Plovdiv

I'll be here for the next seven days, attending a folk music seminar. Behold the forecast. Oof!

Going east

The last few days have been less focused on music (although actually Tzvetanka is teaching us songs in the car on the road. Some of those potholes really help with Thracian ornamentation!), and more on sightseeing and "experiencing" Bulgaria. Here's a summary, more or less in order -- if I go into great detail you'll never read the end of this blog!

• Evening in Koprivshtitsa: Beautiful village with scented Linden trees everywhere! Bulgarian village streets (aside from the main road) are the roughest cobble stone ever and clearly not meant for driving; the ideal car would be a small SUV (which is pretty much what we drive), and even so, it's adventurous.
• Shipka church and monument: A bit of history of the Russo-Turkish war that liberated Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire rule, and a fantastic view of the north and south of the country
• Castle ruins in Veliko Turnovo: The biggest ever? Not in height, but in square footage! Sadly we didn't see the evening illumination.
• A stop in Kotel, where Ivan and Tzvetanka (and Dunava singer Tedy) went to the Philip Kutev folklore music high school. I wish I could have gone to a school like that...! 
• Horseback riding in in the hills around Zheravna, another idyllic village south of Kotel. Amazing view from the top of the hills, again! Bulgarian landscape can't be beat. Alyssa provided for a bit of excitement by falling off her horse at the top and dislocating her shoulder, but luckily one of the ladies (a singer from Danish Balkan choir Usmivka) gently popped it back into place, and we all rode off the mountain together. 

And tonight we are in Burgas! In a moment we'll head out to Tzetze & Ivan's anniversary party -- 31 years! A perfect excuse for more singing and dancing and eating late into the night!

Pictures from Etar

A village preserved for artisan crafts. So beautiful!

Road trip

Our fabulous Bulgarian road trip began Friday, and here's roughly the daily routine/agenda while traveling through the country:

• Get started relatively early, before the daily heat hits full-blast
• Stop for lunch at a historic/beautiful spot, possibly meeting with a professional ensemble that will play/sing for us and blow us away
• Arrive at a hotel in the afternoon and relax in air-conditioned rooms with WiFi (or, as yesterday, swim in the pool) and avoid the 100+ degree sun beating down
• Around 8:30 p.m., go to dinner in some folksy restaurant, where we will again be serenaded by a professional ensemble that knocks our socks off and runs down the battery of our recorders

And around midnight, or even later, I sink into bed thinking "ohmygodohmygodohmygod." 

This afternoon we met with the women's choir from Ensemble Pazardzhik, which Tzvetanka used to direct (the choir, that is). They sang a few songs for us, and then three of the singers gave us each a private lesson. 

The current choir director, Ivanka "Vanya" Paunova, also directs a choir of "grannies" in a nearby village, and last night they dressed up in all their traditional finery, presented us with flowers, sang several village songs for us (accompanied by Vanya on gudulka), and then invited us for dinner that they'd prepared for us: a selection of salads, banitsa (cheese-filled filo dough), and a variety of cakes. The room was sweltering hot, in spite of a fan in the middle, and although everyone was positively melting, we all sang and played and danced for and with each other until midnight. Food and music are excellent means of communication when languages fail! 

Tonight we are in Plovdiv, and on the agenda is another private dinner at the house of members of a professional ensemble. I already know how I'll feel afterwards: ohmygodohmygodohmygod...!

Rila monastery

One of the most beautiful places I've ever been! And happy to see it so well preserved. This monastery dates back to the 800s!

Living the dream

I can either upload a photo from my iPhone, or write a bit more elaborately on my laptop. This is the laptop speaking!

I'm in Bulgaria! I've wanted to come here for years and years and years... and finally it worked out this year. I was able to combine it with a business trip to London, so lucky me, I saved a bundle on air fare.

The itinerary: For about ten days, Ivan and Tzvetanka Varimezov are showing two other girls and me around the country, with a special emphasis on music and performance. We'll meet with various groups, have lessons, see historical sites... exactly the perspective that I would want. Then, on the 22nd, I'll go to the annual Plovdiv Folk Seminar to take some singing and language classes while also telecommuting for Expedia. (Love Expedia!)

Last night Ivan and Tzetze took us to a very folksy restaurant in a historic building in Sofia, where we ordered a pile of traditional Bulgarian food and heard some of their musician friends play and sing. Of course we danced and sang along! Today, tour of downtown Sofia with peeks into the Aleksandr Nevsky cathedral, the Saint George Rotunda, the Ethnographic Museum located the former royal residence, and the rehearsal space of the Philip Kutev ensemble. (Talk about sacred spaces...!)

Impression after one day: So happy! I wish I'd come sooner. But this is such a perfect introduction to the country, maybe it was worth the wait. I already can't wait to come back, and hopefully with Dunava!

Arrived in Bulgaria!

First impression: Protest against high utility prices. I'm sure it will get more picturesque soon!