

Goodnight!

There’s a UNESCO WORLD HERITAGE site close to town, close enough for a bus ride.

It was a long one, 5 hours today on a bus altogether. 

The monastery was neat. Almost 1000 years of operation. Some crazy hermit took to eastern orthodoxy like a duck to water, and inspired lots and lots of Bulgarians. They named him st John the miracle worker. The other neat thing about the church there is that most of the visitors were praying. Not just a bunch of tourists.

Outside the parking area was of course some souvenir shops, and a stand that had a long line. They were selling two main things, fried dough (great) and this very sour almost-cheese-substance.  Like spoiled yogurt if you can imagine. Bulgarians apparently love this stuff. It was ok, kinda an acquired taste? I’ll keep trying it to see if I can’t learn to love it.

Had a nice chat with a roommate from the U.K. We’ll go to do some light hiking on Monday.

Have a good week, everyone!

I love my hostel here. Free breakfast and a washing machine for our exclusive use. Whooooohoo!

I had a nice relaxing morning and walked around until a tour at 11. The guide was good with the group size, which was way too big. We saw lots of orthodox churches. The ottoman occupation  (500 years of it) was fairly effectively reversed. There only one operational mosque. Some good-looking archaeology stuff too.

I found a second hand store that sells by the pound. You can get good stuff here for just 50 cents. My bag is full already, so I can’t buy any more clothes. 😢 I enjoyed looking anyway.

After some lunch, I went for a paid tour. The communist tours I’ve had have been so different in each place. This one was even more interesting bc of the fact that so many of the former Bulgarian leaders are still having a strong influence even today. Change seems slow to come here.

Had a nice dinner at a Turkish cafeteria type place. Stuffed peppers. Very good.

Got moved to a better bed, and the lady who snored checked out too. Life’s great.

Mary