The adventure has started!

My MoM and Aunt arrived in Sofia on Tuesday afternoon.  I was so excited that the next day I promptly got the stomach flu.  Awesome.  Anyhow, I took them around Sofia Wednesday morning until it was decided that I'd be better off sleeping on the couch.  Lucky me, to have my MoM around when I was not feeling well.

I pulled it together that night to take my landlord and his family out to dinner at a great Bulgarian restaurant near my house.  We had a great time.  My MoM and Aunt don't know a word of Bulgarian and my landlord and his wife know basics like thank-you.  So needless to say it was a hoot.  And I got to try to translate what I could. We laughed, ate a lot, exchanged some gifts and drank rakia.  All in all, it was a great meal.

On the way home, it was warm and we were walking down nicely cobble-stoned streets.  There was a little breeze in the air and my MoM said tht this is what you imagine a night should be like in Sofia. Frankly, I couldn't agree more.

Yesterday, we went to museums and a few more churches and my MoM and Aunt began to have the 10 hour jet-lag time difference catch up with them.  We took naps.  I probably should have written a blog post then but oh-well.  It was a great nap.  Then we were off to the orchestra.

Today, we hit the road.  Well, we took a taxi to the train station and caught a train to Plovdiv.  After I've bought the tickets my mom announces that she doesn't think she's been on a train since I was 3 years old.  For anyone who can't do the math--because you don't know my age--that's 25 years.  So that's that.  I am officially touring my MoM and Aunt around Bulgaria via buses and trains.  I think it's going to be a great time.<!--more-->

In Plovdiv we hit the major sites: all things old and Roman as well as the Old Town and the Revival style homes.  It was hot and sticky but I am happy to report that my MoM and Aunt were troopers--even when I made them run across a couple of lanes of on coming traffic.  Oh and for the church count today: we did excellent.  We visited four churches and my Aunt and I each ate an ice cream cone as well.  Then we had a beer at the Roman Amphitheatre and I got a stamp in my 100 best places in Bulgaria book.

Tomorrow we're off to Sozopol for two days of relaxing and sunning ourselves.  Well not too much of the sunning part because I think I am skin cancer prone but there will be plenty of relaxing.  That will take up the coast to Varna for the next leg of our adventure.  After Varna, we'll head to Ruse and then home to Sofia.

It's not a long trip but I think that it will give them a great look at Bulgaria.  I am also excited because I have yet to make it to the Black Sea or to Ruse.  These are sites that I am looking forward to seeing. I also need the stamps for my 100 best places in Bulgaria book.  The thing is as my time here in Sofia comes to an end I am worried that I might not get 25 stamps or enough for the bronze metal.  <em>Oh, well.  I guess that means that I'll have to return to Sofia at some point. </em>

This said, any suggestions for things that I have to show my MoM and Aunt or things that they must eat for an authentic Bulgarian experience?