"Dear Ladies and Gentlemen..."

This is the way our wonderful tour guide Julia greets us when we get on the bus, or when she wants to get our attention. She's so funny, and incredibly knowledgable about her country. Has any one ever seen the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"? This lady looks like she was in that movie. Every time we talk about the history of the world or culture, the way she talks about it sounds like "You give me any part of history, and I show for you how it originate from Bulgaria"...just like the guy from "Big Fat Greek Wedding" says, "You give me any word, and I show you how that word come from Greek". It's hilarious. I want to tell you later about the people of Bulgaria. They have an extreme sense of national pride that's very touching.

So we went to the town north of Varna called Balchik to see the old Queen of Romania's summer palace called "Quiet Nest". Oh it was so beautiful. The palace itself is nothing special per--say, but the gardens she created around it are beautiful and so spiritual feeling. She built a little church for herself in the garden, and made her navy bring her crosses from Romanian graves and grave markers from muslim burrial sights. Yes, she may have defaced some graves, but it's beautiful to walk through these gardens in full bloom with waterfalls and decorated crosses.

There are also some great stories attached with this place. The queen really disliked her husband and she built this palace for herself, and filled it with anything she wanted (she was very eclectic). She was a fantastic mother though and always liked for her kids to be with her. Her two sons ended up falling in love with the same married woman, and they decided to duel over her. The queen found out at the last second, and she ran out and pushed the two apart. One of them had already fired, and the bullet killed her right on the steps of her church.  It sounds like something out of a movie doesn't it? It's a factual story, the only part that is unknown is which brother's shot actually killed her because the royal family kept it very secret. They believe it was the oldest brother, and that they were trying to protect his image by hiding this information because he was next in line to be king of Romania.

This whole country is beautiful, and so incredibly scenic. The highway we use while going up and down the coast is directly parallel to the Black Sea, so you can usually see the water as you drive. Everywhere we've been to, there are plains surrounded by mountains, and you can see the mountains from the beach. Also the whole country is 70% forest land, so there are beautiful green trees everywhere. The Golden Sands resort we stay at actually is located in what they call the Bulgarian Jungle, which is actually a national park area... Again, greenery everywhere adding to the truly fantastic view everywhere you go.

I finally went swimming for the first time in the Black Sea yesterday. So I'll have to update everyone on that, the wine tour we went on, and the opera performance of The Magic Flute I'm in tomorrow night!!!!

Wish me luck! More to come...

and I think to myself...what a wonderful world...

You lucky people...getting two blog posts in one day! I have to catch up since I didn't get to write yesterday. A lot of adventures happened between today and yesterday!

This morning we went to Euxinograd Palace, which is hidden off of the highway. It was originally built in the 1800s for the Bulgarian Tsar Ferdinand, and the construction was completed by their next monarch Boris I believe. It was this beautiful light red brick, oversized mansion. It wasn't really a "huge" palace, but that was part of the attractiveness of it. The inside had huge windows, a pastel interior color palate, and it was a manageable size. It provided an R&R feel. The best part were it's English and French gardens that lead straight to the Black Sea. You would walk down the path and end up at a pool that overlooked the private beach. I was hoping someone might mistake me for Bulgarian royalty so I could go swim in that pool! It really was a lot of fun to walk around and see...they had their own working winery and greenhouses too!

After that we grabbed a quick lunch and then went to rehearse The Magic Flute with the Varna Opera House orchestra. I wish you all could be here to hear them because they sounded beautiful, and the conductor is absolutely WONDERFUL to work with (and he's not to bad on the eyes either!) Our cast and the orchestra all sounded great together, and in my opinion there is no feeling in the world than singing your heart out with a full orchestra backing you up. I had a great time today because I had the chance to sing the Queen of the Night's aria "Der Holle Rache", (which if you all don't recognize the name I promise if you youtube it, you will recognize the tune). Anyway, I had a blast singing with the beautiful orchestra, and there were a few "bravas" from them afterward. They were just being nice, but the Bulgarians sure can make a girl feel special! (Our tour guide Galina told me I almost made her cry "beh-cauz it vas beautiful"... She's precious, and I'll talk more about her later!) 

After rehearsal we went to eat at a restaurant where we could see the beach and all of the nightlife. We had really yummy mediteranean food. Then someone in our group noticed there was something starting to cover the moon. We asked our waiter if there was supposed to be an eclipse tonight, and he told us that there was in fact a lunar eclipse occurring tonight. He said that the "full" eclipse was occurring in Lebanon, and that's not very far away from Bulgaria at all. So we watched the moon turn bright red, and when I just went to look out there I almost couldn't find it because it was essentially a total eclipse even from Bulgaria! 

So palaces, orchestra rehearsals, and lunar eclipses! Quite an adventurous day!!!

European Vegas

Alright everyone, today was quite the adventure, but first I will start by trying to describe the beach to you as promised.

The best way I can think of to describe what it looks like at the Golden Sands is the European Las Vegas. Not quite what you expected me to say? It wasn't quite what I was expecting either, but that doesn't mean it's not absolutely fabulous. A little bit of history behind the Golden Sands resort:
1. It's made up of about 40 hotels which are positioned in 3 horizontal rows as you move up the hill. The first strip was purposefully made for the college age/young adults to come party, club etc. The second strip was for those who wanted a quieter experience while remaining relatively close to the beach. The last strip was little cottages meant for people who wanted total rest and relaxation.
2. This land used to be filled with snakes when they were building, but to eliminate this problem the smart people of Bulgaria apparently gathered and shipped in hedgehogs from all over their country to eat the snakes.
3. The hotels are all really nice, and as you leave them to walk down the hill to the beach, you essentially encounter what I can only describe as a mix of "China Town" (where you can buy all kinds of things), and a weird state fair.
4. On the beach there are casinos for DAYS, restaurants, carnival rides (yes I totally rode on the ferris wheel because there is an awesome view from the top), and there is even a replica of the Eiffel Tower...yup it's true.

After you make it through all of that...you have finally reached the golden sands and the Black Sea herself. It's beautiful water that I have only had the chance to stick my feet in thus far, but I fully intend to go swimming. The water is very chilly!

So basically...that's the beach for you. Don't get me wrong though, all of this craziness you have to pass on the way to the beach actually creates a really fun and lively atmosphere.

Day 2

Today hasn't been the most exciting day of them all. We've been rehearsing all day, but the reason we are on this trip is because we're giving two performances while we're here. We also had to change hotels today because it was just part of the itinerary. However I am not a very happy camper seeing as I had to change the view of the Black Sea to a view of the parking lot. There are three of us who have this problem and the rest of the 30 in our group have ocean views. So I went to the front desk to ask if I could change and they were not pleased. I'm thinking I did not travel thousands of miles so I can look at a parking lot. They said "we'll see what we can do tomorrow", which is fine if I have to wait until then, but I just want a little more assurance than "we'll see"... I'm looking for a "as soon as something opens up we'll move you right over. Anyway off to the palace tomorrow!

Day 1: Varna

After the incredibly long 2 days of flying we had to be up and at 'em at 7:30 this morning...it was not a pretty sight. However, the breakfast was amazing. Actually, all of the food here is delicious. Every one kept asking me what kind of food they eat in Bulgaria, and I really didn't have an answer. I mean, I looked in multiple travel books and internet sites for infor on Bulgaria, and there just simply isn't that much out there. Which is a shame because this place is great!

For breakfast they have cheeses, cold meats, fried pastry things (my favorite one being banitsa...I'm not sure that's how you actually spell it, but it's this flaky crust with cheese inside). We ate out on the terrace at the hotel. Let me just tell you the sun was up and seriously bright at 7:30, and they were still playing Lady Gaga party music from the night before. The weather here is GORGEOUS...all the time. Sunny and bright, but with no humidity, a light breeze, always in the 80s. At night it hits 60s, but it's still fantastic.

Then we loaded up and went on a tour of the town of Varna, the 3rd largest city in the country. It houses about 1 million people. The buildings here are interesting becuase some of them are beautiful and look like what you see in pictures of Greece; however, those are up against some very unfortunate looking drab buildings left over from their Communist regime that was in power duing the height of the Communist movement. The juxtoposition is a really interesting sight. It's also one of the greenest places in eastern Europe. They've apparently won awards for their green efforts, they keep their beaches incredibly clean, and the air here smell beautiful (I know that sounds a little weird, but it's true).

We went to the Archeological museam today and saw THE oldest collection of gold in the world. That's right even older than old school Egypitan gold. The gold we saw today was about 8,000 years old. It's actually part of the evidence for the oldest civilization ever discovered. The gold in this civilization seperated the "haves" from the "have nots", and that's apparently the staple for calling something a civilization.

Then we had another incredible yet traditional Bulgarian meal. We started off with a salad of cucumber, tomatoes, and cheese, followed by vegetable soup, then continued with some kind of spiced pork and potatoes, with Bakleva for dessert. Not to worry I chronicaled this adventure with photos to be added later.

We had rehearsal after that in the Varna Opera House, which by the way is beautiful and very old. Again I'll have pictures to add later, but it's very cool: red velvet chairs, balcony, chandeliers. Really beautiful.

After rehearsal (this is my favorite part), we went to the beach because I was just about to have a fit if I didn't get to put my feet in the Black Sea. On the walk down there as we passed vendors and shops, people would hear us talking and literally stop us to ask where we were from. Here are the nationalities that people thought we were: Finnish, English, Scandanavian, and German. One guy even tried to fight us on it becuase he thought we were lying...No good sir, I PROMISE you we are American. It's the most interesting, but slightly warm and fuzzy feeling for people to be so excited to meet Americans. Because don't get me wrong, these people loved that we were American, stopped us, wanted to hear us speak, and asked why we were in Bulgaria. I don't think some of these people have ever met an American before. The obvious reason being...it takes a while to get over here. It's just so funny! We walked down to the beach, and on the way back up one of the restaurant hosts starts making up a melody and singing "AMEEEERICAN GIIIRLS" to us. His name was George. Most people speak relatively good English here, but they just can't place our accent.

Anyway, today was a blast, and we'll still be here for 2 more weeks :) I'm looking forward to it. I'll tell you about the beach later because that's a whole 'nother animal!

To Be Continued...

Flying to Bulgaria

We finally made it to Varna Bulgaria after an exhausting 2 days of traveling! We took a bus for 5 hours to Washington D.C. because the flight was cheaper there than from RDU. Then we took a 7 hour flight to London, changed planes quickly for our 4 hour flight to Sofia (or as the locals say it "Sof-ya"), had a 6 hour layover there, and then we finally took our last 1 hour flight to Varna. By the time we landed there it was already 11PM, so we all pretty much crashed and burned. I was so tired and disoriented! (The USA is 7 hours behind Bulgaria time).

We made it to the hotel which is so nice. Everything is very Western feeling as far as the way appliances work, and the hotel rooms look like a Marriott for the most part. They have 3 pools here, and I can see the Black Sea from my room window. One interesting thing America could take a note on is that in order for the lights to work in your hotel room, you have to put your room key card in a slot by the door. 1. This means you are probably not likely to forget your room key because it's staring you in the face as you walk out the door. 2. When you leave and take your room key with you, all of the lights that you may have forgotten to turn off, will simply turn off by themselves saving electricity.

Basically the same thing happens in the hallway. The lights are motion sensor activated, so if no one's in the hallway the lights will simply switch off. But...as soon as someone steps in the hallway, they turn right on. That's pretty cool.

Last night when I went out on my balcony looking out at the Black Sea, you could hear the music from people clubbing somewhere on the beach. Apparently there were also fireworks that went off 3 times last night (which I completely missed becuase I slept like a log last night). Basically, on the beach people party until the AM big time.

The key board I'm typing on also has the letters for the Cyrillic alphabet on there, which I think is funny. For someone not used to seeing everything written in Cyrillic, it makes me feel like I'm in some spy movie where I have to decipher the code... 3-triangle-A-star???

Anyway I'll tell you more about my tour of Varna today in a little while. Still pretty jet lagged, so it's nap time before our Cocktail Par-tay tonight!

One Week Until Lift Off

     It is now officially one week until I leave for Varna, Bulgaria. I haven't started packing yet, but I have started worrying about flying. As much as I love to travel... I really hate flying. However, I will be prepared with my iPod, my total pillow, and some Benadryl. If I can fall asleep on the plane it will be better for all involved (especially since every time the plane starts to land I think we're crashing). I'll be happy when my feet are back on the ground!
     We're going to be staying in the Golden Sands Hotel, and living the good life on the coast of the Black Sea. Many of us in the group have signed up for the "Optional Tour" package, so we'll be taking day trips to the towns of Balchik and Nessebar, going on a wine and cheese tasting tour, and visiting the Euxinograd palace. (Many pictures to come!)
    Also while we're there we'll be performing Mozart's famous opera The Magic Flute as part of the large summer music festival that takes place in Varna every year. This is incredibly exciting because we'll be singing in the Varna opera house, and they're letting us use their costumes, professional orchestra etc.
     To finish up, I read in my travel book the other day that nodding your head up and down means "no" and shaking it from side to side means "yes" in Bulgaria. I'm not sure I'll ever get the hang of that since I've been doing it the other way around for 20 years.
     Challenge: Tomorrow try to nod your head while telling someone "no" at the same time. Live like a Bulgarian :)

-Globetrotter