Travels After with the Fam

Crier- Mold of a body from the eruption of Vesuvius

Riding the Gondola up

View from the Gondola

Small town near Sorrento

Vesuvius

Rome- The Mouth of Truth

Vatican City

St. Peter's Basilica

Mid-size European Car

Touring Pompeii

Ruins of Pompeii

Herculaneum

Nana at the Gladiator Barracks

Mom walking the streets of Pompeii

Family!

Herculaneum

Silly.....

Mom's Favorite house

“I haven’t been everywhere, but it’s on my list.” – Susan Sontag

Hike or Trolley to the Castle

Church built into the rocks

Hungarian Parliament

Danube River

Castle

Theater

Inside St Stephens Basilica

Inside the Basilica

Entrance to Basilica

Inside

Whole Basilica

Gelatto

Church we always ended up near

Typical Hungarian food

"'Travel' is the name of a modern disease which became rampant in the mid-fifties and is still spreading. The disease - its scientific name is travelitis furiosus - is carried by a germ called prosperity." George Mikes.

One of my latest trips was to the Black Sea Coast town of Varna. Varna is one of Bulgaria’s most popular tourist destinations…but it was not quite tourist time yet. Pictures of Varna usually depict busy beaches covered with umbrellas, but our trip was a little early. The Black Sea was still too cold for tourists to be out swimming and sunbathing on the beach. However, our stay was still very enjoyable. We saw the Cathedral of the Assumption, the Archaeological Museum, the Roman baths, and the Sea Gardens before heading to the beach. The Cathedral was yet another beautiful church in Bulgaria. It is the second-largest church in Bulgaria. It was constructed to honor the Russian soldiers who fought to free Bulgaria from Ottoman Rule. The Archaeological Museum was surprisingly filled with British tourists. This museum boasts of over 100,000 ancient artifacts discovered in Varna and the surrounding areas. The ancient Roman baths were harder to imagine, since it was mostly old stones in the middle of the city. It was interesting to see, but not as impressive after viewing Roman ruins in Rome. While we walked in the middle of the town square, we came across a children’s concert. This was really cute to watch. One by one, children no older than 6 got up on stage to sing and perform for the audience. I’m not sure what it was, but I assume that it was some sort of competition. Listening to kids sing in another language is really something special.

We didn’t have much time to spend in Varna, because it’s a long bus ride from Blagoevgrad, but it was fitting because we ran out of things to do. If the weather was a little hotter, we could have relaxed on the beach…however, after the few sites of Varna were seen, we headed to the mall. The mall gave us a few stories. Being before Easter, we saw an Easter Bunny all dressed up, but no one was in line to get pictures taken with him. (We would later find out that this is not a real Bulgarian tradition). Also, while shopping around, we would be asked where we were from. In one particular store, the workers were taking bets on where we were from. Next, we grabbed a movie while we waited for our bus back to Sofia. This was the first time I had been to a movie since I left the States. We approached the ticket counter and asked which of their movies would be in English…we had four choices, which was more than we expected to have!  One difference between American movie theaters and Bulgarian ones- assigned seats. You choose which seats you want on a computer screen as you are buying your ticket. This was a little different, but it was nice to guarantee yourself the seats you want.

Coooooold!

One of the little performers

No umbrellas....

Beautiful Black Sea

McDonald's influence...

Armenian Church

Varna at night from our Hotel

Cathedral

Theater (not in the mall...)

"People don't take trips...trips take people." -- John Steinbeck

In Athens, I was the quintessential tourist snapping pictures left and right of all the ancient ruins. We were able to get in free to all of the sites because we go to a university in the European Union, which was a really nice surprise! We began our day at the National Historical Museum, which is acclaimed as being one of the best museums in the world. There, we saw the famed Mask of Agamemnon. Next, we hiked up to the Acropolis to view what Athens is most well known for- the Parthenon. We also saw the Erechtheion, which is the building pictured with the famous sculptures of the six women holding up the building. There are many other ruins along the hike up to the Acropolis. It was truly amazing to see how well preserved these buildings are. However, construction work continues on the Parthenon to restore it to its original beauty. The view of the city is breathtaking from the Acropolis- Athens never seems to end.

Mask of Agamemnon

Then we decided to tour one of the oldest parts of the city- a section they refer to as Plaka. This is a pedestrian only area filled with shops and restaurants. There are also the occasional ruins in the middle of the street. We would sample gelatos on our way through the maze of people. On day two, we were visiting more sites such as Hadrian’s Arch, the Temple of Zeus, the Greek Parliament building, and Hadrian’s Library. We walked through the Athens Flea Market and visited the port of Athens. During one of our many stops in souvenir shops, we had the funniest encounter with an older Greek woman. My friend Sarah inquired about the price of a particular item and the old woman told her “5 Euro, one. 6 Euro, all.” Then she apologized for her bad English and we hurriedly complimented her efforts. This made her very happy. Once we paid and were on our way out, she grabbed our hands and started leading us back into her shop. We thought there was a problem with our payment. Then she reached into a basket, pulled out little pins, and pinned one on each of our shirts. She then patted them and told us they were for good luck. Feeling that it was such a sweet moment, we allowed her to hug us and kiss our cheeks. On our way out, her son, who was around 45 years old, placed his arms around his mom and hugged her! This was one of the most heartwarming things I’ve ever seen! They were such genuinely sweet people. After this experience and our cultural immersion in Thessaloniki, I can truly say that Greek people are really very special.

On our second night, we ate dinner in Plaka at a restaurant that sits at the bottom of the Acropolis. We were able to watch the sun set over this area and the nearby Agora. The Agora was the city center of Ancient Athens that functioned as the heart and soul of Athens. This is where citizens would come to hear famous men throughout history lecture including Socrates, Aristotle, Paul and others. A flute player played music in the background and this was another of those moments where life seems perfect- if even for a second.

Dinner and Sunset at the Agora

An attempt at my name

Parthenon

Erechtheion