Trip 1 to Bulgaria

I wrote updates on a google doc while I was in Bulgaria to share with close friends and co-workers while I was on my trip.  I am posting my updates and some pictures for you all to enjoy.

12/17-12/18 (Saturday and Sunday)
 Alright everyone, the trip has begun.  I left home on Saturday around 8 am and picked up my very good friend and traveling buddy, Dora Beth on the way.  We left O’Hare around 6pm on Saturday and got into Munich at 9:30am.  It was a very long flight and I hate to say I didn’t sleep well...didn’t even try.  We left Munich today around 1:30....we were delayed a bit due to snow.  The snow actually started to come down quite heavy as we were boarding.

The trip to Sofia (capitol city) was good, even with the delay and we both got a little sleeping in on that flight.  We got through all the customs and everything and were met by an agency staff member, Stephen....he will be our driver while we are here.  He is super nice and very interested in our politics and improving his English (which is 100 times better than my Bulgarian).  We are staying tonight in an apartment in Sofia and will leave tomorrow to go to Stara Zagora (which he claims is 2 ½ hours away....said he would be going 130km....sounds fast to me).  We also have had our first lost in translation moment...I guess we are the loud Americans.  The lady downstairs came up to let us know mostly through body language that we needed to be more quiet because they were trying to sleep downstairs.  Thank goodness for nonverbal communication!  We are going off to get some dinner.  Post more later with some pictures of this apartment...it is very nice.

bedroom at the apartment

2nd bedroom

bathroom...very purple!

Living room

Kitchen and dinning area....my friend Dora Beth