(4821,1,'2011-04-26 05:05:43','2011-04-26 03:05:43','I got a request from one of my readers via <a title=\"Twitter: Carolyn Emigh\" href=\"https://twitter.com/#!/CarolynEmigh\" target=\"_blank\">twitter</a> a couple of days ago. She wanted to know what to do in Sofia for a day in June before grabbing a flight to Varna at 11pm with a friend.\r\n\r\nGood question.\r\n\r\nUltimately, I guess it depends on what you are into.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4825\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Lion at the Palace of Justice \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4825\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/26/sofia-for-a-day/img_8187/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4825 \" title=\"Palace of Justice \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8187-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nIn a new city, I generally like to mix up my routine a little bit usually this includes a museum or something culture, a stroll around town, a coffee and people watching, snacking on some local food, seeking out some young and hip shops and then topping it off with beer or a cocktail on a pedestrian zone watching the transition between late afternoon before hitting up a new-to-me restaurant.\r\n\r\nThese days I feel no pressure to hit up every museum or to seek out every famous building/monument/statue/neighborhood. I\'d rather have a good taste of the city rather than the alternative which is to rush, rush, rush in order to check tourist sites off of some arbitrary list made up by a guidebook.\r\n\r\nSo if I were in Sofia for a day, I\'d consider some combination of the following suggestions depending on what I like, the weather forecast and how ambitious I felt. <!--more-->I \'d probably start by checking out one of these museums/galleries.\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>If you want to see one of the best collections in the city terms of accessibility, history, the display of artifacts and information in English you really can\'t go wrong with the <a href=\"http://www.naim.bg/main.php?lang=BG\" target=\"_blank\">Archaeological Museum</a> (good thing their website is only in Bulgaria--here\'s <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Archaeological_Museum_%28Bulgaria%29\" target=\"_blank\">wikipedia</a> for you English speakers). The only thing is it\'s not cheap--I think tickets are 10 leva so if you\'re a student say so. This said it\'s worth it. The museum is housed in an old mosque and even the building is beautiful.</li>\r\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.sghg.bg/newsite/index.php?lg=en\" target=\"_blank\">The Sofia Art Gallery</a> (or maybe it\'s the Sofia Municipal Gallery of Art--but that\'s a mouthful) on the other hand is free and two rooms of Bulgarian art. Collections are usually curated around a single theme and the great thing about this is that if you don\'t like what you see you have no obligation to stay. This said, some of my favorite shows have taken place in this gallery and you\'ll definitely find yourself in the park in front of the <a href=\"http://www.nationaltheatre.bg/bg/\" target=\"_blank\">National Theater</a> at some point so why not pop in and see what\'s showing?!</li>\r\n	<li>Finally, I have a love/hate relationship with the <a href=\"http://www.programata.bg/?p=60&amp;l=2&amp;c=1&amp;id=66\" target=\"_blank\">Ethnographic Museum</a>/<a href=\"http://www.nationalartgallerybg.org/index.php?l=67\" target=\"_blank\">National Art Gallery</a> both of which are housed in the former Royal Palace. I hate that the building is falling apart around the museum/gallery and that seemingly very little is being done to keep up the building. This said, I love the National Art Gallery\'s collection. The Ethnographic Museum I could pass on and may actually be closed for repairs if I am to believe <a href=\"http://www.programata.bg/?p=1&amp;l=2&amp;c=1\" target=\"_blank\">programata.bg</a> (a great resource for what\'s happening in the city each week).  The cafe/bar Toba &amp; Co around back behind the palace is fine but for the record there are more interesting places to have a coffee in the city.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nOr if museums aren\'t your thing and it\'s a beautiful day, I\'d consider a walking tour with <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/freesofiatour?ref=ts\" target=\"_blank\">Free Sofia Tour</a> and here\'s <a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/23/sofia-and-easter-weekend/\" target=\"_blank\">my review</a> of the tour I went on. Really I can\'t stress this enough there are two tour times each day 11am and 6pm and if you have two hours to spare you won\'t regret it.\r\n\r\nI\'d have a coffee or a beer (or maybe both) in one of these two parks.\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li>The park in front of the National Theater (guide books refer to it as the Sofia City Garden but I\'ve never heard anyone call it that.)</li>\r\n	<li>The park/garden/space behind the fruit and vegetable market on Graf Ignatiev and in front of the Church of the Seven Holy Saints (Sveti Sedmochislenitsi Church). The people watching here after lunch and in the early afternoon is excellent. Old men and women line the sides of the park on benches, mothers push babies around in strollers and businessmen relax in the sun.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nI\'d visit these two shops. Why? Well because they are my favorite shops in the city. Here\'s why. Both shops are run by young locals who speak English and who are happy to talk to you about what they are doing, why they are passionate about it and the prices while maybe expensive for local Bulgarians are excellent when compared to other major European cities.\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2009/04/17/friday-finds-paradise-garage/\" target=\"_blank\">Paradise Garag</a>e is a boutique which sells women\'s clothing and accessories made by up and coming Bulgarian designers. Every time I go, I fall in love with something and come out with a new addition to my wardrobe. Be warned, the shop is dangerous.  It’s one block off Vitosha Blvd on Karnigradska and one block before the Irish pub JJ Murphy’s.</li>\r\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2010/12/14/zona-urbana/\" target=\"_blank\">Zona Urbana</a> is a boutique of sorts which sells a variety of different things made from recycled materials like old communist newspapers. Items range from wallets to purses to tote bags/messenger bags, earrings and buttons. They also have leather cuffs and a line of toys. Zona Urbana is across the street from the Moroccan restaurant Annette\'s (which is tasty if your in the mood for Moroccan but the service is often slow. This said, they have some great vegetarian options).  The shop is at Angel Kunchev #24 for those of you who are interested.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nI\'d pick between one of these quick and cheep restaurants for lunch or dinner. Both of the restaurants listed below serve what I call modern Bulgarian fare. The food is traditionally Bulgarian but often with a lighter twist and without the kitschy pottery and woven table cloths. In both of these restaurants two people could easily eat lunch for less than 20 leva and yes, that price includes a beer.\r\n<ul>\r\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g294452-d806676-Reviews-Divaka-Sofia.html\" target=\"_blank\">Divaka</a> apparently means wild person in Bulgarian not that this matters too much. The food is good. It\'s usually pretty easy to get a table and they\'ve got an English menu.  Interestingly, I\'ve never written a review of this restaurant but I take anyone who has ever visited me here and they love it. Maybe one of these days I\'ll write a review of the restaurant. There are three Divaka\'s in the city center. One at the little five corners off of Graf Ignatiev on the 6th of September (#41), another at 54 Gladston Street and the third is off of Vitosha Street on 16 Hristo Belchev Street (which runs parallel to Vitosha).</li>\r\n	<li><a href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/03/07/new-sofia-restaurant-tavite-or-%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B2%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B5/\" target=\"_blank\">Tavite/Тавите</a> is a new love of mine. They serve both lunch and dinner in a super cute atmosphere for a great price. They are kind of tucked away behind the book market on Slaveykov Square. The street address is 58 William Gladsone Str but the link offers walking directions.</li>\r\n</ul>\r\nAfter all of this, I\'d have a drink on Vitosha Street at <a href=\"https://www.facebook.com/MementoCafe\" target=\"_blank\">Memento</a>. The cafe is cozy and has seats inside and outside. Outside is clearly the place to park yourself while you sip on a drink or two--unless it\'s raining. Then do the smart thing. Sit inside and chat up the bartender/barista. The great thing about Memento is that they offer excellent coffee, loose tea and cocktails so there\'s something for everyone.\r\n\r\nAnd, that\'s that. Sofia in a day.\r\n\r\nSure I\'ve left off banitsa and rakiya. I don\'t have a traditional Bulgarian restaurant in the mix and I haven\'t listed a single souvenir shop but here\'s the thing, you can\'t do everything in a day. I guess if you were desperate you could probably squeeze banitsa and rakiya in for breakfast but I am not sure that combination is recommended. It\'s probably a safer bet to sub in some form of Bulgarian yogurt.\r\n\r\nOh and if you really wanted to do it up like a local, you could do the whole thing in heals. Just beware of the cobble stones and uneven sidewalks.','Sofia for a Day? ','','publish','open','open','','sofia-for-a-day','','','2011-04-26 05:24:30','2011-04-26 03:24:30','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=4821',0,'post','',0),(4732,1,'2011-04-17 10:17:13','2011-04-17 08:17:13','Surprise, surprise. I\'ve had a busy week.\r\n\r\nThat\'s why I haven\'t written a real post in days. <em>Days</em>.\r\n\r\nI think that as a teacher the week back from any long holiday is a busy one. However, this week has been busier than most because on Friday, April 15th our third quarter at school ended.\r\n\r\nIn my world that means: grades, grades, grades. Students turning things in to grade. Students who want to check on their grade even though the day before they turned in the major paper for the quarter. Students wanting to make up missed quizzes. Students worrying about their grades.  And me, I am busy trying to grade things, to enter grades in my e-gradebook and write grades and comments for each of my students.\r\n\r\nIt\'s enough to make a girl want to pull her hair out, blind herself with a red pen or wish she\'d never come back from her holiday. (Portugal seems impossibly far away right now.) So with each paper I read, I feel a little piece of myself dying inside. I\'ve read over 60 papers this past week at between 3 and 5 pages each. Luckily, I\'ve only got five left. And in a moment of clarity earlier this week, I sorted out the papers of my strongest writers to read last.\r\n\r\nThis said, the only thing really pulling me though this nightmare is the thought of Easter break next week, two holidays in May and two entire months off in July and August. Oh and it certainly helped that the weather has been pretty awful.\r\n\r\nSo what does this all boil down to? <!--more-->\r\n\r\nBeing a teacher has expanded to fill up every waking hour of my past week.\r\n\r\nI\'ll leave you with this story.\r\n\r\nI was at work so late on Wednesday night that I got locked into my building. <em>Gross</em>.\r\n\r\nTurns out that after 7pm at night the campus guards don\'t expect anyone to be left at work. That is expect for me and my co-worker P. We were both still at school planning, reading and grading things. We were also both hanging around campus for book club but really, I probably would have gotten locked in the building either way.\r\n\r\nThat\'s how awesome (and sexy) my abroad life is.\r\n\r\nThe problem is, once you\'re locked in the building it\'s not so easy to get out. I called a couple of offices on campus of colleagues who I thought might still be around. No luck. So then I leaned out my second floor window and saw two campus guards. I yelled at them: hey. hey. hey. Until they noticed me. They are on the old side so it took them a long time to notice me.\r\n\r\nThen I was rescued. It was my big Rapunzel moment. Only my hair is shoulder length.\r\n\r\nAnd here\'s the sad part. This was maybe the most interesting thing to happen to me all week.\r\n\r\nHere\'s to hoping this next week will be better.','Week Recap ','','publish','open','open','','week-recap','','','2011-04-17 10:17:13','2011-04-17 08:17:13','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=4732',0,'post','',0),(4733,1,'2011-04-17 10:13:52','2011-04-17 08:13:52','Surprise, surprise. I\'ve had a busy week. I think that as a teacher the week back from any long holiday is a busy one. However, this week has been busier than most because on Friday, April 15th our third quarter at school ended.\n\nIn my world that means: grades, grades, grades. Students turning things in to grade. Students who want to check on their grade even though the day before they turned in the major paper for the quarter. Students wanting to make up missed quizzes. Students worrying about their grades.  And me, I am busy trying to grade things, to enter grades in my e-gradebook and write grades and comments for each of my students.\n\nIt\'s enough to make a girl want to pull her hair out, blind herself with a red pen or wish she\'d never come back from her holiday. (Portugal seems impossibly far away right now.) So with each paper I read, I feel a little piece of myself dying inside. I\'ve read over 60 papers this past week at between 3 and 5 pages each. Luckily, I\'ve only got five left. And in a moment of clarity earlier this week, I sorted out the papers of my strongest writers to read last.\n\nThis said, the only thing really pulling me though this nightmare is the thought of Easter break next week, two holidays in May and two entire months off in July and August. Oh and it certainly helped that the weather has been pretty awful.\n\nSo what does this all boil down to?\n\nBeing a teacher has expanded to fill up every waking hour of my past week.\n\nI\'ll leave you with this story. I was at work so late on Wednesday night that I got locked into my building. <em>Gross</em>.  Turns out that after 7pm at night the campus guards don\'t expect anyone to be left at work. That is expect for me and my co-worker P. We were both still at school planning, reading and grading things. We were also both hanging around campus for book club but really, I probably would have gotten locked in the building either way. That\'s how awesome (and sexy) my abroad life is.\n\nThe problem is, once you\'re locked in the building it\'s not so easy to get out. I called a couple of offices on campus of colleagues who I thought might still be around. No luck. So then I leaned out my second floor window and saw two campus guards. I yelled at them: hey. hey. hey. Until they noticed me. They are on the old side so it took them a long time to notice me.\n\nThen I was rescued. It was my big Rapunzel moment.\n\nAnd maybe the most interesting thing to happen to me all week.\n\nHere\'s to hoping this next week will be better.','Week Recap ','','inherit','open','open','','4732-revision','','','2011-04-17 10:13:52','2011-04-17 08:13:52','',4732,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/17/4732-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(4734,1,'2011-04-17 10:14:52','2011-04-17 08:14:52','Surprise, surprise. I\'ve had a busy week.\n\nThat\'s why I haven\'t written a real post all wee\n\nI think that as a teacher the week back from any long holiday is a busy one. However, this week has been busier than most because on Friday, April 15th our third quarter at school ended.\n\nIn my world that means: grades, grades, grades. Students turning things in to grade. Students who want to check on their grade even though the day before they turned in the major paper for the quarter. Students wanting to make up missed quizzes. Students worrying about their grades.  And me, I am busy trying to grade things, to enter grades in my e-gradebook and write grades and comments for each of my students.\n\nIt\'s enough to make a girl want to pull her hair out, blind herself with a red pen or wish she\'d never come back from her holiday. (Portugal seems impossibly far away right now.) So with each paper I read, I feel a little piece of myself dying inside. I\'ve read over 60 papers this past week at between 3 and 5 pages each. Luckily, I\'ve only got five left. And in a moment of clarity earlier this week, I sorted out the papers of my strongest writers to read last.\n\nThis said, the only thing really pulling me though this nightmare is the thought of Easter break next week, two holidays in May and two entire months off in July and August. Oh and it certainly helped that the weather has been pretty awful.\n\nSo what does this all boil down to?\n\nBeing a teacher has expanded to fill up every waking hour of my past week.\n\nI\'ll leave you with this story. I was at work so late on Wednesday night that I got locked into my building. <em>Gross</em>.  Turns out that after 7pm at night the campus guards don\'t expect anyone to be left at work. That is expect for me and my co-worker P. We were both still at school planning, reading and grading things. We were also both hanging around campus for book club but really, I probably would have gotten locked in the building either way. That\'s how awesome (and sexy) my abroad life is.\n\nThe problem is, once you\'re locked in the building it\'s not so easy to get out. I called a couple of offices on campus of colleagues who I thought might still be around. No luck. So then I leaned out my second floor window and saw two campus guards. I yelled at them: hey. hey. hey. Until they noticed me. They are on the old side so it took them a long time to notice me.\n\nThen I was rescued. It was my big Rapunzel moment.\n\nAnd maybe the most interesting thing to happen to me all week.\n\nHere\'s to hoping this next week will be better.','Week Recap ','','inherit','open','open','','4732-revision-2','','','2011-04-17 10:14:52','2011-04-17 08:14:52','',4732,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/17/4732-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(4735,1,'2011-04-18 20:58:55','2011-04-18 18:58:55','This morning at the 76 bus stop, I got there at the same time a blind man.\r\n\r\nHe was walking with white stick and tapping the ground with it as he went. I thought to myself: Wow. That\'s got to be really hard in Sofia. Then I was struck by the fact that you don\'t see very many disabled people in Bulgaria.\r\n\r\nI was really busy thinking about how difficult it must be to be blind and walk around the city. I was thinking about the ways that you must face various forms of discrimination each day. I was thinking about what a strong person you must have to be and how strong your desire for independence must be to take the bus by yourself. I was wondering if it would be better or worse to have a seeing eye dog in Sofia.\r\n\r\nThis lead me to wondering if there <em>are </em>seeing eye dogs in Sofia and who is training them. I wondered if he was going to work and where he worked. Making me think about what kind of opportunities blind people have for primary and secondary education in Bulgaria.\r\n\r\nI was thinking about the apparent lack of support and resources there are for disabled people in Sofia when the 76 pulled up at the bus stop.  I climbed on.\r\n\r\nOnly to receive the meanest look ever from this woman riding the bus. She then leans out and yells: This is the  76 bus. Then she sits down.\r\n\r\nAnd glares at me (for four stops).\r\n\r\nWhile she\'s shooting daggers at me, I realize that when I walked by the blind man to climb on the bus and that he must have been asking me (and a handful of other people getting on the bus) which number the bus it was. Only none of us bothered to listen to him or to tell him. That\'s when it became clear to me why the woman on the bus looked at me with such disgust.\r\n\r\nIt boils down to this: I am a horrible person I almost left a blind man at the 76 bus stop today. But for the record, I do hope he got wherever he wanted to go.','The 76 and a Blind Man ','','publish','open','open','','the-76-and-a-blind-man','','','2011-04-18 20:58:55','2011-04-18 18:58:55','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=4735',0,'post','',4),(4736,1,'2011-04-18 20:50:01','2011-04-18 18:50:01','This morning at the 76 bus stop, I got there at the same time a blind man.\n\nHe was walking with white stick and tapping the ground with it as he went. I thought to myself: Wow. That\'s got to be really hard in Sofia. Then I was struck by the fact that you don\'t see very many disabled people in Bulgaria.\n\nI was really busy thinking about how difficult it must be to be blind and walk around the city. I was thinking about the ways that you must face various forms of discrimination each day. I was thinking about what a strong person you must have to be and how strong your desire for independence must be to take the bus by yourself. I was wondering if it would be better or worse to have a seeing eye dog in Sofia.\n\nThis lead me to wondering if there <em>are </em>seeing eye dogs in Sofia and who is training them. I wondered if he was going to work and where he worked. Making me think about what kind of opportunities blind people have for primary and secondary education in Bulgaria.\n\nI was thinking about the apparent lack of support and resources there are for disabled people in Sofia when the 76 pulled up at the bus stop.  I climbed on.\n\nOnly to receive the meanest look ever from this woman riding the bus. She then leans out and yells: This is the  76 bus. Then she sits down.\n\nThen I realized that I walked by the blind man to climb on the bus and that he must have been asking me (and a handful of other people getting on the bus) which number the bus it was. Only none of us bothered to listen to him or to tell him. That\'s when it became clear to me why the woman on the bus looked at me with such disgust.  It boils down to this: I am a horrible person I almost left a blind man at the 76 bus stop today.','The 76 and a Blind Man ','','inherit','open','open','','4735-revision','','','2011-04-18 20:50:01','2011-04-18 18:50:01','',4735,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/18/4735-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(4737,1,'2011-04-18 20:50:37','2011-04-18 18:50:37','This morning at the 76 bus stop, I got there at the same time a blind man.\r\n\r\nHe was walking with white stick and tapping the ground with it as he went. I thought to myself: Wow. That\'s got to be really hard in Sofia. Then I was struck by the fact that you don\'t see very many disabled people in Bulgaria.\r\n\r\nI was really busy thinking about how difficult it must be to be blind and walk around the city. I was thinking about the ways that you must face various forms of discrimination each day. I was thinking about what a strong person you must have to be and how strong your desire for independence must be to take the bus by yourself. I was wondering if it would be better or worse to have a seeing eye dog in Sofia.\r\n\r\nThis lead me to wondering if there <em>are </em>seeing eye dogs in Sofia and who is training them. I wondered if he was going to work and where he worked. Making me think about what kind of opportunities blind people have for primary and secondary education in Bulgaria.\r\n\r\nI was thinking about the apparent lack of support and resources there are for disabled people in Sofia when the 76 pulled up at the bus stop.  I climbed on.\r\n\r\nOnly to receive the meanest look ever from this woman riding the bus. She then leans out and yells: This is the  76 bus. Then she sits down.\r\n\r\nThen I realized that I walked by the blind man to climb on the bus and that he must have been asking me (and a handful of other people getting on the bus) which number the bus it was. Only none of us bothered to listen to him or to tell him. That\'s when it became clear to me why the woman on the bus looked at me with such disgust.  It boils down to this: I am a horrible person I almost left a blind man at the 76 bus stop today.','The 76 and a Blind Man ','','inherit','open','open','','4735-revision-2','','','2011-04-18 20:50:37','2011-04-18 18:50:37','',4735,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/18/4735-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(4738,1,'2011-04-18 20:58:44','2011-04-18 18:58:44','This morning at the 76 bus stop, I got there at the same time a blind man.\n\nHe was walking with white stick and tapping the ground with it as he went. I thought to myself: Wow. That\'s got to be really hard in Sofia. Then I was struck by the fact that you don\'t see very many disabled people in Bulgaria.\n\nI was really busy thinking about how difficult it must be to be blind and walk around the city. I was thinking about the ways that you must face various forms of discrimination each day. I was thinking about what a strong person you must have to be and how strong your desire for independence must be to take the bus by yourself. I was wondering if it would be better or worse to have a seeing eye dog in Sofia.\n\nThis lead me to wondering if there <em>are </em>seeing eye dogs in Sofia and who is training them. I wondered if he was going to work and where he worked. Making me think about what kind of opportunities blind people have for primary and secondary education in Bulgaria.\n\nI was thinking about the apparent lack of support and resources there are for disabled people in Sofia when the 76 pulled up at the bus stop.  I climbed on.\n\nOnly to receive the meanest look ever from this woman riding the bus. She then leans out and yells: This is the  76 bus. Then she sits down.\n\nAnd glares at me (for four stops).\n\nWhile she\'s shooting daggers at me, I realize that when I walked by the blind man to climb on the bus and that he must have been asking me (and a handful of other people getting on the bus) which number the bus it was. Only none of us bothered to listen to him or to tell him. That\'s when it became clear to me why the woman on the bus looked at me with such disgust.\n\nIt boils down to this: I am a horrible person I almost left a blind man at the 76 bus stop toa. But for the record, I do hope he got wherever he wanted to go.','The 76 and a Blind Man ','','inherit','open','open','','4735-revision-3','','','2011-04-18 20:58:44','2011-04-18 18:58:44','',4735,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/18/4735-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(4739,1,'2011-04-18 21:00:03','2011-04-18 19:00:03','This morning at the 76 bus stop, I got there at the same time a blind man.\n\nHe was walking with white stick and tapping the ground with it as he went. I thought to myself: Wow. That\'s got to be really hard in Sofia. Then I was struck by the fact that you don\'t see very many disabled people in Bulgaria.\n\nI was really busy thinking about how difficult it must be to be blind and walk around the city. I was thinking about the ways that you must face various forms of discrimination each day. I was thinking about what a strong person you must have to be and how strong your desire for independence must be to take the bus by yourself. I was wondering if it would be better or worse to have a seeing eye dog in Sofia.\n\nThis lead me to wondering if there <em>are </em>seeing eye dogs in Sofia and who is training them. I wondered if he was going to work and where he worked. Making me think about what kind of opportunities blind people have for primary and secondary education in Bulgaria.\n\nI was thinking about the apparent lack of support and resources there are for disabled people in Sofia when the 76 pulled up at the bus stop.  I climbed on.\n\nOnly to receive the meanest look ever from this woman riding the bus. She then leans out and yells: This is the  76 bus. Then she sits down.\n\nAnd glares at me (for four stops).\n\nWhile she\'s shooting daggers at me, I realize that when I walked by the blind man to climb on the bus and that he must have been asking me (and a handful of other people getting on the bus) which number the bus it was. Only none of us bothered to listen to him or to tell him. That\'s when it became clear to me why the woman on the bus looked at me with such disgust.\n\nIt boils down to this: I am a horrible person I almost left a blind man at the 76 bus stop today. But for the record, I do hope he got wherever he wanted to go.','The 76 and a Blind Man ','','inherit','open','open','','4735-autosave','','','2011-04-18 21:00:03','2011-04-18 19:00:03','',4735,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/18/4735-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(4740,1,'2011-04-19 19:55:24','2011-04-19 17:55:24','We\'ve got a long weekend for Easter! I guess it\'s actually an extra-long holiday as at school we have Friday-Monday off. Yep, that\'s four days in a row off.\r\n\r\nI am sticking around Sofia and I am looking forward to it.\r\n\r\n<em>A lot</em>.\r\n\r\nMy plans thus far: sleep in late, drink plenty of coffee, read my kindle, have some friends over for dinner, go on a long walk (or four), do a little shopping, dye some eggs, have a Bulgarian lesson and eat plenty of  <a title=\"Kozunak and Easter\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2009/04/18/easters-in-the-air/\" target=\"_blank\">kozunak</a>. Basically it boils down to this, I\'d like to be as lazy as possible so I won\'t be making my own kozunak.\r\n\r\nMaybe I\'ll make granola--but not because it\'s an Easter food or anything--just because I like it.\r\n\r\nI\'ll boil eggs and dye them because in my mind that\'s one of the best parts of the holiday. I love brightly colored eggs. The only thing is, I\'d like to make say two or three dozen but what on earth would I ever do with 24 hard boiled eggs let alone 36?!\r\n\r\nSo I\'ll probably just make 12. That doesn\'t seem like I am over doing it when I down grade from 36 to 12. Twelve then seems like hardly anything in comparison. And frankly what\'s the point of dying say six eggs. Ultimately, that\'s a lot of work with very little to show for it.\r\n\r\nAnyhow, for those of you who are interested, this year (as well as last year) the Orthodox church is celebrating Easter the same weekend as Western churches do. Easter already floats around rather than being a fixed holiday and to add to the confusion there are the two different calendars used by the churches the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Anyhow if you\'re interested in that check out on <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Orthodox_liturgical_calendar\" target=\"_blank\">wikipedia</a>. I won\'t even pretend to be an expert on liturgical calendars.\r\n\r\nI am just glad to have a holiday.  And to see the Easter bunny.','Easter Holiday ','','publish','open','open','','easter-holiday','','','2011-04-19 19:55:24','2011-04-19 17:55:24','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=4740',0,'post','',3),(4741,1,'2011-04-19 19:15:25','2011-04-19 17:15:25','We\'ve got a long weekend for Easter! I guess it\'s actually an extra-long holiday as at school we have Friday-Monday off. Yep. Four days in a row.\n\nI am sticking around Sofia and I am looking forward to it.','Easter Holiday ','','inherit','open','open','','4740-revision','','','2011-04-19 19:15:25','2011-04-19 17:15:25','',4740,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/19/4740-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(4742,1,'2011-04-19 19:54:35','2011-04-19 17:54:35','We\'ve got a long weekend for Easter! I guess it\'s actually an extra-long holiday as at school we have Friday-Monday off. Yep, that\'s four days in a row off.\n\nI am sticking around Sofia and I am looking forward to it.\n\n<em>A lot</em>.\n\nMy plans thus far: sleep in late, drink plenty of coffee, read my kindle, have some friends over for dinner, go on a long walk (or four), do a little shopping, dye some eggs, have a Bulgarian lesson and eat plenty of  <a title=\"Kozunak and Easter\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2009/04/18/easters-in-the-air/\" target=\"_blank\">kozunak</a>. Basically it boils down to this, I\'d like to be as lazy as possible so I won\'t be making my own kozunak.\n\nMaybe I\'ll make granola--but not because it\'s an Easter food or anything--just because I like it.\n\nI\'ll boil eggs and dye them because in my mind that\'s one of the best parts of the holiday. I love brightly colored eggs. The only thing is, I\'d like to make say two or three dozen but what on earth would I ever do with 24 hard boiled eggs let alone 36?!\n\nSo I\'ll probably just make 12. That doesn\'t seem like I am over doing it when I down grade from 36 to 12. Twelve then seems like hardly anything in comparison. And frankly what\'s the point of dying say six eggs. Ultimately, that\'s a lot of work with very little to show for it.\n\nAnyhow, for those of you who are interested, this year (as well as last year) the Orthodox church is celebrating Easter the same weekend as Western churches do. Easter already floats around rather than being a fixed holiday and to add to the confusion there are the two different calendars used by the churches the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Anyhow if you\'re interested in that check out on <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Orthodox_liturgical_calendar\" target=\"_blank\">wikipedia</a>. I won\'t even pretend to be an expert on liturgical calendars.\n\nI am just glad to have a holiday.  And to see the Easter bunny.','Easter Holiday ','','inherit','open','open','','4740-revision-2','','','2011-04-19 19:54:35','2011-04-19 17:54:35','',4740,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/19/4740-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(4743,1,'2011-04-19 19:54:40','2011-04-19 17:54:40','We\'ve got a long weekend for Easter! I guess it\'s actually an extra-long holiday as at school we have Friday-Monday off. Yep, that\'s four days in a row off.\r\n\r\nI am sticking around Sofia and I am looking forward to it.\r\n\r\n<em>A lot</em>.\r\n\r\nMy plans thus far: sleep in late, drink plenty of coffee, read my kindle, have some friends over for dinner, go on a long walk (or four), do a little shopping, dye some eggs, have a Bulgarian lesson and eat plenty of  <a title=\"Kozunak and Easter\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2009/04/18/easters-in-the-air/\" target=\"_blank\">kozunak</a>. Basically it boils down to this, I\'d like to be as lazy as possible so I won\'t be making my own kozunak.\r\n\r\nMaybe I\'ll make granola--but not because it\'s an Easter food or anything--just because I like it.\r\n\r\nI\'ll boil eggs and dye them because in my mind that\'s one of the best parts of the holiday. I love brightly colored eggs. The only thing is, I\'d like to make say two or three dozen but what on earth would I ever do with 24 hard boiled eggs let alone 36?!\r\n\r\nSo I\'ll probably just make 12. That doesn\'t seem like I am over doing it when I down grade from 36 to 12. Twelve then seems like hardly anything in comparison. And frankly what\'s the point of dying say six eggs. Ultimately, that\'s a lot of work with very little to show for it.\r\n\r\nAnyhow, for those of you who are interested, this year (as well as last year) the Orthodox church is celebrating Easter the same weekend as Western churches do. Easter already floats around rather than being a fixed holiday and to add to the confusion there are the two different calendars used by the churches the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Anyhow if you\'re interested in that check out on <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Orthodox_liturgical_calendar\" target=\"_blank\">wikipedia</a>. I won\'t even pretend to be an expert on liturgical calendars.\r\n\r\nI am just glad to have a holiday.  And to see the Easter bunny.','Easter Holiday ','','inherit','open','open','','4740-revision-3','','','2011-04-19 19:54:40','2011-04-19 17:54:40','',4740,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/19/4740-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(4744,1,'2011-04-19 19:56:30','2011-04-19 17:56:30','We\'ve got a long weekend for Easter! I guess it\'s actually an extra-long holiday as at school we have Friday-Monday off. Yep, that\'s four days in a row off.\n\nI am sticking around Sofia and I am looking forward to it.\n\n<em>A lot</em>.\n\nMy plans thus far: sleep in late, drink plenty of coffee, read my kindle, have some friends over for dinner, go on a long walk (or four), do a little shopping, dye some eggs, have a Bulgarian lesson and eat plenty of  <a title=\"Kozunak and Easter\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2009/04/18/easters-in-the-air/\" target=\"_blank\">kozunak</a>. Basically it boils down to this, I\'d like to be as lazy as possible so I won\'t be making my own kozunak.\n\nMaybe I\'ll make granola--but not because it\'s an Easter food or anything--just because I like it.\n\nI\'ll boil eggs and dye them because in my mind that\'s one of the best parts of the holiday. I love brightly colored eggs. The only thing is, I\'d like to make say two or three dozen but what on earth would I ever do with 24 hard boiled eggs let alone 36?!\n\nSo I\'ll probably just make 12. That doesn\'t seem like I am over doing it when I down grade from 36 to 12. Twelve then seems like hardly anything in comparison. And frankly what\'s the point of dying say six eggs. Ultimately, that\'s a lot of work with very little to show for it.\n\nAnyhow, for those of you who are interested, this year (as well as last year) the Orthodox church is celebrating Easter the same weekend as Western churches do. Easter already floats around rather than being a fixed holiday and to add to the confusion there are the two different calendars used by the churches the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Anyhow if you\'re interested in that check out on <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Orthodox_liturgical_calendar\" target=\"_blank\">wikipedia</a>. I won\'t even pretend to be an expert on liturgical calendars.\n\nI am just glad to have a holiday.  And to see the Easter bunny.','Easter Holiday ','','inherit','open','open','','4740-autosave','','','2011-04-19 19:56:30','2011-04-19 17:56:30','',4740,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/19/4740-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(4745,1,'2011-04-19 20:29:15','2011-04-19 18:29:15','Maybe you remember that just a little over a week ago I was in Portugal for Spring Break. The thing is given how busy I\'ve been this past week, it\'s hard for me to remember that 10 days ago I was exploring an entirely different country. These days it seems like I\'ve always lived in Sofia. \n\nBut it turns out that I have some really beautiful photos which prove that I was in Portugal and took a day trip to this incredible little town called <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sintra\">Sintra</a>. A town my guidebook called \"the summer retreat of Portugal\'s kings.\" It\'s not a town that will let you down or disappoint you. There are two great castles/palaces--the National Palace and Pena Palace. While climbing the hill to the second palace--Pena for the first time in my entire life I wondered: what makes a building a castle? and what makes a building a palace? \n\nI think it\'s okay to wonder these things as an American. It\'s not like we do palaces or castles in America. \n\nBut do you want to know who does palaces well? The Portuguese. \n \nThe Pena Palace is amazing and I bet that Prince Ferdinand who built the palace was also amazing. I told my Portuguese friends that I wanted him to be my dad so that I could live in that palace. They told me that I probably didn\'t want him as my dad. I trust them on this one because, well, they know more Portuguese history than I do. \n\nThey also know where to buy the best pastries in Sintra. That\'s why it\'s important to have friends who are locals. \n\nLord Byron apparently also dug Sintra. I can see why. \n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4719\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View from upper street in Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4719\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4719\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4719 \" title=\"View from upper street in Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7389-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4720\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Main Street of Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4720\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4720\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4720 \" title=\"Main Street of Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7408-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4721\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Gardens!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4721\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4721\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4721 \" title=\"Gardens!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7450-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4722\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Fairy-tale Castle \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4722\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4722\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4722 \" title=\"Fairy-tale Castle \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7503-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4723\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"More Castle \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4723\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4723\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4723 \" title=\"More Castle \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7554-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4724\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View from the Castle to the Atlantic Ocean\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4724\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4724\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4724 \" title=\"View from the Castle to the Atlantic Ocean\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7517-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]','Portugal: Sintra in a Day','','inherit','open','open','','4718-revision-3','','','2011-04-19 20:29:15','2011-04-19 18:29:15','',4718,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/19/4718-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(4746,1,'2011-04-19 20:30:18','2011-04-19 18:30:18','Maybe you remember that just a little over a week ago I was in Portugal for Spring Break. The thing is given how busy I\'ve been this past week, it\'s hard for me to remember that 10 days ago I was exploring an entirely different country. These days it seems like I\'ve always lived in Sofia. \r\n\r\nBut it turns out that I have some really beautiful photos which prove that I was in Portugal and took a day trip to this incredible little town called <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sintra\">Sintra</a>. A town my guidebook called \"the summer retreat of Portugal\'s kings.\" It\'s not a town that will let you down or disappoint you. There are two great castles/palaces--the National Palace and Pena Palace. While climbing the hill to the second palace--Pena for the first time in my entire life I wondered: what makes a building a castle? and what makes a building a palace? \r\n\r\nI think it\'s okay to wonder these things as an American. It\'s not like we do palaces or castles in America. \r\n\r\nBut do you want to know who does palaces well? The Portuguese. \r\n \r\nThe Pena Palace is amazing and I bet that Prince Ferdinand who built the palace was also amazing. I told my Portuguese friends that I wanted him to be my dad so that I could live in that palace. They told me that I probably didn\'t want him as my dad. I trust them on this one because, well, they know more Portuguese history than I do. \r\n\r\nThey also know where to buy the best pastries in Sintra. That\'s why it\'s important to have friends who are locals. \r\n\r\nLord Byron apparently also dug Sintra. I can see why. \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4719\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View from upper street in Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4719\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4719\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4719 \" title=\"View from upper street in Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7389-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4720\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Main Street of Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4720\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4720\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4720 \" title=\"Main Street of Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7408-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4721\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Gardens!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4721\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4721\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4721 \" title=\"Gardens!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7450-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4722\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Fairy-tale Castle \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4722\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4722\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4722 \" title=\"Fairy-tale Castle \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7503-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4723\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"More Castle \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4723\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4723\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4723 \" title=\"More Castle \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7554-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4724\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View from the Castle to the Atlantic Ocean\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4724\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4724\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4724 \" title=\"View from the Castle to the Atlantic Ocean\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7517-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]','Portugal: Sintra in a Day','','inherit','open','open','','4718-revision-4','','','2011-04-19 20:30:18','2011-04-19 18:30:18','',4718,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/19/4718-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(4747,1,'2011-04-19 20:38:25','2011-04-19 18:38:25','Maybe you remember that just a little over a week ago I was in Portugal for Spring Break. The thing is given how busy I\'ve been this past week, it\'s hard for me to remember that 10 days ago I was exploring an entirely different country. These days it seems like I\'ve always lived in Sofia. \n[caption id=\"attachment_4721\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Gardens!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4721\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4721\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4721 \" title=\"Gardens!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7450-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nBut it turns out that I have some really beautiful photos which prove that I was in Portugal and took a day trip to this incredible little town called <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sintra\">Sintra</a>. A town my guidebook called \"the summer retreat of Portugal\'s kings.\" It\'s not a town that will let you down or disappoint you. \n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4719\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View from upper street in Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4719\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4719\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4719 \" title=\"View from upper street in Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7389-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\nWhile a guidebook can give you plenty of names, dates and funny little stories they can never however do justice to the beauty of a place. In spring, the nature surrounding Sintra was a multitude greens. I couldn\'t get enough of it.  \n\nLord Byron apparently also dug Sintra. I can see why. \n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4720\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Main Street of Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4720\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4720\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4720 \" title=\"Main Street of Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7408-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nThere are two great castles/palaces--the National Palace and Pena Palace--in and around the city. While climbing the hill to the second palace--Pena--for the first time in my entire life I wondered: what makes a building a castle? and what makes a building a palace? \n[caption id=\"attachment_4722\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Fairy-tale Castle \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4722\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4722\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4722 \" title=\"Fairy-tale Castle \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7503-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\nI think it\'s okay to wonder these things as an American. It\'s not like we do palaces or castles in America. \n\nBut do you want to know who does palaces well? The Portuguese. \n \nThe Pena Palace is amazing and I bet that Prince Ferdinand who built the palace was also amazing. I told my Portuguese friends that I wanted him to be my dad so that I could live in that palace. They told me that I probably didn\'t want him as my dad. I trust them on this one because, well, they know more Portuguese history than I do. \n\nThey also know where to buy the best pastries in Sintra. That\'s why it\'s important to have friends who are locals. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4723\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"More Castle \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4723\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4723\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4723 \" title=\"More Castle \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7554-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4724\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View from the Castle to the Atlantic Ocean\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4724\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4724\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4724 \" title=\"View from the Castle to the Atlantic Ocean\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7517-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]','Portugal: Sintra in a Day','','inherit','open','open','','4718-revision-5','','','2011-04-19 20:38:25','2011-04-19 18:38:25','',4718,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/19/4718-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(4748,1,'2011-04-19 20:38:40','2011-04-19 18:38:40','Maybe you remember that just a little over a week ago I was in Portugal for Spring Break. The thing is given how busy I\'ve been this past week, it\'s hard for me to remember that 10 days ago I was exploring an entirely different country. These days it seems like I\'ve always lived in Sofia. \r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4721\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Gardens!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4721\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4721\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4721 \" title=\"Gardens!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7450-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nBut it turns out that I have some really beautiful photos which prove that I was in Portugal and took a day trip to this incredible little town called <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sintra\">Sintra</a>. A town my guidebook called \"the summer retreat of Portugal\'s kings.\" It\'s not a town that will let you down or disappoint you. \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4719\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View from upper street in Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4719\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4719\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4719 \" title=\"View from upper street in Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7389-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\nWhile a guidebook can give you plenty of names, dates and funny little stories they can never however do justice to the beauty of a place. In spring, the nature surrounding Sintra was a multitude greens. I couldn\'t get enough of it.  \r\n\r\nLord Byron apparently also dug Sintra. I can see why. \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4720\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Main Street of Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4720\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4720\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4720 \" title=\"Main Street of Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7408-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThere are two great castles/palaces--the National Palace and Pena Palace--in and around the city. While climbing the hill to the second palace--Pena--for the first time in my entire life I wondered: what makes a building a castle? and what makes a building a palace? \r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4722\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Fairy-tale Castle \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4722\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4722\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4722 \" title=\"Fairy-tale Castle \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7503-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\nI think it\'s okay to wonder these things as an American. It\'s not like we do palaces or castles in America. \r\n\r\nBut do you want to know who does palaces well? The Portuguese. \r\n \r\nThe Pena Palace is amazing and I bet that Prince Ferdinand who built the palace was also amazing. I told my Portuguese friends that I wanted him to be my dad so that I could live in that palace. They told me that I probably didn\'t want him as my dad. I trust them on this one because, well, they know more Portuguese history than I do. \r\n\r\nThey also know where to buy the best pastries in Sintra. That\'s why it\'s important to have friends who are locals. \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4723\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"More Castle \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4723\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4723\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4723 \" title=\"More Castle \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7554-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4724\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View from the Castle to the Atlantic Ocean\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4724\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4724\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4724 \" title=\"View from the Castle to the Atlantic Ocean\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7517-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]','Portugal: Sintra in a Day','','inherit','open','open','','4718-revision-6','','','2011-04-19 20:38:40','2011-04-19 18:38:40','',4718,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/19/4718-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),(4749,1,'2011-04-19 20:38:40','2011-04-19 18:38:40','Maybe you remember that just a little over a week ago I was in Portugal for Spring Break. The thing is given how busy I\'ve been this past week, it\'s hard for me to remember that 10 days ago I was exploring an entirely different country. These days it seems like I\'ve always lived in Sofia. \r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4721\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Gardens!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4721\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4721\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4721 \" title=\"Gardens!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7450-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nBut it turns out that I have some really beautiful photos which prove that I was in Portugal and took a day trip to this incredible little town called <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sintra\">Sintra</a>. A town my guidebook called \"the summer retreat of Portugal\'s kings.\" It\'s not a town that will let you down or disappoint you. \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4719\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View from upper street in Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4719\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4719\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4719 \" title=\"View from upper street in Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7389-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\nWhile a guidebook can give you plenty of names, dates and funny little stories they can never however do justice to the beauty of a place. In spring, the nature surrounding Sintra was a multitude greens. I couldn\'t get enough of it.  \r\n\r\nLord Byron apparently also dug Sintra. I can see why. \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4720\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Main Street of Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4720\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4720\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4720 \" title=\"Main Street of Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7408-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThere are two great castles/palaces--the National Palace and Pena Palace--in and around the city. While climbing the hill to the second palace--Pena--for the first time in my entire life I wondered: what makes a building a castle? and what makes a building a palace? \r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4722\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Fairy-tale Castle \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4722\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4722\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4722 \" title=\"Fairy-tale Castle \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7503-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\nI think it\'s okay to wonder these things as an American. It\'s not like we do palaces or castles in America. \r\n\r\nBut do you want to know who does palaces well? The Portuguese. \r\n \r\nThe Pena Palace is amazing and I bet that Prince Ferdinand who built the palace was also amazing. I told my Portuguese friends that I wanted him to be my dad so that I could live in that palace. They told me that I probably didn\'t want him as my dad. I trust them on this one because, well, they know more Portuguese history than I do. \r\n\r\nThey also know where to buy the best pastries in Sintra. That\'s why it\'s important to have friends who are locals. \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4723\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"More Castle \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4723\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4723\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4723 \" title=\"More Castle \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7554-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4724\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View from the Castle to the Atlantic Ocean\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4724\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4724\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4724 \" title=\"View from the Castle to the Atlantic Ocean\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7517-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]','Portugal: Sintra in a Day','','inherit','open','open','','4718-revision-7','','','2011-04-19 20:38:40','2011-04-19 18:38:40','',4718,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/19/4718-revision-7/',0,'revision','',0),(4750,1,'2011-04-19 20:38:42','2011-04-19 18:38:42','Maybe you remember that just a little over a week ago I was in Portugal for Spring Break. The thing is given how busy I\'ve been this past week, it\'s hard for me to remember that 10 days ago I was exploring an entirely different country. These days it seems like I\'ve always lived in Sofia. \r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4721\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Gardens!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4721\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4721\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4721 \" title=\"Gardens!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7450-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nBut it turns out that I have some really beautiful photos which prove that I was in Portugal and took a day trip to this incredible little town called <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sintra\">Sintra</a>. A town my guidebook called \"the summer retreat of Portugal\'s kings.\" It\'s not a town that will let you down or disappoint you. \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4719\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View from upper street in Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4719\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4719\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4719 \" title=\"View from upper street in Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7389-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\nWhile a guidebook can give you plenty of names, dates and funny little stories they can never however do justice to the beauty of a place. In spring, the nature surrounding Sintra was a multitude greens. I couldn\'t get enough of it.  \r\n\r\nLord Byron apparently also dug Sintra. I can see why. \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4720\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Main Street of Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4720\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4720\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4720 \" title=\"Main Street of Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7408-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThere are two great castles/palaces--the National Palace and Pena Palace--in and around the city. While climbing the hill to the second palace--Pena--for the first time in my entire life I wondered: what makes a building a castle? and what makes a building a palace? \r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4722\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Fairy-tale Castle \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4722\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4722\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4722 \" title=\"Fairy-tale Castle \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7503-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\nI think it\'s okay to wonder these things as an American. It\'s not like we do palaces or castles in America. \r\n\r\nBut do you want to know who does palaces well? The Portuguese. \r\n \r\nThe Pena Palace is amazing and I bet that Prince Ferdinand who built the palace was also amazing. I told my Portuguese friends that I wanted him to be my dad so that I could live in that palace. They told me that I probably didn\'t want him as my dad. I trust them on this one because, well, they know more Portuguese history than I do. \r\n\r\nThey also know where to buy the best pastries in Sintra. That\'s why it\'s important to have friends who are locals. \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4723\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"More Castle \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4723\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4723\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4723 \" title=\"More Castle \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7554-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4724\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View from the Castle to the Atlantic Ocean\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4724\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4724\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4724 \" title=\"View from the Castle to the Atlantic Ocean\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7517-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]','Portugal: Sintra in a Day','','inherit','open','open','','4718-revision-8','','','2011-04-19 20:38:42','2011-04-19 18:38:42','',4718,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/19/4718-revision-8/',0,'revision','',0),(4751,1,'2011-04-19 20:40:38','2011-04-19 18:40:38','Maybe you remember that just a little over a week ago I was in Portugal for Spring Break. The thing is given how busy I\'ve been this past week, it\'s hard for me to remember that 10 days ago I was exploring an entirely different country. These days it seems like I\'ve always lived in Sofia. \n[caption id=\"attachment_4721\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Gardens!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4721\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4721\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4721 \" title=\"Gardens!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7450-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nBut it turns out that I have some really beautiful photos which prove that I was in Portugal and took a day trip to this incredible little town called <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sintra\">Sintra</a>. A town my guidebook called \"the summer retreat of Portugal\'s kings.\" It\'s not a town that will let you down or disappoint you. \n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4719\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View from upper street in Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4719\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4719\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4719 \" title=\"View from upper street in Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7389-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\nWhile a guidebook can give you plenty of names, dates and funny little stories they can never however do justice to the beauty of a place. In spring, the nature surrounding Sintra was a multitude greens. I couldn\'t get enough of it.  \n\nLord Byron apparently also dug Sintra. I can see why. \n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4720\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Main Street of Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4720\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4720\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4720 \" title=\"Main Street of Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7408-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nThere are two great castles/palaces--the National Palace and Pena Palace--in and around the city. While climbing the hill to the second palace--Pena--for the first time in my entire life I wondered: what makes a building a castle? and what makes a building a palace? \n[caption id=\"attachment_4722\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Fairy-tale Castle \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4722\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4722\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4722 \" title=\"Fairy-tale Castle \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7503-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\nI think it\'s okay to wonder these things as an American. It\'s not like we do palaces or castles in America. \n\nBut do you want to know who does palaces well? The Portuguese. \n[caption id=\"attachment_4723\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"More Castle \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4723\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4723\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4723 \" title=\"More of the Pena Palace \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7554-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n \nThe Pena Palace is amazing and I bet that Prince Ferdinand who built the palace was also amazing. I told my Portuguese friends that I wanted him to be my dad so that I could live in that palace. They told me that I probably didn\'t want him as my dad. I trust them on this one because, well, they know more Portuguese history than I do. \n[caption id=\"attachment_4724\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View from the Castle to the Atlantic Ocean\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4724\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4724\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4724 \" title=\"View from the Castle to the Atlantic Ocean\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7517-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nThey also know where to buy the best pastries in Sintra. That\'s why it\'s important to have friends who are locals. \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n','Portugal: Sintra in a Day','','inherit','open','open','','4718-revision-9','','','2011-04-19 20:40:38','2011-04-19 18:40:38','',4718,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/19/4718-revision-9/',0,'revision','',0),(4752,1,'2011-04-19 20:40:53','2011-04-19 18:40:53','Maybe you remember that just a little over a week ago I was in Portugal for Spring Break. The thing is given how busy I\'ve been this past week, it\'s hard for me to remember that 10 days ago I was exploring an entirely different country. These days it seems like I\'ve always lived in Sofia. \r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4721\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Gardens!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4721\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4721\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4721 \" title=\"Gardens!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7450-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nBut it turns out that I have some really beautiful photos which prove that I was in Portugal and took a day trip to this incredible little town called <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sintra\">Sintra</a>. A town my guidebook called \"the summer retreat of Portugal\'s kings.\" It\'s not a town that will let you down or disappoint you. \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4719\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View from upper street in Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4719\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4719\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4719 \" title=\"View from upper street in Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7389-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\nWhile a guidebook can give you plenty of names, dates and funny little stories they can never however do justice to the beauty of a place. In spring, the nature surrounding Sintra was a multitude greens. I couldn\'t get enough of it.  \r\n\r\nLord Byron apparently also dug Sintra. I can see why. \r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4720\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Main Street of Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4720\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4720\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4720 \" title=\"Main Street of Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7408-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThere are two great castles/palaces--the National Palace and Pena Palace--in and around the city. While climbing the hill to the second palace--Pena--for the first time in my entire life I wondered: what makes a building a castle? and what makes a building a palace? \r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4722\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Fairy-tale Castle \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4722\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4722\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4722 \" title=\"Fairy-tale Castle \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7503-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\nI think it\'s okay to wonder these things as an American. It\'s not like we do palaces or castles in America. \r\n\r\nBut do you want to know who does palaces well? The Portuguese. \r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4723\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"More Castle \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4723\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4723\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4723 \" title=\"More of the Pena Palace \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7554-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n \r\nThe Pena Palace is amazing and I bet that Prince Ferdinand who built the palace was also amazing. I told my Portuguese friends that I wanted him to be my dad so that I could live in that palace. They told me that I probably didn\'t want him as my dad. I trust them on this one because, well, they know more Portuguese history than I do. \r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4724\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View from the Palace to the Atlantic Ocean\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4724\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4724\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4724 \" title=\"View from the Castle to the Atlantic Ocean\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7517-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThey also know where to buy the best pastries in Sintra. That\'s why it\'s important to have friends who are locals. \r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n','Portugal: Sintra in a Day','','inherit','open','open','','4718-revision-10','','','2011-04-19 20:40:53','2011-04-19 18:40:53','',4718,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/19/4718-revision-10/',0,'revision','',0),(4753,1,'2011-04-19 20:42:28','2011-04-19 18:42:28','','Pastries in Sintra','Pastries in Sintra','inherit','open','open','','img_7576','','','2011-04-19 20:42:28','2011-04-19 18:42:28','',4718,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7576.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(4754,1,'2011-04-19 20:49:44','2011-04-19 18:49:44','','Drinking Ginjinha','Drinking Ginjinha','inherit','open','open','','img_7579','','','2011-04-19 20:49:44','2011-04-19 18:49:44','',4718,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7579.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(4755,1,'2011-04-19 20:52:00','2011-04-19 18:52:00','Maybe you remember that just a little over a week ago I was in Portugal for Spring Break. The thing is given how busy I\'ve been this past week, it\'s hard for me to remember that 10 days ago I was exploring an entirely different country. These days it seems like I\'ve always lived in Sofia.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4721\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Gardens!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4721\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4721\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4721 \" title=\"Gardens!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7450-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nBut it turns out that I have some really beautiful photos which prove that I was in Portugal and took a day trip to this incredible little town called <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sintra\">Sintra</a>. A town my guidebook called \"the summer retreat of Portugal\'s kings.\" It\'s not a town that will let you down or disappoint you.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4719\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View from upper street in Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4719\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4719\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4719 \" title=\"View from upper street in Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7389-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nWhile a guidebook can give you plenty of names, dates and funny little stories they can never however do justice to the beauty of a place. In spring, the nature surrounding Sintra was a multitude greens. I couldn\'t get enough of it.\n\n&nbsp;\n\nLord Byron apparently also dug Sintra. I can see why.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4720\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Main Street of Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4720\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4720\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4720 \" title=\"Main Street of Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7408-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nThere are two great castles/palaces--the National Palace and Pena Palace--in and around the city. While climbing the hill to the second palace--Pena--for the first time in my entire life I wondered: what makes a building a castle? and what makes a building a palace?\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4722\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Fairy-tale Castle \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4722\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4722\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4722 \" title=\"Fairy-tale Castle \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7503-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nI think it\'s okay to wonder these things as an American. It\'s not like we do palaces or castles in America.\n\n&nbsp;\n\nBut do you want to know who does palaces well? The Portuguese.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4723\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"More Castle \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4723\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4723\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4723 \" title=\"More of the Pena Palace \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7554-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nThe Pena Palace is amazing and I bet that Prince Ferdinand who built the palace was also amazing. I told my Portuguese friends that I wanted him to be my dad so that I could live in that palace. They told me that I probably didn\'t want him as my dad. I trust them on this one because, well, they know more Portuguese history than I do.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4724\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View from the Palace to the Atlantic Ocean\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4724\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4724\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4724 \" title=\"View from the Castle to the Atlantic Ocean\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7517-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nThey also know where to buy the best pastries in Sintra. That\'s why it\'s important to have friends who are locals.\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">&nbsp;</p>\n\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4753\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Pastries in Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4753\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4753\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4753 \" title=\"Pastries in Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7576-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nThey also knew that we should try ginjinha a sweet sour-cherry liquor in a chocolate cup.  Yum. Yum.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4754\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Drinking Ginjinha\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4754\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4754\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4754 \" title=\"Drinking Ginjinha\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7579-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]','Portugal: Sintra in a Day','','inherit','open','open','','4718-revision-11','','','2011-04-19 20:52:00','2011-04-19 18:52:00','',4718,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/19/4718-revision-11/',0,'revision','',0),(4756,1,'2011-04-19 20:52:22','2011-04-19 18:52:22','Maybe you remember that just a little over a week ago I was in Portugal for Spring Break. The thing is given how busy I\'ve been this past week, it\'s hard for me to remember that 10 days ago I was exploring an entirely different country. These days it seems like I\'ve always lived in Sofia.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4721\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Gardens!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4721\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4721\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4721 \" title=\"Gardens!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7450-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nBut it turns out that I have some really beautiful photos which prove that I was in Portugal and took a day trip to this incredible little town called <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sintra\">Sintra</a>. A town my guidebook called \"the summer retreat of Portugal\'s kings.\" It\'s not a town that will let you down or disappoint you.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4719\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View from upper street in Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4719\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4719\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4719 \" title=\"View from upper street in Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7389-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nWhile a guidebook can give you plenty of names, dates and funny little stories they can never however do justice to the beauty of a place. In spring, the nature surrounding Sintra was a multitude greens. I couldn\'t get enough of it.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nLord Byron apparently also dug Sintra. I can see why.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4720\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Main Street of Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4720\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4720\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4720 \" title=\"Main Street of Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7408-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThere are two great castles/palaces--the National Palace and Pena Palace--in and around the city. While climbing the hill to the second palace--Pena--for the first time in my entire life I wondered: what makes a building a castle? and what makes a building a palace?\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4722\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Fairy-tale Castle \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4722\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4722\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4722 \" title=\"Fairy-tale Castle \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7503-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nI think it\'s okay to wonder these things as an American. It\'s not like we do palaces or castles in America.\r\n\r\n&nbsp;\r\n\r\nBut do you want to know who does palaces well? The Portuguese.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4723\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"More Castle \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4723\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4723\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4723 \" title=\"More of the Pena Palace \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7554-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThe Pena Palace is amazing and I bet that Prince Ferdinand who built the palace was also amazing. I told my Portuguese friends that I wanted him to be my dad so that I could live in that palace. They told me that I probably didn\'t want him as my dad. I trust them on this one because, well, they know more Portuguese history than I do.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4724\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View from the Palace to the Atlantic Ocean\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4724\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4724\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4724 \" title=\"View from the Castle to the Atlantic Ocean\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7517-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThey also know where to buy the best pastries in Sintra. That\'s why it\'s important to have friends who are locals.\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">&nbsp;</p>\r\n\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4753\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Pastries in Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4753\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4753\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4753 \" title=\"Pastries in Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7576-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThey also knew that we should try ginjinha a sweet sour-cherry liquor in a chocolate cup.  Yum. Yum.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4754\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Drinking Ginjinha\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4754\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4754\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4754 \" title=\"Drinking Ginjinha\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7579-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]','Portugal: Sintra in a Day','','inherit','open','open','','4718-revision-12','','','2011-04-19 20:52:22','2011-04-19 18:52:22','',4718,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/19/4718-revision-12/',0,'revision','',0),(4757,1,'2011-04-19 20:55:06','2011-04-19 18:55:06','Maybe you remember that just a little over a week ago I was in Portugal for Spring Break. The thing is given how busy I\'ve been this past week, it\'s hard for me to remember that 10 days ago I was exploring an entirely different country. These days it seems like I\'ve always lived in Sofia.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4721\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Gardens!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4721\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4721\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4721 \" title=\"Gardens!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7450-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nBut it turns out that I have some really beautiful photos which prove that I was in Portugal and took a day trip to this incredible little town called <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sintra\">Sintra</a>. A town my guidebook called \"the summer retreat of Portugal\'s kings.\" It\'s not a town that will let you down or disappoint you.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4719\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View from upper street in Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4719\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4719\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4719 \" title=\"View from upper street in Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7389-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nWhile a guidebook can give you plenty of names, dates and funny little stories they can never however do justice to the beauty of a place. In spring, the nature surrounding Sintra was a multitude greens. I couldn\'t get enough of it.\n\nLord Byron apparently also dug Sintra. I can see why.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4720\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Main Street of Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4720\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4720\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4720 \" title=\"Main Street of Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7408-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nThere are two great castles/palaces--the National Palace and Pena Palace--in and around the city. While climbing the hill to the second palace--Pena--for the first time in my entire life I wondered: what makes a building a castle? and what makes a building a palace?\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4722\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Fairy-tale Castle \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4722\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4722\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4722 \" title=\"Fairy-tale Castle \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7503-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nI think it\'s okay to wonder these things as an American. It\'s not like we do palaces or castles in America.\n\nBut do you want to know who does palaces well? The Portuguese.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4723\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"More Castle \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4723\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4723\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4723 \" title=\"More of the Pena Palace \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7554-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nThe Pena Palace is amazing and I bet that Prince Ferdinand who built the palace was also amazing. I told my Portuguese friends that I wanted him to be my dad so that I could live in that palace. They told me that I probably didn\'t want him as my dad. I trust them on this one because, well, they know more Portuguese history than I do.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4724\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View from the Palace to the Atlantic Ocean\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4724\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4724\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4724 \" title=\"View from the Castle to the Atlantic Ocean\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7517-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nThey also know where to buy the best pastries in Sintra. That\'s why it\'s important to have friends who are locals. They also speak the language which helps.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4753\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Pastries in Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4753\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4753\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4753 \" title=\"Pastries in Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7576-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nThey also knew that we should try ginjinha a sweet sour-cherry liquor in a chocolate cup.  Did I mention that you get to eat the cup once you\'ve finished the liquor? Who thought of that. So Clever. And tasty. Yum. Yum.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4754\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Drinking Ginjinha\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4754\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4754\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4754 \" title=\"Drinking Ginjinha\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7579-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]','Portugal: Sintra in a Day','','inherit','open','open','','4718-revision-13','','','2011-04-19 20:55:06','2011-04-19 18:55:06','',4718,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/19/4718-revision-13/',0,'revision','',0),(4758,1,'2011-04-19 20:55:58','2011-04-19 18:55:58','Maybe you remember that just a little over a week ago I was in Portugal for Spring Break. The thing is given how busy I\'ve been this past week, it\'s hard for me to remember that 10 days ago I was exploring an entirely different country. These days it seems like I\'ve always lived in Sofia.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4721\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Gardens!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4721\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4721\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4721 \" title=\"Gardens!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7450-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nBut it turns out that I have some really beautiful photos which prove that I was in Portugal and took a day trip to this incredible little town called <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sintra\">Sintra</a>. A town my guidebook called \"the summer retreat of Portugal\'s kings.\" It\'s not a town that will let you down or disappoint you.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4719\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View from upper street in Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4719\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4719\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4719 \" title=\"View from upper street in Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7389-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nWhile a guidebook can give you plenty of names, dates and funny little stories they can never however do justice to the beauty of a place. In spring, the nature surrounding Sintra was a multitude greens. I couldn\'t get enough of it.\r\n\r\nLord Byron apparently also dug Sintra. I can see why.<!--more-->\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4720\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Main Street of Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4720\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4720\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4720 \" title=\"Main Street of Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7408-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThere are two great castles/palaces--the National Palace and Pena Palace--in and around the city. While climbing the hill to the second palace--Pena--for the first time in my entire life I wondered: what makes a building a castle? and what makes a building a palace?\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4722\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Fairy-tale Castle \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4722\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4722\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4722 \" title=\"Fairy-tale Castle \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7503-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nI think it\'s okay to wonder these things as an American. It\'s not like we do palaces or castles in America.\r\n\r\nBut do you want to know who does palaces well? The Portuguese.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4723\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"More Castle \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4723\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4723\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4723 \" title=\"More of the Pena Palace \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7554-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThe Pena Palace is amazing and I bet that Prince Ferdinand who built the palace was also amazing. I told my Portuguese friends that I wanted him to be my dad so that I could live in that palace. They told me that I probably didn\'t want him as my dad. I trust them on this one because, well, they know more Portuguese history than I do.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4724\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View from the Palace to the Atlantic Ocean\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4724\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4724\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4724 \" title=\"View from the Castle to the Atlantic Ocean\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7517-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThey also know where to buy the best pastries in Sintra. That\'s why it\'s important to have friends who are locals. They also speak the language which helps.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4753\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Pastries in Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4753\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4753\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4753 \" title=\"Pastries in Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7576-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThey also knew that we should try ginjinha a sweet sour-cherry liquor in a chocolate cup.  Did I mention that you get to eat the cup once you\'ve finished the liquor? Who thought of that. So Clever. And tasty. Yum. Yum.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4754\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Drinking Ginjinha\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4754\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4754\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4754 \" title=\"Drinking Ginjinha\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7579-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]','Portugal: Sintra in a Day','','inherit','open','open','','4718-revision-14','','','2011-04-19 20:55:58','2011-04-19 18:55:58','',4718,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/19/4718-revision-14/',0,'revision','',0),(4759,1,'2011-04-19 20:55:58','2011-04-19 18:55:58','Maybe you remember that just a little over a week ago I was in Portugal for Spring Break. The thing is given how busy I\'ve been this past week, it\'s hard for me to remember that 10 days ago I was exploring an entirely different country. These days it seems like I\'ve always lived in Sofia.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4721\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Gardens!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4721\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/portugal-sintra-in-a-day/img_7450/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4721 \" title=\"Gardens!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7450-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nBut it turns out that I have some really beautiful photos which prove that I was in Portugal and took a day trip to this incredible little town called <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sintra\">Sintra</a>. A town my guidebook called \"the summer retreat of Portugal\'s kings.\" It\'s not a town that will let you down or disappoint you.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4719\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View from upper street in Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4719\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/portugal-sintra-in-a-day/img_7389/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4719 \" title=\"View from upper street in Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7389-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nWhile a guidebook can give you plenty of names, dates and funny little stories they can never however do justice to the beauty of a place. In spring, the nature surrounding Sintra was a multitude greens. I couldn\'t get enough of it.\r\n\r\nLord Byron apparently also dug Sintra. I can see why.<!--more-->\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4720\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Main Street of Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4720\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/portugal-sintra-in-a-day/img_7408/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4720 \" title=\"Main Street of Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7408-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThere are two great castles/palaces--the National Palace and Pena Palace--in and around the city. While climbing the hill to the second palace--Pena--for the first time in my entire life I wondered: what makes a building a castle? and what makes a building a palace?\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4722\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Fairy-tale Castle \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4722\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/portugal-sintra-in-a-day/img_7503/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4722 \" title=\"Fairy-tale Castle \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7503-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nI think it\'s okay to wonder these things as an American. It\'s not like we do palaces or castles in America.\r\n\r\nBut do you want to know who does palaces well? The Portuguese.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4723\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"More Castle \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4723\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/portugal-sintra-in-a-day/img_7554/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4723 \" title=\"More of the Pena Palace \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7554-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThe Pena Palace is amazing and I bet that Prince Ferdinand who built the palace was also amazing. I told my Portuguese friends that I wanted him to be my dad so that I could live in that palace. They told me that I probably didn\'t want him as my dad. I trust them on this one because, well, they know more Portuguese history than I do.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4724\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View from the Palace to the Atlantic Ocean\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4724\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/portugal-sintra-in-a-day/img_7517/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4724 \" title=\"View from the Castle to the Atlantic Ocean\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7517-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThey also know where to buy the best pastries in Sintra. That\'s why it\'s important to have friends who are locals. They also speak the language which helps.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4753\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Pastries in Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4753\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/portugal-sintra-in-a-day/img_7576/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4753 \" title=\"Pastries in Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7576-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThey also knew that we should try ginjinha a sweet sour-cherry liquor in a chocolate cup.  Did I mention that you get to eat the cup once you\'ve finished the liquor? Who thought of that. So Clever. And tasty. Yum. Yum.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4754\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Drinking Ginjinha\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4754\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/portugal-sintra-in-a-day/img_7579/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4754 \" title=\"Drinking Ginjinha\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7579-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]','Portugal: Sintra in a Day','','inherit','open','open','','4718-revision-15','','','2011-04-19 20:55:58','2011-04-19 18:55:58','',4718,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/19/4718-revision-15/',0,'revision','',0);
INSERT INTO `wp_posts` VALUES (4760,1,'2011-04-19 20:56:41','2011-04-19 18:56:41','Maybe you remember that just a little over a week ago I was in Portugal for Spring Break. The thing is given how busy I\'ve been this past week, it\'s hard for me to remember that 10 days ago I was exploring an entirely different country. These days it seems like I\'ve always lived in Sofia.\r\n\r\nLuckily I have the pictures to prove that I was there!!\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4721\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Gardens!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4721\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/portugal-sintra-in-a-day/img_7450/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4721 \" title=\"Gardens!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7450-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nBut it turns out that I have some really beautiful photos which prove that I was in Portugal and took a day trip to this incredible little town called <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sintra\">Sintra</a>. A town my guidebook called \"the summer retreat of Portugal\'s kings.\" It\'s not a town that will let you down or disappoint you.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4719\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View from upper street in Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4719\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/portugal-sintra-in-a-day/img_7389/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4719 \" title=\"View from upper street in Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7389-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nWhile a guidebook can give you plenty of names, dates and funny little stories they can never however do justice to the beauty of a place. In spring, the nature surrounding Sintra was a multitude greens. I couldn\'t get enough of it.\r\n\r\nLord Byron apparently also dug Sintra. I can see why.<!--more-->\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4720\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Main Street of Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4720\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/portugal-sintra-in-a-day/img_7408/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4720 \" title=\"Main Street of Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7408-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThere are two great castles/palaces--the National Palace and Pena Palace--in and around the city. While climbing the hill to the second palace--Pena--for the first time in my entire life I wondered: what makes a building a castle? and what makes a building a palace?\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4722\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Fairy-tale Castle \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4722\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/portugal-sintra-in-a-day/img_7503/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4722 \" title=\"Fairy-tale Castle \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7503-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nI think it\'s okay to wonder these things as an American. It\'s not like we do palaces or castles in America.\r\n\r\nBut do you want to know who does palaces well? The Portuguese.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4723\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"More Castle \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4723\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/portugal-sintra-in-a-day/img_7554/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4723 \" title=\"More of the Pena Palace \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7554-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThe Pena Palace is amazing and I bet that Prince Ferdinand who built the palace was also amazing. I told my Portuguese friends that I wanted him to be my dad so that I could live in that palace. They told me that I probably didn\'t want him as my dad. I trust them on this one because, well, they know more Portuguese history than I do.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4724\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View from the Palace to the Atlantic Ocean\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4724\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/portugal-sintra-in-a-day/img_7517/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4724 \" title=\"View from the Castle to the Atlantic Ocean\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7517-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThey also know where to buy the best pastries in Sintra. That\'s why it\'s important to have friends who are locals. They also speak the language which helps.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4753\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Pastries in Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4753\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/portugal-sintra-in-a-day/img_7576/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4753 \" title=\"Pastries in Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7576-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThey also knew that we should try ginjinha a sweet sour-cherry liquor in a chocolate cup.  Did I mention that you get to eat the cup once you\'ve finished the liquor? Who thought of that. So Clever. And tasty. Yum. Yum.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4754\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Drinking Ginjinha\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4754\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/portugal-sintra-in-a-day/img_7579/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4754 \" title=\"Drinking Ginjinha\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7579-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]','Portugal: Sintra in a Day','','inherit','open','open','','4718-revision-16','','','2011-04-19 20:56:41','2011-04-19 18:56:41','',4718,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/19/4718-revision-16/',0,'revision','',0),(4835,1,'2011-04-27 18:14:26','2011-04-27 16:14:26','I think that the hardest week at work is the one after a vacation. On vacation you get to eat when you want, you get to sleep as long as you\'d like. It\'s okay to be lazy and to spend an afternoon reading a good book or browsing in shops. It\'s generally encouraged to have a beer or a glass (or two) of wine at dinner.\r\n\r\nAs a result, it\'s that much harder to go back to work after a holiday.\r\n\r\nAfter the four day weekend I just enjoyed here in Sofia this has turned out to be especially true. I\'ve really struggled to get back into the swing of things after only four days off from work. Sure it doesn\'t help that on Tuesday I spent 12 hours at work thanks to parent conferences.\r\n\r\nStill, it\'s been difficult to get out of bed in the mornings. I\'ve found myself craving a mid-morning snack <em>and </em>a mid-afternoon snack. Moreover, today, I would have loved to take a nap at my desk.  I\'m telling you when 3:30 rolled around this afternoon and I couldn\'t keep my eyes open--even though I had a million things to do.\r\n\r\nA million things. A part of me wonders how it is possible that I could have so much work to do considering how busy and hardworking I was <em>before</em> the holiday. It\'s sort of like my multiplied while I was away.\r\n\r\nSo that\'s that. I am back at work. Luckily it\'s a short week--thanks, Easter weekend.\r\n\r\nDon\'t get me wrong, I love holidays. I love taking time for myself. I love seeing and doing new things. But, it\'s hard to get back into the swing of things at work.\r\n\r\nThis said, I\'ll be getting some serious practice in the month of May considering I\'ve got a three-day weekend early in the month for St. George\'s Day and a five-day weekend at the end of the month for the Saints Kiril and Methodius, the creators of the Cyrillic alphabet.','Back at work, kind of','','publish','open','open','','back-at-work-kind-of','','','2011-04-27 18:14:26','2011-04-27 16:14:26','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=4835',0,'post','',0),(4762,1,'2011-04-19 20:56:41','2011-04-19 18:56:41','Maybe you remember that just a little over a week ago I was in Portugal for Spring Break. The thing is given how busy I\'ve been this past week, it\'s hard for me to remember that 10 days ago I was exploring an entirely different country. These days it seems like I\'ve always lived in Sofia.\r\n\r\nLuckily I have the pictures to prove that I was there!!\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4721\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Gardens!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4721\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/portugal-sintra-in-a-day/img_7450/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4721 \" title=\"Gardens!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7450-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nBut it turns out that I have some really beautiful photos which prove that I was in Portugal and took a day trip to this incredible little town called <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sintra\">Sintra</a>. A town my guidebook called \"the summer retreat of Portugal\'s kings.\" It\'s not a town that will let you down or disappoint you.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4719\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View from upper street in Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4719\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/portugal-sintra-in-a-day/img_7389/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4719 \" title=\"View from upper street in Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7389-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nWhile a guidebook can give you plenty of names, dates and funny little stories they can never however do justice to the beauty of a place. In spring, the nature surrounding Sintra was a multitude greens. I couldn\'t get enough of it.\r\n\r\nLord Byron apparently also dug Sintra. I can see why.<!--more-->\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4720\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Main Street of Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4720\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/portugal-sintra-in-a-day/img_7408/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4720 \" title=\"Main Street of Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7408-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThere are two great castles/palaces--the National Palace and Pena Palace--in and around the city. While climbing the hill to the second palace--Pena--for the first time in my entire life I wondered: what makes a building a castle? and what makes a building a palace?\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4722\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Fairy-tale Castle \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4722\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/portugal-sintra-in-a-day/img_7503/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4722 \" title=\"Fairy-tale Castle \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7503-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nI think it\'s okay to wonder these things as an American. It\'s not like we do palaces or castles in America.\r\n\r\nBut do you want to know who does palaces well? The Portuguese.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4723\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"More Castle \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4723\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/portugal-sintra-in-a-day/img_7554/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4723 \" title=\"More of the Pena Palace \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7554-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThe Pena Palace is amazing and I bet that Prince Ferdinand who built the palace was also amazing. I told my Portuguese friends that I wanted him to be my dad so that I could live in that palace. They told me that I probably didn\'t want him as my dad. I trust them on this one because, well, they know more Portuguese history than I do.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4724\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View from the Palace to the Atlantic Ocean\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4724\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/portugal-sintra-in-a-day/img_7517/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4724 \" title=\"View from the Castle to the Atlantic Ocean\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7517-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThey also know where to buy the best pastries in Sintra. That\'s why it\'s important to have friends who are locals. They also speak the language which helps.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4753\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Pastries in Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4753\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/portugal-sintra-in-a-day/img_7576/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4753 \" title=\"Pastries in Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7576-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThey also knew that we should try ginjinha a sweet sour-cherry liquor in a chocolate cup.  Did I mention that you get to eat the cup once you\'ve finished the liquor? Who thought of that. So Clever. And tasty. Yum. Yum.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4754\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Drinking Ginjinha\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4754\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/portugal-sintra-in-a-day/img_7579/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4754 \" title=\"Drinking Ginjinha\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7579-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]','Portugal: Sintra in a Day','','inherit','open','open','','4718-revision-17','','','2011-04-19 20:56:41','2011-04-19 18:56:41','',4718,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/19/4718-revision-17/',0,'revision','',0),(4763,1,'2011-04-20 06:01:30','2011-04-20 04:01:30','Maybe you remember that just a little over a week ago I was in Portugal for Spring Break. Maybe not. The thing is given how busy I\'ve been this past week, it\'s hard for me to remember that 10 days ago I was exploring an entirely different country. These days it seems like I\'ve always lived in Sofia.\r\n\r\nLuckily I have the pictures to prove that I was there!!\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4721\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Gardens!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4721\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/portugal-sintra-in-a-day/img_7450/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4721 \" title=\"Gardens!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7450-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nBut it turns out that I have some really beautiful photos which prove that I was in Portugal and took a day trip to this incredible little town called <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sintra\">Sintra</a>. A town my guidebook called \"the summer retreat of Portugal\'s kings.\" It\'s not a town that will let you down or disappoint you.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4719\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View from upper street in Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4719\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/portugal-sintra-in-a-day/img_7389/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4719 \" title=\"View from upper street in Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7389-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nWhile a guidebook can give you plenty of names, dates and funny little stories they can never however do justice to the beauty of a place. In spring, the nature surrounding Sintra was a multitude greens. I couldn\'t get enough of it.\r\n\r\nLord Byron apparently also dug Sintra. I can see why.<!--more-->\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4720\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Main Street of Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4720\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/portugal-sintra-in-a-day/img_7408/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4720 \" title=\"Main Street of Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7408-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThere are two great castles/palaces--the National Palace and Pena Palace--in and around the city. While climbing the hill to the second palace--Pena--for the first time in my entire life I wondered: what makes a building a castle? and what makes a building a palace?\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4722\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Fairy-tale Castle \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4722\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/portugal-sintra-in-a-day/img_7503/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4722 \" title=\"Fairy-tale Castle \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7503-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nI think it\'s okay to wonder these things as an American. It\'s not like we do palaces or castles in America.\r\n\r\nBut do you want to know who does palaces well? The Portuguese.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4723\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"More Castle \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4723\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/portugal-sintra-in-a-day/img_7554/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4723 \" title=\"More of the Pena Palace \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7554-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThe Pena Palace is amazing and I bet that Prince Ferdinand who built the palace was also amazing. I told my Portuguese friends that I wanted him to be my dad so that I could live in that palace. They told me that I probably didn\'t want him as my dad. I trust them on this one because, well, they know more Portuguese history than I do.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4724\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"View from the Palace to the Atlantic Ocean\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4724\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/portugal-sintra-in-a-day/img_7517/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4724 \" title=\"View from the Castle to the Atlantic Ocean\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7517-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThey also know where to buy the best pastries in Sintra. That\'s why it\'s important to have friends who are locals. They also speak the language which helps.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4753\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Pastries in Sintra\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4753\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/portugal-sintra-in-a-day/img_7576/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4753 \" title=\"Pastries in Sintra\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7576-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThey also knew that we should try ginjinha a sweet sour-cherry liquor in a chocolate cup.  Did I mention that you get to eat the cup once you\'ve finished the liquor? Who thought of that. So Clever. And tasty. Yum. Yum.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4754\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Drinking Ginjinha\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4754\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/portugal-sintra-in-a-day/img_7579/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4754 \" title=\"Drinking Ginjinha\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_7579-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]','Portugal: Sintra in a Day','','inherit','open','open','','4718-revision-18','','','2011-04-20 06:01:30','2011-04-20 04:01:30','',4718,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/4718-revision-18/',0,'revision','',0),(4764,1,'2011-04-21 05:17:55','2011-04-21 03:17:55','Well, it\'s happened.\r\n\r\nMy old (and very reliable) cell phone seems to have died. More or less old age.\r\n\r\nRest in peace.\r\n\r\nAnd I am sorry that I knocked you off my desk at work with a book.\r\n\r\nI\'ve been saying that I won\'t get a new phone until my old one has died. And now that day is here.\r\n\r\nFor the last two weeks I\'ve been using the crappy-ist Samsung phone--it was left to a friend of a friend and now I\'m borrowing it. I am pretty sure it must have been the cheapest phone on sale a couple of years ago. It\'s so cheap in fact that there\'s a permanent thumb print pressed into the screen of the phone. This makes telling the time difficult and sending text messages/reading text messages even that much harder.\r\n\r\nNeedless to say, this phone is just a stop-gap measure.<!--more-->\r\n\r\nSo here\'s the thing. I think now\'s the time to hop onto the smartphone band-wagon. If there\'s even a bandwagon left to hop onto seeing as I am feeling pretty behind when it comes to new cool technology.  In fact, maybe I am just chasing a trend and should get a landline instead. But what\'s done is done--and it\'s pretty hard to text message with a rotary phone.\r\n\r\nNow that I\'m here though I am kind of paralyzed by choice. And the range of options that I have. For a long time I\'ve thought: iphone and every time I thought that baby angles sang, unicorns danced on cotton candy clouds and homeless puppies were adopted. However, today I am not so sure.\r\n\r\nIt boils down to this: I need help.\r\n\r\nDo I buy a phone in Bulgaria? If so what are my best options? Which phone(s) do you love?\r\n\r\nOr do I wait until I am back in the States in July and pick something up then? Do you think it really is that much cheaper to buy a phone in the States than in Bulgaria? I mean I would have to wait for over two months to do so and in the mean time, I\'d have to continue using this horrible little telephone.\r\n\r\nThe other thing to add to this equation is the fact that after nearly three years here in Sofia I am still pre-pay plan with Mtel. I frankly don\'t use my phone that much and have never figured that it was worth it switch over to a monthly plan. This said, I am not opposed to it.\r\n\r\nI am just lazy.\r\n\r\nThis is probably why I am writing a blog post about buying a new phone rather than researching it on my own. Or just buying one.\r\n\r\nAnyhow, I\'d love to hear your thoughts and to get your advice.\r\n\r\nThanks a million!','Thoughts: Buying a Smartphone in Bulgaria?! ','','publish','open','open','','thoughts-buying-a-smartphone-in-bulgaria','','','2011-04-20 21:18:30','2011-04-20 19:18:30','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=4764',0,'post','',11),(4765,1,'2011-04-20 20:51:59','2011-04-20 18:51:59','Well, it\'s happened. My old (and very reliable) cell phone seems to have died of more or less old age. Rest in peace. And I am sorry that I knocked you off my desk at work with a book.\n\nI\'ve been saying that I won\'t get a new phone until my old one has died. And now that day is here.\n\nFor the last two weeks I\'ve been using the crappy-ist Samsung phone--it was left to a friend of a friend and now I\'m borrowing it. I am pretty sure it must have been the cheapest phone on sale a couple of years ago. It\'s so cheap in fact that there\'s a permanent thumb print pressed into the screen of the phone. This makes telling the time difficult and sending text messages/reading text messages even that much harder.\n\nNeedless to say, this phone is just a stop-gap measure.\n\nSo here\'s the thing. I think now\'s the time to hop onto the smartphone band-wagon. If there\'s even a bandwagon left to hop onto seeing as I am feeling pretty behind when it comes to new cool technology.  In fact, maybe I am just chasing a trend and should get a landline instead. But what\'s done is done--and it\'s pretty hard to text message with a rotary phone.\n\nNow that I\'m here though I am kind of paralyzed by choice. And the range of options that I have. For a long time I\'ve thought: iphone and every time I thought that baby angles sang, unicorns danced on cotton candy clouds and homeless puppies were adopted. However, today I am not so sure.\n\nIt boils down to this: I need help.\n\nDo I buy a phone in Bulgaria? If so what are my best options? Which phone(s) do you love? Or do I wait until I am back in the States in July and pick something up then? Do you think it really is that much cheaper to buy a phone in the States than in Bulgaria? I mean I would have to wait for over two months to do so and in the mean time, I\'d have to continue using this horrible little telephone.\n\nThe other thing to add to this equation is the fact that after nearly three years here in Sofia I am still pre-pay plan with Mtel. I frankly don\'t use my phone that much and have never figured that it was worth it switch over to a monthly plan. This said, I am not opposed to it.\n\nI am just lazy.\n\nThis is probably why I am writing a blog post about buying a new phone rather than researching it on my own. Or just buying one. Anyhow, I loved to hear your thoughts and to get your advice. Thanks a million!','Thoughts: Buying a Smartphone in Bulgaria?! ','','inherit','open','open','','4764-revision','','','2011-04-20 20:51:59','2011-04-20 18:51:59','',4764,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/4764-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(4766,1,'2011-04-20 20:52:39','2011-04-20 18:52:39','Well, it\'s happened. My old (and very reliable) cell phone seems to have died of more or less old age. Rest in peace. And I am sorry that I knocked you off my desk at work with a book.\r\n\r\nI\'ve been saying that I won\'t get a new phone until my old one has died. And now that day is here.\r\n\r\nFor the last two weeks I\'ve been using the crappy-ist Samsung phone--it was left to a friend of a friend and now I\'m borrowing it. I am pretty sure it must have been the cheapest phone on sale a couple of years ago. It\'s so cheap in fact that there\'s a permanent thumb print pressed into the screen of the phone. This makes telling the time difficult and sending text messages/reading text messages even that much harder.\r\n\r\nNeedless to say, this phone is just a stop-gap measure.\r\n\r\nSo here\'s the thing. I think now\'s the time to hop onto the smartphone band-wagon. If there\'s even a bandwagon left to hop onto seeing as I am feeling pretty behind when it comes to new cool technology.  In fact, maybe I am just chasing a trend and should get a landline instead. But what\'s done is done--and it\'s pretty hard to text message with a rotary phone.\r\n\r\nNow that I\'m here though I am kind of paralyzed by choice. And the range of options that I have. For a long time I\'ve thought: iphone and every time I thought that baby angles sang, unicorns danced on cotton candy clouds and homeless puppies were adopted. However, today I am not so sure.\r\n\r\nIt boils down to this: I need help.\r\n\r\nDo I buy a phone in Bulgaria? If so what are my best options? Which phone(s) do you love? Or do I wait until I am back in the States in July and pick something up then? Do you think it really is that much cheaper to buy a phone in the States than in Bulgaria? I mean I would have to wait for over two months to do so and in the mean time, I\'d have to continue using this horrible little telephone.\r\n\r\nThe other thing to add to this equation is the fact that after nearly three years here in Sofia I am still pre-pay plan with Mtel. I frankly don\'t use my phone that much and have never figured that it was worth it switch over to a monthly plan. This said, I am not opposed to it.\r\n\r\nI am just lazy.\r\n\r\nThis is probably why I am writing a blog post about buying a new phone rather than researching it on my own. Or just buying one. Anyhow, I\'d love to hear your thoughts and to get your advice. Thanks a million!','Thoughts: Buying a Smartphone in Bulgaria?! ','','inherit','open','open','','4764-revision-2','','','2011-04-20 20:52:39','2011-04-20 18:52:39','',4764,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/4764-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(4767,1,'2011-04-20 20:55:53','2011-04-20 18:55:53','Well, it\'s happened.\r\n\r\nMy old (and very reliable) cell phone seems to have died. More or less old age.\r\n\r\nRest in peace.\r\n\r\nAnd I am sorry that I knocked you off my desk at work with a book.\r\n\r\nI\'ve been saying that I won\'t get a new phone until my old one has died. And now that day is here.\r\n\r\nFor the last two weeks I\'ve been using the crappy-ist Samsung phone--it was left to a friend of a friend and now I\'m borrowing it. I am pretty sure it must have been the cheapest phone on sale a couple of years ago. It\'s so cheap in fact that there\'s a permanent thumb print pressed into the screen of the phone. This makes telling the time difficult and sending text messages/reading text messages even that much harder.\r\n\r\nNeedless to say, this phone is just a stop-gap measure.\r\n\r\nSo here\'s the thing. I think now\'s the time to hop onto the smartphone band-wagon. If there\'s even a bandwagon left to hop onto seeing as I am feeling pretty behind when it comes to new cool technology.  In fact, maybe I am just chasing a trend and should get a landline instead. But what\'s done is done--and it\'s pretty hard to text message with a rotary phone.\r\n\r\nNow that I\'m here though I am kind of paralyzed by choice. And the range of options that I have. For a long time I\'ve thought: iphone and every time I thought that baby angles sang, unicorns danced on cotton candy clouds and homeless puppies were adopted. However, today I am not so sure.\r\n\r\nIt boils down to this: I need help.\r\n\r\nDo I buy a phone in Bulgaria? If so what are my best options? Which phone(s) do you love?\r\n\r\nOr do I wait until I am back in the States in July and pick something up then? Do you think it really is that much cheaper to buy a phone in the States than in Bulgaria? I mean I would have to wait for over two months to do so and in the mean time, I\'d have to continue using this horrible little telephone.\r\n\r\nThe other thing to add to this equation is the fact that after nearly three years here in Sofia I am still pre-pay plan with Mtel. I frankly don\'t use my phone that much and have never figured that it was worth it switch over to a monthly plan. This said, I am not opposed to it.\r\n\r\nI am just lazy.\r\n\r\nThis is probably why I am writing a blog post about buying a new phone rather than researching it on my own. Or just buying one.\r\n\r\nAnyhow, I\'d love to hear your thoughts and to get your advice.\r\n\r\nThanks a million!','Thoughts: Buying a Smartphone in Bulgaria?! ','','inherit','open','open','','4764-revision-3','','','2011-04-20 20:55:53','2011-04-20 18:55:53','',4764,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/20/4764-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(4768,1,'2011-04-21 05:24:05','2011-04-21 03:24:05','Well, it\'s happened.\n\nMy old (and very reliable) cell phone seems to have died. More or less old age.\n\nRest in peace.\n\nAnd I am sorry that I knocked you off my desk at work with a book.\n\nI\'ve been saying that I won\'t get a new phone until my old one has died. And now that day is here.\n\nFor the last two weeks I\'ve been using the crappy-ist Samsung phone--it was left to a friend of a friend and now I\'m borrowing it. I am pretty sure it must have been the cheapest phone on sale a couple of years ago. It\'s so cheap in fact that there\'s a permanent thumb print pressed into the screen of the phone. This makes telling the time difficult and sending text messages/reading text messages even that much harder.\n\nNeedless to say, this phone is just a stop-gap measure.<!--more-->\n\nSo here\'s the thing. I think now\'s the time to hop onto the smartphone band-wagon. If there\'s even a bandwagon left to hop onto seeing as I am feeling pretty behind when it comes to new cool technology.  In fact, maybe I am just chasing a trend and should get a landline instead. But what\'s done is done--and it\'s pretty hard to text message with a rotary phone.\n\nNow that I\'m here though I am kind of paralyzed by choice. And the range of options that I have. For a long time I\'ve thought: iphone and every time I thought that baby angles sang, unicorns danced on cotton candy clouds and homeless puppies were adopted. However, today I am not so sure.\n\nIt boils down to this: I need help.\n\nDo I buy a phone in Bulgaria? If so what are my best options? Which phone(s) do you love?\n\nOr do I wait until I am back in the States in July and pick something up then? Do you think it really is that much cheaper to buy a phone in the States than in Bulgaria? I mean I would have to wait for over two months to do so and in the mean time, I\'d have to continue using this horrible little telephone.\n\nThe other thing to add to this equation is the fact that after nearly three years here in Sofia I am still pre-pay plan with Mtel. I frankly don\'t use my phone that much and have never figured that it was worth it switch over to a monthly plan. This said, I am not opposed to it.\n\nI am just lazy.\n\nThis is probably why I am writing a blog post about buying a new phone rather than researching it on my own. Or just buying one.\n\nAnyhow, I\'d love to hear your thoughts and to get your advice.\n\nThanks a million!','Thoughts: Buying a Smartphone in Bulgaria?! ','','inherit','open','open','','4764-autosave','','','2011-04-21 05:24:05','2011-04-21 03:24:05','',4764,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/21/4764-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(4769,1,'2011-04-23 10:47:09','2011-04-23 08:47:09','On Friday, I woke up much too early for a four day weekend.\r\n\r\nI guess that\'s what happens when you\'re a teacher and your alarm clock goes off regularly at 5:45am.\r\n\r\nThe good news?\r\n\r\nIt meant that I had plenty of time to drink a pot of coffee before going on a walking tour of Sofia.\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4771\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Sofia Tour\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4771\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/23/sofia-and-easter-weekend/img_8189/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4771 \" title=\"Sofia Tour\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8189-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nWalking tour you might ask? <em>Yes.</em></p>\r\nAfter living in the city for nearly three years, I went on a walking tour of Sofia with a nonprofit group called <a title=\"Free Sofia Tour\" href=\"https://www.facebook.com/#!/freesofiatour\" target=\"_blank\">Free Sofia Tour</a>. I went mostly because I could and because I\'ve long thought that this was a major missing element of tourism in the city. Until earlier this year there have been no regular walking tours offered in the city for tourists and now we have one!!<!--more-->\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4772\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Sofia Baths\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4772\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/23/sofia-and-easter-weekend/img_8222/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4772 \" title=\"Sofia Baths\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8222-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nAnd they\'re great. Really great I might add. They were organized. Thoughtful. Knowledgeable. Well-spoken. Good looking. And they made sure that no one got lost and no one got hit by a car. That last one is pretty important considering the nightmare that is traffic in Sofia and the huge amount of construction happening downtown these days.\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4776\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Spring has come! \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4776\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/23/sofia-and-easter-weekend/img_8241/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4776 \" title=\"Spring has come! \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8241-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Sure I\'ve seen all of the sites we walked past but for better or worse, I don\'t really know all of the history of the city. The tour did a great job balancing history, culture and place. My guide was very fluent in English and knowledgeable about the city. He did a really great job navigating the various interests of our diverse group.</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Mostly, I went along to take pictures and to check out the quality of the tour. The quality you might ask? Top-notch and I\'ve been on my fair share of tours in Eastern Europe. The only thing that might make it better would be a stop for some rakiya. Maybe next time.</p>\r\n\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4774\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Old Man in the Park\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4774\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/23/sofia-and-easter-weekend/img_8234/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4774 \" title=\"Old Man in the Park\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8234-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nI was really happy with the 2 hour (more like 2 and 1/2 hour tour by the time we got started). Moreover, the tour seemed to hit the right note for older tourists in their 50 and 60\'s as well as twenty-something backpackers. That\'s not an easy balance to strike.\r\n\r\nAll in all, I had a great time. Yesterday was really the perfect time to see the city (or re-see the city in my case). It doesn\'t really get much better than sunny weather, blue skies, a light breeze and the buzz of a long weekend.\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\r\n<div class=\"mceTemp mceIEcenter\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><dl id=\"attachment_4775\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 624px;\"><dt class=\"wp-caption-dt\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4775\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/23/sofia-and-easter-weekend/img_8247/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4775 \" title=\"Nevski, Looking Good!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8247-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a></dt><dd class=\"wp-caption-dd\">Nevski, Looking Good!</dd></dl></div>\r\nSo, if you\'re new to the city, visiting the city for the first time or looking to brush up on Sofia\'s main attractions, I\'d recommend checking out Free Sofia Tour. They were great. Professional. Funny. And they gave pretty good advice on restaurants to check out and places to grab a beer outside.\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">&nbsp;</p>','Sofia and Easter Weekend','','publish','open','open','','sofia-and-easter-weekend','','','2011-04-23 10:47:10','2011-04-23 08:47:10','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=4769',0,'post','',0),(4770,1,'2011-04-23 08:47:12','2011-04-23 06:47:12','On Friday, I woke up much too early for a four day weekend. I guess that\'s what happens when you\'re a teacher and your alarm clock goes off regularly at 5:45am. The good news? It meant that I had plenty of time to drink a pot of coffee before going on a walking tour of Sofia.\n\nWalking tour you might ask? Yes.\n\nAfter living in the city for nearly three years, I went on a walking tour of Sofia with a nonprofit group called <a title=\"Free Sofia Tour\" href=\"https://www.facebook.com/#!/freesofiatour\" target=\"_blank\">Free Sofia Tour</a>. I went mostly because I could and because I\'ve long thought that this was a major missing element of tourism in the city. Until earlier this year there have been no regular walking tours offered in the city for tourists and now we have one!!\n\nAnd they\'re great.\n\nSure I\'ve seen all of the sites we walked past but for better or worse, I don\'t really know all of the history of the city. The tour did a great job balancing history, culture and place. My guide was very fluent in English and knowledgeable about the city. He did a really great job navigating the various interests of our diverse group.\n\nThe tour seemed to hit the right note for older tourists in their 50 and 60\'s as well as twenty-something backpackers.\n\nYesterday was really the perfect time to see the city. It doesn\'t really get much better than sunny weather, blue skies, a light breeze and the bus\n\n&nbsp;','Sofia and Easter Weekend','','inherit','open','open','','4769-revision','','','2011-04-23 08:47:12','2011-04-23 06:47:12','',4769,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/23/4769-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(4771,1,'2011-04-23 10:26:18','2011-04-23 08:26:18','','Sofia Tour','Sofia Tour','inherit','open','open','','img_8189','','','2011-04-23 10:26:18','2011-04-23 08:26:18','',4769,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8189.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(4772,1,'2011-04-23 10:28:14','2011-04-23 08:28:14','','Sofia Baths','Sofia Baths','inherit','open','open','','img_8222','','','2011-04-23 10:28:14','2011-04-23 08:28:14','',4769,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8222.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(4773,1,'2011-04-23 10:30:25','2011-04-23 08:30:25','','Natural Springs','Natural Springs','inherit','open','open','','img_8210','','','2011-04-23 10:30:25','2011-04-23 08:30:25','',4769,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8210.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(4774,1,'2011-04-23 10:31:55','2011-04-23 08:31:55','','Old Man in the Park','Old Man in the Park','inherit','open','open','','img_8234','','','2011-04-23 10:31:55','2011-04-23 08:31:55','',4769,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8234.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(4775,1,'2011-04-23 10:34:42','2011-04-23 08:34:42','','Nevski, Looking Good!','Nevski, Looking Good!','inherit','open','open','','img_8247','','','2011-04-23 10:34:42','2011-04-23 08:34:42','',4769,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8247.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(4776,1,'2011-04-23 10:36:19','2011-04-23 08:36:19','','Spring has come! ','Spring has come! ','inherit','open','open','','img_8241','','','2011-04-23 10:36:19','2011-04-23 08:36:19','',4769,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8241.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(4777,1,'2011-04-23 10:33:04','2011-04-23 08:33:04','On Friday, I woke up much too early for a four day weekend. I guess that\'s what happens when you\'re a teacher and your alarm clock goes off regularly at 5:45am. The good news? It meant that I had plenty of time to drink a pot of coffee before going on a walking tour of Sofia.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4771\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"1024\" caption=\"Sofia Tour\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4771\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4771\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4771\" title=\"Sofia Tour\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8189-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nWalking tour you might ask? Yes.\n\nAfter living in the city for nearly three years, I went on a walking tour of Sofia with a nonprofit group called <a title=\"Free Sofia Tour\" href=\"https://www.facebook.com/#!/freesofiatour\" target=\"_blank\">Free Sofia Tour</a>. I went mostly because I could and because I\'ve long thought that this was a major missing element of tourism in the city. Until earlier this year there have been no regular walking tours offered in the city for tourists and now we have one!!\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4772\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Sofia Baths\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4772\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4772\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4772 \" title=\"Sofia Baths\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8222-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\n</p>\nAnd they\'re great.\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">Sure I\'ve seen all of the sites we walked past but for better or worse, I don\'t really know all of the history of the city. The tour did a great job balancing history, culture and place. My guide was very fluent in English and knowledgeable about the city. He did a really great job navigating the various interests of our diverse group.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4774\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Old Man in the Park\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4774\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4774\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4774 \" title=\"Old Man in the Park\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8234-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\n</p>\nThe tour seemed to hit the right note for older tourists in their 50 and 60\'s as well as twenty-something backpackers.\n\nYesterday was really the perfect time to see the city. It doesn\'t really get much better than sunny weather, blue skies, a light breeze and the buzz of a long weekend.\n\n&nbsp;','Sofia and Easter Weekend','','inherit','open','open','','4769-revision-2','','','2011-04-23 10:33:04','2011-04-23 08:33:04','',4769,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/23/4769-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(4778,1,'2011-04-23 10:37:32','2011-04-23 08:37:32','On Friday, I woke up much too early for a four day weekend. I guess that\'s what happens when you\'re a teacher and your alarm clock goes off regularly at 5:45am. The good news? It meant that I had plenty of time to drink a pot of coffee before going on a walking tour of Sofia.\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4771\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Sofia Tour\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4771\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4771\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4771 \" title=\"Sofia Tour\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8189-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nWalking tour you might ask? Yes.</p>\r\nAfter living in the city for nearly three years, I went on a walking tour of Sofia with a nonprofit group called <a title=\"Free Sofia Tour\" href=\"https://www.facebook.com/#!/freesofiatour\" target=\"_blank\">Free Sofia Tour</a>. I went mostly because I could and because I\'ve long thought that this was a major missing element of tourism in the city. Until earlier this year there have been no regular walking tours offered in the city for tourists and now we have one!!\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4772\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Sofia Baths\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4772\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4772\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4772 \" title=\"Sofia Baths\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8222-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nAnd they\'re great.\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4776\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Spring has come! \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4776\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4776\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4776 \" title=\"Spring has come! \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8241-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nSure I\'ve seen all of the sites we walked past but for better or worse, I don\'t really know all of the history of the city. The tour did a great job balancing history, culture and place. My guide was very fluent in English and knowledgeable about the city. He did a really great job navigating the various interests of our diverse group.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4774\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Old Man in the Park\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4774\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4774\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4774 \" title=\"Old Man in the Park\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8234-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\n</p>\r\nThe tour seemed to hit the right note for older tourists in their 50 and 60\'s as well as twenty-something backpackers.\r\n\r\nYesterday was really the perfect time to see the city. It doesn\'t really get much better than sunny weather, blue skies, a light breeze and the buzz of a long weekend.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4775\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"1024\" caption=\"Nevski, Looking Good!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4775\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4775\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4775\" title=\"Nevski, Looking Good!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8247-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\n&nbsp;','Sofia and Easter Weekend','','inherit','open','open','','4769-revision-3','','','2011-04-23 10:37:32','2011-04-23 08:37:32','',4769,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/23/4769-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(4779,1,'2011-04-23 10:38:04','2011-04-23 08:38:04','On Friday, I woke up much too early for a four day weekend. I guess that\'s what happens when you\'re a teacher and your alarm clock goes off regularly at 5:45am. The good news? It meant that I had plenty of time to drink a pot of coffee before going on a walking tour of Sofia.\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4771\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Sofia Tour\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4771\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4771\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4771 \" title=\"Sofia Tour\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8189-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nWalking tour you might ask? Yes.</p>\nAfter living in the city for nearly three years, I went on a walking tour of Sofia with a nonprofit group called <a title=\"Free Sofia Tour\" href=\"https://www.facebook.com/#!/freesofiatour\" target=\"_blank\">Free Sofia Tour</a>. I went mostly because I could and because I\'ve long thought that this was a major missing element of tourism in the city. Until earlier this year there have been no regular walking tours offered in the city for tourists and now we have one!!\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4772\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Sofia Baths\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4772\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4772\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4772 \" title=\"Sofia Baths\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8222-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nAnd they\'re great.\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4776\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Spring has come! \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4776\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4776\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4776 \" title=\"Spring has come! \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8241-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nSure I\'ve seen all of the sites we walked past but for better or worse, I don\'t really know all of the history of the city. The tour did a great job balancing history, culture and place. My guide was very fluent in English and knowledgeable about the city. He did a really great job navigating the various interests of our diverse group.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4774\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Old Man in the Park\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4774\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4774\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4774 \" title=\"Old Man in the Park\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8234-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\n</p>\nThe tour seemed to hit the right note for older tourists in their 50 and 60\'s as well as twenty-something backpackers.\n\nYesterday was really the perfect time to see the city. It doesn\'t really get much better than sunny weather, blue skies, a light breeze and the buzz of a long weekend.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4775\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"1024\" caption=\"Nevski, Looking Good!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4775\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4775\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4775\" title=\"Nevski, Looking Good!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8247-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" /></a>[/caption]\n\n&nbsp;','Sofia and Easter Weekend','','inherit','open','open','','4769-revision-4','','','2011-04-23 10:38:04','2011-04-23 08:38:04','',4769,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/23/4769-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(4780,1,'2011-04-23 10:47:09','2011-04-23 08:47:09','On Friday, I woke up much too early for a four day weekend.\r\n\r\nI guess that\'s what happens when you\'re a teacher and your alarm clock goes off regularly at 5:45am.\r\n\r\nThe good news?\r\n\r\nIt meant that I had plenty of time to drink a pot of coffee before going on a walking tour of Sofia.\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4771\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Sofia Tour\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4771\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4771\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4771 \" title=\"Sofia Tour\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8189-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nWalking tour you might ask? <em>Yes.</em></p>\r\nAfter living in the city for nearly three years, I went on a walking tour of Sofia with a nonprofit group called <a title=\"Free Sofia Tour\" href=\"https://www.facebook.com/#!/freesofiatour\" target=\"_blank\">Free Sofia Tour</a>. I went mostly because I could and because I\'ve long thought that this was a major missing element of tourism in the city. Until earlier this year there have been no regular walking tours offered in the city for tourists and now we have one!!<!--more-->\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4772\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Sofia Baths\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4772\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4772\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4772 \" title=\"Sofia Baths\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8222-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nAnd they\'re great. Really great I might add. They were organized. Thoughtful. Knowledgeable. Well-spoken. Good looking. And they made sure that no one got lost and no one got hit by a car. That last one is pretty important considering the nightmare that is traffic in Sofia and the huge amount of construction happening downtown these days.\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4776\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Spring has come! \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4776\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4776\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4776 \" title=\"Spring has come! \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8241-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Sure I\'ve seen all of the sites we walked past but for better or worse, I don\'t really know all of the history of the city. The tour did a great job balancing history, culture and place. My guide was very fluent in English and knowledgeable about the city. He did a really great job navigating the various interests of our diverse group.</p>\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Mostly, I went along to take pictures and to check out the quality of the tour. The quality you might ask? Top-notch and I\'ve been on my fair share of tours in Eastern Europe. The only thing that might make it better would be a stop for some rakiya. Maybe next time.</p>\r\n\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4774\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Old Man in the Park\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4774\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4774\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4774 \" title=\"Old Man in the Park\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8234-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nI was really happy with the 2 hour (more like 2 and 1/2 hour tour by the time we got started). Moreover, the tour seemed to hit the right note for older tourists in their 50 and 60\'s as well as twenty-something backpackers. That\'s not an easy balance to strike.\r\n\r\nAll in all, I had a great time. Yesterday was really the perfect time to see the city (or re-see the city in my case). It doesn\'t really get much better than sunny weather, blue skies, a light breeze and the buzz of a long weekend.\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">\r\n<div class=\"mceTemp mceIEcenter\" style=\"text-align: left;\"><dl id=\"attachment_4775\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 624px;\"><dt class=\"wp-caption-dt\"><a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4775\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4775\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4775 \" title=\"Nevski, Looking Good!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8247-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a></dt><dd class=\"wp-caption-dd\">Nevski, Looking Good!</dd></dl></div>\r\nSo, if you\'re new to the city, visiting the city for the first time or looking to brush up on Sofia\'s main attractions, I\'d recommend checking out Free Sofia Tour. They were great. Professional. Funny. And they gave pretty good advice on restaurants to check out and places to grab a beer outside.\r\n\r\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">&nbsp;</p>','Sofia and Easter Weekend','','inherit','open','open','','4769-revision-5','','','2011-04-23 10:47:09','2011-04-23 08:47:09','',4769,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/23/4769-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(4781,1,'2011-04-24 12:19:10','2011-04-24 10:19:10','[caption id=\"attachment_4782\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"225\" caption=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4782\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/easter-traditions-in-sofia/dsc02440/\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-4782 \" title=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02440-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nSurprise, surprise: it\'s Easter!\r\n\r\nI\'ve had a great time poking around the city this weekend.  I wasn\'t in Sofia for Easter last year but I did spend my first year in the city for the holiday. It just seemed like the thing to do and last year I am pretty sure that I was traveling and that Easter was lumped in with Spring Break.\r\n\r\nI\'ve been amazed by the feel of the city over the weekend. On Friday the city center is was hopping. There were people every where: on the streets, in cafes, in the parks, in shops. You name it--there were people there. Sofia was alive and bustling. It was the start of a four day weekend. <em>Easter Weekend!!</em>\r\n\r\nOkay for better or worse, I just sat down to type up a quick post on Easter Traditions in Sofia--a post that turned into a 2000+ words making it anything but short or quick. So I\'ve broken it down into four subsections--Kozunak, Eying Easter Eggs, Alexander Nevski Cathedral and Egg Fighting. I hope this helps in the read-ability of this massive post and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I hope that maybe you learn something new about Easter in Bulgaria and I hope that those of you more familiar with these traditions help me out where my knowledge is murky.\r\n\r\n<strong>Kozunak</strong>\r\n\r\nI bought kozunak at my favorite little bakery/banitsa shop on Graf Ignativ--it\'s right next to the new cafe Lime. I know that there are other bakeries in town but I am a loyal shopper. When I lived downtown this was my shop. I only bought banitsa and slices of pizza there. The women who worked there (and still do) were always really nice to me. In the beginning they let me stumble through my order in Bulgarian without ever giving me any sign of annoyance--even when it was busy.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4800\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Fresh Kuzonak\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4800\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/easter-traditions-in-sofia/img_8255/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4800 \" title=\"Fresh Kuzonak\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8255-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nYou get a lot of points in my book for that. And you get me traveling from Mladost into the city center for your kozunak for that reason as well. I can\'t imagine that they remember me or even notice my semi-regular support of their shop but that\'s okay.\r\n\r\nThe day I bought my kozunak, the shop was buzzing with activity and with crazy shoppers. There was a display of kozunak in the window and a line inside the shop as well as at the walk up pizza window. It\'s the kind of scene where you know from the line that the kozunak is going to be good but you\'ve got to steal yourself for the meyhem that will ensue as you try to place your order.<!--more-->\r\n\r\nThe problem is the shop is pretty small and generally speaking Bulgarians are only so-so when it comes to lines. Luckily, I know these things now and it takes more energy to get annoyed with the lawlessness of the line rather than just to smile and make eye contact with one of the women working at the shop. Before I got waited on however I did get elbowed a few times and I had a man blatantly cut in front of me. The woman behind the counter shot me a look of apology and annoyance at the same time when this happened. But what are you going to do, I am not fighting anyone on Easter weekend over bread. Even if it is really, really good bread.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4801\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Wow, Kozunak!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4801\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/easter-traditions-in-sofia/img_8257/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4801 \" title=\"Wow, Kozunak!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8257-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nNow kozunak is a bread that takes hours to prepare and while it\'s a tradition lots of people don\'t want to spend the time making themselves. Enter bakeries. When I was at the shop on Friday, there were three women behind the counter taking and filling orders. There was another girl bringing a fairly steady stream of kozunak out from the back and I can only assume there were just as many people making the bread in back.\r\n\r\nI guess it makes sense. Kozunak is a sweet airy bread and when you cut into it or pull a piece off the loaf you see these beautiful long fibers of bread inside. I am told that this requires sifting a lot of air into the bread, careful kneading, at some point you need to hit the dough on the wooden board you\'ve been kneading it on 100 times and you let it rise and you punch it down two or three times before you finally bake it in a hot oven.  No wonder so many people buy the bread rather than make it themselves.\r\n\r\n<strong>Dying Easter Eggs</strong>\r\n\r\nAfter buying more kozunak than a single girl probably should, I went to the grocery store to buy a few things for dinner and some eggs to hard boil and dye.\r\n\r\nAt Billa I was confronted with a problem: brown eggs.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4785\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4785\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/easter-traditions-in-sofia/dsc02427/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4785 \" title=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02427-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nOkay, just to be clear, Billa always has brown eggs. Normally, I am totally fine with this. Only I have never dyed eggs that aren\'t white--oh to be an American. In my mind brown eggs don\'t really seem to offer a very good base to work with.  The thought of brown-pink, brown-blue, brown-green Easter eggs didn\'t really do it for me.\r\n\r\nSo I bought a box of white eggs--which I think cost considerably more than the brown ones. <em>Oh well</em>. A dutiful shopper I checked on the structural integrity of my eggs. No one wants to buy cracked or broken eggs. I thought: great 12 eggs. That\'s plenty. I also grabbed a packet of egg dye and some apple cider vinegar.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4786\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"615\" caption=\"Dying Eggs! \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4786\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/easter-traditions-in-sofia/dsc02429/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4786    \" title=\"Dying Eggs! \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02429-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"615\" height=\"462\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nMy plan was this, make dinner. Then boil the eggs so that I could dye them on Saturday. Needless to say, this didn\'t happen. I used three eggs for dinner leaving me with 9 to dye. Again, that\'s plenty for just me.\r\n\r\nSaturday when I finally got around to boiling and dying the eggs them I realized two things.\r\n\r\nFirst, I bought 10 eggs not 12 so I\'ve only got 7 eggs. At this point it felt pretty silly to dye seven eggs--given the time and energy it takes--but it\'s Easter and I did buy the egg dye so I boil seven eggs. This leads me to point two, it turns out the instructions for dying eggs are in about 12 language none of which I really speak. Among others there\'s Polish, Czech, Lithuanian, Greek, Romanian, Danish and Bulgarian.  Greek and Danish have letters that I can\'t even read so I parse out the Bulgarian. As luck would have it, it\'s not too hard.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4787\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"My five un-cracked eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4787\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/easter-traditions-in-sofia/dsc02432/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4787  \" title=\"My five un-cracked eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02432-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nAfter boiling my eggs, I realize that two of my seven eggs have cracked in the cooking process. Stupid eggs. I figure that dying five eggs is about as silly as it gets. So I dyed the two cracked ones as well.\r\n\r\nAnd best part of the story? All seven of the eggs turn out simply beautiful. The colors are extremely vibrant none of the pastel <a title=\"Paas Easter Egg Dying\" href=\"http://www.paaseastereggs.com/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Paas business</a>. This leads me to suspect that I probably could have dyed brown eggs but who cares. The pink-red is shockingly bright and the blue is a midnight-blue color. It doesn\'t really get better than this.\r\n\r\nMy fingers smelled a little strange after words but I\'m trying not to think about that as I eat my hard boiled eggs.\r\n\r\n<strong>Alexander Nevski Cathedral</strong>\r\n\r\nThe highlight of the day, well night, was a trip to Alexander Nevski Cathedral to celebrate the arrival Easter at midnight. My friends S. and P. were both down with the idea of heading downtown to celebrate the holiday. There was a lot of discussion about how to get downtown at back.\r\n\r\nMy first year I lived in the city center making it super easy for me to walk to church and back. This year however, I wasn\'t sure what to expect. It\'s easy to get from Mladost to the center via Metro but the last train most nights is shortly after 11 pm. This schedule makes it pretty easy to get downtown but means that you can\'t rely on it to get home again. On a regular late night in the city center, I\'d grab a taxi to get back to Mladost but a taxi on Easter? I don\'t know.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4796\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Nevski: Easter\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4796\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/easter-traditions-in-sofia/dsc02433/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4796 \" title=\"Nevski: Easter\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02433-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nLuckily, my ever-clever friend P. said, if we were in Boston and there was a big even like this the city would extend hours on public transportation. She checked and sure enough, Sofia had extended Metro hours for Easter. That\'s cool. Really cool. It made the whole evening really easy. <em>Thanks, Sofia public transportation!</em>\r\n\r\nWe got downtown a little bit early and stopped by Memento to have a drink inside before going to stand outside in the cold. It was about 7 degrees celsius last night. When we got there it was crowded and at 15 minutes to midnight when we\'d gone to the bathroom and paid our bill the place was basically empty. Apparently if you\'re twenty-something it\'s totally acceptable to have a drink or two before heading to church to celebrate Easter.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4797\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"P. and S. in front of Nevski\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4797\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/easter-traditions-in-sofia/dsc02438/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4797 \" title=\"P. and S. in front of Nevski\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02438-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nOn our walk to Nevski, we bought candles from a young man selling them on the street. The Russian church was humming with activity and crossing the street Nevski was beautiful as usual. It was lit up with high power lamps and there was  huge crowd of people clustered outside the church. The lighting it turns out was for television as the ceremony was being televised.\r\n\r\nI hate to admit this but I know very little about the actual ceremony. Here are the highlights as I see them but the actual order of these things is pretty unclear to me. <em>Sorry</em>.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4798\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"People streaming of the church\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4798\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/easter-traditions-in-sofia/dsc02447/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4798 \" title=\"People streaming of the church\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02447-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThis said, I loved the way that the bells of the church seemed to work in hand in hand with the actual ceremony. It was incredibly beautiful to experience the bells, the chanting of the priest and the murmuring from the crowd. The result of this is a feeling of being actively pulled in the the ceremony and tradition even when you\'re not in the church or physically close to the priest because you\'re surrounded by it.\r\n\r\nSo the priest comes out of the church with a candle and from here the light is passed to everyone in the crowd outside of the church. In practice however, I spotted many young people outside of the church lighting their candles with lighters rather than waiting for the flame to be passed to them. This in part leads to part of the time order confusion that I have. In the large crowd outside of the church it takes a long time to actually pass on the light or the flame and when others are simply lighting their own candles the timing becomes all muddled. It doesn\'t help that last night it was also pretty windy making it difficult to light your candle the first time. One of the nice things is that Bulgarians who would never otherwise talk to you, do ask to light their candles from yours and you have to ask to you light yours on someone else\'s.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4799\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Side view of Nevski on Easter\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4799\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/easter-traditions-in-sofia/dsc02453/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4799 \" title=\"Side view of Nevski on Easter\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02453-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nWhile everyone is struggling to light their candles I think that the priest reaches the part of the ceremony where he exclaims: Christ is risen and the people respond: He has risen indeed. This happens three times. I think. Check out this great list of the greeting in <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paschal_greeting\" target=\"_blank\">different languages from all over the world</a>.\r\n\r\nAbout this point, everyone starts walking around the church. You\'re supposed to walk around the church three times with your burning candle. If your candle goes out, it\'s supposed to be bad luck and I think it reveals that you\'ve sinned in the past year.  Some people even say that you should walk home with your candle still burning after walking around the church but I don\'t really think this a part of the tradition. You don\'t want your candle to go out at any point after it has been lit but it\'s especially bad for it go out on your trip around the church. Last night this was basically impossible.\r\n\r\nThere were a number of factors that made it this way. First Nevski is just a big church, second it was windy and made protecting your flame difficult at best and third there were so many people there it was hard to actually walk around the church. We made it about half way around the church before we gave up on our flames. I think makes us fair-weather Orthodox Christians. We did however walk around the church; we just didn\'t manage to make it around with our candle still burning.  But for the record, even people with plastic cups, yogurt containers or other means of flame protectors other than their hands were also struggling to keep their candles burning.\r\n\r\nOne of the things that was interesting to me as an outsider was the huge range of people participating in this tradition. The participation of the young and old didn\'t surprise me as much as the participation of teenagers and young adults. In the States, this is the segment missing from most religious ceremonies and here in Bulgaria they were out in droves--actively participating burning candles in hand.\r\n\r\n<strong>Egg Fighting</strong>\r\n\r\nThen there\'s the egg fighting. After the religious ceremony has ended people unwrap hard boiled eggs and an unofficial ceremony begins: egg fighting. You take your egg--ideally a red one--and you wack/hit your egg against your opponent\'s egg. The winner\'s egg remains whole and uncracked. The loser\'s egg is cracked. I think that winning a battle not only proves the greatness of your egg but also your moral superiority over your opponent. But of course, you should feel free to correct me on this part.\r\n\r\nLittle kids are serious about this part of the tradition and they smash their eggs against their opponent\'s with great relish.\r\n\r\nIn fact teenagers, take this seriously as well. At school on Friday, I had a long talk with a group of teenage boys about this Easter tradition. They were shocked that this wasn\'t part of the Protestant Easter tradition.  I reminded them that in the States we have the Easter Bunny and that he\'s absent in Bulgarian tradition. They nodded in agreement but it was also clear that they thought we are certainly depriving our children in the States of one of the best parts of Easter.','Easter Traditions in Sofia ','','publish','open','open','','easter-traditions-in-sofia','','','2011-04-24 12:19:10','2011-04-24 10:19:10','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=4781',0,'post','',6),(4782,1,'2011-04-24 11:47:03','2011-04-24 09:47:03','','Me in front of Nevski candle in hand','Me in front of Nevski candle in hand','inherit','open','open','','dsc02440','','','2011-04-24 11:47:03','2011-04-24 09:47:03','',4781,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02440.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(4783,1,'2011-04-24 11:52:17','2011-04-24 09:52:17','[caption id=\"attachment_4782\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"225\" caption=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4782\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4782\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-4782\" title=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02440-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nSurprise, surprise: it\'s Easter!\n\nI\'ve had a great time poking around the city this weekend.  I wasn\'t in Sofia for Easter last year but I did spend my first year in the city for the holiday. It just seemed like the thing to do and last year I am pretty sure that I was traveling and that Easter was lumped in with Spring Break.\n\nI\'ve been amazed by the feel of the city over the weekend. On Friday the city center is was hopping. There were people every where: on the streets, in cafes, in the parks, in shops. You name it--there were people there. Sofia was alive and bustling. It was the start of a four day weekend. <em>Easter Weekend!!</em>\n\nOkay for better or worse, I just sat down to type up a quick post on Easter Traditions in Sofia--a post that turned into a 2000+ words making it anything but short or quick. So I\'ve broken it down into four subsections--Kuzonak, Eying Easter Eggs, Alexander Nevski Cathedral and Egg Fighting. I hope this helps in the read-ability of this massive post and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I hope that maybe you learn something new about Easter in Bulgaria and I hope that those of you more familiar with these traditions help me out where my knowledge is murky.\n\n<strong>Kuzonak</strong>\n\nI bought kuzonak at my favorite little bakery/banitsa shop on Graf Ignativ--it\'s right next to the new cafe Lime. I know that there are other bakeries in town but I am a loyal shopper. When I lived downtown this was my shop. I only bought banitsa and slices of pizza there. The women who worked there (and still do) were always really nice to me. In the beginning they let me stumble through my order in Bulgarian without ever giving me any sign of annoyance--even when it was busy.\n\nYou get a lot of points in my book for that. And you get me traveling from Mladost into the city center for your kuzonak for that reason as well. I can\'t imagine that they remember me or even notice my semi-regular support of their shop but that\'s okay.\n\nThe day I bought my kuzonak, the shop was buzzing with activity and with crazy shoppers. There was a display of kuzonak in the window and a line inside the shop as well as at the walk up pizza window. It\'s the kind of scene where you know from the line that the kuzonak is going to be good but you\'ve got to steal yourself for the meaham that will ensue as you try to place your order.\n\nThe problem is the shop is pretty small and generally speaking Bulgarians are only so-so when it comes to lines. Luckily, I know these things now and it takes more energy to get annoyed with the lawlessness of the line rather than just to smile and make eye contact with one of the women working at the shop. Before I got waited on however I did get elbowed a few times and I had a man blatantly cut in front of me. The woman behind the counter shot me a look of apology and annoyance at the same time when this happened. But what are you going to do, I am not fighting anyone on Easter weekend over bread. Even if it is really, really good bread.\n\nNow kuzonak is a bread that takes hours to prepare and while it\'s a tradition lots of people don\'t want to spend the time making themselves. Enter bakeries. When I was at the shop on Friday, there were three women behind the counter taking and filling orders. There was another girl bringing a fairly steady stream of kuzonak out from the back and I can only assume there were just as many people making the bread in back.\n\nI guess it makes sense. Kuzonak is a sweet airy bread and when you cut into it or pull a piece off the loaf you see these beautiful long fibers of bread inside. I am told that this requires sifting a lot of air into the bread, careful kneading, at some point you need to hit the dough on the wooden board you\'ve been kneading it on 100 times and you let it rise and you punch it down two or three times before you finally bake it in a hot oven.  No wonder so many people buy the bread rather than make it themselves.\n\n<strong>Dying Easter Eggs</strong>\n\nAfter buying more kuzonak than a single girl probably should, I went to the grocery store to buy a few things for dinner and some eggs to hard boil and dye.\n\nAt Billa I was confronted with a problem: brown eggs.\n\nOkay, just to be clear, Billa always has brown eggs. Normally, I am totally fine with this. Only I have never dyed eggs that aren\'t white--oh to be an American. In my mind brown eggs don\'t really seem to offer a very good base to work with.  The thought of brown-pink, brown-blue, brown-green Easter eggs didn\'t really do it for me.\n\nSo I bought a box of white eggs--which I think cost considerably more than the brown ones. <em>Oh well</em>. A dutiful shopper I checked on the structural integrity of my eggs. No one wants to buy cracked or broken eggs. I thought: great 12 eggs. That\'s plenty. I also grabbed a packet of egg dye and some apple cider vinegar.\n\nMy plan was this, make dinner. Then boil the eggs so that I could dye them on Saturday. Needless to say, this didn\'t happen. I used three eggs for dinner leaving me with 9 to dye. Again, that\'s plenty for just me.\n\nSaturday when I finally got around to boiling and dying the eggs them I realized two things.\n\nFirst, I bought 10 eggs not 12 so I\'ve only got 7 eggs. At this point it felt pretty silly to dye seven eggs--given the time and energy it takes--but it\'s Easter and I did buy the egg dye so I boil seven eggs. This leads me to point two, it turns out the instructions for dying eggs are in about 12 language none of which I really speak. Among others there\'s Polish, Czech, Lithuanian, Greek, Romanian, Danish and Bulgarian.  Greek and Danish have letters that I can\'t even read so I parse out the Bulgarian. As luck would have it, it\'s not too hard.\n\nAfter boiling my eggs, I realize that two of my seven eggs have cracked in the cooking process. Stupid eggs. I figure that dying five eggs is about as silly as it gets. So I dyed the two cracked ones as well.\n\nAnd best part of the story? All seven of the eggs turn out simply beautiful. The colors are extremely vibrant none of the pastel <a title=\"Paas Easter Egg Dying\" href=\"http://www.paaseastereggs.com/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Paas business</a>. This leads me to suspect that I probably could have dyed brown eggs but who cares. The pink-red is shockingly bright and the blue is a midnight-blue color. It doesn\'t really get better than this.\n\nMy fingers smelled a little strange after words but I\'m trying not to think about that as I eat my hard boiled eggs.\n\n<strong>Alexander Nevski Cathedral</strong>\n\nThe highlight of the day, well night, was a trip to Alexander Nevski Cathedral to celebrate the arrival Easter at midnight. My friends S. and P. were both down with the idea of heading downtown to celebrate the holiday. There was a lot of discussion about how to get downtown at back.\n\nMy first year I lived in the city center making it super easy for me to walk to church and back. This year however, I wasn\'t sure what to expect. It\'s easy to get from Mladost to the center via Metro but the last train most nights is shortly after 11 pm. This schedule makes it pretty easy to get downtown but means that you can\'t rely on it to get home again. On a regular late night in the city center, I\'d grab a taxi to get back to Mladost but a taxi on Easter? I don\'t know.\n\nLuckily, my ever-clever friend P. said, if we were in Boston and there was a big even like this the city would extend hours on public transportation. She checked and sure enough, Sofia had extended Metro hours for Easter. That\'s cool. Really cool. It made the whole evening really easy. <em>Thanks, Sofia public transportation!</em>\n\nWe got downtown a little bit early and stopped by Memento to have a drink inside before going to stand outside in the cold. It was about 7 degrees celsius last night. When we got there it was crowded and at 15 minutes to midnight when we\'d gone to the bathroom and paid our bill the place was basically empty. Apparently if you\'re twenty-something it\'s totally acceptable to have a drink or two before heading to church to celebrate Easter.\n\nOn our walk to Nevski, we bought candles from a young man selling them on the street. The Russian church was humming with activity and crossing the street Nevski was beautiful as usual. It was lit up with high power lamps and there was  huge crowd of people clustered outside the church. The lighting it turns out was for television as the ceremony was being televised.\n\nI hate to admit this but I know very little about the actual ceremony. Here are the highlights as I see them but the actual order of these things is pretty unclear to me. <em>Sorry</em>.\n\nThis said, I loved the way that the bells of the church seemed to work in hand in hand with the actual ceremony. It was incredibly beautiful to experience the bells, the chanting of the priest and the murmuring from the crowd. The result of this is a feeling of being actively pulled in the the ceremony and tradition even when you\'re not in the church or physically close to the priest because you\'re surrounded by it.\n\nThe priest comes out of the church with a candle and from here the light is passed to everyone in the crowd outside of the church. In practice however, I spotted many young people outside of the church lighting their candles with lighters rather than waiting for the flame to be passed to them. This in part leads to part of the time order confusion that I have. In the large crowd outside of the church it takes a long time to actually pass on the light or the flame and when others are simply lighting their own candles the timing becomes all muddled. It doesn\'t help that last night it was also pretty windy making it difficult to light your candle the first time. One of the nice things is that Bulgarians who would never otherwise talk to you, do ask to light their candles from yours and you have to ask to you light yours on someone else\'s.\n\nWhile everyone is struggling to light their candles I think that the priest reaches the part of the ceremony where he exclaims: Christ is risen and the people respond: He has risen indeed. This happens three times. I think. Check out this great list of the greeting in <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paschal_greeting\" target=\"_blank\">different languages from all over the world</a>.\n\nAbout this point, everyone starts walking around the church. You\'re supposed to walk around the church three times with your burning candle. If your candle goes out, it\'s supposed to be bad luck and I think it reveals that you\'ve sinned in the past year.  Some people even say that you should walk home with your candle still burning after walking around the church but I don\'t really think this a part of the tradition. You don\'t want your candle to go out at any point after it has been lit but it\'s especially bad for it go out on your trip around the church. Last night this was basically impossible.\n\nThere were a number of factors that made it this way. First Nevski is just a big church, second it was windy and made protecting your flame difficult at best and third there were so many people there it was hard to actually walk around the church. We made it about half way around the church before we gave up on our flames. I think makes us fair-weather Orthodox Christians. We did however walk around the church; we just didn\'t manage to make it around with our candle still burning.  But for the record, even people with plastic cups, yogurt containers or other means of flame protectors other than their hands were also struggling to keep their candles burning.\n\nOne of the things that was interesting to me as an outsider was the huge range of people participating in this tradition. The participation of the young and old didn\'t surprise me as much as the participation of teenagers and young adults. In the States, this is the segment missing from most religious ceremonies and here in Bulgaria they were out in droves--actively participating burning candles in hand.\n\n<strong>Egg Fighting</strong>\n\nThen there\'s the egg fighting. After the religious ceremony has ended people unwrap hard boiled eggs and an unofficial ceremony begins: egg fighting. You take your egg--ideally a red one--and you wack/hit your egg against your opponent\'s egg. The winner\'s egg remains whole and uncracked. The loser\'s egg is cracked. I think that winning a battle not only proves the greatness of your egg but also your moral superiority over your opponent. But of course, you should feel free to correct me on this part.\n\nLittle kids are serious about this part of the tradition and they smash their eggs against their opponent\'s with great relish.\n\nIn fact teenagers, take this seriously as well. At school on Friday, I had a long talk with a group of teenage boys about this Easter tradition. They were shocked that this wasn\'t part of the Protestant Easter tradition.  I reminded them that in the States we have the Easter Bunny and that he\'s absent in Bulgarian tradition. They nodded in agreement but it was also clear that they thought we are certainly depriving our children in the States of one of the best parts of Easter.','Easter Traditions in Sofia ','','inherit','open','open','','4781-revision','','','2011-04-24 11:52:17','2011-04-24 09:52:17','',4781,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/4781-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(4785,1,'2011-04-24 11:54:49','2011-04-24 09:54:49','','Instructions for Dying Eggs','Instructions for Dying Eggs','inherit','open','open','','dsc02427','','','2011-04-24 11:54:49','2011-04-24 09:54:49','',4781,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02427.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(4784,1,'2011-04-24 11:52:38','2011-04-24 09:52:38','[caption id=\"attachment_4782\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"225\" caption=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4782\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4782\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-4782\" title=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02440-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nSurprise, surprise: it\'s Easter!\r\n\r\nI\'ve had a great time poking around the city this weekend.  I wasn\'t in Sofia for Easter last year but I did spend my first year in the city for the holiday. It just seemed like the thing to do and last year I am pretty sure that I was traveling and that Easter was lumped in with Spring Break.\r\n\r\nI\'ve been amazed by the feel of the city over the weekend. On Friday the city center is was hopping. There were people every where: on the streets, in cafes, in the parks, in shops. You name it--there were people there. Sofia was alive and bustling. It was the start of a four day weekend. <em>Easter Weekend!!</em>\r\n\r\nOkay for better or worse, I just sat down to type up a quick post on Easter Traditions in Sofia--a post that turned into a 2000+ words making it anything but short or quick. So I\'ve broken it down into four subsections--Kuzonak, Eying Easter Eggs, Alexander Nevski Cathedral and Egg Fighting. I hope this helps in the read-ability of this massive post and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I hope that maybe you learn something new about Easter in Bulgaria and I hope that those of you more familiar with these traditions help me out where my knowledge is murky.\r\n\r\n<strong>Kuzonak</strong>\r\n\r\nI bought kuzonak at my favorite little bakery/banitsa shop on Graf Ignativ--it\'s right next to the new cafe Lime. I know that there are other bakeries in town but I am a loyal shopper. When I lived downtown this was my shop. I only bought banitsa and slices of pizza there. The women who worked there (and still do) were always really nice to me. In the beginning they let me stumble through my order in Bulgarian without ever giving me any sign of annoyance--even when it was busy.\r\n\r\nYou get a lot of points in my book for that. And you get me traveling from Mladost into the city center for your kuzonak for that reason as well. I can\'t imagine that they remember me or even notice my semi-regular support of their shop but that\'s okay.\r\n\r\nThe day I bought my kuzonak, the shop was buzzing with activity and with crazy shoppers. There was a display of kuzonak in the window and a line inside the shop as well as at the walk up pizza window. It\'s the kind of scene where you know from the line that the kuzonak is going to be good but you\'ve got to steal yourself for the meaham that will ensue as you try to place your order.\r\n\r\nThe problem is the shop is pretty small and generally speaking Bulgarians are only so-so when it comes to lines. Luckily, I know these things now and it takes more energy to get annoyed with the lawlessness of the line rather than just to smile and make eye contact with one of the women working at the shop. Before I got waited on however I did get elbowed a few times and I had a man blatantly cut in front of me. The woman behind the counter shot me a look of apology and annoyance at the same time when this happened. But what are you going to do, I am not fighting anyone on Easter weekend over bread. Even if it is really, really good bread.\r\n\r\nNow kuzonak is a bread that takes hours to prepare and while it\'s a tradition lots of people don\'t want to spend the time making themselves. Enter bakeries. When I was at the shop on Friday, there were three women behind the counter taking and filling orders. There was another girl bringing a fairly steady stream of kuzonak out from the back and I can only assume there were just as many people making the bread in back.\r\n\r\nI guess it makes sense. Kuzonak is a sweet airy bread and when you cut into it or pull a piece off the loaf you see these beautiful long fibers of bread inside. I am told that this requires sifting a lot of air into the bread, careful kneading, at some point you need to hit the dough on the wooden board you\'ve been kneading it on 100 times and you let it rise and you punch it down two or three times before you finally bake it in a hot oven.  No wonder so many people buy the bread rather than make it themselves.\r\n\r\n<strong>Dying Easter Eggs</strong>\r\n\r\nAfter buying more kuzonak than a single girl probably should, I went to the grocery store to buy a few things for dinner and some eggs to hard boil and dye.\r\n\r\nAt Billa I was confronted with a problem: brown eggs.\r\n\r\nOkay, just to be clear, Billa always has brown eggs. Normally, I am totally fine with this. Only I have never dyed eggs that aren\'t white--oh to be an American. In my mind brown eggs don\'t really seem to offer a very good base to work with.  The thought of brown-pink, brown-blue, brown-green Easter eggs didn\'t really do it for me.\r\n\r\nSo I bought a box of white eggs--which I think cost considerably more than the brown ones. <em>Oh well</em>. A dutiful shopper I checked on the structural integrity of my eggs. No one wants to buy cracked or broken eggs. I thought: great 12 eggs. That\'s plenty. I also grabbed a packet of egg dye and some apple cider vinegar.\r\n\r\nMy plan was this, make dinner. Then boil the eggs so that I could dye them on Saturday. Needless to say, this didn\'t happen. I used three eggs for dinner leaving me with 9 to dye. Again, that\'s plenty for just me.\r\n\r\nSaturday when I finally got around to boiling and dying the eggs them I realized two things.\r\n\r\nFirst, I bought 10 eggs not 12 so I\'ve only got 7 eggs. At this point it felt pretty silly to dye seven eggs--given the time and energy it takes--but it\'s Easter and I did buy the egg dye so I boil seven eggs. This leads me to point two, it turns out the instructions for dying eggs are in about 12 language none of which I really speak. Among others there\'s Polish, Czech, Lithuanian, Greek, Romanian, Danish and Bulgarian.  Greek and Danish have letters that I can\'t even read so I parse out the Bulgarian. As luck would have it, it\'s not too hard.\r\n\r\nAfter boiling my eggs, I realize that two of my seven eggs have cracked in the cooking process. Stupid eggs. I figure that dying five eggs is about as silly as it gets. So I dyed the two cracked ones as well.\r\n\r\nAnd best part of the story? All seven of the eggs turn out simply beautiful. The colors are extremely vibrant none of the pastel <a title=\"Paas Easter Egg Dying\" href=\"http://www.paaseastereggs.com/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Paas business</a>. This leads me to suspect that I probably could have dyed brown eggs but who cares. The pink-red is shockingly bright and the blue is a midnight-blue color. It doesn\'t really get better than this.\r\n\r\nMy fingers smelled a little strange after words but I\'m trying not to think about that as I eat my hard boiled eggs.\r\n\r\n<strong>Alexander Nevski Cathedral</strong>\r\n\r\nThe highlight of the day, well night, was a trip to Alexander Nevski Cathedral to celebrate the arrival Easter at midnight. My friends S. and P. were both down with the idea of heading downtown to celebrate the holiday. There was a lot of discussion about how to get downtown at back.\r\n\r\nMy first year I lived in the city center making it super easy for me to walk to church and back. This year however, I wasn\'t sure what to expect. It\'s easy to get from Mladost to the center via Metro but the last train most nights is shortly after 11 pm. This schedule makes it pretty easy to get downtown but means that you can\'t rely on it to get home again. On a regular late night in the city center, I\'d grab a taxi to get back to Mladost but a taxi on Easter? I don\'t know.\r\n\r\nLuckily, my ever-clever friend P. said, if we were in Boston and there was a big even like this the city would extend hours on public transportation. She checked and sure enough, Sofia had extended Metro hours for Easter. That\'s cool. Really cool. It made the whole evening really easy. <em>Thanks, Sofia public transportation!</em>\r\n\r\nWe got downtown a little bit early and stopped by Memento to have a drink inside before going to stand outside in the cold. It was about 7 degrees celsius last night. When we got there it was crowded and at 15 minutes to midnight when we\'d gone to the bathroom and paid our bill the place was basically empty. Apparently if you\'re twenty-something it\'s totally acceptable to have a drink or two before heading to church to celebrate Easter.\r\n\r\nOn our walk to Nevski, we bought candles from a young man selling them on the street. The Russian church was humming with activity and crossing the street Nevski was beautiful as usual. It was lit up with high power lamps and there was  huge crowd of people clustered outside the church. The lighting it turns out was for television as the ceremony was being televised.\r\n\r\nI hate to admit this but I know very little about the actual ceremony. Here are the highlights as I see them but the actual order of these things is pretty unclear to me. <em>Sorry</em>.\r\n\r\nThis said, I loved the way that the bells of the church seemed to work in hand in hand with the actual ceremony. It was incredibly beautiful to experience the bells, the chanting of the priest and the murmuring from the crowd. The result of this is a feeling of being actively pulled in the the ceremony and tradition even when you\'re not in the church or physically close to the priest because you\'re surrounded by it.\r\n\r\nSo the priest comes out of the church with a candle and from here the light is passed to everyone in the crowd outside of the church. In practice however, I spotted many young people outside of the church lighting their candles with lighters rather than waiting for the flame to be passed to them. This in part leads to part of the time order confusion that I have. In the large crowd outside of the church it takes a long time to actually pass on the light or the flame and when others are simply lighting their own candles the timing becomes all muddled. It doesn\'t help that last night it was also pretty windy making it difficult to light your candle the first time. One of the nice things is that Bulgarians who would never otherwise talk to you, do ask to light their candles from yours and you have to ask to you light yours on someone else\'s.\r\n\r\nWhile everyone is struggling to light their candles I think that the priest reaches the part of the ceremony where he exclaims: Christ is risen and the people respond: He has risen indeed. This happens three times. I think. Check out this great list of the greeting in <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paschal_greeting\" target=\"_blank\">different languages from all over the world</a>.\r\n\r\nAbout this point, everyone starts walking around the church. You\'re supposed to walk around the church three times with your burning candle. If your candle goes out, it\'s supposed to be bad luck and I think it reveals that you\'ve sinned in the past year.  Some people even say that you should walk home with your candle still burning after walking around the church but I don\'t really think this a part of the tradition. You don\'t want your candle to go out at any point after it has been lit but it\'s especially bad for it go out on your trip around the church. Last night this was basically impossible.\r\n\r\nThere were a number of factors that made it this way. First Nevski is just a big church, second it was windy and made protecting your flame difficult at best and third there were so many people there it was hard to actually walk around the church. We made it about half way around the church before we gave up on our flames. I think makes us fair-weather Orthodox Christians. We did however walk around the church; we just didn\'t manage to make it around with our candle still burning.  But for the record, even people with plastic cups, yogurt containers or other means of flame protectors other than their hands were also struggling to keep their candles burning.\r\n\r\nOne of the things that was interesting to me as an outsider was the huge range of people participating in this tradition. The participation of the young and old didn\'t surprise me as much as the participation of teenagers and young adults. In the States, this is the segment missing from most religious ceremonies and here in Bulgaria they were out in droves--actively participating burning candles in hand.\r\n\r\n<strong>Egg Fighting</strong>\r\n\r\nThen there\'s the egg fighting. After the religious ceremony has ended people unwrap hard boiled eggs and an unofficial ceremony begins: egg fighting. You take your egg--ideally a red one--and you wack/hit your egg against your opponent\'s egg. The winner\'s egg remains whole and uncracked. The loser\'s egg is cracked. I think that winning a battle not only proves the greatness of your egg but also your moral superiority over your opponent. But of course, you should feel free to correct me on this part.\r\n\r\nLittle kids are serious about this part of the tradition and they smash their eggs against their opponent\'s with great relish.\r\n\r\nIn fact teenagers, take this seriously as well. At school on Friday, I had a long talk with a group of teenage boys about this Easter tradition. They were shocked that this wasn\'t part of the Protestant Easter tradition.  I reminded them that in the States we have the Easter Bunny and that he\'s absent in Bulgarian tradition. They nodded in agreement but it was also clear that they thought we are certainly depriving our children in the States of one of the best parts of Easter.','Easter Traditions in Sofia ','','inherit','open','open','','4781-revision-2','','','2011-04-24 11:52:38','2011-04-24 09:52:38','',4781,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/4781-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(4786,1,'2011-04-24 11:55:56','2011-04-24 09:55:56','','Dying Eggs! ','Dying Eggs! ','inherit','open','open','','dsc02429','','','2011-04-24 11:55:56','2011-04-24 09:55:56','',4781,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02429.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(4787,1,'2011-04-24 11:57:01','2011-04-24 09:57:01','','My five un-cracked eggs','My five un-cracked eggs','inherit','open','open','','dsc02432','','','2011-04-24 11:57:01','2011-04-24 09:57:01','',4781,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02432.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(4788,1,'2011-04-24 11:53:17','2011-04-24 09:53:17','[caption id=\"attachment_4782\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"225\" caption=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4782\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4782\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-4782\" title=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02440-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nSurprise, surprise: it\'s Easter!\n\nI\'ve had a great time poking around the city this weekend.  I wasn\'t in Sofia for Easter last year but I did spend my first year in the city for the holiday. It just seemed like the thing to do and last year I am pretty sure that I was traveling and that Easter was lumped in with Spring Break.\n\nI\'ve been amazed by the feel of the city over the weekend. On Friday the city center is was hopping. There were people every where: on the streets, in cafes, in the parks, in shops. You name it--there were people there. Sofia was alive and bustling. It was the start of a four day weekend. <em>Easter Weekend!!</em>\n\nOkay for better or worse, I just sat down to type up a quick post on Easter Traditions in Sofia--a post that turned into a 2000+ words making it anything but short or quick. So I\'ve broken it down into four subsections--Kuzonak, Eying Easter Eggs, Alexander Nevski Cathedral and Egg Fighting. I hope this helps in the read-ability of this massive post and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I hope that maybe you learn something new about Easter in Bulgaria and I hope that those of you more familiar with these traditions help me out where my knowledge is murky.\n\n<strong>Kuzonak</strong>\n\nI bought kuzonak at my favorite little bakery/banitsa shop on Graf Ignativ--it\'s right next to the new cafe Lime. I know that there are other bakeries in town but I am a loyal shopper. When I lived downtown this was my shop. I only bought banitsa and slices of pizza there. The women who worked there (and still do) were always really nice to me. In the beginning they let me stumble through my order in Bulgarian without ever giving me any sign of annoyance--even when it was busy.\n\nYou get a lot of points in my book for that. And you get me traveling from Mladost into the city center for your kuzonak for that reason as well. I can\'t imagine that they remember me or even notice my semi-regular support of their shop but that\'s okay.\n\nThe day I bought my kuzonak, the shop was buzzing with activity and with crazy shoppers. There was a display of kuzonak in the window and a line inside the shop as well as at the walk up pizza window. It\'s the kind of scene where you know from the line that the kuzonak is going to be good but you\'ve got to steal yourself for the meaham that will ensue as you try to place your order.\n\nThe problem is the shop is pretty small and generally speaking Bulgarians are only so-so when it comes to lines. Luckily, I know these things now and it takes more energy to get annoyed with the lawlessness of the line rather than just to smile and make eye contact with one of the women working at the shop. Before I got waited on however I did get elbowed a few times and I had a man blatantly cut in front of me. The woman behind the counter shot me a look of apology and annoyance at the same time when this happened. But what are you going to do, I am not fighting anyone on Easter weekend over bread. Even if it is really, really good bread.\n\nNow kuzonak is a bread that takes hours to prepare and while it\'s a tradition lots of people don\'t want to spend the time making themselves. Enter bakeries. When I was at the shop on Friday, there were three women behind the counter taking and filling orders. There was another girl bringing a fairly steady stream of kuzonak out from the back and I can only assume there were just as many people making the bread in back.\n\nI guess it makes sense. Kuzonak is a sweet airy bread and when you cut into it or pull a piece off the loaf you see these beautiful long fibers of bread inside. I am told that this requires sifting a lot of air into the bread, careful kneading, at some point you need to hit the dough on the wooden board you\'ve been kneading it on 100 times and you let it rise and you punch it down two or three times before you finally bake it in a hot oven.  No wonder so many people buy the bread rather than make it themselves.\n\n<strong>Dying Easter Eggs</strong>\n\nAfter buying more kuzonak than a single girl probably should, I went to the grocery store to buy a few things for dinner and some eggs to hard boil and dye.\n\nAt Billa I was confronted with a problem: brown eggs.\n\nOkay, just to be clear, Billa always has brown eggs. Normally, I am totally fine with this. Only I have never dyed eggs that aren\'t white--oh to be an American. In my mind brown eggs don\'t really seem to offer a very good base to work with.  The thought of brown-pink, brown-blue, brown-green Easter eggs didn\'t really do it for me.\n\nSo I bought a box of white eggs--which I think cost considerably more than the brown ones. <em>Oh well</em>. A dutiful shopper I checked on the structural integrity of my eggs. No one wants to buy cracked or broken eggs. I thought: great 12 eggs. That\'s plenty. I also grabbed a packet of egg dye and some apple cider vinegar.\n\nMy plan was this, make dinner. Then boil the eggs so that I could dye them on Saturday. Needless to say, this didn\'t happen. I used three eggs for dinner leaving me with 9 to dye. Again, that\'s plenty for just me.\n\nSaturday when I finally got around to boiling and dying the eggs them I realized two things.\n\nFirst, I bought 10 eggs not 12 so I\'ve only got 7 eggs. At this point it felt pretty silly to dye seven eggs--given the time and energy it takes--but it\'s Easter and I did buy the egg dye so I boil seven eggs. This leads me to point two, it turns out the instructions for dying eggs are in about 12 language none of which I really speak. Among others there\'s Polish, Czech, Lithuanian, Greek, Romanian, Danish and Bulgarian.  Greek and Danish have letters that I can\'t even read so I parse out the Bulgarian. As luck would have it, it\'s not too hard.\n\nAfter boiling my eggs, I realize that two of my seven eggs have cracked in the cooking process. Stupid eggs. I figure that dying five eggs is about as silly as it gets. So I dyed the two cracked ones as well.\n\nAnd best part of the story? All seven of the eggs turn out simply beautiful. The colors are extremely vibrant none of the pastel <a title=\"Paas Easter Egg Dying\" href=\"http://www.paaseastereggs.com/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Paas business</a>. This leads me to suspect that I probably could have dyed brown eggs but who cares. The pink-red is shockingly bright and the blue is a midnight-blue color. It doesn\'t really get better than this.\n\nMy fingers smelled a little strange after words but I\'m trying not to think about that as I eat my hard boiled eggs.\n\n<strong>Alexander Nevski Cathedral</strong>\n\nThe highlight of the day, well night, was a trip to Alexander Nevski Cathedral to celebrate the arrival Easter at midnight. My friends S. and P. were both down with the idea of heading downtown to celebrate the holiday. There was a lot of discussion about how to get downtown at back.\n\nMy first year I lived in the city center making it super easy for me to walk to church and back. This year however, I wasn\'t sure what to expect. It\'s easy to get from Mladost to the center via Metro but the last train most nights is shortly after 11 pm. This schedule makes it pretty easy to get downtown but means that you can\'t rely on it to get home again. On a regular late night in the city center, I\'d grab a taxi to get back to Mladost but a taxi on Easter? I don\'t know.\n\nLuckily, my ever-clever friend P. said, if we were in Boston and there was a big even like this the city would extend hours on public transportation. She checked and sure enough, Sofia had extended Metro hours for Easter. That\'s cool. Really cool. It made the whole evening really easy. <em>Thanks, Sofia public transportation!</em>\n\nWe got downtown a little bit early and stopped by Memento to have a drink inside before going to stand outside in the cold. It was about 7 degrees celsius last night. When we got there it was crowded and at 15 minutes to midnight when we\'d gone to the bathroom and paid our bill the place was basically empty. Apparently if you\'re twenty-something it\'s totally acceptable to have a drink or two before heading to church to celebrate Easter.\n\nOn our walk to Nevski, we bought candles from a young man selling them on the street. The Russian church was humming with activity and crossing the street Nevski was beautiful as usual. It was lit up with high power lamps and there was  huge crowd of people clustered outside the church. The lighting it turns out was for television as the ceremony was being televised.\n\nI hate to admit this but I know very little about the actual ceremony. Here are the highlights as I see them but the actual order of these things is pretty unclear to me. <em>Sorry</em>.\n\nThis said, I loved the way that the bells of the church seemed to work in hand in hand with the actual ceremony. It was incredibly beautiful to experience the bells, the chanting of the priest and the murmuring from the crowd. The result of this is a feeling of being actively pulled in the the ceremony and tradition even when you\'re not in the church or physically close to the priest because you\'re surrounded by it.\n\nSo the priest comes out of the church with a candle and from here the light is passed to everyone in the crowd outside of the church. In practice however, I spotted many young people outside of the church lighting their candles with lighters rather than waiting for the flame to be passed to them. This in part leads to part of the time order confusion that I have. In the large crowd outside of the church it takes a long time to actually pass on the light or the flame and when others are simply lighting their own candles the timing becomes all muddled. It doesn\'t help that last night it was also pretty windy making it difficult to light your candle the first time. One of the nice things is that Bulgarians who would never otherwise talk to you, do ask to light their candles from yours and you have to ask to you light yours on someone else\'s.\n\nWhile everyone is struggling to light their candles I think that the priest reaches the part of the ceremony where he exclaims: Christ is risen and the people respond: He has risen indeed. This happens three times. I think. Check out this great list of the greeting in <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paschal_greeting\" target=\"_blank\">different languages from all over the world</a>.\n\nAbout this point, everyone starts walking around the church. You\'re supposed to walk around the church three times with your burning candle. If your candle goes out, it\'s supposed to be bad luck and I think it reveals that you\'ve sinned in the past year.  Some people even say that you should walk home with your candle still burning after walking around the church but I don\'t really think this a part of the tradition. You don\'t want your candle to go out at any point after it has been lit but it\'s especially bad for it go out on your trip around the church. Last night this was basically impossible.\n\nThere were a number of factors that made it this way. First Nevski is just a big church, second it was windy and made protecting your flame difficult at best and third there were so many people there it was hard to actually walk around the church. We made it about half way around the church before we gave up on our flames. I think makes us fair-weather Orthodox Christians. We did however walk around the church; we just didn\'t manage to make it around with our candle still burning.  But for the record, even people with plastic cups, yogurt containers or other means of flame protectors other than their hands were also struggling to keep their candles burning.\n\nOne of the things that was interesting to me as an outsider was the huge range of people participating in this tradition. The participation of the young and old didn\'t surprise me as much as the participation of teenagers and young adults. In the States, this is the segment missing from most religious ceremonies and here in Bulgaria they were out in droves--actively participating burning candles in hand.\n\n<strong>Egg Fighting</strong>\n\nThen there\'s the egg fighting. After the religious ceremony has ended people unwrap hard boiled eggs and an unofficial ceremony begins: egg fighting. You take your egg--ideally a red one--and you wack/hit your egg against your opponent\'s egg. The winner\'s egg remains whole and uncracked. The loser\'s egg is cracked. I think that winning a battle not only proves the greatness of your egg but also your moral superiority over your opponent. But of course, you should feel free to correct me on this part.\n\nLittle kids are serious about this part of the tradition and they smash their eggs against their opponent\'s with great relish.\n\nIn fact teenagers, take this seriously as well. At school on Friday, I had a long talk with a group of teenage boys about this Easter tradition. They were shocked that this wasn\'t part of the Protestant Easter tradition.  I reminded them that in the States we have the Easter Bunny and that he\'s absent in Bulgarian tradition. They nodded in agreement but it was also clear that they thought we are certainly depriving our children in the States of one of the best parts of Easter.','Easter Traditions in Sofia ','','inherit','open','open','','4781-revision-3','','','2011-04-24 11:53:17','2011-04-24 09:53:17','',4781,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/4781-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(4789,1,'2011-04-24 11:58:49','2011-04-24 09:58:49','[caption id=\"attachment_4782\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"225\" caption=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4782\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4782\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-4782 \" title=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02440-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nSurprise, surprise: it\'s Easter!\r\n\r\nI\'ve had a great time poking around the city this weekend.  I wasn\'t in Sofia for Easter last year but I did spend my first year in the city for the holiday. It just seemed like the thing to do and last year I am pretty sure that I was traveling and that Easter was lumped in with Spring Break.\r\n\r\nI\'ve been amazed by the feel of the city over the weekend. On Friday the city center is was hopping. There were people every where: on the streets, in cafes, in the parks, in shops. You name it--there were people there. Sofia was alive and bustling. It was the start of a four day weekend. <em>Easter Weekend!!</em>\r\n\r\nOkay for better or worse, I just sat down to type up a quick post on Easter Traditions in Sofia--a post that turned into a 2000+ words making it anything but short or quick. So I\'ve broken it down into four subsections--Kuzonak, Eying Easter Eggs, Alexander Nevski Cathedral and Egg Fighting. I hope this helps in the read-ability of this massive post and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I hope that maybe you learn something new about Easter in Bulgaria and I hope that those of you more familiar with these traditions help me out where my knowledge is murky.\r\n\r\n<strong>Kuzonak</strong>\r\n\r\nI bought kuzonak at my favorite little bakery/banitsa shop on Graf Ignativ--it\'s right next to the new cafe Lime. I know that there are other bakeries in town but I am a loyal shopper. When I lived downtown this was my shop. I only bought banitsa and slices of pizza there. The women who worked there (and still do) were always really nice to me. In the beginning they let me stumble through my order in Bulgarian without ever giving me any sign of annoyance--even when it was busy.\r\n\r\nYou get a lot of points in my book for that. And you get me traveling from Mladost into the city center for your kuzonak for that reason as well. I can\'t imagine that they remember me or even notice my semi-regular support of their shop but that\'s okay.\r\n\r\nThe day I bought my kuzonak, the shop was buzzing with activity and with crazy shoppers. There was a display of kuzonak in the window and a line inside the shop as well as at the walk up pizza window. It\'s the kind of scene where you know from the line that the kuzonak is going to be good but you\'ve got to steal yourself for the meaham that will ensue as you try to place your order.\r\n\r\nThe problem is the shop is pretty small and generally speaking Bulgarians are only so-so when it comes to lines. Luckily, I know these things now and it takes more energy to get annoyed with the lawlessness of the line rather than just to smile and make eye contact with one of the women working at the shop. Before I got waited on however I did get elbowed a few times and I had a man blatantly cut in front of me. The woman behind the counter shot me a look of apology and annoyance at the same time when this happened. But what are you going to do, I am not fighting anyone on Easter weekend over bread. Even if it is really, really good bread.\r\n\r\nNow kuzonak is a bread that takes hours to prepare and while it\'s a tradition lots of people don\'t want to spend the time making themselves. Enter bakeries. When I was at the shop on Friday, there were three women behind the counter taking and filling orders. There was another girl bringing a fairly steady stream of kuzonak out from the back and I can only assume there were just as many people making the bread in back.\r\n\r\nI guess it makes sense. Kuzonak is a sweet airy bread and when you cut into it or pull a piece off the loaf you see these beautiful long fibers of bread inside. I am told that this requires sifting a lot of air into the bread, careful kneading, at some point you need to hit the dough on the wooden board you\'ve been kneading it on 100 times and you let it rise and you punch it down two or three times before you finally bake it in a hot oven.  No wonder so many people buy the bread rather than make it themselves.\r\n\r\n<strong>Dying Easter Eggs</strong>\r\n\r\nAfter buying more kuzonak than a single girl probably should, I went to the grocery store to buy a few things for dinner and some eggs to hard boil and dye.\r\n\r\nAt Billa I was confronted with a problem: brown eggs.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4785\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"1024\" caption=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4785\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4785\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4785\" title=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02427-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nOkay, just to be clear, Billa always has brown eggs. Normally, I am totally fine with this. Only I have never dyed eggs that aren\'t white--oh to be an American. In my mind brown eggs don\'t really seem to offer a very good base to work with.  The thought of brown-pink, brown-blue, brown-green Easter eggs didn\'t really do it for me.\r\n\r\nSo I bought a box of white eggs--which I think cost considerably more than the brown ones. <em>Oh well</em>. A dutiful shopper I checked on the structural integrity of my eggs. No one wants to buy cracked or broken eggs. I thought: great 12 eggs. That\'s plenty. I also grabbed a packet of egg dye and some apple cider vinegar.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4786\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"717\" caption=\"Dying Eggs! \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4786\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4786\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4786 \" title=\"Dying Eggs! \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02429-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"717\" height=\"538\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nMy plan was this, make dinner. Then boil the eggs so that I could dye them on Saturday. Needless to say, this didn\'t happen. I used three eggs for dinner leaving me with 9 to dye. Again, that\'s plenty for just me.\r\n\r\nSaturday when I finally got around to boiling and dying the eggs them I realized two things.\r\n\r\nFirst, I bought 10 eggs not 12 so I\'ve only got 7 eggs. At this point it felt pretty silly to dye seven eggs--given the time and energy it takes--but it\'s Easter and I did buy the egg dye so I boil seven eggs. This leads me to point two, it turns out the instructions for dying eggs are in about 12 language none of which I really speak. Among others there\'s Polish, Czech, Lithuanian, Greek, Romanian, Danish and Bulgarian.  Greek and Danish have letters that I can\'t even read so I parse out the Bulgarian. As luck would have it, it\'s not too hard.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4787\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"My five un-cracked eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4787\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4787\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4787 \" title=\"My five un-cracked eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02432-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nAfter boiling my eggs, I realize that two of my seven eggs have cracked in the cooking process. Stupid eggs. I figure that dying five eggs is about as silly as it gets. So I dyed the two cracked ones as well.\r\n\r\nAnd best part of the story? All seven of the eggs turn out simply beautiful. The colors are extremely vibrant none of the pastel <a title=\"Paas Easter Egg Dying\" href=\"http://www.paaseastereggs.com/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Paas business</a>. This leads me to suspect that I probably could have dyed brown eggs but who cares. The pink-red is shockingly bright and the blue is a midnight-blue color. It doesn\'t really get better than this.\r\n\r\nMy fingers smelled a little strange after words but I\'m trying not to think about that as I eat my hard boiled eggs.\r\n\r\n<strong>Alexander Nevski Cathedral</strong>\r\n\r\nThe highlight of the day, well night, was a trip to Alexander Nevski Cathedral to celebrate the arrival Easter at midnight. My friends S. and P. were both down with the idea of heading downtown to celebrate the holiday. There was a lot of discussion about how to get downtown at back.\r\n\r\nMy first year I lived in the city center making it super easy for me to walk to church and back. This year however, I wasn\'t sure what to expect. It\'s easy to get from Mladost to the center via Metro but the last train most nights is shortly after 11 pm. This schedule makes it pretty easy to get downtown but means that you can\'t rely on it to get home again. On a regular late night in the city center, I\'d grab a taxi to get back to Mladost but a taxi on Easter? I don\'t know.\r\n\r\nLuckily, my ever-clever friend P. said, if we were in Boston and there was a big even like this the city would extend hours on public transportation. She checked and sure enough, Sofia had extended Metro hours for Easter. That\'s cool. Really cool. It made the whole evening really easy. <em>Thanks, Sofia public transportation!</em>\r\n\r\nWe got downtown a little bit early and stopped by Memento to have a drink inside before going to stand outside in the cold. It was about 7 degrees celsius last night. When we got there it was crowded and at 15 minutes to midnight when we\'d gone to the bathroom and paid our bill the place was basically empty. Apparently if you\'re twenty-something it\'s totally acceptable to have a drink or two before heading to church to celebrate Easter.\r\n\r\nOn our walk to Nevski, we bought candles from a young man selling them on the street. The Russian church was humming with activity and crossing the street Nevski was beautiful as usual. It was lit up with high power lamps and there was  huge crowd of people clustered outside the church. The lighting it turns out was for television as the ceremony was being televised.\r\n\r\nI hate to admit this but I know very little about the actual ceremony. Here are the highlights as I see them but the actual order of these things is pretty unclear to me. <em>Sorry</em>.\r\n\r\nThis said, I loved the way that the bells of the church seemed to work in hand in hand with the actual ceremony. It was incredibly beautiful to experience the bells, the chanting of the priest and the murmuring from the crowd. The result of this is a feeling of being actively pulled in the the ceremony and tradition even when you\'re not in the church or physically close to the priest because you\'re surrounded by it.\r\n\r\nSo the priest comes out of the church with a candle and from here the light is passed to everyone in the crowd outside of the church. In practice however, I spotted many young people outside of the church lighting their candles with lighters rather than waiting for the flame to be passed to them. This in part leads to part of the time order confusion that I have. In the large crowd outside of the church it takes a long time to actually pass on the light or the flame and when others are simply lighting their own candles the timing becomes all muddled. It doesn\'t help that last night it was also pretty windy making it difficult to light your candle the first time. One of the nice things is that Bulgarians who would never otherwise talk to you, do ask to light their candles from yours and you have to ask to you light yours on someone else\'s.\r\n\r\nWhile everyone is struggling to light their candles I think that the priest reaches the part of the ceremony where he exclaims: Christ is risen and the people respond: He has risen indeed. This happens three times. I think. Check out this great list of the greeting in <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paschal_greeting\" target=\"_blank\">different languages from all over the world</a>.\r\n\r\nAbout this point, everyone starts walking around the church. You\'re supposed to walk around the church three times with your burning candle. If your candle goes out, it\'s supposed to be bad luck and I think it reveals that you\'ve sinned in the past year.  Some people even say that you should walk home with your candle still burning after walking around the church but I don\'t really think this a part of the tradition. You don\'t want your candle to go out at any point after it has been lit but it\'s especially bad for it go out on your trip around the church. Last night this was basically impossible.\r\n\r\nThere were a number of factors that made it this way. First Nevski is just a big church, second it was windy and made protecting your flame difficult at best and third there were so many people there it was hard to actually walk around the church. We made it about half way around the church before we gave up on our flames. I think makes us fair-weather Orthodox Christians. We did however walk around the church; we just didn\'t manage to make it around with our candle still burning.  But for the record, even people with plastic cups, yogurt containers or other means of flame protectors other than their hands were also struggling to keep their candles burning.\r\n\r\nOne of the things that was interesting to me as an outsider was the huge range of people participating in this tradition. The participation of the young and old didn\'t surprise me as much as the participation of teenagers and young adults. In the States, this is the segment missing from most religious ceremonies and here in Bulgaria they were out in droves--actively participating burning candles in hand.\r\n\r\n<strong>Egg Fighting</strong>\r\n\r\nThen there\'s the egg fighting. After the religious ceremony has ended people unwrap hard boiled eggs and an unofficial ceremony begins: egg fighting. You take your egg--ideally a red one--and you wack/hit your egg against your opponent\'s egg. The winner\'s egg remains whole and uncracked. The loser\'s egg is cracked. I think that winning a battle not only proves the greatness of your egg but also your moral superiority over your opponent. But of course, you should feel free to correct me on this part.\r\n\r\nLittle kids are serious about this part of the tradition and they smash their eggs against their opponent\'s with great relish.\r\n\r\nIn fact teenagers, take this seriously as well. At school on Friday, I had a long talk with a group of teenage boys about this Easter tradition. They were shocked that this wasn\'t part of the Protestant Easter tradition.  I reminded them that in the States we have the Easter Bunny and that he\'s absent in Bulgarian tradition. They nodded in agreement but it was also clear that they thought we are certainly depriving our children in the States of one of the best parts of Easter.','Easter Traditions in Sofia ','','inherit','open','open','','4781-revision-4','','','2011-04-24 11:58:49','2011-04-24 09:58:49','',4781,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/4781-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(4790,1,'2011-04-24 11:58:49','2011-04-24 09:58:49','[caption id=\"attachment_4782\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"225\" caption=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4782\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4782\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-4782 \" title=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02440-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nSurprise, surprise: it\'s Easter!\r\n\r\nI\'ve had a great time poking around the city this weekend.  I wasn\'t in Sofia for Easter last year but I did spend my first year in the city for the holiday. It just seemed like the thing to do and last year I am pretty sure that I was traveling and that Easter was lumped in with Spring Break.\r\n\r\nI\'ve been amazed by the feel of the city over the weekend. On Friday the city center is was hopping. There were people every where: on the streets, in cafes, in the parks, in shops. You name it--there were people there. Sofia was alive and bustling. It was the start of a four day weekend. <em>Easter Weekend!!</em>\r\n\r\nOkay for better or worse, I just sat down to type up a quick post on Easter Traditions in Sofia--a post that turned into a 2000+ words making it anything but short or quick. So I\'ve broken it down into four subsections--Kuzonak, Eying Easter Eggs, Alexander Nevski Cathedral and Egg Fighting. I hope this helps in the read-ability of this massive post and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I hope that maybe you learn something new about Easter in Bulgaria and I hope that those of you more familiar with these traditions help me out where my knowledge is murky.\r\n\r\n<strong>Kuzonak</strong>\r\n\r\nI bought kuzonak at my favorite little bakery/banitsa shop on Graf Ignativ--it\'s right next to the new cafe Lime. I know that there are other bakeries in town but I am a loyal shopper. When I lived downtown this was my shop. I only bought banitsa and slices of pizza there. The women who worked there (and still do) were always really nice to me. In the beginning they let me stumble through my order in Bulgarian without ever giving me any sign of annoyance--even when it was busy.\r\n\r\nYou get a lot of points in my book for that. And you get me traveling from Mladost into the city center for your kuzonak for that reason as well. I can\'t imagine that they remember me or even notice my semi-regular support of their shop but that\'s okay.\r\n\r\nThe day I bought my kuzonak, the shop was buzzing with activity and with crazy shoppers. There was a display of kuzonak in the window and a line inside the shop as well as at the walk up pizza window. It\'s the kind of scene where you know from the line that the kuzonak is going to be good but you\'ve got to steal yourself for the meaham that will ensue as you try to place your order.\r\n\r\nThe problem is the shop is pretty small and generally speaking Bulgarians are only so-so when it comes to lines. Luckily, I know these things now and it takes more energy to get annoyed with the lawlessness of the line rather than just to smile and make eye contact with one of the women working at the shop. Before I got waited on however I did get elbowed a few times and I had a man blatantly cut in front of me. The woman behind the counter shot me a look of apology and annoyance at the same time when this happened. But what are you going to do, I am not fighting anyone on Easter weekend over bread. Even if it is really, really good bread.\r\n\r\nNow kuzonak is a bread that takes hours to prepare and while it\'s a tradition lots of people don\'t want to spend the time making themselves. Enter bakeries. When I was at the shop on Friday, there were three women behind the counter taking and filling orders. There was another girl bringing a fairly steady stream of kuzonak out from the back and I can only assume there were just as many people making the bread in back.\r\n\r\nI guess it makes sense. Kuzonak is a sweet airy bread and when you cut into it or pull a piece off the loaf you see these beautiful long fibers of bread inside. I am told that this requires sifting a lot of air into the bread, careful kneading, at some point you need to hit the dough on the wooden board you\'ve been kneading it on 100 times and you let it rise and you punch it down two or three times before you finally bake it in a hot oven.  No wonder so many people buy the bread rather than make it themselves.\r\n\r\n<strong>Dying Easter Eggs</strong>\r\n\r\nAfter buying more kuzonak than a single girl probably should, I went to the grocery store to buy a few things for dinner and some eggs to hard boil and dye.\r\n\r\nAt Billa I was confronted with a problem: brown eggs.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4785\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"1024\" caption=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4785\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4785\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4785\" title=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02427-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nOkay, just to be clear, Billa always has brown eggs. Normally, I am totally fine with this. Only I have never dyed eggs that aren\'t white--oh to be an American. In my mind brown eggs don\'t really seem to offer a very good base to work with.  The thought of brown-pink, brown-blue, brown-green Easter eggs didn\'t really do it for me.\r\n\r\nSo I bought a box of white eggs--which I think cost considerably more than the brown ones. <em>Oh well</em>. A dutiful shopper I checked on the structural integrity of my eggs. No one wants to buy cracked or broken eggs. I thought: great 12 eggs. That\'s plenty. I also grabbed a packet of egg dye and some apple cider vinegar.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4786\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"717\" caption=\"Dying Eggs! \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4786\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4786\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4786 \" title=\"Dying Eggs! \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02429-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"717\" height=\"538\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nMy plan was this, make dinner. Then boil the eggs so that I could dye them on Saturday. Needless to say, this didn\'t happen. I used three eggs for dinner leaving me with 9 to dye. Again, that\'s plenty for just me.\r\n\r\nSaturday when I finally got around to boiling and dying the eggs them I realized two things.\r\n\r\nFirst, I bought 10 eggs not 12 so I\'ve only got 7 eggs. At this point it felt pretty silly to dye seven eggs--given the time and energy it takes--but it\'s Easter and I did buy the egg dye so I boil seven eggs. This leads me to point two, it turns out the instructions for dying eggs are in about 12 language none of which I really speak. Among others there\'s Polish, Czech, Lithuanian, Greek, Romanian, Danish and Bulgarian.  Greek and Danish have letters that I can\'t even read so I parse out the Bulgarian. As luck would have it, it\'s not too hard.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4787\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"My five un-cracked eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4787\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4787\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4787 \" title=\"My five un-cracked eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02432-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nAfter boiling my eggs, I realize that two of my seven eggs have cracked in the cooking process. Stupid eggs. I figure that dying five eggs is about as silly as it gets. So I dyed the two cracked ones as well.\r\n\r\nAnd best part of the story? All seven of the eggs turn out simply beautiful. The colors are extremely vibrant none of the pastel <a title=\"Paas Easter Egg Dying\" href=\"http://www.paaseastereggs.com/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Paas business</a>. This leads me to suspect that I probably could have dyed brown eggs but who cares. The pink-red is shockingly bright and the blue is a midnight-blue color. It doesn\'t really get better than this.\r\n\r\nMy fingers smelled a little strange after words but I\'m trying not to think about that as I eat my hard boiled eggs.\r\n\r\n<strong>Alexander Nevski Cathedral</strong>\r\n\r\nThe highlight of the day, well night, was a trip to Alexander Nevski Cathedral to celebrate the arrival Easter at midnight. My friends S. and P. were both down with the idea of heading downtown to celebrate the holiday. There was a lot of discussion about how to get downtown at back.\r\n\r\nMy first year I lived in the city center making it super easy for me to walk to church and back. This year however, I wasn\'t sure what to expect. It\'s easy to get from Mladost to the center via Metro but the last train most nights is shortly after 11 pm. This schedule makes it pretty easy to get downtown but means that you can\'t rely on it to get home again. On a regular late night in the city center, I\'d grab a taxi to get back to Mladost but a taxi on Easter? I don\'t know.\r\n\r\nLuckily, my ever-clever friend P. said, if we were in Boston and there was a big even like this the city would extend hours on public transportation. She checked and sure enough, Sofia had extended Metro hours for Easter. That\'s cool. Really cool. It made the whole evening really easy. <em>Thanks, Sofia public transportation!</em>\r\n\r\nWe got downtown a little bit early and stopped by Memento to have a drink inside before going to stand outside in the cold. It was about 7 degrees celsius last night. When we got there it was crowded and at 15 minutes to midnight when we\'d gone to the bathroom and paid our bill the place was basically empty. Apparently if you\'re twenty-something it\'s totally acceptable to have a drink or two before heading to church to celebrate Easter.\r\n\r\nOn our walk to Nevski, we bought candles from a young man selling them on the street. The Russian church was humming with activity and crossing the street Nevski was beautiful as usual. It was lit up with high power lamps and there was  huge crowd of people clustered outside the church. The lighting it turns out was for television as the ceremony was being televised.\r\n\r\nI hate to admit this but I know very little about the actual ceremony. Here are the highlights as I see them but the actual order of these things is pretty unclear to me. <em>Sorry</em>.\r\n\r\nThis said, I loved the way that the bells of the church seemed to work in hand in hand with the actual ceremony. It was incredibly beautiful to experience the bells, the chanting of the priest and the murmuring from the crowd. The result of this is a feeling of being actively pulled in the the ceremony and tradition even when you\'re not in the church or physically close to the priest because you\'re surrounded by it.\r\n\r\nSo the priest comes out of the church with a candle and from here the light is passed to everyone in the crowd outside of the church. In practice however, I spotted many young people outside of the church lighting their candles with lighters rather than waiting for the flame to be passed to them. This in part leads to part of the time order confusion that I have. In the large crowd outside of the church it takes a long time to actually pass on the light or the flame and when others are simply lighting their own candles the timing becomes all muddled. It doesn\'t help that last night it was also pretty windy making it difficult to light your candle the first time. One of the nice things is that Bulgarians who would never otherwise talk to you, do ask to light their candles from yours and you have to ask to you light yours on someone else\'s.\r\n\r\nWhile everyone is struggling to light their candles I think that the priest reaches the part of the ceremony where he exclaims: Christ is risen and the people respond: He has risen indeed. This happens three times. I think. Check out this great list of the greeting in <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paschal_greeting\" target=\"_blank\">different languages from all over the world</a>.\r\n\r\nAbout this point, everyone starts walking around the church. You\'re supposed to walk around the church three times with your burning candle. If your candle goes out, it\'s supposed to be bad luck and I think it reveals that you\'ve sinned in the past year.  Some people even say that you should walk home with your candle still burning after walking around the church but I don\'t really think this a part of the tradition. You don\'t want your candle to go out at any point after it has been lit but it\'s especially bad for it go out on your trip around the church. Last night this was basically impossible.\r\n\r\nThere were a number of factors that made it this way. First Nevski is just a big church, second it was windy and made protecting your flame difficult at best and third there were so many people there it was hard to actually walk around the church. We made it about half way around the church before we gave up on our flames. I think makes us fair-weather Orthodox Christians. We did however walk around the church; we just didn\'t manage to make it around with our candle still burning.  But for the record, even people with plastic cups, yogurt containers or other means of flame protectors other than their hands were also struggling to keep their candles burning.\r\n\r\nOne of the things that was interesting to me as an outsider was the huge range of people participating in this tradition. The participation of the young and old didn\'t surprise me as much as the participation of teenagers and young adults. In the States, this is the segment missing from most religious ceremonies and here in Bulgaria they were out in droves--actively participating burning candles in hand.\r\n\r\n<strong>Egg Fighting</strong>\r\n\r\nThen there\'s the egg fighting. After the religious ceremony has ended people unwrap hard boiled eggs and an unofficial ceremony begins: egg fighting. You take your egg--ideally a red one--and you wack/hit your egg against your opponent\'s egg. The winner\'s egg remains whole and uncracked. The loser\'s egg is cracked. I think that winning a battle not only proves the greatness of your egg but also your moral superiority over your opponent. But of course, you should feel free to correct me on this part.\r\n\r\nLittle kids are serious about this part of the tradition and they smash their eggs against their opponent\'s with great relish.\r\n\r\nIn fact teenagers, take this seriously as well. At school on Friday, I had a long talk with a group of teenage boys about this Easter tradition. They were shocked that this wasn\'t part of the Protestant Easter tradition.  I reminded them that in the States we have the Easter Bunny and that he\'s absent in Bulgarian tradition. They nodded in agreement but it was also clear that they thought we are certainly depriving our children in the States of one of the best parts of Easter.','Easter Traditions in Sofia ','','inherit','open','open','','4781-revision-5','','','2011-04-24 11:58:49','2011-04-24 09:58:49','',4781,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/4781-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(4791,1,'2011-04-24 11:58:51','2011-04-24 09:58:51','[caption id=\"attachment_4782\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"225\" caption=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4782\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4782\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-4782 \" title=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02440-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nSurprise, surprise: it\'s Easter!\r\n\r\nI\'ve had a great time poking around the city this weekend.  I wasn\'t in Sofia for Easter last year but I did spend my first year in the city for the holiday. It just seemed like the thing to do and last year I am pretty sure that I was traveling and that Easter was lumped in with Spring Break.\r\n\r\nI\'ve been amazed by the feel of the city over the weekend. On Friday the city center is was hopping. There were people every where: on the streets, in cafes, in the parks, in shops. You name it--there were people there. Sofia was alive and bustling. It was the start of a four day weekend. <em>Easter Weekend!!</em>\r\n\r\nOkay for better or worse, I just sat down to type up a quick post on Easter Traditions in Sofia--a post that turned into a 2000+ words making it anything but short or quick. So I\'ve broken it down into four subsections--Kuzonak, Eying Easter Eggs, Alexander Nevski Cathedral and Egg Fighting. I hope this helps in the read-ability of this massive post and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I hope that maybe you learn something new about Easter in Bulgaria and I hope that those of you more familiar with these traditions help me out where my knowledge is murky.\r\n\r\n<strong>Kuzonak</strong>\r\n\r\nI bought kuzonak at my favorite little bakery/banitsa shop on Graf Ignativ--it\'s right next to the new cafe Lime. I know that there are other bakeries in town but I am a loyal shopper. When I lived downtown this was my shop. I only bought banitsa and slices of pizza there. The women who worked there (and still do) were always really nice to me. In the beginning they let me stumble through my order in Bulgarian without ever giving me any sign of annoyance--even when it was busy.\r\n\r\nYou get a lot of points in my book for that. And you get me traveling from Mladost into the city center for your kuzonak for that reason as well. I can\'t imagine that they remember me or even notice my semi-regular support of their shop but that\'s okay.\r\n\r\nThe day I bought my kuzonak, the shop was buzzing with activity and with crazy shoppers. There was a display of kuzonak in the window and a line inside the shop as well as at the walk up pizza window. It\'s the kind of scene where you know from the line that the kuzonak is going to be good but you\'ve got to steal yourself for the meaham that will ensue as you try to place your order.\r\n\r\nThe problem is the shop is pretty small and generally speaking Bulgarians are only so-so when it comes to lines. Luckily, I know these things now and it takes more energy to get annoyed with the lawlessness of the line rather than just to smile and make eye contact with one of the women working at the shop. Before I got waited on however I did get elbowed a few times and I had a man blatantly cut in front of me. The woman behind the counter shot me a look of apology and annoyance at the same time when this happened. But what are you going to do, I am not fighting anyone on Easter weekend over bread. Even if it is really, really good bread.\r\n\r\nNow kuzonak is a bread that takes hours to prepare and while it\'s a tradition lots of people don\'t want to spend the time making themselves. Enter bakeries. When I was at the shop on Friday, there were three women behind the counter taking and filling orders. There was another girl bringing a fairly steady stream of kuzonak out from the back and I can only assume there were just as many people making the bread in back.\r\n\r\nI guess it makes sense. Kuzonak is a sweet airy bread and when you cut into it or pull a piece off the loaf you see these beautiful long fibers of bread inside. I am told that this requires sifting a lot of air into the bread, careful kneading, at some point you need to hit the dough on the wooden board you\'ve been kneading it on 100 times and you let it rise and you punch it down two or three times before you finally bake it in a hot oven.  No wonder so many people buy the bread rather than make it themselves.\r\n\r\n<strong>Dying Easter Eggs</strong>\r\n\r\nAfter buying more kuzonak than a single girl probably should, I went to the grocery store to buy a few things for dinner and some eggs to hard boil and dye.\r\n\r\nAt Billa I was confronted with a problem: brown eggs.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4785\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"1024\" caption=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4785\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4785\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4785\" title=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02427-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nOkay, just to be clear, Billa always has brown eggs. Normally, I am totally fine with this. Only I have never dyed eggs that aren\'t white--oh to be an American. In my mind brown eggs don\'t really seem to offer a very good base to work with.  The thought of brown-pink, brown-blue, brown-green Easter eggs didn\'t really do it for me.\r\n\r\nSo I bought a box of white eggs--which I think cost considerably more than the brown ones. <em>Oh well</em>. A dutiful shopper I checked on the structural integrity of my eggs. No one wants to buy cracked or broken eggs. I thought: great 12 eggs. That\'s plenty. I also grabbed a packet of egg dye and some apple cider vinegar.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4786\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"717\" caption=\"Dying Eggs! \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4786\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4786\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4786 \" title=\"Dying Eggs! \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02429-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"717\" height=\"538\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nMy plan was this, make dinner. Then boil the eggs so that I could dye them on Saturday. Needless to say, this didn\'t happen. I used three eggs for dinner leaving me with 9 to dye. Again, that\'s plenty for just me.\r\n\r\nSaturday when I finally got around to boiling and dying the eggs them I realized two things.\r\n\r\nFirst, I bought 10 eggs not 12 so I\'ve only got 7 eggs. At this point it felt pretty silly to dye seven eggs--given the time and energy it takes--but it\'s Easter and I did buy the egg dye so I boil seven eggs. This leads me to point two, it turns out the instructions for dying eggs are in about 12 language none of which I really speak. Among others there\'s Polish, Czech, Lithuanian, Greek, Romanian, Danish and Bulgarian.  Greek and Danish have letters that I can\'t even read so I parse out the Bulgarian. As luck would have it, it\'s not too hard.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4787\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"My five un-cracked eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4787\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4787\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4787 \" title=\"My five un-cracked eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02432-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nAfter boiling my eggs, I realize that two of my seven eggs have cracked in the cooking process. Stupid eggs. I figure that dying five eggs is about as silly as it gets. So I dyed the two cracked ones as well.\r\n\r\nAnd best part of the story? All seven of the eggs turn out simply beautiful. The colors are extremely vibrant none of the pastel <a title=\"Paas Easter Egg Dying\" href=\"http://www.paaseastereggs.com/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Paas business</a>. This leads me to suspect that I probably could have dyed brown eggs but who cares. The pink-red is shockingly bright and the blue is a midnight-blue color. It doesn\'t really get better than this.\r\n\r\nMy fingers smelled a little strange after words but I\'m trying not to think about that as I eat my hard boiled eggs.\r\n\r\n<strong>Alexander Nevski Cathedral</strong>\r\n\r\nThe highlight of the day, well night, was a trip to Alexander Nevski Cathedral to celebrate the arrival Easter at midnight. My friends S. and P. were both down with the idea of heading downtown to celebrate the holiday. There was a lot of discussion about how to get downtown at back.\r\n\r\nMy first year I lived in the city center making it super easy for me to walk to church and back. This year however, I wasn\'t sure what to expect. It\'s easy to get from Mladost to the center via Metro but the last train most nights is shortly after 11 pm. This schedule makes it pretty easy to get downtown but means that you can\'t rely on it to get home again. On a regular late night in the city center, I\'d grab a taxi to get back to Mladost but a taxi on Easter? I don\'t know.\r\n\r\nLuckily, my ever-clever friend P. said, if we were in Boston and there was a big even like this the city would extend hours on public transportation. She checked and sure enough, Sofia had extended Metro hours for Easter. That\'s cool. Really cool. It made the whole evening really easy. <em>Thanks, Sofia public transportation!</em>\r\n\r\nWe got downtown a little bit early and stopped by Memento to have a drink inside before going to stand outside in the cold. It was about 7 degrees celsius last night. When we got there it was crowded and at 15 minutes to midnight when we\'d gone to the bathroom and paid our bill the place was basically empty. Apparently if you\'re twenty-something it\'s totally acceptable to have a drink or two before heading to church to celebrate Easter.\r\n\r\nOn our walk to Nevski, we bought candles from a young man selling them on the street. The Russian church was humming with activity and crossing the street Nevski was beautiful as usual. It was lit up with high power lamps and there was  huge crowd of people clustered outside the church. The lighting it turns out was for television as the ceremony was being televised.\r\n\r\nI hate to admit this but I know very little about the actual ceremony. Here are the highlights as I see them but the actual order of these things is pretty unclear to me. <em>Sorry</em>.\r\n\r\nThis said, I loved the way that the bells of the church seemed to work in hand in hand with the actual ceremony. It was incredibly beautiful to experience the bells, the chanting of the priest and the murmuring from the crowd. The result of this is a feeling of being actively pulled in the the ceremony and tradition even when you\'re not in the church or physically close to the priest because you\'re surrounded by it.\r\n\r\nSo the priest comes out of the church with a candle and from here the light is passed to everyone in the crowd outside of the church. In practice however, I spotted many young people outside of the church lighting their candles with lighters rather than waiting for the flame to be passed to them. This in part leads to part of the time order confusion that I have. In the large crowd outside of the church it takes a long time to actually pass on the light or the flame and when others are simply lighting their own candles the timing becomes all muddled. It doesn\'t help that last night it was also pretty windy making it difficult to light your candle the first time. One of the nice things is that Bulgarians who would never otherwise talk to you, do ask to light their candles from yours and you have to ask to you light yours on someone else\'s.\r\n\r\nWhile everyone is struggling to light their candles I think that the priest reaches the part of the ceremony where he exclaims: Christ is risen and the people respond: He has risen indeed. This happens three times. I think. Check out this great list of the greeting in <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paschal_greeting\" target=\"_blank\">different languages from all over the world</a>.\r\n\r\nAbout this point, everyone starts walking around the church. You\'re supposed to walk around the church three times with your burning candle. If your candle goes out, it\'s supposed to be bad luck and I think it reveals that you\'ve sinned in the past year.  Some people even say that you should walk home with your candle still burning after walking around the church but I don\'t really think this a part of the tradition. You don\'t want your candle to go out at any point after it has been lit but it\'s especially bad for it go out on your trip around the church. Last night this was basically impossible.\r\n\r\nThere were a number of factors that made it this way. First Nevski is just a big church, second it was windy and made protecting your flame difficult at best and third there were so many people there it was hard to actually walk around the church. We made it about half way around the church before we gave up on our flames. I think makes us fair-weather Orthodox Christians. We did however walk around the church; we just didn\'t manage to make it around with our candle still burning.  But for the record, even people with plastic cups, yogurt containers or other means of flame protectors other than their hands were also struggling to keep their candles burning.\r\n\r\nOne of the things that was interesting to me as an outsider was the huge range of people participating in this tradition. The participation of the young and old didn\'t surprise me as much as the participation of teenagers and young adults. In the States, this is the segment missing from most religious ceremonies and here in Bulgaria they were out in droves--actively participating burning candles in hand.\r\n\r\n<strong>Egg Fighting</strong>\r\n\r\nThen there\'s the egg fighting. After the religious ceremony has ended people unwrap hard boiled eggs and an unofficial ceremony begins: egg fighting. You take your egg--ideally a red one--and you wack/hit your egg against your opponent\'s egg. The winner\'s egg remains whole and uncracked. The loser\'s egg is cracked. I think that winning a battle not only proves the greatness of your egg but also your moral superiority over your opponent. But of course, you should feel free to correct me on this part.\r\n\r\nLittle kids are serious about this part of the tradition and they smash their eggs against their opponent\'s with great relish.\r\n\r\nIn fact teenagers, take this seriously as well. At school on Friday, I had a long talk with a group of teenage boys about this Easter tradition. They were shocked that this wasn\'t part of the Protestant Easter tradition.  I reminded them that in the States we have the Easter Bunny and that he\'s absent in Bulgarian tradition. They nodded in agreement but it was also clear that they thought we are certainly depriving our children in the States of one of the best parts of Easter.','Easter Traditions in Sofia ','','inherit','open','open','','4781-revision-6','','','2011-04-24 11:58:51','2011-04-24 09:58:51','',4781,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/4781-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),(4792,1,'2011-04-24 11:58:51','2011-04-24 09:58:51','[caption id=\"attachment_4782\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"225\" caption=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4782\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4782\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-4782 \" title=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02440-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nSurprise, surprise: it\'s Easter!\r\n\r\nI\'ve had a great time poking around the city this weekend.  I wasn\'t in Sofia for Easter last year but I did spend my first year in the city for the holiday. It just seemed like the thing to do and last year I am pretty sure that I was traveling and that Easter was lumped in with Spring Break.\r\n\r\nI\'ve been amazed by the feel of the city over the weekend. On Friday the city center is was hopping. There were people every where: on the streets, in cafes, in the parks, in shops. You name it--there were people there. Sofia was alive and bustling. It was the start of a four day weekend. <em>Easter Weekend!!</em>\r\n\r\nOkay for better or worse, I just sat down to type up a quick post on Easter Traditions in Sofia--a post that turned into a 2000+ words making it anything but short or quick. So I\'ve broken it down into four subsections--Kuzonak, Eying Easter Eggs, Alexander Nevski Cathedral and Egg Fighting. I hope this helps in the read-ability of this massive post and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I hope that maybe you learn something new about Easter in Bulgaria and I hope that those of you more familiar with these traditions help me out where my knowledge is murky.\r\n\r\n<strong>Kuzonak</strong>\r\n\r\nI bought kuzonak at my favorite little bakery/banitsa shop on Graf Ignativ--it\'s right next to the new cafe Lime. I know that there are other bakeries in town but I am a loyal shopper. When I lived downtown this was my shop. I only bought banitsa and slices of pizza there. The women who worked there (and still do) were always really nice to me. In the beginning they let me stumble through my order in Bulgarian without ever giving me any sign of annoyance--even when it was busy.\r\n\r\nYou get a lot of points in my book for that. And you get me traveling from Mladost into the city center for your kuzonak for that reason as well. I can\'t imagine that they remember me or even notice my semi-regular support of their shop but that\'s okay.\r\n\r\nThe day I bought my kuzonak, the shop was buzzing with activity and with crazy shoppers. There was a display of kuzonak in the window and a line inside the shop as well as at the walk up pizza window. It\'s the kind of scene where you know from the line that the kuzonak is going to be good but you\'ve got to steal yourself for the meaham that will ensue as you try to place your order.\r\n\r\nThe problem is the shop is pretty small and generally speaking Bulgarians are only so-so when it comes to lines. Luckily, I know these things now and it takes more energy to get annoyed with the lawlessness of the line rather than just to smile and make eye contact with one of the women working at the shop. Before I got waited on however I did get elbowed a few times and I had a man blatantly cut in front of me. The woman behind the counter shot me a look of apology and annoyance at the same time when this happened. But what are you going to do, I am not fighting anyone on Easter weekend over bread. Even if it is really, really good bread.\r\n\r\nNow kuzonak is a bread that takes hours to prepare and while it\'s a tradition lots of people don\'t want to spend the time making themselves. Enter bakeries. When I was at the shop on Friday, there were three women behind the counter taking and filling orders. There was another girl bringing a fairly steady stream of kuzonak out from the back and I can only assume there were just as many people making the bread in back.\r\n\r\nI guess it makes sense. Kuzonak is a sweet airy bread and when you cut into it or pull a piece off the loaf you see these beautiful long fibers of bread inside. I am told that this requires sifting a lot of air into the bread, careful kneading, at some point you need to hit the dough on the wooden board you\'ve been kneading it on 100 times and you let it rise and you punch it down two or three times before you finally bake it in a hot oven.  No wonder so many people buy the bread rather than make it themselves.\r\n\r\n<strong>Dying Easter Eggs</strong>\r\n\r\nAfter buying more kuzonak than a single girl probably should, I went to the grocery store to buy a few things for dinner and some eggs to hard boil and dye.\r\n\r\nAt Billa I was confronted with a problem: brown eggs.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4785\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"1024\" caption=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4785\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4785\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4785\" title=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02427-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"768\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nOkay, just to be clear, Billa always has brown eggs. Normally, I am totally fine with this. Only I have never dyed eggs that aren\'t white--oh to be an American. In my mind brown eggs don\'t really seem to offer a very good base to work with.  The thought of brown-pink, brown-blue, brown-green Easter eggs didn\'t really do it for me.\r\n\r\nSo I bought a box of white eggs--which I think cost considerably more than the brown ones. <em>Oh well</em>. A dutiful shopper I checked on the structural integrity of my eggs. No one wants to buy cracked or broken eggs. I thought: great 12 eggs. That\'s plenty. I also grabbed a packet of egg dye and some apple cider vinegar.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4786\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"717\" caption=\"Dying Eggs! \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4786\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4786\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4786 \" title=\"Dying Eggs! \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02429-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"717\" height=\"538\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nMy plan was this, make dinner. Then boil the eggs so that I could dye them on Saturday. Needless to say, this didn\'t happen. I used three eggs for dinner leaving me with 9 to dye. Again, that\'s plenty for just me.\r\n\r\nSaturday when I finally got around to boiling and dying the eggs them I realized two things.\r\n\r\nFirst, I bought 10 eggs not 12 so I\'ve only got 7 eggs. At this point it felt pretty silly to dye seven eggs--given the time and energy it takes--but it\'s Easter and I did buy the egg dye so I boil seven eggs. This leads me to point two, it turns out the instructions for dying eggs are in about 12 language none of which I really speak. Among others there\'s Polish, Czech, Lithuanian, Greek, Romanian, Danish and Bulgarian.  Greek and Danish have letters that I can\'t even read so I parse out the Bulgarian. As luck would have it, it\'s not too hard.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4787\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"My five un-cracked eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4787\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4787\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4787 \" title=\"My five un-cracked eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02432-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nAfter boiling my eggs, I realize that two of my seven eggs have cracked in the cooking process. Stupid eggs. I figure that dying five eggs is about as silly as it gets. So I dyed the two cracked ones as well.\r\n\r\nAnd best part of the story? All seven of the eggs turn out simply beautiful. The colors are extremely vibrant none of the pastel <a title=\"Paas Easter Egg Dying\" href=\"http://www.paaseastereggs.com/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Paas business</a>. This leads me to suspect that I probably could have dyed brown eggs but who cares. The pink-red is shockingly bright and the blue is a midnight-blue color. It doesn\'t really get better than this.\r\n\r\nMy fingers smelled a little strange after words but I\'m trying not to think about that as I eat my hard boiled eggs.\r\n\r\n<strong>Alexander Nevski Cathedral</strong>\r\n\r\nThe highlight of the day, well night, was a trip to Alexander Nevski Cathedral to celebrate the arrival Easter at midnight. My friends S. and P. were both down with the idea of heading downtown to celebrate the holiday. There was a lot of discussion about how to get downtown at back.\r\n\r\nMy first year I lived in the city center making it super easy for me to walk to church and back. This year however, I wasn\'t sure what to expect. It\'s easy to get from Mladost to the center via Metro but the last train most nights is shortly after 11 pm. This schedule makes it pretty easy to get downtown but means that you can\'t rely on it to get home again. On a regular late night in the city center, I\'d grab a taxi to get back to Mladost but a taxi on Easter? I don\'t know.\r\n\r\nLuckily, my ever-clever friend P. said, if we were in Boston and there was a big even like this the city would extend hours on public transportation. She checked and sure enough, Sofia had extended Metro hours for Easter. That\'s cool. Really cool. It made the whole evening really easy. <em>Thanks, Sofia public transportation!</em>\r\n\r\nWe got downtown a little bit early and stopped by Memento to have a drink inside before going to stand outside in the cold. It was about 7 degrees celsius last night. When we got there it was crowded and at 15 minutes to midnight when we\'d gone to the bathroom and paid our bill the place was basically empty. Apparently if you\'re twenty-something it\'s totally acceptable to have a drink or two before heading to church to celebrate Easter.\r\n\r\nOn our walk to Nevski, we bought candles from a young man selling them on the street. The Russian church was humming with activity and crossing the street Nevski was beautiful as usual. It was lit up with high power lamps and there was  huge crowd of people clustered outside the church. The lighting it turns out was for television as the ceremony was being televised.\r\n\r\nI hate to admit this but I know very little about the actual ceremony. Here are the highlights as I see them but the actual order of these things is pretty unclear to me. <em>Sorry</em>.\r\n\r\nThis said, I loved the way that the bells of the church seemed to work in hand in hand with the actual ceremony. It was incredibly beautiful to experience the bells, the chanting of the priest and the murmuring from the crowd. The result of this is a feeling of being actively pulled in the the ceremony and tradition even when you\'re not in the church or physically close to the priest because you\'re surrounded by it.\r\n\r\nSo the priest comes out of the church with a candle and from here the light is passed to everyone in the crowd outside of the church. In practice however, I spotted many young people outside of the church lighting their candles with lighters rather than waiting for the flame to be passed to them. This in part leads to part of the time order confusion that I have. In the large crowd outside of the church it takes a long time to actually pass on the light or the flame and when others are simply lighting their own candles the timing becomes all muddled. It doesn\'t help that last night it was also pretty windy making it difficult to light your candle the first time. One of the nice things is that Bulgarians who would never otherwise talk to you, do ask to light their candles from yours and you have to ask to you light yours on someone else\'s.\r\n\r\nWhile everyone is struggling to light their candles I think that the priest reaches the part of the ceremony where he exclaims: Christ is risen and the people respond: He has risen indeed. This happens three times. I think. Check out this great list of the greeting in <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paschal_greeting\" target=\"_blank\">different languages from all over the world</a>.\r\n\r\nAbout this point, everyone starts walking around the church. You\'re supposed to walk around the church three times with your burning candle. If your candle goes out, it\'s supposed to be bad luck and I think it reveals that you\'ve sinned in the past year.  Some people even say that you should walk home with your candle still burning after walking around the church but I don\'t really think this a part of the tradition. You don\'t want your candle to go out at any point after it has been lit but it\'s especially bad for it go out on your trip around the church. Last night this was basically impossible.\r\n\r\nThere were a number of factors that made it this way. First Nevski is just a big church, second it was windy and made protecting your flame difficult at best and third there were so many people there it was hard to actually walk around the church. We made it about half way around the church before we gave up on our flames. I think makes us fair-weather Orthodox Christians. We did however walk around the church; we just didn\'t manage to make it around with our candle still burning.  But for the record, even people with plastic cups, yogurt containers or other means of flame protectors other than their hands were also struggling to keep their candles burning.\r\n\r\nOne of the things that was interesting to me as an outsider was the huge range of people participating in this tradition. The participation of the young and old didn\'t surprise me as much as the participation of teenagers and young adults. In the States, this is the segment missing from most religious ceremonies and here in Bulgaria they were out in droves--actively participating burning candles in hand.\r\n\r\n<strong>Egg Fighting</strong>\r\n\r\nThen there\'s the egg fighting. After the religious ceremony has ended people unwrap hard boiled eggs and an unofficial ceremony begins: egg fighting. You take your egg--ideally a red one--and you wack/hit your egg against your opponent\'s egg. The winner\'s egg remains whole and uncracked. The loser\'s egg is cracked. I think that winning a battle not only proves the greatness of your egg but also your moral superiority over your opponent. But of course, you should feel free to correct me on this part.\r\n\r\nLittle kids are serious about this part of the tradition and they smash their eggs against their opponent\'s with great relish.\r\n\r\nIn fact teenagers, take this seriously as well. At school on Friday, I had a long talk with a group of teenage boys about this Easter tradition. They were shocked that this wasn\'t part of the Protestant Easter tradition.  I reminded them that in the States we have the Easter Bunny and that he\'s absent in Bulgarian tradition. They nodded in agreement but it was also clear that they thought we are certainly depriving our children in the States of one of the best parts of Easter.','Easter Traditions in Sofia ','','inherit','open','open','','4781-revision-7','','','2011-04-24 11:58:51','2011-04-24 09:58:51','',4781,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/4781-revision-7/',0,'revision','',0),(4793,1,'2011-04-24 12:00:24','2011-04-24 10:00:24','[caption id=\"attachment_4782\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"225\" caption=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4782\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4782\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-4782 \" title=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02440-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nSurprise, surprise: it\'s Easter!\r\n\r\nI\'ve had a great time poking around the city this weekend.  I wasn\'t in Sofia for Easter last year but I did spend my first year in the city for the holiday. It just seemed like the thing to do and last year I am pretty sure that I was traveling and that Easter was lumped in with Spring Break.\r\n\r\nI\'ve been amazed by the feel of the city over the weekend. On Friday the city center is was hopping. There were people every where: on the streets, in cafes, in the parks, in shops. You name it--there were people there. Sofia was alive and bustling. It was the start of a four day weekend. <em>Easter Weekend!!</em>\r\n\r\nOkay for better or worse, I just sat down to type up a quick post on Easter Traditions in Sofia--a post that turned into a 2000+ words making it anything but short or quick. So I\'ve broken it down into four subsections--Kuzonak, Eying Easter Eggs, Alexander Nevski Cathedral and Egg Fighting. I hope this helps in the read-ability of this massive post and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I hope that maybe you learn something new about Easter in Bulgaria and I hope that those of you more familiar with these traditions help me out where my knowledge is murky.\r\n\r\n<strong>Kuzonak</strong>\r\n\r\nI bought kuzonak at my favorite little bakery/banitsa shop on Graf Ignativ--it\'s right next to the new cafe Lime. I know that there are other bakeries in town but I am a loyal shopper. When I lived downtown this was my shop. I only bought banitsa and slices of pizza there. The women who worked there (and still do) were always really nice to me. In the beginning they let me stumble through my order in Bulgarian without ever giving me any sign of annoyance--even when it was busy.\r\n\r\nYou get a lot of points in my book for that. And you get me traveling from Mladost into the city center for your kuzonak for that reason as well. I can\'t imagine that they remember me or even notice my semi-regular support of their shop but that\'s okay.\r\n\r\nThe day I bought my kuzonak, the shop was buzzing with activity and with crazy shoppers. There was a display of kuzonak in the window and a line inside the shop as well as at the walk up pizza window. It\'s the kind of scene where you know from the line that the kuzonak is going to be good but you\'ve got to steal yourself for the meaham that will ensue as you try to place your order.\r\n\r\nThe problem is the shop is pretty small and generally speaking Bulgarians are only so-so when it comes to lines. Luckily, I know these things now and it takes more energy to get annoyed with the lawlessness of the line rather than just to smile and make eye contact with one of the women working at the shop. Before I got waited on however I did get elbowed a few times and I had a man blatantly cut in front of me. The woman behind the counter shot me a look of apology and annoyance at the same time when this happened. But what are you going to do, I am not fighting anyone on Easter weekend over bread. Even if it is really, really good bread.\r\n\r\nNow kuzonak is a bread that takes hours to prepare and while it\'s a tradition lots of people don\'t want to spend the time making themselves. Enter bakeries. When I was at the shop on Friday, there were three women behind the counter taking and filling orders. There was another girl bringing a fairly steady stream of kuzonak out from the back and I can only assume there were just as many people making the bread in back.\r\n\r\nI guess it makes sense. Kuzonak is a sweet airy bread and when you cut into it or pull a piece off the loaf you see these beautiful long fibers of bread inside. I am told that this requires sifting a lot of air into the bread, careful kneading, at some point you need to hit the dough on the wooden board you\'ve been kneading it on 100 times and you let it rise and you punch it down two or three times before you finally bake it in a hot oven.  No wonder so many people buy the bread rather than make it themselves.\r\n\r\n<strong>Dying Easter Eggs</strong>\r\n\r\nAfter buying more kuzonak than a single girl probably should, I went to the grocery store to buy a few things for dinner and some eggs to hard boil and dye.\r\n\r\nAt Billa I was confronted with a problem: brown eggs.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4785\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4785\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4785\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4785 \" title=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02427-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nOkay, just to be clear, Billa always has brown eggs. Normally, I am totally fine with this. Only I have never dyed eggs that aren\'t white--oh to be an American. In my mind brown eggs don\'t really seem to offer a very good base to work with.  The thought of brown-pink, brown-blue, brown-green Easter eggs didn\'t really do it for me.\r\n\r\nSo I bought a box of white eggs--which I think cost considerably more than the brown ones. <em>Oh well</em>. A dutiful shopper I checked on the structural integrity of my eggs. No one wants to buy cracked or broken eggs. I thought: great 12 eggs. That\'s plenty. I also grabbed a packet of egg dye and some apple cider vinegar.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4786\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"559\" caption=\"Dying Eggs! \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4786\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4786\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4786   \" title=\"Dying Eggs! \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02429-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"559\" height=\"420\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nMy plan was this, make dinner. Then boil the eggs so that I could dye them on Saturday. Needless to say, this didn\'t happen. I used three eggs for dinner leaving me with 9 to dye. Again, that\'s plenty for just me.\r\n\r\nSaturday when I finally got around to boiling and dying the eggs them I realized two things.\r\n\r\nFirst, I bought 10 eggs not 12 so I\'ve only got 7 eggs. At this point it felt pretty silly to dye seven eggs--given the time and energy it takes--but it\'s Easter and I did buy the egg dye so I boil seven eggs. This leads me to point two, it turns out the instructions for dying eggs are in about 12 language none of which I really speak. Among others there\'s Polish, Czech, Lithuanian, Greek, Romanian, Danish and Bulgarian.  Greek and Danish have letters that I can\'t even read so I parse out the Bulgarian. As luck would have it, it\'s not too hard.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4787\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"My five un-cracked eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4787\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4787\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4787  \" title=\"My five un-cracked eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02432-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nAfter boiling my eggs, I realize that two of my seven eggs have cracked in the cooking process. Stupid eggs. I figure that dying five eggs is about as silly as it gets. So I dyed the two cracked ones as well.\r\n\r\nAnd best part of the story? All seven of the eggs turn out simply beautiful. The colors are extremely vibrant none of the pastel <a title=\"Paas Easter Egg Dying\" href=\"http://www.paaseastereggs.com/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Paas business</a>. This leads me to suspect that I probably could have dyed brown eggs but who cares. The pink-red is shockingly bright and the blue is a midnight-blue color. It doesn\'t really get better than this.\r\n\r\nMy fingers smelled a little strange after words but I\'m trying not to think about that as I eat my hard boiled eggs.\r\n\r\n<strong>Alexander Nevski Cathedral</strong>\r\n\r\nThe highlight of the day, well night, was a trip to Alexander Nevski Cathedral to celebrate the arrival Easter at midnight. My friends S. and P. were both down with the idea of heading downtown to celebrate the holiday. There was a lot of discussion about how to get downtown at back.\r\n\r\nMy first year I lived in the city center making it super easy for me to walk to church and back. This year however, I wasn\'t sure what to expect. It\'s easy to get from Mladost to the center via Metro but the last train most nights is shortly after 11 pm. This schedule makes it pretty easy to get downtown but means that you can\'t rely on it to get home again. On a regular late night in the city center, I\'d grab a taxi to get back to Mladost but a taxi on Easter? I don\'t know.\r\n\r\nLuckily, my ever-clever friend P. said, if we were in Boston and there was a big even like this the city would extend hours on public transportation. She checked and sure enough, Sofia had extended Metro hours for Easter. That\'s cool. Really cool. It made the whole evening really easy. <em>Thanks, Sofia public transportation!</em>\r\n\r\nWe got downtown a little bit early and stopped by Memento to have a drink inside before going to stand outside in the cold. It was about 7 degrees celsius last night. When we got there it was crowded and at 15 minutes to midnight when we\'d gone to the bathroom and paid our bill the place was basically empty. Apparently if you\'re twenty-something it\'s totally acceptable to have a drink or two before heading to church to celebrate Easter.\r\n\r\nOn our walk to Nevski, we bought candles from a young man selling them on the street. The Russian church was humming with activity and crossing the street Nevski was beautiful as usual. It was lit up with high power lamps and there was  huge crowd of people clustered outside the church. The lighting it turns out was for television as the ceremony was being televised.\r\n\r\nI hate to admit this but I know very little about the actual ceremony. Here are the highlights as I see them but the actual order of these things is pretty unclear to me. <em>Sorry</em>.\r\n\r\nThis said, I loved the way that the bells of the church seemed to work in hand in hand with the actual ceremony. It was incredibly beautiful to experience the bells, the chanting of the priest and the murmuring from the crowd. The result of this is a feeling of being actively pulled in the the ceremony and tradition even when you\'re not in the church or physically close to the priest because you\'re surrounded by it.\r\n\r\nSo the priest comes out of the church with a candle and from here the light is passed to everyone in the crowd outside of the church. In practice however, I spotted many young people outside of the church lighting their candles with lighters rather than waiting for the flame to be passed to them. This in part leads to part of the time order confusion that I have. In the large crowd outside of the church it takes a long time to actually pass on the light or the flame and when others are simply lighting their own candles the timing becomes all muddled. It doesn\'t help that last night it was also pretty windy making it difficult to light your candle the first time. One of the nice things is that Bulgarians who would never otherwise talk to you, do ask to light their candles from yours and you have to ask to you light yours on someone else\'s.\r\n\r\nWhile everyone is struggling to light their candles I think that the priest reaches the part of the ceremony where he exclaims: Christ is risen and the people respond: He has risen indeed. This happens three times. I think. Check out this great list of the greeting in <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paschal_greeting\" target=\"_blank\">different languages from all over the world</a>.\r\n\r\nAbout this point, everyone starts walking around the church. You\'re supposed to walk around the church three times with your burning candle. If your candle goes out, it\'s supposed to be bad luck and I think it reveals that you\'ve sinned in the past year.  Some people even say that you should walk home with your candle still burning after walking around the church but I don\'t really think this a part of the tradition. You don\'t want your candle to go out at any point after it has been lit but it\'s especially bad for it go out on your trip around the church. Last night this was basically impossible.\r\n\r\nThere were a number of factors that made it this way. First Nevski is just a big church, second it was windy and made protecting your flame difficult at best and third there were so many people there it was hard to actually walk around the church. We made it about half way around the church before we gave up on our flames. I think makes us fair-weather Orthodox Christians. We did however walk around the church; we just didn\'t manage to make it around with our candle still burning.  But for the record, even people with plastic cups, yogurt containers or other means of flame protectors other than their hands were also struggling to keep their candles burning.\r\n\r\nOne of the things that was interesting to me as an outsider was the huge range of people participating in this tradition. The participation of the young and old didn\'t surprise me as much as the participation of teenagers and young adults. In the States, this is the segment missing from most religious ceremonies and here in Bulgaria they were out in droves--actively participating burning candles in hand.\r\n\r\n<strong>Egg Fighting</strong>\r\n\r\nThen there\'s the egg fighting. After the religious ceremony has ended people unwrap hard boiled eggs and an unofficial ceremony begins: egg fighting. You take your egg--ideally a red one--and you wack/hit your egg against your opponent\'s egg. The winner\'s egg remains whole and uncracked. The loser\'s egg is cracked. I think that winning a battle not only proves the greatness of your egg but also your moral superiority over your opponent. But of course, you should feel free to correct me on this part.\r\n\r\nLittle kids are serious about this part of the tradition and they smash their eggs against their opponent\'s with great relish.\r\n\r\nIn fact teenagers, take this seriously as well. At school on Friday, I had a long talk with a group of teenage boys about this Easter tradition. They were shocked that this wasn\'t part of the Protestant Easter tradition.  I reminded them that in the States we have the Easter Bunny and that he\'s absent in Bulgarian tradition. They nodded in agreement but it was also clear that they thought we are certainly depriving our children in the States of one of the best parts of Easter.','Easter Traditions in Sofia ','','inherit','open','open','','4781-revision-8','','','2011-04-24 12:00:24','2011-04-24 10:00:24','',4781,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/4781-revision-8/',0,'revision','',0),(4794,1,'2011-04-24 12:00:24','2011-04-24 10:00:24','[caption id=\"attachment_4782\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"225\" caption=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4782\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4782\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-4782 \" title=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02440-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nSurprise, surprise: it\'s Easter!\r\n\r\nI\'ve had a great time poking around the city this weekend.  I wasn\'t in Sofia for Easter last year but I did spend my first year in the city for the holiday. It just seemed like the thing to do and last year I am pretty sure that I was traveling and that Easter was lumped in with Spring Break.\r\n\r\nI\'ve been amazed by the feel of the city over the weekend. On Friday the city center is was hopping. There were people every where: on the streets, in cafes, in the parks, in shops. You name it--there were people there. Sofia was alive and bustling. It was the start of a four day weekend. <em>Easter Weekend!!</em>\r\n\r\nOkay for better or worse, I just sat down to type up a quick post on Easter Traditions in Sofia--a post that turned into a 2000+ words making it anything but short or quick. So I\'ve broken it down into four subsections--Kuzonak, Eying Easter Eggs, Alexander Nevski Cathedral and Egg Fighting. I hope this helps in the read-ability of this massive post and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I hope that maybe you learn something new about Easter in Bulgaria and I hope that those of you more familiar with these traditions help me out where my knowledge is murky.\r\n\r\n<strong>Kuzonak</strong>\r\n\r\nI bought kuzonak at my favorite little bakery/banitsa shop on Graf Ignativ--it\'s right next to the new cafe Lime. I know that there are other bakeries in town but I am a loyal shopper. When I lived downtown this was my shop. I only bought banitsa and slices of pizza there. The women who worked there (and still do) were always really nice to me. In the beginning they let me stumble through my order in Bulgarian without ever giving me any sign of annoyance--even when it was busy.\r\n\r\nYou get a lot of points in my book for that. And you get me traveling from Mladost into the city center for your kuzonak for that reason as well. I can\'t imagine that they remember me or even notice my semi-regular support of their shop but that\'s okay.\r\n\r\nThe day I bought my kuzonak, the shop was buzzing with activity and with crazy shoppers. There was a display of kuzonak in the window and a line inside the shop as well as at the walk up pizza window. It\'s the kind of scene where you know from the line that the kuzonak is going to be good but you\'ve got to steal yourself for the meaham that will ensue as you try to place your order.\r\n\r\nThe problem is the shop is pretty small and generally speaking Bulgarians are only so-so when it comes to lines. Luckily, I know these things now and it takes more energy to get annoyed with the lawlessness of the line rather than just to smile and make eye contact with one of the women working at the shop. Before I got waited on however I did get elbowed a few times and I had a man blatantly cut in front of me. The woman behind the counter shot me a look of apology and annoyance at the same time when this happened. But what are you going to do, I am not fighting anyone on Easter weekend over bread. Even if it is really, really good bread.\r\n\r\nNow kuzonak is a bread that takes hours to prepare and while it\'s a tradition lots of people don\'t want to spend the time making themselves. Enter bakeries. When I was at the shop on Friday, there were three women behind the counter taking and filling orders. There was another girl bringing a fairly steady stream of kuzonak out from the back and I can only assume there were just as many people making the bread in back.\r\n\r\nI guess it makes sense. Kuzonak is a sweet airy bread and when you cut into it or pull a piece off the loaf you see these beautiful long fibers of bread inside. I am told that this requires sifting a lot of air into the bread, careful kneading, at some point you need to hit the dough on the wooden board you\'ve been kneading it on 100 times and you let it rise and you punch it down two or three times before you finally bake it in a hot oven.  No wonder so many people buy the bread rather than make it themselves.\r\n\r\n<strong>Dying Easter Eggs</strong>\r\n\r\nAfter buying more kuzonak than a single girl probably should, I went to the grocery store to buy a few things for dinner and some eggs to hard boil and dye.\r\n\r\nAt Billa I was confronted with a problem: brown eggs.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4785\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4785\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4785\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4785 \" title=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02427-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nOkay, just to be clear, Billa always has brown eggs. Normally, I am totally fine with this. Only I have never dyed eggs that aren\'t white--oh to be an American. In my mind brown eggs don\'t really seem to offer a very good base to work with.  The thought of brown-pink, brown-blue, brown-green Easter eggs didn\'t really do it for me.\r\n\r\nSo I bought a box of white eggs--which I think cost considerably more than the brown ones. <em>Oh well</em>. A dutiful shopper I checked on the structural integrity of my eggs. No one wants to buy cracked or broken eggs. I thought: great 12 eggs. That\'s plenty. I also grabbed a packet of egg dye and some apple cider vinegar.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4786\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"559\" caption=\"Dying Eggs! \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4786\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4786\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4786   \" title=\"Dying Eggs! \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02429-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"559\" height=\"420\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nMy plan was this, make dinner. Then boil the eggs so that I could dye them on Saturday. Needless to say, this didn\'t happen. I used three eggs for dinner leaving me with 9 to dye. Again, that\'s plenty for just me.\r\n\r\nSaturday when I finally got around to boiling and dying the eggs them I realized two things.\r\n\r\nFirst, I bought 10 eggs not 12 so I\'ve only got 7 eggs. At this point it felt pretty silly to dye seven eggs--given the time and energy it takes--but it\'s Easter and I did buy the egg dye so I boil seven eggs. This leads me to point two, it turns out the instructions for dying eggs are in about 12 language none of which I really speak. Among others there\'s Polish, Czech, Lithuanian, Greek, Romanian, Danish and Bulgarian.  Greek and Danish have letters that I can\'t even read so I parse out the Bulgarian. As luck would have it, it\'s not too hard.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4787\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"My five un-cracked eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4787\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4787\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4787  \" title=\"My five un-cracked eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02432-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nAfter boiling my eggs, I realize that two of my seven eggs have cracked in the cooking process. Stupid eggs. I figure that dying five eggs is about as silly as it gets. So I dyed the two cracked ones as well.\r\n\r\nAnd best part of the story? All seven of the eggs turn out simply beautiful. The colors are extremely vibrant none of the pastel <a title=\"Paas Easter Egg Dying\" href=\"http://www.paaseastereggs.com/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Paas business</a>. This leads me to suspect that I probably could have dyed brown eggs but who cares. The pink-red is shockingly bright and the blue is a midnight-blue color. It doesn\'t really get better than this.\r\n\r\nMy fingers smelled a little strange after words but I\'m trying not to think about that as I eat my hard boiled eggs.\r\n\r\n<strong>Alexander Nevski Cathedral</strong>\r\n\r\nThe highlight of the day, well night, was a trip to Alexander Nevski Cathedral to celebrate the arrival Easter at midnight. My friends S. and P. were both down with the idea of heading downtown to celebrate the holiday. There was a lot of discussion about how to get downtown at back.\r\n\r\nMy first year I lived in the city center making it super easy for me to walk to church and back. This year however, I wasn\'t sure what to expect. It\'s easy to get from Mladost to the center via Metro but the last train most nights is shortly after 11 pm. This schedule makes it pretty easy to get downtown but means that you can\'t rely on it to get home again. On a regular late night in the city center, I\'d grab a taxi to get back to Mladost but a taxi on Easter? I don\'t know.\r\n\r\nLuckily, my ever-clever friend P. said, if we were in Boston and there was a big even like this the city would extend hours on public transportation. She checked and sure enough, Sofia had extended Metro hours for Easter. That\'s cool. Really cool. It made the whole evening really easy. <em>Thanks, Sofia public transportation!</em>\r\n\r\nWe got downtown a little bit early and stopped by Memento to have a drink inside before going to stand outside in the cold. It was about 7 degrees celsius last night. When we got there it was crowded and at 15 minutes to midnight when we\'d gone to the bathroom and paid our bill the place was basically empty. Apparently if you\'re twenty-something it\'s totally acceptable to have a drink or two before heading to church to celebrate Easter.\r\n\r\nOn our walk to Nevski, we bought candles from a young man selling them on the street. The Russian church was humming with activity and crossing the street Nevski was beautiful as usual. It was lit up with high power lamps and there was  huge crowd of people clustered outside the church. The lighting it turns out was for television as the ceremony was being televised.\r\n\r\nI hate to admit this but I know very little about the actual ceremony. Here are the highlights as I see them but the actual order of these things is pretty unclear to me. <em>Sorry</em>.\r\n\r\nThis said, I loved the way that the bells of the church seemed to work in hand in hand with the actual ceremony. It was incredibly beautiful to experience the bells, the chanting of the priest and the murmuring from the crowd. The result of this is a feeling of being actively pulled in the the ceremony and tradition even when you\'re not in the church or physically close to the priest because you\'re surrounded by it.\r\n\r\nSo the priest comes out of the church with a candle and from here the light is passed to everyone in the crowd outside of the church. In practice however, I spotted many young people outside of the church lighting their candles with lighters rather than waiting for the flame to be passed to them. This in part leads to part of the time order confusion that I have. In the large crowd outside of the church it takes a long time to actually pass on the light or the flame and when others are simply lighting their own candles the timing becomes all muddled. It doesn\'t help that last night it was also pretty windy making it difficult to light your candle the first time. One of the nice things is that Bulgarians who would never otherwise talk to you, do ask to light their candles from yours and you have to ask to you light yours on someone else\'s.\r\n\r\nWhile everyone is struggling to light their candles I think that the priest reaches the part of the ceremony where he exclaims: Christ is risen and the people respond: He has risen indeed. This happens three times. I think. Check out this great list of the greeting in <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paschal_greeting\" target=\"_blank\">different languages from all over the world</a>.\r\n\r\nAbout this point, everyone starts walking around the church. You\'re supposed to walk around the church three times with your burning candle. If your candle goes out, it\'s supposed to be bad luck and I think it reveals that you\'ve sinned in the past year.  Some people even say that you should walk home with your candle still burning after walking around the church but I don\'t really think this a part of the tradition. You don\'t want your candle to go out at any point after it has been lit but it\'s especially bad for it go out on your trip around the church. Last night this was basically impossible.\r\n\r\nThere were a number of factors that made it this way. First Nevski is just a big church, second it was windy and made protecting your flame difficult at best and third there were so many people there it was hard to actually walk around the church. We made it about half way around the church before we gave up on our flames. I think makes us fair-weather Orthodox Christians. We did however walk around the church; we just didn\'t manage to make it around with our candle still burning.  But for the record, even people with plastic cups, yogurt containers or other means of flame protectors other than their hands were also struggling to keep their candles burning.\r\n\r\nOne of the things that was interesting to me as an outsider was the huge range of people participating in this tradition. The participation of the young and old didn\'t surprise me as much as the participation of teenagers and young adults. In the States, this is the segment missing from most religious ceremonies and here in Bulgaria they were out in droves--actively participating burning candles in hand.\r\n\r\n<strong>Egg Fighting</strong>\r\n\r\nThen there\'s the egg fighting. After the religious ceremony has ended people unwrap hard boiled eggs and an unofficial ceremony begins: egg fighting. You take your egg--ideally a red one--and you wack/hit your egg against your opponent\'s egg. The winner\'s egg remains whole and uncracked. The loser\'s egg is cracked. I think that winning a battle not only proves the greatness of your egg but also your moral superiority over your opponent. But of course, you should feel free to correct me on this part.\r\n\r\nLittle kids are serious about this part of the tradition and they smash their eggs against their opponent\'s with great relish.\r\n\r\nIn fact teenagers, take this seriously as well. At school on Friday, I had a long talk with a group of teenage boys about this Easter tradition. They were shocked that this wasn\'t part of the Protestant Easter tradition.  I reminded them that in the States we have the Easter Bunny and that he\'s absent in Bulgarian tradition. They nodded in agreement but it was also clear that they thought we are certainly depriving our children in the States of one of the best parts of Easter.','Easter Traditions in Sofia ','','inherit','open','open','','4781-revision-9','','','2011-04-24 12:00:24','2011-04-24 10:00:24','',4781,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/4781-revision-9/',0,'revision','',0),(4795,1,'2011-04-24 12:00:25','2011-04-24 10:00:25','[caption id=\"attachment_4782\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"225\" caption=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4782\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4782\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-4782 \" title=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02440-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nSurprise, surprise: it\'s Easter!\r\n\r\nI\'ve had a great time poking around the city this weekend.  I wasn\'t in Sofia for Easter last year but I did spend my first year in the city for the holiday. It just seemed like the thing to do and last year I am pretty sure that I was traveling and that Easter was lumped in with Spring Break.\r\n\r\nI\'ve been amazed by the feel of the city over the weekend. On Friday the city center is was hopping. There were people every where: on the streets, in cafes, in the parks, in shops. You name it--there were people there. Sofia was alive and bustling. It was the start of a four day weekend. <em>Easter Weekend!!</em>\r\n\r\nOkay for better or worse, I just sat down to type up a quick post on Easter Traditions in Sofia--a post that turned into a 2000+ words making it anything but short or quick. So I\'ve broken it down into four subsections--Kuzonak, Eying Easter Eggs, Alexander Nevski Cathedral and Egg Fighting. I hope this helps in the read-ability of this massive post and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I hope that maybe you learn something new about Easter in Bulgaria and I hope that those of you more familiar with these traditions help me out where my knowledge is murky.\r\n\r\n<strong>Kuzonak</strong>\r\n\r\nI bought kuzonak at my favorite little bakery/banitsa shop on Graf Ignativ--it\'s right next to the new cafe Lime. I know that there are other bakeries in town but I am a loyal shopper. When I lived downtown this was my shop. I only bought banitsa and slices of pizza there. The women who worked there (and still do) were always really nice to me. In the beginning they let me stumble through my order in Bulgarian without ever giving me any sign of annoyance--even when it was busy.\r\n\r\nYou get a lot of points in my book for that. And you get me traveling from Mladost into the city center for your kuzonak for that reason as well. I can\'t imagine that they remember me or even notice my semi-regular support of their shop but that\'s okay.\r\n\r\nThe day I bought my kuzonak, the shop was buzzing with activity and with crazy shoppers. There was a display of kuzonak in the window and a line inside the shop as well as at the walk up pizza window. It\'s the kind of scene where you know from the line that the kuzonak is going to be good but you\'ve got to steal yourself for the meaham that will ensue as you try to place your order.\r\n\r\nThe problem is the shop is pretty small and generally speaking Bulgarians are only so-so when it comes to lines. Luckily, I know these things now and it takes more energy to get annoyed with the lawlessness of the line rather than just to smile and make eye contact with one of the women working at the shop. Before I got waited on however I did get elbowed a few times and I had a man blatantly cut in front of me. The woman behind the counter shot me a look of apology and annoyance at the same time when this happened. But what are you going to do, I am not fighting anyone on Easter weekend over bread. Even if it is really, really good bread.\r\n\r\nNow kuzonak is a bread that takes hours to prepare and while it\'s a tradition lots of people don\'t want to spend the time making themselves. Enter bakeries. When I was at the shop on Friday, there were three women behind the counter taking and filling orders. There was another girl bringing a fairly steady stream of kuzonak out from the back and I can only assume there were just as many people making the bread in back.\r\n\r\nI guess it makes sense. Kuzonak is a sweet airy bread and when you cut into it or pull a piece off the loaf you see these beautiful long fibers of bread inside. I am told that this requires sifting a lot of air into the bread, careful kneading, at some point you need to hit the dough on the wooden board you\'ve been kneading it on 100 times and you let it rise and you punch it down two or three times before you finally bake it in a hot oven.  No wonder so many people buy the bread rather than make it themselves.\r\n\r\n<strong>Dying Easter Eggs</strong>\r\n\r\nAfter buying more kuzonak than a single girl probably should, I went to the grocery store to buy a few things for dinner and some eggs to hard boil and dye.\r\n\r\nAt Billa I was confronted with a problem: brown eggs.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4785\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4785\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4785\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4785 \" title=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02427-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nOkay, just to be clear, Billa always has brown eggs. Normally, I am totally fine with this. Only I have never dyed eggs that aren\'t white--oh to be an American. In my mind brown eggs don\'t really seem to offer a very good base to work with.  The thought of brown-pink, brown-blue, brown-green Easter eggs didn\'t really do it for me.\r\n\r\nSo I bought a box of white eggs--which I think cost considerably more than the brown ones. <em>Oh well</em>. A dutiful shopper I checked on the structural integrity of my eggs. No one wants to buy cracked or broken eggs. I thought: great 12 eggs. That\'s plenty. I also grabbed a packet of egg dye and some apple cider vinegar.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4786\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"559\" caption=\"Dying Eggs! \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4786\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4786\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4786   \" title=\"Dying Eggs! \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02429-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"559\" height=\"420\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nMy plan was this, make dinner. Then boil the eggs so that I could dye them on Saturday. Needless to say, this didn\'t happen. I used three eggs for dinner leaving me with 9 to dye. Again, that\'s plenty for just me.\r\n\r\nSaturday when I finally got around to boiling and dying the eggs them I realized two things.\r\n\r\nFirst, I bought 10 eggs not 12 so I\'ve only got 7 eggs. At this point it felt pretty silly to dye seven eggs--given the time and energy it takes--but it\'s Easter and I did buy the egg dye so I boil seven eggs. This leads me to point two, it turns out the instructions for dying eggs are in about 12 language none of which I really speak. Among others there\'s Polish, Czech, Lithuanian, Greek, Romanian, Danish and Bulgarian.  Greek and Danish have letters that I can\'t even read so I parse out the Bulgarian. As luck would have it, it\'s not too hard.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4787\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"My five un-cracked eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4787\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4787\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4787  \" title=\"My five un-cracked eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02432-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nAfter boiling my eggs, I realize that two of my seven eggs have cracked in the cooking process. Stupid eggs. I figure that dying five eggs is about as silly as it gets. So I dyed the two cracked ones as well.\r\n\r\nAnd best part of the story? All seven of the eggs turn out simply beautiful. The colors are extremely vibrant none of the pastel <a title=\"Paas Easter Egg Dying\" href=\"http://www.paaseastereggs.com/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Paas business</a>. This leads me to suspect that I probably could have dyed brown eggs but who cares. The pink-red is shockingly bright and the blue is a midnight-blue color. It doesn\'t really get better than this.\r\n\r\nMy fingers smelled a little strange after words but I\'m trying not to think about that as I eat my hard boiled eggs.\r\n\r\n<strong>Alexander Nevski Cathedral</strong>\r\n\r\nThe highlight of the day, well night, was a trip to Alexander Nevski Cathedral to celebrate the arrival Easter at midnight. My friends S. and P. were both down with the idea of heading downtown to celebrate the holiday. There was a lot of discussion about how to get downtown at back.\r\n\r\nMy first year I lived in the city center making it super easy for me to walk to church and back. This year however, I wasn\'t sure what to expect. It\'s easy to get from Mladost to the center via Metro but the last train most nights is shortly after 11 pm. This schedule makes it pretty easy to get downtown but means that you can\'t rely on it to get home again. On a regular late night in the city center, I\'d grab a taxi to get back to Mladost but a taxi on Easter? I don\'t know.\r\n\r\nLuckily, my ever-clever friend P. said, if we were in Boston and there was a big even like this the city would extend hours on public transportation. She checked and sure enough, Sofia had extended Metro hours for Easter. That\'s cool. Really cool. It made the whole evening really easy. <em>Thanks, Sofia public transportation!</em>\r\n\r\nWe got downtown a little bit early and stopped by Memento to have a drink inside before going to stand outside in the cold. It was about 7 degrees celsius last night. When we got there it was crowded and at 15 minutes to midnight when we\'d gone to the bathroom and paid our bill the place was basically empty. Apparently if you\'re twenty-something it\'s totally acceptable to have a drink or two before heading to church to celebrate Easter.\r\n\r\nOn our walk to Nevski, we bought candles from a young man selling them on the street. The Russian church was humming with activity and crossing the street Nevski was beautiful as usual. It was lit up with high power lamps and there was  huge crowd of people clustered outside the church. The lighting it turns out was for television as the ceremony was being televised.\r\n\r\nI hate to admit this but I know very little about the actual ceremony. Here are the highlights as I see them but the actual order of these things is pretty unclear to me. <em>Sorry</em>.\r\n\r\nThis said, I loved the way that the bells of the church seemed to work in hand in hand with the actual ceremony. It was incredibly beautiful to experience the bells, the chanting of the priest and the murmuring from the crowd. The result of this is a feeling of being actively pulled in the the ceremony and tradition even when you\'re not in the church or physically close to the priest because you\'re surrounded by it.\r\n\r\nSo the priest comes out of the church with a candle and from here the light is passed to everyone in the crowd outside of the church. In practice however, I spotted many young people outside of the church lighting their candles with lighters rather than waiting for the flame to be passed to them. This in part leads to part of the time order confusion that I have. In the large crowd outside of the church it takes a long time to actually pass on the light or the flame and when others are simply lighting their own candles the timing becomes all muddled. It doesn\'t help that last night it was also pretty windy making it difficult to light your candle the first time. One of the nice things is that Bulgarians who would never otherwise talk to you, do ask to light their candles from yours and you have to ask to you light yours on someone else\'s.\r\n\r\nWhile everyone is struggling to light their candles I think that the priest reaches the part of the ceremony where he exclaims: Christ is risen and the people respond: He has risen indeed. This happens three times. I think. Check out this great list of the greeting in <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paschal_greeting\" target=\"_blank\">different languages from all over the world</a>.\r\n\r\nAbout this point, everyone starts walking around the church. You\'re supposed to walk around the church three times with your burning candle. If your candle goes out, it\'s supposed to be bad luck and I think it reveals that you\'ve sinned in the past year.  Some people even say that you should walk home with your candle still burning after walking around the church but I don\'t really think this a part of the tradition. You don\'t want your candle to go out at any point after it has been lit but it\'s especially bad for it go out on your trip around the church. Last night this was basically impossible.\r\n\r\nThere were a number of factors that made it this way. First Nevski is just a big church, second it was windy and made protecting your flame difficult at best and third there were so many people there it was hard to actually walk around the church. We made it about half way around the church before we gave up on our flames. I think makes us fair-weather Orthodox Christians. We did however walk around the church; we just didn\'t manage to make it around with our candle still burning.  But for the record, even people with plastic cups, yogurt containers or other means of flame protectors other than their hands were also struggling to keep their candles burning.\r\n\r\nOne of the things that was interesting to me as an outsider was the huge range of people participating in this tradition. The participation of the young and old didn\'t surprise me as much as the participation of teenagers and young adults. In the States, this is the segment missing from most religious ceremonies and here in Bulgaria they were out in droves--actively participating burning candles in hand.\r\n\r\n<strong>Egg Fighting</strong>\r\n\r\nThen there\'s the egg fighting. After the religious ceremony has ended people unwrap hard boiled eggs and an unofficial ceremony begins: egg fighting. You take your egg--ideally a red one--and you wack/hit your egg against your opponent\'s egg. The winner\'s egg remains whole and uncracked. The loser\'s egg is cracked. I think that winning a battle not only proves the greatness of your egg but also your moral superiority over your opponent. But of course, you should feel free to correct me on this part.\r\n\r\nLittle kids are serious about this part of the tradition and they smash their eggs against their opponent\'s with great relish.\r\n\r\nIn fact teenagers, take this seriously as well. At school on Friday, I had a long talk with a group of teenage boys about this Easter tradition. They were shocked that this wasn\'t part of the Protestant Easter tradition.  I reminded them that in the States we have the Easter Bunny and that he\'s absent in Bulgarian tradition. They nodded in agreement but it was also clear that they thought we are certainly depriving our children in the States of one of the best parts of Easter.','Easter Traditions in Sofia ','','inherit','open','open','','4781-revision-10','','','2011-04-24 12:00:25','2011-04-24 10:00:25','',4781,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/4781-revision-10/',0,'revision','',0),(4796,1,'2011-04-24 12:01:44','2011-04-24 10:01:44','','Nevski: Easter','Nevski: Easter','inherit','open','open','','dsc02433','','','2011-04-24 12:01:44','2011-04-24 10:01:44','',4781,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02433.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(4797,1,'2011-04-24 12:03:29','2011-04-24 10:03:29','','P. and S. in front of Nevski','P. and S. in front of Nevski','inherit','open','open','','dsc02438','','','2011-04-24 12:03:29','2011-04-24 10:03:29','',4781,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02438.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(4798,1,'2011-04-24 12:04:43','2011-04-24 10:04:43','','People streaming of the church','People streaming of the church','inherit','open','open','','dsc02447','','','2011-04-24 12:04:43','2011-04-24 10:04:43','',4781,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02447.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(4799,1,'2011-04-24 12:05:49','2011-04-24 10:05:49','','Side view of Nevski on Easter','Side view of Nevski on Easter','inherit','open','open','','dsc02453','','','2011-04-24 12:05:49','2011-04-24 10:05:49','',4781,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02453.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(4800,1,'2011-04-24 12:08:27','2011-04-24 10:08:27','','Fresh Kuzonak','Fresh Kuzonak','inherit','open','open','','img_8255','','','2011-04-24 12:08:27','2011-04-24 10:08:27','',4781,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8255.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(4801,1,'2011-04-24 12:10:00','2011-04-24 10:10:00','','Wow, Kozunak!','Wow, Kozunak!','inherit','open','open','','img_8257','','','2011-04-24 12:10:00','2011-04-24 10:10:00','',4781,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8257.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(4802,1,'2011-04-24 12:15:33','2011-04-24 10:15:33','[caption id=\"attachment_4782\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"225\" caption=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4782\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4782\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-4782 \" title=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02440-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nSurprise, surprise: it\'s Easter!\n\nI\'ve had a great time poking around the city this weekend.  I wasn\'t in Sofia for Easter last year but I did spend my first year in the city for the holiday. It just seemed like the thing to do and last year I am pretty sure that I was traveling and that Easter was lumped in with Spring Break.\n\nI\'ve been amazed by the feel of the city over the weekend. On Friday the city center is was hopping. There were people every where: on the streets, in cafes, in the parks, in shops. You name it--there were people there. Sofia was alive and bustling. It was the start of a four day weekend. <em>Easter Weekend!!</em>\n\nOkay for better or worse, I just sat down to type up a quick post on Easter Traditions in Sofia--a post that turned into a 2000+ words making it anything but short or quick. So I\'ve broken it down into four subsections--Kozunak, Eying Easter Eggs, Alexander Nevski Cathedral and Egg Fighting. I hope this helps in the read-ability of this massive post and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I hope that maybe you learn something new about Easter in Bulgaria and I hope that those of you more familiar with these traditions help me out where my knowledge is murky.\n\n<strong>Kozunak</strong>\n\nI bought kozunak at my favorite little bakery/banitsa shop on Graf Ignativ--it\'s right next to the new cafe Lime. I know that there are other bakeries in town but I am a loyal shopper. When I lived downtown this was my shop. I only bought banitsa and slices of pizza there. The women who worked there (and still do) were always really nice to me. In the beginning they let me stumble through my order in Bulgarian without ever giving me any sign of annoyance--even when it was busy.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4800\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Fresh Kuzonak\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4800\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4800\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4800 \" title=\"Fresh Kuzonak\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8255-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nYou get a lot of points in my book for that. And you get me traveling from Mladost into the city center for your kozunak for that reason as well. I can\'t imagine that they remember me or even notice my semi-regular support of their shop but that\'s okay.\n\nThe day I bought my kozunak, the shop was buzzing with activity and with crazy shoppers. There was a display of kozunak in the window and a line inside the shop as well as at the walk up pizza window. It\'s the kind of scene where you know from the line that the kozunak is going to be good but you\'ve got to steal yourself for the meyhem that will ensue as you try to place your order.\n\nThe problem is the shop is pretty small and generally speaking Bulgarians are only so-so when it comes to lines. Luckily, I know these things now and it takes more energy to get annoyed with the lawlessness of the line rather than just to smile and make eye contact with one of the women working at the shop. Before I got waited on however I did get elbowed a few times and I had a man blatantly cut in front of me. The woman behind the counter shot me a look of apology and annoyance at the same time when this happened. But what are you going to do, I am not fighting anyone on Easter weekend over bread. Even if it is really, really good bread.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4801\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Wow, Kozunak!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4801\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4801\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4801 \" title=\"Wow, Kozunak!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8257-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nNow kozunak is a bread that takes hours to prepare and while it\'s a tradition lots of people don\'t want to spend the time making themselves. Enter bakeries. When I was at the shop on Friday, there were three women behind the counter taking and filling orders. There was another girl bringing a fairly steady stream of kozunak out from the back and I can only assume there were just as many people making the bread in back.\n\nI guess it makes sense. Kozunak is a sweet airy bread and when you cut into it or pull a piece off the loaf you see these beautiful long fibers of bread inside. I am told that this requires sifting a lot of air into the bread, careful kneading, at some point you need to hit the dough on the wooden board you\'ve been kneading it on 100 times and you let it rise and you punch it down two or three times before you finally bake it in a hot oven.  No wonder so many people buy the bread rather than make it themselves.\n\n<strong>Dying Easter Eggs</strong>\n\nAfter buying more kozunak than a single girl probably should, I went to the grocery store to buy a few things for dinner and some eggs to hard boil and dye.\n\nAt Billa I was confronted with a problem: brown eggs.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4785\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4785\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4785\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4785 \" title=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02427-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nOkay, just to be clear, Billa always has brown eggs. Normally, I am totally fine with this. Only I have never dyed eggs that aren\'t white--oh to be an American. In my mind brown eggs don\'t really seem to offer a very good base to work with.  The thought of brown-pink, brown-blue, brown-green Easter eggs didn\'t really do it for me.\n\nSo I bought a box of white eggs--which I think cost considerably more than the brown ones. <em>Oh well</em>. A dutiful shopper I checked on the structural integrity of my eggs. No one wants to buy cracked or broken eggs. I thought: great 12 eggs. That\'s plenty. I also grabbed a packet of egg dye and some apple cider vinegar.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4786\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"615\" caption=\"Dying Eggs! \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4786\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4786\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4786    \" title=\"Dying Eggs! \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02429-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"615\" height=\"462\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nMy plan was this, make dinner. Then boil the eggs so that I could dye them on Saturday. Needless to say, this didn\'t happen. I used three eggs for dinner leaving me with 9 to dye. Again, that\'s plenty for just me.\n\nSaturday when I finally got around to boiling and dying the eggs them I realized two things.\n\nFirst, I bought 10 eggs not 12 so I\'ve only got 7 eggs. At this point it felt pretty silly to dye seven eggs--given the time and energy it takes--but it\'s Easter and I did buy the egg dye so I boil seven eggs. This leads me to point two, it turns out the instructions for dying eggs are in about 12 language none of which I really speak. Among others there\'s Polish, Czech, Lithuanian, Greek, Romanian, Danish and Bulgarian.  Greek and Danish have letters that I can\'t even read so I parse out the Bulgarian. As luck would have it, it\'s not too hard.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4787\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"My five un-cracked eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4787\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4787\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4787  \" title=\"My five un-cracked eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02432-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nAfter boiling my eggs, I realize that two of my seven eggs have cracked in the cooking process. Stupid eggs. I figure that dying five eggs is about as silly as it gets. So I dyed the two cracked ones as well.\n\nAnd best part of the story? All seven of the eggs turn out simply beautiful. The colors are extremely vibrant none of the pastel <a title=\"Paas Easter Egg Dying\" href=\"http://www.paaseastereggs.com/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Paas business</a>. This leads me to suspect that I probably could have dyed brown eggs but who cares. The pink-red is shockingly bright and the blue is a midnight-blue color. It doesn\'t really get better than this.\n\nMy fingers smelled a little strange after words but I\'m trying not to think about that as I eat my hard boiled eggs.\n\n<strong>Alexander Nevski Cathedral</strong>\n\nThe highlight of the day, well night, was a trip to Alexander Nevski Cathedral to celebrate the arrival Easter at midnight. My friends S. and P. were both down with the idea of heading downtown to celebrate the holiday. There was a lot of discussion about how to get downtown at back.\n\nMy first year I lived in the city center making it super easy for me to walk to church and back. This year however, I wasn\'t sure what to expect. It\'s easy to get from Mladost to the center via Metro but the last train most nights is shortly after 11 pm. This schedule makes it pretty easy to get downtown but means that you can\'t rely on it to get home again. On a regular late night in the city center, I\'d grab a taxi to get back to Mladost but a taxi on Easter? I don\'t know.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4796\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Nevski: Easter\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4796\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4796\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4796 \" title=\"Nevski: Easter\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02433-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nLuckily, my ever-clever friend P. said, if we were in Boston and there was a big even like this the city would extend hours on public transportation. She checked and sure enough, Sofia had extended Metro hours for Easter. That\'s cool. Really cool. It made the whole evening really easy. <em>Thanks, Sofia public transportation!</em>\n\nWe got downtown a little bit early and stopped by Memento to have a drink inside before going to stand outside in the cold. It was about 7 degrees celsius last night. When we got there it was crowded and at 15 minutes to midnight when we\'d gone to the bathroom and paid our bill the place was basically empty. Apparently if you\'re twenty-something it\'s totally acceptable to have a drink or two before heading to church to celebrate Easter.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4797\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"P. and S. in front of Nevski\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4797\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4797\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4797 \" title=\"P. and S. in front of Nevski\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02438-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nOn our walk to Nevski, we bought candles from a young man selling them on the street. The Russian church was humming with activity and crossing the street Nevski was beautiful as usual. It was lit up with high power lamps and there was  huge crowd of people clustered outside the church. The lighting it turns out was for television as the ceremony was being televised.\n\nI hate to admit this but I know very little about the actual ceremony. Here are the highlights as I see them but the actual order of these things is pretty unclear to me. <em>Sorry</em>.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4798\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"People streaming of the church\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4798\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4798\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4798 \" title=\"People streaming of the church\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02447-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nThis said, I loved the way that the bells of the church seemed to work in hand in hand with the actual ceremony. It was incredibly beautiful to experience the bells, the chanting of the priest and the murmuring from the crowd. The result of this is a feeling of being actively pulled in the the ceremony and tradition even when you\'re not in the church or physically close to the priest because you\'re surrounded by it.\n\nSo the priest comes out of the church with a candle and from here the light is passed to everyone in the crowd outside of the church. In practice however, I spotted many young people outside of the church lighting their candles with lighters rather than waiting for the flame to be passed to them. This in part leads to part of the time order confusion that I have. In the large crowd outside of the church it takes a long time to actually pass on the light or the flame and when others are simply lighting their own candles the timing becomes all muddled. It doesn\'t help that last night it was also pretty windy making it difficult to light your candle the first time. One of the nice things is that Bulgarians who would never otherwise talk to you, do ask to light their candles from yours and you have to ask to you light yours on someone else\'s.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4799\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Side view of Nevski on Easter\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4799\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4799\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4799 \" title=\"Side view of Nevski on Easter\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02453-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nWhile everyone is struggling to light their candles I think that the priest reaches the part of the ceremony where he exclaims: Christ is risen and the people respond: He has risen indeed. This happens three times. I think. Check out this great list of the greeting in <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paschal_greeting\" target=\"_blank\">different languages from all over the world</a>.\n\nAbout this point, everyone starts walking around the church. You\'re supposed to walk around the church three times with your burning candle. If your candle goes out, it\'s supposed to be bad luck and I think it reveals that you\'ve sinned in the past year.  Some people even say that you should walk home with your candle still burning after walking around the church but I don\'t really think this a part of the tradition. You don\'t want your candle to go out at any point after it has been lit but it\'s especially bad for it go out on your trip around the church. Last night this was basically impossible.\n\nThere were a number of factors that made it this way. First Nevski is just a big church, second it was windy and made protecting your flame difficult at best and third there were so many people there it was hard to actually walk around the church. We made it about half way around the church before we gave up on our flames. I think makes us fair-weather Orthodox Christians. We did however walk around the church; we just didn\'t manage to make it around with our candle still burning.  But for the record, even people with plastic cups, yogurt containers or other means of flame protectors other than their hands were also struggling to keep their candles burning.\n\nOne of the things that was interesting to me as an outsider was the huge range of people participating in this tradition. The participation of the young and old didn\'t surprise me as much as the participation of teenagers and young adults. In the States, this is the segment missing from most religious ceremonies and here in Bulgaria they were out in droves--actively participating burning candles in hand.\n\n<strong>Egg Fighting</strong>\n\nThen there\'s the egg fighting. After the religious ceremony has ended people unwrap hard boiled eggs and an unofficial ceremony begins: egg fighting. You take your egg--ideally a red one--and you wack/hit your egg against your opponent\'s egg. The winner\'s egg remains whole and uncracked. The loser\'s egg is cracked. I think that winning a battle not only proves the greatness of your egg but also your moral superiority over your opponent. But of course, you should feel free to correct me on this part.\n\nLittle kids are serious about this part of the tradition and they smash their eggs against their opponent\'s with great relish.\n\nIn fact teenagers, take this seriously as well. At school on Friday, I had a long talk with a group of teenage boys about this Easter tradition. They were shocked that this wasn\'t part of the Protestant Easter tradition.  I reminded them that in the States we have the Easter Bunny and that he\'s absent in Bulgarian tradition. They nodded in agreement but it was also clear that they thought we are certainly depriving our children in the States of one of the best parts of Easter.','Easter Traditions in Sofia ','','inherit','open','open','','4781-revision-11','','','2011-04-24 12:15:33','2011-04-24 10:15:33','',4781,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/4781-revision-11/',0,'revision','',0),(4806,1,'2011-04-24 12:17:29','2011-04-24 10:17:29','[caption id=\"attachment_4782\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"225\" caption=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4782\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4782\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-4782 \" title=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02440-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nSurprise, surprise: it\'s Easter!\n\nI\'ve had a great time poking around the city this weekend.  I wasn\'t in Sofia for Easter last year but I did spend my first year in the city for the holiday. It just seemed like the thing to do and last year I am pretty sure that I was traveling and that Easter was lumped in with Spring Break.\n\nI\'ve been amazed by the feel of the city over the weekend. On Friday the city center is was hopping. There were people every where: on the streets, in cafes, in the parks, in shops. You name it--there were people there. Sofia was alive and bustling. It was the start of a four day weekend. <em>Easter Weekend!!</em>\n\nOkay for better or worse, I just sat down to type up a quick post on Easter Traditions in Sofia--a post that turned into a 2000+ words making it anything but short or quick. So I\'ve broken it down into four subsections--Kozunak, Eying Easter Eggs, Alexander Nevski Cathedral and Egg Fighting. I hope this helps in the read-ability of this massive post and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I hope that maybe you learn something new about Easter in Bulgaria and I hope that those of you more familiar with these traditions help me out where my knowledge is murky.\n\n<strong>Kozunak</strong>\n\nI bought kozunak at my favorite little bakery/banitsa shop on Graf Ignativ--it\'s right next to the new cafe Lime. I know that there are other bakeries in town but I am a loyal shopper. When I lived downtown this was my shop. I only bought banitsa and slices of pizza there. The women who worked there (and still do) were always really nice to me. In the beginning they let me stumble through my order in Bulgarian without ever giving me any sign of annoyance--even when it was busy.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4800\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Fresh Kuzonak\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4800\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4800\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4800 \" title=\"Fresh Kuzonak\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8255-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nYou get a lot of points in my book for that. And you get me traveling from Mladost into the city center for your kozunak for that reason as well. I can\'t imagine that they remember me or even notice my semi-regular support of their shop but that\'s okay.\n\nThe day I bought my kozunak, the shop was buzzing with activity and with crazy shoppers. There was a display of kozunak in the window and a line inside the shop as well as at the walk up pizza window. It\'s the kind of scene where you know from the line that the kozunak is going to be good but you\'ve got to steal yourself for the meyhem that will ensue as you try to place your order.<!--more-->\n\nThe problem is the shop is pretty small and generally speaking Bulgarians are only so-so when it comes to lines. Luckily, I know these things now and it takes more energy to get annoyed with the lawlessness of the line rather than just to smile and make eye contact with one of the women working at the shop. Before I got waited on however I did get elbowed a few times and I had a man blatantly cut in front of me. The woman behind the counter shot me a look of apology and annoyance at the same time when this happened. But what are you going to do, I am not fighting anyone on Easter weekend over bread. Even if it is really, really good bread.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4801\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Wow, Kozunak!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4801\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4801\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4801 \" title=\"Wow, Kozunak!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8257-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nNow kozunak is a bread that takes hours to prepare and while it\'s a tradition lots of people don\'t want to spend the time making themselves. Enter bakeries. When I was at the shop on Friday, there were three women behind the counter taking and filling orders. There was another girl bringing a fairly steady stream of kozunak out from the back and I can only assume there were just as many people making the bread in back.\n\nI guess it makes sense. Kozunak is a sweet airy bread and when you cut into it or pull a piece off the loaf you see these beautiful long fibers of bread inside. I am told that this requires sifting a lot of air into the bread, careful kneading, at some point you need to hit the dough on the wooden board you\'ve been kneading it on 100 times and you let it rise and you punch it down two or three times before you finally bake it in a hot oven.  No wonder so many people buy the bread rather than make it themselves.\n\n<strong>Dying Easter Eggs</strong>\n\nAfter buying more kozunak than a single girl probably should, I went to the grocery store to buy a few things for dinner and some eggs to hard boil and dye.\n\nAt Billa I was confronted with a problem: brown eggs.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4785\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4785\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4785\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4785 \" title=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02427-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nOkay, just to be clear, Billa always has brown eggs. Normally, I am totally fine with this. Only I have never dyed eggs that aren\'t white--oh to be an American. In my mind brown eggs don\'t really seem to offer a very good base to work with.  The thought of brown-pink, brown-blue, brown-green Easter eggs didn\'t really do it for me.\n\nSo I bought a box of white eggs--which I think cost considerably more than the brown ones. <em>Oh well</em>. A dutiful shopper I checked on the structural integrity of my eggs. No one wants to buy cracked or broken eggs. I thought: great 12 eggs. That\'s plenty. I also grabbed a packet of egg dye and some apple cider vinegar.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4786\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"615\" caption=\"Dying Eggs! \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4786\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4786\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4786    \" title=\"Dying Eggs! \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02429-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"615\" height=\"462\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nMy plan was this, make dinner. Then boil the eggs so that I could dye them on Saturday. Needless to say, this didn\'t happen. I used three eggs for dinner leaving me with 9 to dye. Again, that\'s plenty for just me.\n\nSaturday when I finally got around to boiling and dying the eggs them I realized two things.\n\nFirst, I bought 10 eggs not 12 so I\'ve only got 7 eggs. At this point it felt pretty silly to dye seven eggs--given the time and energy it takes--but it\'s Easter and I did buy the egg dye so I boil seven eggs. This leads me to point two, it turns out the instructions for dying eggs are in about 12 language none of which I really speak. Among others there\'s Polish, Czech, Lithuanian, Greek, Romanian, Danish and Bulgarian.  Greek and Danish have letters that I can\'t even read so I parse out the Bulgarian. As luck would have it, it\'s not too hard.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4787\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"My five un-cracked eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4787\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4787\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4787  \" title=\"My five un-cracked eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02432-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nAfter boiling my eggs, I realize that two of my seven eggs have cracked in the cooking process. Stupid eggs. I figure that dying five eggs is about as silly as it gets. So I dyed the two cracked ones as well.\n\nAnd best part of the story? All seven of the eggs turn out simply beautiful. The colors are extremely vibrant none of the pastel <a title=\"Paas Easter Egg Dying\" href=\"http://www.paaseastereggs.com/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Paas business</a>. This leads me to suspect that I probably could have dyed brown eggs but who cares. The pink-red is shockingly bright and the blue is a midnight-blue color. It doesn\'t really get better than this.\n\nMy fingers smelled a little strange after words but I\'m trying not to think about that as I eat my hard boiled eggs.\n\n<strong>Alexander Nevski Cathedral</strong>\n\nThe highlight of the day, well night, was a trip to Alexander Nevski Cathedral to celebrate the arrival Easter at midnight. My friends S. and P. were both down with the idea of heading downtown to celebrate the holiday. There was a lot of discussion about how to get downtown at back.\n\nMy first year I lived in the city center making it super easy for me to walk to church and back. This year however, I wasn\'t sure what to expect. It\'s easy to get from Mladost to the center via Metro but the last train most nights is shortly after 11 pm. This schedule makes it pretty easy to get downtown but means that you can\'t rely on it to get home again. On a regular late night in the city center, I\'d grab a taxi to get back to Mladost but a taxi on Easter? I don\'t know.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4796\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Nevski: Easter\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4796\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4796\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4796 \" title=\"Nevski: Easter\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02433-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nLuckily, my ever-clever friend P. said, if we were in Boston and there was a big even like this the city would extend hours on public transportation. She checked and sure enough, Sofia had extended Metro hours for Easter. That\'s cool. Really cool. It made the whole evening really easy. <em>Thanks, Sofia public transportation!</em>\n\nWe got downtown a little bit early and stopped by Memento to have a drink inside before going to stand outside in the cold. It was about 7 degrees celsius last night. When we got there it was crowded and at 15 minutes to midnight when we\'d gone to the bathroom and paid our bill the place was basically empty. Apparently if you\'re twenty-something it\'s totally acceptable to have a drink or two before heading to church to celebrate Easter.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4797\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"P. and S. in front of Nevski\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4797\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4797\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4797 \" title=\"P. and S. in front of Nevski\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02438-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nOn our walk to Nevski, we bought candles from a young man selling them on the street. The Russian church was humming with activity and crossing the street Nevski was beautiful as usual. It was lit up with high power lamps and there was  huge crowd of people clustered outside the church. The lighting it turns out was for television as the ceremony was being televised.\n\nI hate to admit this but I know very little about the actual ceremony. Here are the highlights as I see them but the actual order of these things is pretty unclear to me. <em>Sorry</em>.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4798\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"People streaming of the church\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4798\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4798\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4798 \" title=\"People streaming of the church\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02447-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nThis said, I loved the way that the bells of the church seemed to work in hand in hand with the actual ceremony. It was incredibly beautiful to experience the bells, the chanting of the priest and the murmuring from the crowd. The result of this is a feeling of being actively pulled in the the ceremony and tradition even when you\'re not in the church or physically close to the priest because you\'re surrounded by it.\n\nSo the priest comes out of the church with a candle and from here the light is passed to everyone in the crowd outside of the church. In practice however, I spotted many young people outside of the church lighting their candles with lighters rather than waiting for the flame to be passed to them. This in part leads to part of the time order confusion that I have. In the large crowd outside of the church it takes a long time to actually pass on the light or the flame and when others are simply lighting their own candles the timing becomes all muddled. It doesn\'t help that last night it was also pretty windy making it difficult to light your candle the first time. One of the nice things is that Bulgarians who would never otherwise talk to you, do ask to light their candles from yours and you have to ask to you light yours on someone else\'s.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4799\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Side view of Nevski on Easter\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4799\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4799\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4799 \" title=\"Side view of Nevski on Easter\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02453-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nWhile everyone is struggling to light their candles I think that the priest reaches the part of the ceremony where he exclaims: Christ is risen and the people respond: He has risen indeed. This happens three times. I think. Check out this great list of the greeting in <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paschal_greeting\" target=\"_blank\">different languages from all over the world</a>.\n\nAbout this point, everyone starts walking around the church. You\'re supposed to walk around the church three times with your burning candle. If your candle goes out, it\'s supposed to be bad luck and I think it reveals that you\'ve sinned in the past year.  Some people even say that you should walk home with your candle still burning after walking around the church but I don\'t really think this a part of the tradition. You don\'t want your candle to go out at any point after it has been lit but it\'s especially bad for it go out on your trip around the church. Last night this was basically impossible.\n\nThere were a number of factors that made it this way. First Nevski is just a big church, second it was windy and made protecting your flame difficult at best and third there were so many people there it was hard to actually walk around the church. We made it about half way around the church before we gave up on our flames. I think makes us fair-weather Orthodox Christians. We did however walk around the church; we just didn\'t manage to make it around with our candle still burning.  But for the record, even people with plastic cups, yogurt containers or other means of flame protectors other than their hands were also struggling to keep their candles burning.\n\nOne of the things that was interesting to me as an outsider was the huge range of people participating in this tradition. The participation of the young and old didn\'t surprise me as much as the participation of teenagers and young adults. In the States, this is the segment missing from most religious ceremonies and here in Bulgaria they were out in droves--actively participating burning candles in hand.\n\n<strong>Egg Fighting</strong>\n\nThen there\'s the egg fighting. After the religious ceremony has ended people unwrap hard boiled eggs and an unofficial ceremony begins: egg fighting. You take your egg--ideally a red one--and you wack/hit your egg against your opponent\'s egg. The winner\'s egg remains whole and uncracked. The loser\'s egg is cracked. I think that winning a battle not only proves the greatness of your egg but also your moral superiority over your opponent. But of course, you should feel free to correct me on this part.\n\nLittle kids are serious about this part of the tradition and they smash their eggs against their opponent\'s with great relish.\n\nIn fact teenagers, take this seriously as well. At school on Friday, I had a long talk with a group of teenage boys about this Easter tradition. They were shocked that this wasn\'t part of the Protestant Easter tradition.  I reminded them that in the States we have the Easter Bunny and that he\'s absent in Bulgarian tradition. They nodded in agreement but it was also clear that they thought we are certainly depriving our children in the States of one of the best parts of Easter.','Easter Traditions in Sofia ','','inherit','open','open','','4781-revision-15','','','2011-04-24 12:17:29','2011-04-24 10:17:29','',4781,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/4781-revision-15/',0,'revision','',0),(4803,1,'2011-04-24 12:16:17','2011-04-24 10:16:17','[caption id=\"attachment_4782\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"225\" caption=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4782\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4782\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-4782 \" title=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02440-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nSurprise, surprise: it\'s Easter!\r\n\r\nI\'ve had a great time poking around the city this weekend.  I wasn\'t in Sofia for Easter last year but I did spend my first year in the city for the holiday. It just seemed like the thing to do and last year I am pretty sure that I was traveling and that Easter was lumped in with Spring Break.\r\n\r\nI\'ve been amazed by the feel of the city over the weekend. On Friday the city center is was hopping. There were people every where: on the streets, in cafes, in the parks, in shops. You name it--there were people there. Sofia was alive and bustling. It was the start of a four day weekend. <em>Easter Weekend!!</em>\r\n\r\nOkay for better or worse, I just sat down to type up a quick post on Easter Traditions in Sofia--a post that turned into a 2000+ words making it anything but short or quick. So I\'ve broken it down into four subsections--Kozunak, Eying Easter Eggs, Alexander Nevski Cathedral and Egg Fighting. I hope this helps in the read-ability of this massive post and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I hope that maybe you learn something new about Easter in Bulgaria and I hope that those of you more familiar with these traditions help me out where my knowledge is murky.\r\n\r\n<strong>Kozunak</strong>\r\n\r\nI bought kozunak at my favorite little bakery/banitsa shop on Graf Ignativ--it\'s right next to the new cafe Lime. I know that there are other bakeries in town but I am a loyal shopper. When I lived downtown this was my shop. I only bought banitsa and slices of pizza there. The women who worked there (and still do) were always really nice to me. In the beginning they let me stumble through my order in Bulgarian without ever giving me any sign of annoyance--even when it was busy.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4800\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Fresh Kuzonak\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4800\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4800\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4800 \" title=\"Fresh Kuzonak\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8255-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nYou get a lot of points in my book for that. And you get me traveling from Mladost into the city center for your kozunak for that reason as well. I can\'t imagine that they remember me or even notice my semi-regular support of their shop but that\'s okay.\r\n\r\nThe day I bought my kozunak, the shop was buzzing with activity and with crazy shoppers. There was a display of kozunak in the window and a line inside the shop as well as at the walk up pizza window. It\'s the kind of scene where you know from the line that the kozunak is going to be good but you\'ve got to steal yourself for the meyhem that will ensue as you try to place your order.<!--more-->\r\n\r\nThe problem is the shop is pretty small and generally speaking Bulgarians are only so-so when it comes to lines. Luckily, I know these things now and it takes more energy to get annoyed with the lawlessness of the line rather than just to smile and make eye contact with one of the women working at the shop. Before I got waited on however I did get elbowed a few times and I had a man blatantly cut in front of me. The woman behind the counter shot me a look of apology and annoyance at the same time when this happened. But what are you going to do, I am not fighting anyone on Easter weekend over bread. Even if it is really, really good bread.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4801\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Wow, Kozunak!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4801\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4801\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4801 \" title=\"Wow, Kozunak!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8257-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nNow kozunak is a bread that takes hours to prepare and while it\'s a tradition lots of people don\'t want to spend the time making themselves. Enter bakeries. When I was at the shop on Friday, there were three women behind the counter taking and filling orders. There was another girl bringing a fairly steady stream of kozunak out from the back and I can only assume there were just as many people making the bread in back.\r\n\r\nI guess it makes sense. Kozunak is a sweet airy bread and when you cut into it or pull a piece off the loaf you see these beautiful long fibers of bread inside. I am told that this requires sifting a lot of air into the bread, careful kneading, at some point you need to hit the dough on the wooden board you\'ve been kneading it on 100 times and you let it rise and you punch it down two or three times before you finally bake it in a hot oven.  No wonder so many people buy the bread rather than make it themselves.\r\n\r\n<strong>Dying Easter Eggs</strong>\r\n\r\nAfter buying more kozunak than a single girl probably should, I went to the grocery store to buy a few things for dinner and some eggs to hard boil and dye.\r\n\r\nAt Billa I was confronted with a problem: brown eggs.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4785\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4785\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4785\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4785 \" title=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02427-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nOkay, just to be clear, Billa always has brown eggs. Normally, I am totally fine with this. Only I have never dyed eggs that aren\'t white--oh to be an American. In my mind brown eggs don\'t really seem to offer a very good base to work with.  The thought of brown-pink, brown-blue, brown-green Easter eggs didn\'t really do it for me.\r\n\r\nSo I bought a box of white eggs--which I think cost considerably more than the brown ones. <em>Oh well</em>. A dutiful shopper I checked on the structural integrity of my eggs. No one wants to buy cracked or broken eggs. I thought: great 12 eggs. That\'s plenty. I also grabbed a packet of egg dye and some apple cider vinegar.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4786\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"615\" caption=\"Dying Eggs! \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4786\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4786\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4786    \" title=\"Dying Eggs! \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02429-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"615\" height=\"462\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nMy plan was this, make dinner. Then boil the eggs so that I could dye them on Saturday. Needless to say, this didn\'t happen. I used three eggs for dinner leaving me with 9 to dye. Again, that\'s plenty for just me.\r\n\r\nSaturday when I finally got around to boiling and dying the eggs them I realized two things.\r\n\r\nFirst, I bought 10 eggs not 12 so I\'ve only got 7 eggs. At this point it felt pretty silly to dye seven eggs--given the time and energy it takes--but it\'s Easter and I did buy the egg dye so I boil seven eggs. This leads me to point two, it turns out the instructions for dying eggs are in about 12 language none of which I really speak. Among others there\'s Polish, Czech, Lithuanian, Greek, Romanian, Danish and Bulgarian.  Greek and Danish have letters that I can\'t even read so I parse out the Bulgarian. As luck would have it, it\'s not too hard.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4787\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"My five un-cracked eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4787\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4787\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4787  \" title=\"My five un-cracked eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02432-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nAfter boiling my eggs, I realize that two of my seven eggs have cracked in the cooking process. Stupid eggs. I figure that dying five eggs is about as silly as it gets. So I dyed the two cracked ones as well.\r\n\r\nAnd best part of the story? All seven of the eggs turn out simply beautiful. The colors are extremely vibrant none of the pastel <a title=\"Paas Easter Egg Dying\" href=\"http://www.paaseastereggs.com/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Paas business</a>. This leads me to suspect that I probably could have dyed brown eggs but who cares. The pink-red is shockingly bright and the blue is a midnight-blue color. It doesn\'t really get better than this.\r\n\r\nMy fingers smelled a little strange after words but I\'m trying not to think about that as I eat my hard boiled eggs.\r\n\r\n<strong>Alexander Nevski Cathedral</strong>\r\n\r\nThe highlight of the day, well night, was a trip to Alexander Nevski Cathedral to celebrate the arrival Easter at midnight. My friends S. and P. were both down with the idea of heading downtown to celebrate the holiday. There was a lot of discussion about how to get downtown at back.\r\n\r\nMy first year I lived in the city center making it super easy for me to walk to church and back. This year however, I wasn\'t sure what to expect. It\'s easy to get from Mladost to the center via Metro but the last train most nights is shortly after 11 pm. This schedule makes it pretty easy to get downtown but means that you can\'t rely on it to get home again. On a regular late night in the city center, I\'d grab a taxi to get back to Mladost but a taxi on Easter? I don\'t know.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4796\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Nevski: Easter\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4796\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4796\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4796 \" title=\"Nevski: Easter\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02433-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nLuckily, my ever-clever friend P. said, if we were in Boston and there was a big even like this the city would extend hours on public transportation. She checked and sure enough, Sofia had extended Metro hours for Easter. That\'s cool. Really cool. It made the whole evening really easy. <em>Thanks, Sofia public transportation!</em>\r\n\r\nWe got downtown a little bit early and stopped by Memento to have a drink inside before going to stand outside in the cold. It was about 7 degrees celsius last night. When we got there it was crowded and at 15 minutes to midnight when we\'d gone to the bathroom and paid our bill the place was basically empty. Apparently if you\'re twenty-something it\'s totally acceptable to have a drink or two before heading to church to celebrate Easter.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4797\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"P. and S. in front of Nevski\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4797\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4797\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4797 \" title=\"P. and S. in front of Nevski\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02438-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nOn our walk to Nevski, we bought candles from a young man selling them on the street. The Russian church was humming with activity and crossing the street Nevski was beautiful as usual. It was lit up with high power lamps and there was  huge crowd of people clustered outside the church. The lighting it turns out was for television as the ceremony was being televised.\r\n\r\nI hate to admit this but I know very little about the actual ceremony. Here are the highlights as I see them but the actual order of these things is pretty unclear to me. <em>Sorry</em>.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4798\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"People streaming of the church\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4798\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4798\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4798 \" title=\"People streaming of the church\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02447-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThis said, I loved the way that the bells of the church seemed to work in hand in hand with the actual ceremony. It was incredibly beautiful to experience the bells, the chanting of the priest and the murmuring from the crowd. The result of this is a feeling of being actively pulled in the the ceremony and tradition even when you\'re not in the church or physically close to the priest because you\'re surrounded by it.\r\n\r\nSo the priest comes out of the church with a candle and from here the light is passed to everyone in the crowd outside of the church. In practice however, I spotted many young people outside of the church lighting their candles with lighters rather than waiting for the flame to be passed to them. This in part leads to part of the time order confusion that I have. In the large crowd outside of the church it takes a long time to actually pass on the light or the flame and when others are simply lighting their own candles the timing becomes all muddled. It doesn\'t help that last night it was also pretty windy making it difficult to light your candle the first time. One of the nice things is that Bulgarians who would never otherwise talk to you, do ask to light their candles from yours and you have to ask to you light yours on someone else\'s.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4799\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Side view of Nevski on Easter\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4799\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4799\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4799 \" title=\"Side view of Nevski on Easter\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02453-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nWhile everyone is struggling to light their candles I think that the priest reaches the part of the ceremony where he exclaims: Christ is risen and the people respond: He has risen indeed. This happens three times. I think. Check out this great list of the greeting in <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paschal_greeting\" target=\"_blank\">different languages from all over the world</a>.\r\n\r\nAbout this point, everyone starts walking around the church. You\'re supposed to walk around the church three times with your burning candle. If your candle goes out, it\'s supposed to be bad luck and I think it reveals that you\'ve sinned in the past year.  Some people even say that you should walk home with your candle still burning after walking around the church but I don\'t really think this a part of the tradition. You don\'t want your candle to go out at any point after it has been lit but it\'s especially bad for it go out on your trip around the church. Last night this was basically impossible.\r\n\r\nThere were a number of factors that made it this way. First Nevski is just a big church, second it was windy and made protecting your flame difficult at best and third there were so many people there it was hard to actually walk around the church. We made it about half way around the church before we gave up on our flames. I think makes us fair-weather Orthodox Christians. We did however walk around the church; we just didn\'t manage to make it around with our candle still burning.  But for the record, even people with plastic cups, yogurt containers or other means of flame protectors other than their hands were also struggling to keep their candles burning.\r\n\r\nOne of the things that was interesting to me as an outsider was the huge range of people participating in this tradition. The participation of the young and old didn\'t surprise me as much as the participation of teenagers and young adults. In the States, this is the segment missing from most religious ceremonies and here in Bulgaria they were out in droves--actively participating burning candles in hand.\r\n\r\n<strong>Egg Fighting</strong>\r\n\r\nThen there\'s the egg fighting. After the religious ceremony has ended people unwrap hard boiled eggs and an unofficial ceremony begins: egg fighting. You take your egg--ideally a red one--and you wack/hit your egg against your opponent\'s egg. The winner\'s egg remains whole and uncracked. The loser\'s egg is cracked. I think that winning a battle not only proves the greatness of your egg but also your moral superiority over your opponent. But of course, you should feel free to correct me on this part.\r\n\r\nLittle kids are serious about this part of the tradition and they smash their eggs against their opponent\'s with great relish.\r\n\r\nIn fact teenagers, take this seriously as well. At school on Friday, I had a long talk with a group of teenage boys about this Easter tradition. They were shocked that this wasn\'t part of the Protestant Easter tradition.  I reminded them that in the States we have the Easter Bunny and that he\'s absent in Bulgarian tradition. They nodded in agreement but it was also clear that they thought we are certainly depriving our children in the States of one of the best parts of Easter.','Easter Traditions in Sofia ','','inherit','open','open','','4781-revision-12','','','2011-04-24 12:16:17','2011-04-24 10:16:17','',4781,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/4781-revision-12/',0,'revision','',0),(4804,1,'2011-04-24 12:16:17','2011-04-24 10:16:17','[caption id=\"attachment_4782\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"225\" caption=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4782\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4782\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-4782 \" title=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02440-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nSurprise, surprise: it\'s Easter!\r\n\r\nI\'ve had a great time poking around the city this weekend.  I wasn\'t in Sofia for Easter last year but I did spend my first year in the city for the holiday. It just seemed like the thing to do and last year I am pretty sure that I was traveling and that Easter was lumped in with Spring Break.\r\n\r\nI\'ve been amazed by the feel of the city over the weekend. On Friday the city center is was hopping. There were people every where: on the streets, in cafes, in the parks, in shops. You name it--there were people there. Sofia was alive and bustling. It was the start of a four day weekend. <em>Easter Weekend!!</em>\r\n\r\nOkay for better or worse, I just sat down to type up a quick post on Easter Traditions in Sofia--a post that turned into a 2000+ words making it anything but short or quick. So I\'ve broken it down into four subsections--Kozunak, Eying Easter Eggs, Alexander Nevski Cathedral and Egg Fighting. I hope this helps in the read-ability of this massive post and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I hope that maybe you learn something new about Easter in Bulgaria and I hope that those of you more familiar with these traditions help me out where my knowledge is murky.\r\n\r\n<strong>Kozunak</strong>\r\n\r\nI bought kozunak at my favorite little bakery/banitsa shop on Graf Ignativ--it\'s right next to the new cafe Lime. I know that there are other bakeries in town but I am a loyal shopper. When I lived downtown this was my shop. I only bought banitsa and slices of pizza there. The women who worked there (and still do) were always really nice to me. In the beginning they let me stumble through my order in Bulgarian without ever giving me any sign of annoyance--even when it was busy.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4800\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Fresh Kuzonak\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4800\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4800\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4800 \" title=\"Fresh Kuzonak\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8255-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nYou get a lot of points in my book for that. And you get me traveling from Mladost into the city center for your kozunak for that reason as well. I can\'t imagine that they remember me or even notice my semi-regular support of their shop but that\'s okay.\r\n\r\nThe day I bought my kozunak, the shop was buzzing with activity and with crazy shoppers. There was a display of kozunak in the window and a line inside the shop as well as at the walk up pizza window. It\'s the kind of scene where you know from the line that the kozunak is going to be good but you\'ve got to steal yourself for the meyhem that will ensue as you try to place your order.<!--more-->\r\n\r\nThe problem is the shop is pretty small and generally speaking Bulgarians are only so-so when it comes to lines. Luckily, I know these things now and it takes more energy to get annoyed with the lawlessness of the line rather than just to smile and make eye contact with one of the women working at the shop. Before I got waited on however I did get elbowed a few times and I had a man blatantly cut in front of me. The woman behind the counter shot me a look of apology and annoyance at the same time when this happened. But what are you going to do, I am not fighting anyone on Easter weekend over bread. Even if it is really, really good bread.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4801\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Wow, Kozunak!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4801\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4801\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4801 \" title=\"Wow, Kozunak!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8257-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nNow kozunak is a bread that takes hours to prepare and while it\'s a tradition lots of people don\'t want to spend the time making themselves. Enter bakeries. When I was at the shop on Friday, there were three women behind the counter taking and filling orders. There was another girl bringing a fairly steady stream of kozunak out from the back and I can only assume there were just as many people making the bread in back.\r\n\r\nI guess it makes sense. Kozunak is a sweet airy bread and when you cut into it or pull a piece off the loaf you see these beautiful long fibers of bread inside. I am told that this requires sifting a lot of air into the bread, careful kneading, at some point you need to hit the dough on the wooden board you\'ve been kneading it on 100 times and you let it rise and you punch it down two or three times before you finally bake it in a hot oven.  No wonder so many people buy the bread rather than make it themselves.\r\n\r\n<strong>Dying Easter Eggs</strong>\r\n\r\nAfter buying more kozunak than a single girl probably should, I went to the grocery store to buy a few things for dinner and some eggs to hard boil and dye.\r\n\r\nAt Billa I was confronted with a problem: brown eggs.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4785\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4785\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4785\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4785 \" title=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02427-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nOkay, just to be clear, Billa always has brown eggs. Normally, I am totally fine with this. Only I have never dyed eggs that aren\'t white--oh to be an American. In my mind brown eggs don\'t really seem to offer a very good base to work with.  The thought of brown-pink, brown-blue, brown-green Easter eggs didn\'t really do it for me.\r\n\r\nSo I bought a box of white eggs--which I think cost considerably more than the brown ones. <em>Oh well</em>. A dutiful shopper I checked on the structural integrity of my eggs. No one wants to buy cracked or broken eggs. I thought: great 12 eggs. That\'s plenty. I also grabbed a packet of egg dye and some apple cider vinegar.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4786\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"615\" caption=\"Dying Eggs! \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4786\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4786\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4786    \" title=\"Dying Eggs! \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02429-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"615\" height=\"462\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nMy plan was this, make dinner. Then boil the eggs so that I could dye them on Saturday. Needless to say, this didn\'t happen. I used three eggs for dinner leaving me with 9 to dye. Again, that\'s plenty for just me.\r\n\r\nSaturday when I finally got around to boiling and dying the eggs them I realized two things.\r\n\r\nFirst, I bought 10 eggs not 12 so I\'ve only got 7 eggs. At this point it felt pretty silly to dye seven eggs--given the time and energy it takes--but it\'s Easter and I did buy the egg dye so I boil seven eggs. This leads me to point two, it turns out the instructions for dying eggs are in about 12 language none of which I really speak. Among others there\'s Polish, Czech, Lithuanian, Greek, Romanian, Danish and Bulgarian.  Greek and Danish have letters that I can\'t even read so I parse out the Bulgarian. As luck would have it, it\'s not too hard.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4787\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"My five un-cracked eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4787\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4787\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4787  \" title=\"My five un-cracked eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02432-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nAfter boiling my eggs, I realize that two of my seven eggs have cracked in the cooking process. Stupid eggs. I figure that dying five eggs is about as silly as it gets. So I dyed the two cracked ones as well.\r\n\r\nAnd best part of the story? All seven of the eggs turn out simply beautiful. The colors are extremely vibrant none of the pastel <a title=\"Paas Easter Egg Dying\" href=\"http://www.paaseastereggs.com/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Paas business</a>. This leads me to suspect that I probably could have dyed brown eggs but who cares. The pink-red is shockingly bright and the blue is a midnight-blue color. It doesn\'t really get better than this.\r\n\r\nMy fingers smelled a little strange after words but I\'m trying not to think about that as I eat my hard boiled eggs.\r\n\r\n<strong>Alexander Nevski Cathedral</strong>\r\n\r\nThe highlight of the day, well night, was a trip to Alexander Nevski Cathedral to celebrate the arrival Easter at midnight. My friends S. and P. were both down with the idea of heading downtown to celebrate the holiday. There was a lot of discussion about how to get downtown at back.\r\n\r\nMy first year I lived in the city center making it super easy for me to walk to church and back. This year however, I wasn\'t sure what to expect. It\'s easy to get from Mladost to the center via Metro but the last train most nights is shortly after 11 pm. This schedule makes it pretty easy to get downtown but means that you can\'t rely on it to get home again. On a regular late night in the city center, I\'d grab a taxi to get back to Mladost but a taxi on Easter? I don\'t know.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4796\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Nevski: Easter\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4796\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4796\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4796 \" title=\"Nevski: Easter\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02433-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nLuckily, my ever-clever friend P. said, if we were in Boston and there was a big even like this the city would extend hours on public transportation. She checked and sure enough, Sofia had extended Metro hours for Easter. That\'s cool. Really cool. It made the whole evening really easy. <em>Thanks, Sofia public transportation!</em>\r\n\r\nWe got downtown a little bit early and stopped by Memento to have a drink inside before going to stand outside in the cold. It was about 7 degrees celsius last night. When we got there it was crowded and at 15 minutes to midnight when we\'d gone to the bathroom and paid our bill the place was basically empty. Apparently if you\'re twenty-something it\'s totally acceptable to have a drink or two before heading to church to celebrate Easter.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4797\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"P. and S. in front of Nevski\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4797\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4797\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4797 \" title=\"P. and S. in front of Nevski\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02438-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nOn our walk to Nevski, we bought candles from a young man selling them on the street. The Russian church was humming with activity and crossing the street Nevski was beautiful as usual. It was lit up with high power lamps and there was  huge crowd of people clustered outside the church. The lighting it turns out was for television as the ceremony was being televised.\r\n\r\nI hate to admit this but I know very little about the actual ceremony. Here are the highlights as I see them but the actual order of these things is pretty unclear to me. <em>Sorry</em>.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4798\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"People streaming of the church\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4798\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4798\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4798 \" title=\"People streaming of the church\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02447-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThis said, I loved the way that the bells of the church seemed to work in hand in hand with the actual ceremony. It was incredibly beautiful to experience the bells, the chanting of the priest and the murmuring from the crowd. The result of this is a feeling of being actively pulled in the the ceremony and tradition even when you\'re not in the church or physically close to the priest because you\'re surrounded by it.\r\n\r\nSo the priest comes out of the church with a candle and from here the light is passed to everyone in the crowd outside of the church. In practice however, I spotted many young people outside of the church lighting their candles with lighters rather than waiting for the flame to be passed to them. This in part leads to part of the time order confusion that I have. In the large crowd outside of the church it takes a long time to actually pass on the light or the flame and when others are simply lighting their own candles the timing becomes all muddled. It doesn\'t help that last night it was also pretty windy making it difficult to light your candle the first time. One of the nice things is that Bulgarians who would never otherwise talk to you, do ask to light their candles from yours and you have to ask to you light yours on someone else\'s.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4799\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Side view of Nevski on Easter\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4799\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4799\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4799 \" title=\"Side view of Nevski on Easter\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02453-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nWhile everyone is struggling to light their candles I think that the priest reaches the part of the ceremony where he exclaims: Christ is risen and the people respond: He has risen indeed. This happens three times. I think. Check out this great list of the greeting in <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paschal_greeting\" target=\"_blank\">different languages from all over the world</a>.\r\n\r\nAbout this point, everyone starts walking around the church. You\'re supposed to walk around the church three times with your burning candle. If your candle goes out, it\'s supposed to be bad luck and I think it reveals that you\'ve sinned in the past year.  Some people even say that you should walk home with your candle still burning after walking around the church but I don\'t really think this a part of the tradition. You don\'t want your candle to go out at any point after it has been lit but it\'s especially bad for it go out on your trip around the church. Last night this was basically impossible.\r\n\r\nThere were a number of factors that made it this way. First Nevski is just a big church, second it was windy and made protecting your flame difficult at best and third there were so many people there it was hard to actually walk around the church. We made it about half way around the church before we gave up on our flames. I think makes us fair-weather Orthodox Christians. We did however walk around the church; we just didn\'t manage to make it around with our candle still burning.  But for the record, even people with plastic cups, yogurt containers or other means of flame protectors other than their hands were also struggling to keep their candles burning.\r\n\r\nOne of the things that was interesting to me as an outsider was the huge range of people participating in this tradition. The participation of the young and old didn\'t surprise me as much as the participation of teenagers and young adults. In the States, this is the segment missing from most religious ceremonies and here in Bulgaria they were out in droves--actively participating burning candles in hand.\r\n\r\n<strong>Egg Fighting</strong>\r\n\r\nThen there\'s the egg fighting. After the religious ceremony has ended people unwrap hard boiled eggs and an unofficial ceremony begins: egg fighting. You take your egg--ideally a red one--and you wack/hit your egg against your opponent\'s egg. The winner\'s egg remains whole and uncracked. The loser\'s egg is cracked. I think that winning a battle not only proves the greatness of your egg but also your moral superiority over your opponent. But of course, you should feel free to correct me on this part.\r\n\r\nLittle kids are serious about this part of the tradition and they smash their eggs against their opponent\'s with great relish.\r\n\r\nIn fact teenagers, take this seriously as well. At school on Friday, I had a long talk with a group of teenage boys about this Easter tradition. They were shocked that this wasn\'t part of the Protestant Easter tradition.  I reminded them that in the States we have the Easter Bunny and that he\'s absent in Bulgarian tradition. They nodded in agreement but it was also clear that they thought we are certainly depriving our children in the States of one of the best parts of Easter.','Easter Traditions in Sofia ','','inherit','open','open','','4781-revision-13','','','2011-04-24 12:16:17','2011-04-24 10:16:17','',4781,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/4781-revision-13/',0,'revision','',0),(4805,1,'2011-04-24 12:16:22','2011-04-24 10:16:22','[caption id=\"attachment_4782\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"225\" caption=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4782\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4782\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-4782 \" title=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02440-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nSurprise, surprise: it\'s Easter!\r\n\r\nI\'ve had a great time poking around the city this weekend.  I wasn\'t in Sofia for Easter last year but I did spend my first year in the city for the holiday. It just seemed like the thing to do and last year I am pretty sure that I was traveling and that Easter was lumped in with Spring Break.\r\n\r\nI\'ve been amazed by the feel of the city over the weekend. On Friday the city center is was hopping. There were people every where: on the streets, in cafes, in the parks, in shops. You name it--there were people there. Sofia was alive and bustling. It was the start of a four day weekend. <em>Easter Weekend!!</em>\r\n\r\nOkay for better or worse, I just sat down to type up a quick post on Easter Traditions in Sofia--a post that turned into a 2000+ words making it anything but short or quick. So I\'ve broken it down into four subsections--Kozunak, Eying Easter Eggs, Alexander Nevski Cathedral and Egg Fighting. I hope this helps in the read-ability of this massive post and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I hope that maybe you learn something new about Easter in Bulgaria and I hope that those of you more familiar with these traditions help me out where my knowledge is murky.\r\n\r\n<strong>Kozunak</strong>\r\n\r\nI bought kozunak at my favorite little bakery/banitsa shop on Graf Ignativ--it\'s right next to the new cafe Lime. I know that there are other bakeries in town but I am a loyal shopper. When I lived downtown this was my shop. I only bought banitsa and slices of pizza there. The women who worked there (and still do) were always really nice to me. In the beginning they let me stumble through my order in Bulgarian without ever giving me any sign of annoyance--even when it was busy.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4800\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Fresh Kuzonak\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4800\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4800\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4800 \" title=\"Fresh Kuzonak\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8255-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nYou get a lot of points in my book for that. And you get me traveling from Mladost into the city center for your kozunak for that reason as well. I can\'t imagine that they remember me or even notice my semi-regular support of their shop but that\'s okay.\r\n\r\nThe day I bought my kozunak, the shop was buzzing with activity and with crazy shoppers. There was a display of kozunak in the window and a line inside the shop as well as at the walk up pizza window. It\'s the kind of scene where you know from the line that the kozunak is going to be good but you\'ve got to steal yourself for the meyhem that will ensue as you try to place your order.<!--more-->\r\n\r\nThe problem is the shop is pretty small and generally speaking Bulgarians are only so-so when it comes to lines. Luckily, I know these things now and it takes more energy to get annoyed with the lawlessness of the line rather than just to smile and make eye contact with one of the women working at the shop. Before I got waited on however I did get elbowed a few times and I had a man blatantly cut in front of me. The woman behind the counter shot me a look of apology and annoyance at the same time when this happened. But what are you going to do, I am not fighting anyone on Easter weekend over bread. Even if it is really, really good bread.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4801\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Wow, Kozunak!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4801\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4801\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4801 \" title=\"Wow, Kozunak!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8257-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nNow kozunak is a bread that takes hours to prepare and while it\'s a tradition lots of people don\'t want to spend the time making themselves. Enter bakeries. When I was at the shop on Friday, there were three women behind the counter taking and filling orders. There was another girl bringing a fairly steady stream of kozunak out from the back and I can only assume there were just as many people making the bread in back.\r\n\r\nI guess it makes sense. Kozunak is a sweet airy bread and when you cut into it or pull a piece off the loaf you see these beautiful long fibers of bread inside. I am told that this requires sifting a lot of air into the bread, careful kneading, at some point you need to hit the dough on the wooden board you\'ve been kneading it on 100 times and you let it rise and you punch it down two or three times before you finally bake it in a hot oven.  No wonder so many people buy the bread rather than make it themselves.\r\n\r\n<strong>Dying Easter Eggs</strong>\r\n\r\nAfter buying more kozunak than a single girl probably should, I went to the grocery store to buy a few things for dinner and some eggs to hard boil and dye.\r\n\r\nAt Billa I was confronted with a problem: brown eggs.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4785\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4785\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4785\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4785 \" title=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02427-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nOkay, just to be clear, Billa always has brown eggs. Normally, I am totally fine with this. Only I have never dyed eggs that aren\'t white--oh to be an American. In my mind brown eggs don\'t really seem to offer a very good base to work with.  The thought of brown-pink, brown-blue, brown-green Easter eggs didn\'t really do it for me.\r\n\r\nSo I bought a box of white eggs--which I think cost considerably more than the brown ones. <em>Oh well</em>. A dutiful shopper I checked on the structural integrity of my eggs. No one wants to buy cracked or broken eggs. I thought: great 12 eggs. That\'s plenty. I also grabbed a packet of egg dye and some apple cider vinegar.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4786\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"615\" caption=\"Dying Eggs! \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4786\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4786\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4786    \" title=\"Dying Eggs! \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02429-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"615\" height=\"462\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nMy plan was this, make dinner. Then boil the eggs so that I could dye them on Saturday. Needless to say, this didn\'t happen. I used three eggs for dinner leaving me with 9 to dye. Again, that\'s plenty for just me.\r\n\r\nSaturday when I finally got around to boiling and dying the eggs them I realized two things.\r\n\r\nFirst, I bought 10 eggs not 12 so I\'ve only got 7 eggs. At this point it felt pretty silly to dye seven eggs--given the time and energy it takes--but it\'s Easter and I did buy the egg dye so I boil seven eggs. This leads me to point two, it turns out the instructions for dying eggs are in about 12 language none of which I really speak. Among others there\'s Polish, Czech, Lithuanian, Greek, Romanian, Danish and Bulgarian.  Greek and Danish have letters that I can\'t even read so I parse out the Bulgarian. As luck would have it, it\'s not too hard.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4787\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"My five un-cracked eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4787\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4787\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4787  \" title=\"My five un-cracked eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02432-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nAfter boiling my eggs, I realize that two of my seven eggs have cracked in the cooking process. Stupid eggs. I figure that dying five eggs is about as silly as it gets. So I dyed the two cracked ones as well.\r\n\r\nAnd best part of the story? All seven of the eggs turn out simply beautiful. The colors are extremely vibrant none of the pastel <a title=\"Paas Easter Egg Dying\" href=\"http://www.paaseastereggs.com/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Paas business</a>. This leads me to suspect that I probably could have dyed brown eggs but who cares. The pink-red is shockingly bright and the blue is a midnight-blue color. It doesn\'t really get better than this.\r\n\r\nMy fingers smelled a little strange after words but I\'m trying not to think about that as I eat my hard boiled eggs.\r\n\r\n<strong>Alexander Nevski Cathedral</strong>\r\n\r\nThe highlight of the day, well night, was a trip to Alexander Nevski Cathedral to celebrate the arrival Easter at midnight. My friends S. and P. were both down with the idea of heading downtown to celebrate the holiday. There was a lot of discussion about how to get downtown at back.\r\n\r\nMy first year I lived in the city center making it super easy for me to walk to church and back. This year however, I wasn\'t sure what to expect. It\'s easy to get from Mladost to the center via Metro but the last train most nights is shortly after 11 pm. This schedule makes it pretty easy to get downtown but means that you can\'t rely on it to get home again. On a regular late night in the city center, I\'d grab a taxi to get back to Mladost but a taxi on Easter? I don\'t know.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4796\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Nevski: Easter\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4796\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4796\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4796 \" title=\"Nevski: Easter\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02433-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nLuckily, my ever-clever friend P. said, if we were in Boston and there was a big even like this the city would extend hours on public transportation. She checked and sure enough, Sofia had extended Metro hours for Easter. That\'s cool. Really cool. It made the whole evening really easy. <em>Thanks, Sofia public transportation!</em>\r\n\r\nWe got downtown a little bit early and stopped by Memento to have a drink inside before going to stand outside in the cold. It was about 7 degrees celsius last night. When we got there it was crowded and at 15 minutes to midnight when we\'d gone to the bathroom and paid our bill the place was basically empty. Apparently if you\'re twenty-something it\'s totally acceptable to have a drink or two before heading to church to celebrate Easter.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4797\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"P. and S. in front of Nevski\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4797\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4797\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4797 \" title=\"P. and S. in front of Nevski\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02438-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nOn our walk to Nevski, we bought candles from a young man selling them on the street. The Russian church was humming with activity and crossing the street Nevski was beautiful as usual. It was lit up with high power lamps and there was  huge crowd of people clustered outside the church. The lighting it turns out was for television as the ceremony was being televised.\r\n\r\nI hate to admit this but I know very little about the actual ceremony. Here are the highlights as I see them but the actual order of these things is pretty unclear to me. <em>Sorry</em>.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4798\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"People streaming of the church\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4798\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4798\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4798 \" title=\"People streaming of the church\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02447-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThis said, I loved the way that the bells of the church seemed to work in hand in hand with the actual ceremony. It was incredibly beautiful to experience the bells, the chanting of the priest and the murmuring from the crowd. The result of this is a feeling of being actively pulled in the the ceremony and tradition even when you\'re not in the church or physically close to the priest because you\'re surrounded by it.\r\n\r\nSo the priest comes out of the church with a candle and from here the light is passed to everyone in the crowd outside of the church. In practice however, I spotted many young people outside of the church lighting their candles with lighters rather than waiting for the flame to be passed to them. This in part leads to part of the time order confusion that I have. In the large crowd outside of the church it takes a long time to actually pass on the light or the flame and when others are simply lighting their own candles the timing becomes all muddled. It doesn\'t help that last night it was also pretty windy making it difficult to light your candle the first time. One of the nice things is that Bulgarians who would never otherwise talk to you, do ask to light their candles from yours and you have to ask to you light yours on someone else\'s.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4799\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Side view of Nevski on Easter\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4799\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4799\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4799 \" title=\"Side view of Nevski on Easter\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02453-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nWhile everyone is struggling to light their candles I think that the priest reaches the part of the ceremony where he exclaims: Christ is risen and the people respond: He has risen indeed. This happens three times. I think. Check out this great list of the greeting in <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paschal_greeting\" target=\"_blank\">different languages from all over the world</a>.\r\n\r\nAbout this point, everyone starts walking around the church. You\'re supposed to walk around the church three times with your burning candle. If your candle goes out, it\'s supposed to be bad luck and I think it reveals that you\'ve sinned in the past year.  Some people even say that you should walk home with your candle still burning after walking around the church but I don\'t really think this a part of the tradition. You don\'t want your candle to go out at any point after it has been lit but it\'s especially bad for it go out on your trip around the church. Last night this was basically impossible.\r\n\r\nThere were a number of factors that made it this way. First Nevski is just a big church, second it was windy and made protecting your flame difficult at best and third there were so many people there it was hard to actually walk around the church. We made it about half way around the church before we gave up on our flames. I think makes us fair-weather Orthodox Christians. We did however walk around the church; we just didn\'t manage to make it around with our candle still burning.  But for the record, even people with plastic cups, yogurt containers or other means of flame protectors other than their hands were also struggling to keep their candles burning.\r\n\r\nOne of the things that was interesting to me as an outsider was the huge range of people participating in this tradition. The participation of the young and old didn\'t surprise me as much as the participation of teenagers and young adults. In the States, this is the segment missing from most religious ceremonies and here in Bulgaria they were out in droves--actively participating burning candles in hand.\r\n\r\n<strong>Egg Fighting</strong>\r\n\r\nThen there\'s the egg fighting. After the religious ceremony has ended people unwrap hard boiled eggs and an unofficial ceremony begins: egg fighting. You take your egg--ideally a red one--and you wack/hit your egg against your opponent\'s egg. The winner\'s egg remains whole and uncracked. The loser\'s egg is cracked. I think that winning a battle not only proves the greatness of your egg but also your moral superiority over your opponent. But of course, you should feel free to correct me on this part.\r\n\r\nLittle kids are serious about this part of the tradition and they smash their eggs against their opponent\'s with great relish.\r\n\r\nIn fact teenagers, take this seriously as well. At school on Friday, I had a long talk with a group of teenage boys about this Easter tradition. They were shocked that this wasn\'t part of the Protestant Easter tradition.  I reminded them that in the States we have the Easter Bunny and that he\'s absent in Bulgarian tradition. They nodded in agreement but it was also clear that they thought we are certainly depriving our children in the States of one of the best parts of Easter.','Easter Traditions in Sofia ','','inherit','open','open','','4781-revision-14','','','2011-04-24 12:16:22','2011-04-24 10:16:22','',4781,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/4781-revision-14/',0,'revision','',0),(4807,1,'2011-04-24 12:18:36','2011-04-24 10:18:36','[caption id=\"attachment_4782\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"225\" caption=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4782\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4782\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-4782 \" title=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02440-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nSurprise, surprise: it\'s Easter!\r\n\r\nI\'ve had a great time poking around the city this weekend.  I wasn\'t in Sofia for Easter last year but I did spend my first year in the city for the holiday. It just seemed like the thing to do and last year I am pretty sure that I was traveling and that Easter was lumped in with Spring Break.\r\n\r\nI\'ve been amazed by the feel of the city over the weekend. On Friday the city center is was hopping. There were people every where: on the streets, in cafes, in the parks, in shops. You name it--there were people there. Sofia was alive and bustling. It was the start of a four day weekend. <em>Easter Weekend!!</em>\r\n\r\nOkay for better or worse, I just sat down to type up a quick post on Easter Traditions in Sofia--a post that turned into a 2000+ words making it anything but short or quick. So I\'ve broken it down into four subsections--Kozunak, Eying Easter Eggs, Alexander Nevski Cathedral and Egg Fighting. I hope this helps in the read-ability of this massive post and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I hope that maybe you learn something new about Easter in Bulgaria and I hope that those of you more familiar with these traditions help me out where my knowledge is murky.\r\n\r\n<strong>Kozunak</strong>\r\n\r\nI bought kozunak at my favorite little bakery/banitsa shop on Graf Ignativ--it\'s right next to the new cafe Lime. I know that there are other bakeries in town but I am a loyal shopper. When I lived downtown this was my shop. I only bought banitsa and slices of pizza there. The women who worked there (and still do) were always really nice to me. In the beginning they let me stumble through my order in Bulgarian without ever giving me any sign of annoyance--even when it was busy.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4800\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Fresh Kuzonak\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4800\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4800\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4800 \" title=\"Fresh Kuzonak\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8255-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nYou get a lot of points in my book for that. And you get me traveling from Mladost into the city center for your kozunak for that reason as well. I can\'t imagine that they remember me or even notice my semi-regular support of their shop but that\'s okay.\r\n\r\nThe day I bought my kozunak, the shop was buzzing with activity and with crazy shoppers. There was a display of kozunak in the window and a line inside the shop as well as at the walk up pizza window. It\'s the kind of scene where you know from the line that the kozunak is going to be good but you\'ve got to steal yourself for the meyhem that will ensue as you try to place your order.<!--more-->\r\n\r\nThe problem is the shop is pretty small and generally speaking Bulgarians are only so-so when it comes to lines. Luckily, I know these things now and it takes more energy to get annoyed with the lawlessness of the line rather than just to smile and make eye contact with one of the women working at the shop. Before I got waited on however I did get elbowed a few times and I had a man blatantly cut in front of me. The woman behind the counter shot me a look of apology and annoyance at the same time when this happened. But what are you going to do, I am not fighting anyone on Easter weekend over bread. Even if it is really, really good bread.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4801\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Wow, Kozunak!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4801\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4801\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4801 \" title=\"Wow, Kozunak!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8257-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nNow kozunak is a bread that takes hours to prepare and while it\'s a tradition lots of people don\'t want to spend the time making themselves. Enter bakeries. When I was at the shop on Friday, there were three women behind the counter taking and filling orders. There was another girl bringing a fairly steady stream of kozunak out from the back and I can only assume there were just as many people making the bread in back.\r\n\r\nI guess it makes sense. Kozunak is a sweet airy bread and when you cut into it or pull a piece off the loaf you see these beautiful long fibers of bread inside. I am told that this requires sifting a lot of air into the bread, careful kneading, at some point you need to hit the dough on the wooden board you\'ve been kneading it on 100 times and you let it rise and you punch it down two or three times before you finally bake it in a hot oven.  No wonder so many people buy the bread rather than make it themselves.\r\n\r\n<strong>Dying Easter Eggs</strong>\r\n\r\nAfter buying more kozunak than a single girl probably should, I went to the grocery store to buy a few things for dinner and some eggs to hard boil and dye.\r\n\r\nAt Billa I was confronted with a problem: brown eggs.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4785\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4785\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4785\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4785 \" title=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02427-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nOkay, just to be clear, Billa always has brown eggs. Normally, I am totally fine with this. Only I have never dyed eggs that aren\'t white--oh to be an American. In my mind brown eggs don\'t really seem to offer a very good base to work with.  The thought of brown-pink, brown-blue, brown-green Easter eggs didn\'t really do it for me.\r\n\r\nSo I bought a box of white eggs--which I think cost considerably more than the brown ones. <em>Oh well</em>. A dutiful shopper I checked on the structural integrity of my eggs. No one wants to buy cracked or broken eggs. I thought: great 12 eggs. That\'s plenty. I also grabbed a packet of egg dye and some apple cider vinegar.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4786\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"615\" caption=\"Dying Eggs! \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4786\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4786\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4786    \" title=\"Dying Eggs! \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02429-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"615\" height=\"462\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nMy plan was this, make dinner. Then boil the eggs so that I could dye them on Saturday. Needless to say, this didn\'t happen. I used three eggs for dinner leaving me with 9 to dye. Again, that\'s plenty for just me.\r\n\r\nSaturday when I finally got around to boiling and dying the eggs them I realized two things.\r\n\r\nFirst, I bought 10 eggs not 12 so I\'ve only got 7 eggs. At this point it felt pretty silly to dye seven eggs--given the time and energy it takes--but it\'s Easter and I did buy the egg dye so I boil seven eggs. This leads me to point two, it turns out the instructions for dying eggs are in about 12 language none of which I really speak. Among others there\'s Polish, Czech, Lithuanian, Greek, Romanian, Danish and Bulgarian.  Greek and Danish have letters that I can\'t even read so I parse out the Bulgarian. As luck would have it, it\'s not too hard.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4787\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"My five un-cracked eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4787\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4787\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4787  \" title=\"My five un-cracked eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02432-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nAfter boiling my eggs, I realize that two of my seven eggs have cracked in the cooking process. Stupid eggs. I figure that dying five eggs is about as silly as it gets. So I dyed the two cracked ones as well.\r\n\r\nAnd best part of the story? All seven of the eggs turn out simply beautiful. The colors are extremely vibrant none of the pastel <a title=\"Paas Easter Egg Dying\" href=\"http://www.paaseastereggs.com/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Paas business</a>. This leads me to suspect that I probably could have dyed brown eggs but who cares. The pink-red is shockingly bright and the blue is a midnight-blue color. It doesn\'t really get better than this.\r\n\r\nMy fingers smelled a little strange after words but I\'m trying not to think about that as I eat my hard boiled eggs.\r\n\r\n<strong>Alexander Nevski Cathedral</strong>\r\n\r\nThe highlight of the day, well night, was a trip to Alexander Nevski Cathedral to celebrate the arrival Easter at midnight. My friends S. and P. were both down with the idea of heading downtown to celebrate the holiday. There was a lot of discussion about how to get downtown at back.\r\n\r\nMy first year I lived in the city center making it super easy for me to walk to church and back. This year however, I wasn\'t sure what to expect. It\'s easy to get from Mladost to the center via Metro but the last train most nights is shortly after 11 pm. This schedule makes it pretty easy to get downtown but means that you can\'t rely on it to get home again. On a regular late night in the city center, I\'d grab a taxi to get back to Mladost but a taxi on Easter? I don\'t know.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4796\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Nevski: Easter\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4796\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4796\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4796 \" title=\"Nevski: Easter\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02433-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nLuckily, my ever-clever friend P. said, if we were in Boston and there was a big even like this the city would extend hours on public transportation. She checked and sure enough, Sofia had extended Metro hours for Easter. That\'s cool. Really cool. It made the whole evening really easy. <em>Thanks, Sofia public transportation!</em>\r\n\r\nWe got downtown a little bit early and stopped by Memento to have a drink inside before going to stand outside in the cold. It was about 7 degrees celsius last night. When we got there it was crowded and at 15 minutes to midnight when we\'d gone to the bathroom and paid our bill the place was basically empty. Apparently if you\'re twenty-something it\'s totally acceptable to have a drink or two before heading to church to celebrate Easter.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4797\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"P. and S. in front of Nevski\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4797\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4797\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4797 \" title=\"P. and S. in front of Nevski\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02438-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nOn our walk to Nevski, we bought candles from a young man selling them on the street. The Russian church was humming with activity and crossing the street Nevski was beautiful as usual. It was lit up with high power lamps and there was  huge crowd of people clustered outside the church. The lighting it turns out was for television as the ceremony was being televised.\r\n\r\nI hate to admit this but I know very little about the actual ceremony. Here are the highlights as I see them but the actual order of these things is pretty unclear to me. <em>Sorry</em>.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4798\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"People streaming of the church\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4798\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4798\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4798 \" title=\"People streaming of the church\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02447-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThis said, I loved the way that the bells of the church seemed to work in hand in hand with the actual ceremony. It was incredibly beautiful to experience the bells, the chanting of the priest and the murmuring from the crowd. The result of this is a feeling of being actively pulled in the the ceremony and tradition even when you\'re not in the church or physically close to the priest because you\'re surrounded by it.\r\n\r\nSo the priest comes out of the church with a candle and from here the light is passed to everyone in the crowd outside of the church. In practice however, I spotted many young people outside of the church lighting their candles with lighters rather than waiting for the flame to be passed to them. This in part leads to part of the time order confusion that I have. In the large crowd outside of the church it takes a long time to actually pass on the light or the flame and when others are simply lighting their own candles the timing becomes all muddled. It doesn\'t help that last night it was also pretty windy making it difficult to light your candle the first time. One of the nice things is that Bulgarians who would never otherwise talk to you, do ask to light their candles from yours and you have to ask to you light yours on someone else\'s.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4799\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Side view of Nevski on Easter\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4799\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4799\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4799 \" title=\"Side view of Nevski on Easter\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02453-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nWhile everyone is struggling to light their candles I think that the priest reaches the part of the ceremony where he exclaims: Christ is risen and the people respond: He has risen indeed. This happens three times. I think. Check out this great list of the greeting in <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paschal_greeting\" target=\"_blank\">different languages from all over the world</a>.\r\n\r\nAbout this point, everyone starts walking around the church. You\'re supposed to walk around the church three times with your burning candle. If your candle goes out, it\'s supposed to be bad luck and I think it reveals that you\'ve sinned in the past year.  Some people even say that you should walk home with your candle still burning after walking around the church but I don\'t really think this a part of the tradition. You don\'t want your candle to go out at any point after it has been lit but it\'s especially bad for it go out on your trip around the church. Last night this was basically impossible.\r\n\r\nThere were a number of factors that made it this way. First Nevski is just a big church, second it was windy and made protecting your flame difficult at best and third there were so many people there it was hard to actually walk around the church. We made it about half way around the church before we gave up on our flames. I think makes us fair-weather Orthodox Christians. We did however walk around the church; we just didn\'t manage to make it around with our candle still burning.  But for the record, even people with plastic cups, yogurt containers or other means of flame protectors other than their hands were also struggling to keep their candles burning.\r\n\r\nOne of the things that was interesting to me as an outsider was the huge range of people participating in this tradition. The participation of the young and old didn\'t surprise me as much as the participation of teenagers and young adults. In the States, this is the segment missing from most religious ceremonies and here in Bulgaria they were out in droves--actively participating burning candles in hand.\r\n\r\n<strong>Egg Fighting</strong>\r\n\r\nThen there\'s the egg fighting. After the religious ceremony has ended people unwrap hard boiled eggs and an unofficial ceremony begins: egg fighting. You take your egg--ideally a red one--and you wack/hit your egg against your opponent\'s egg. The winner\'s egg remains whole and uncracked. The loser\'s egg is cracked. I think that winning a battle not only proves the greatness of your egg but also your moral superiority over your opponent. But of course, you should feel free to correct me on this part.\r\n\r\nLittle kids are serious about this part of the tradition and they smash their eggs against their opponent\'s with great relish.\r\n\r\nIn fact teenagers, take this seriously as well. At school on Friday, I had a long talk with a group of teenage boys about this Easter tradition. They were shocked that this wasn\'t part of the Protestant Easter tradition.  I reminded them that in the States we have the Easter Bunny and that he\'s absent in Bulgarian tradition. They nodded in agreement but it was also clear that they thought we are certainly depriving our children in the States of one of the best parts of Easter.','Easter Traditions in Sofia ','','inherit','open','open','','4781-revision-16','','','2011-04-24 12:18:36','2011-04-24 10:18:36','',4781,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/4781-revision-16/',0,'revision','',0),(4808,1,'2011-04-24 12:18:36','2011-04-24 10:18:36','[caption id=\"attachment_4782\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"225\" caption=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4782\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4782\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-4782 \" title=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02440-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nSurprise, surprise: it\'s Easter!\r\n\r\nI\'ve had a great time poking around the city this weekend.  I wasn\'t in Sofia for Easter last year but I did spend my first year in the city for the holiday. It just seemed like the thing to do and last year I am pretty sure that I was traveling and that Easter was lumped in with Spring Break.\r\n\r\nI\'ve been amazed by the feel of the city over the weekend. On Friday the city center is was hopping. There were people every where: on the streets, in cafes, in the parks, in shops. You name it--there were people there. Sofia was alive and bustling. It was the start of a four day weekend. <em>Easter Weekend!!</em>\r\n\r\nOkay for better or worse, I just sat down to type up a quick post on Easter Traditions in Sofia--a post that turned into a 2000+ words making it anything but short or quick. So I\'ve broken it down into four subsections--Kozunak, Eying Easter Eggs, Alexander Nevski Cathedral and Egg Fighting. I hope this helps in the read-ability of this massive post and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I hope that maybe you learn something new about Easter in Bulgaria and I hope that those of you more familiar with these traditions help me out where my knowledge is murky.\r\n\r\n<strong>Kozunak</strong>\r\n\r\nI bought kozunak at my favorite little bakery/banitsa shop on Graf Ignativ--it\'s right next to the new cafe Lime. I know that there are other bakeries in town but I am a loyal shopper. When I lived downtown this was my shop. I only bought banitsa and slices of pizza there. The women who worked there (and still do) were always really nice to me. In the beginning they let me stumble through my order in Bulgarian without ever giving me any sign of annoyance--even when it was busy.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4800\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Fresh Kuzonak\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4800\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4800\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4800 \" title=\"Fresh Kuzonak\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8255-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nYou get a lot of points in my book for that. And you get me traveling from Mladost into the city center for your kozunak for that reason as well. I can\'t imagine that they remember me or even notice my semi-regular support of their shop but that\'s okay.\r\n\r\nThe day I bought my kozunak, the shop was buzzing with activity and with crazy shoppers. There was a display of kozunak in the window and a line inside the shop as well as at the walk up pizza window. It\'s the kind of scene where you know from the line that the kozunak is going to be good but you\'ve got to steal yourself for the meyhem that will ensue as you try to place your order.<!--more-->\r\n\r\nThe problem is the shop is pretty small and generally speaking Bulgarians are only so-so when it comes to lines. Luckily, I know these things now and it takes more energy to get annoyed with the lawlessness of the line rather than just to smile and make eye contact with one of the women working at the shop. Before I got waited on however I did get elbowed a few times and I had a man blatantly cut in front of me. The woman behind the counter shot me a look of apology and annoyance at the same time when this happened. But what are you going to do, I am not fighting anyone on Easter weekend over bread. Even if it is really, really good bread.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4801\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Wow, Kozunak!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4801\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4801\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4801 \" title=\"Wow, Kozunak!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8257-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nNow kozunak is a bread that takes hours to prepare and while it\'s a tradition lots of people don\'t want to spend the time making themselves. Enter bakeries. When I was at the shop on Friday, there were three women behind the counter taking and filling orders. There was another girl bringing a fairly steady stream of kozunak out from the back and I can only assume there were just as many people making the bread in back.\r\n\r\nI guess it makes sense. Kozunak is a sweet airy bread and when you cut into it or pull a piece off the loaf you see these beautiful long fibers of bread inside. I am told that this requires sifting a lot of air into the bread, careful kneading, at some point you need to hit the dough on the wooden board you\'ve been kneading it on 100 times and you let it rise and you punch it down two or three times before you finally bake it in a hot oven.  No wonder so many people buy the bread rather than make it themselves.\r\n\r\n<strong>Dying Easter Eggs</strong>\r\n\r\nAfter buying more kozunak than a single girl probably should, I went to the grocery store to buy a few things for dinner and some eggs to hard boil and dye.\r\n\r\nAt Billa I was confronted with a problem: brown eggs.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4785\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4785\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4785\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4785 \" title=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02427-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nOkay, just to be clear, Billa always has brown eggs. Normally, I am totally fine with this. Only I have never dyed eggs that aren\'t white--oh to be an American. In my mind brown eggs don\'t really seem to offer a very good base to work with.  The thought of brown-pink, brown-blue, brown-green Easter eggs didn\'t really do it for me.\r\n\r\nSo I bought a box of white eggs--which I think cost considerably more than the brown ones. <em>Oh well</em>. A dutiful shopper I checked on the structural integrity of my eggs. No one wants to buy cracked or broken eggs. I thought: great 12 eggs. That\'s plenty. I also grabbed a packet of egg dye and some apple cider vinegar.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4786\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"615\" caption=\"Dying Eggs! \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4786\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4786\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4786    \" title=\"Dying Eggs! \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02429-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"615\" height=\"462\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nMy plan was this, make dinner. Then boil the eggs so that I could dye them on Saturday. Needless to say, this didn\'t happen. I used three eggs for dinner leaving me with 9 to dye. Again, that\'s plenty for just me.\r\n\r\nSaturday when I finally got around to boiling and dying the eggs them I realized two things.\r\n\r\nFirst, I bought 10 eggs not 12 so I\'ve only got 7 eggs. At this point it felt pretty silly to dye seven eggs--given the time and energy it takes--but it\'s Easter and I did buy the egg dye so I boil seven eggs. This leads me to point two, it turns out the instructions for dying eggs are in about 12 language none of which I really speak. Among others there\'s Polish, Czech, Lithuanian, Greek, Romanian, Danish and Bulgarian.  Greek and Danish have letters that I can\'t even read so I parse out the Bulgarian. As luck would have it, it\'s not too hard.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4787\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"My five un-cracked eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4787\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4787\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4787  \" title=\"My five un-cracked eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02432-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nAfter boiling my eggs, I realize that two of my seven eggs have cracked in the cooking process. Stupid eggs. I figure that dying five eggs is about as silly as it gets. So I dyed the two cracked ones as well.\r\n\r\nAnd best part of the story? All seven of the eggs turn out simply beautiful. The colors are extremely vibrant none of the pastel <a title=\"Paas Easter Egg Dying\" href=\"http://www.paaseastereggs.com/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Paas business</a>. This leads me to suspect that I probably could have dyed brown eggs but who cares. The pink-red is shockingly bright and the blue is a midnight-blue color. It doesn\'t really get better than this.\r\n\r\nMy fingers smelled a little strange after words but I\'m trying not to think about that as I eat my hard boiled eggs.\r\n\r\n<strong>Alexander Nevski Cathedral</strong>\r\n\r\nThe highlight of the day, well night, was a trip to Alexander Nevski Cathedral to celebrate the arrival Easter at midnight. My friends S. and P. were both down with the idea of heading downtown to celebrate the holiday. There was a lot of discussion about how to get downtown at back.\r\n\r\nMy first year I lived in the city center making it super easy for me to walk to church and back. This year however, I wasn\'t sure what to expect. It\'s easy to get from Mladost to the center via Metro but the last train most nights is shortly after 11 pm. This schedule makes it pretty easy to get downtown but means that you can\'t rely on it to get home again. On a regular late night in the city center, I\'d grab a taxi to get back to Mladost but a taxi on Easter? I don\'t know.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4796\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Nevski: Easter\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4796\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4796\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4796 \" title=\"Nevski: Easter\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02433-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nLuckily, my ever-clever friend P. said, if we were in Boston and there was a big even like this the city would extend hours on public transportation. She checked and sure enough, Sofia had extended Metro hours for Easter. That\'s cool. Really cool. It made the whole evening really easy. <em>Thanks, Sofia public transportation!</em>\r\n\r\nWe got downtown a little bit early and stopped by Memento to have a drink inside before going to stand outside in the cold. It was about 7 degrees celsius last night. When we got there it was crowded and at 15 minutes to midnight when we\'d gone to the bathroom and paid our bill the place was basically empty. Apparently if you\'re twenty-something it\'s totally acceptable to have a drink or two before heading to church to celebrate Easter.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4797\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"P. and S. in front of Nevski\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4797\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4797\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4797 \" title=\"P. and S. in front of Nevski\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02438-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nOn our walk to Nevski, we bought candles from a young man selling them on the street. The Russian church was humming with activity and crossing the street Nevski was beautiful as usual. It was lit up with high power lamps and there was  huge crowd of people clustered outside the church. The lighting it turns out was for television as the ceremony was being televised.\r\n\r\nI hate to admit this but I know very little about the actual ceremony. Here are the highlights as I see them but the actual order of these things is pretty unclear to me. <em>Sorry</em>.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4798\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"People streaming of the church\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4798\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4798\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4798 \" title=\"People streaming of the church\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02447-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThis said, I loved the way that the bells of the church seemed to work in hand in hand with the actual ceremony. It was incredibly beautiful to experience the bells, the chanting of the priest and the murmuring from the crowd. The result of this is a feeling of being actively pulled in the the ceremony and tradition even when you\'re not in the church or physically close to the priest because you\'re surrounded by it.\r\n\r\nSo the priest comes out of the church with a candle and from here the light is passed to everyone in the crowd outside of the church. In practice however, I spotted many young people outside of the church lighting their candles with lighters rather than waiting for the flame to be passed to them. This in part leads to part of the time order confusion that I have. In the large crowd outside of the church it takes a long time to actually pass on the light or the flame and when others are simply lighting their own candles the timing becomes all muddled. It doesn\'t help that last night it was also pretty windy making it difficult to light your candle the first time. One of the nice things is that Bulgarians who would never otherwise talk to you, do ask to light their candles from yours and you have to ask to you light yours on someone else\'s.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4799\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Side view of Nevski on Easter\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4799\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4799\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4799 \" title=\"Side view of Nevski on Easter\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02453-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nWhile everyone is struggling to light their candles I think that the priest reaches the part of the ceremony where he exclaims: Christ is risen and the people respond: He has risen indeed. This happens three times. I think. Check out this great list of the greeting in <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paschal_greeting\" target=\"_blank\">different languages from all over the world</a>.\r\n\r\nAbout this point, everyone starts walking around the church. You\'re supposed to walk around the church three times with your burning candle. If your candle goes out, it\'s supposed to be bad luck and I think it reveals that you\'ve sinned in the past year.  Some people even say that you should walk home with your candle still burning after walking around the church but I don\'t really think this a part of the tradition. You don\'t want your candle to go out at any point after it has been lit but it\'s especially bad for it go out on your trip around the church. Last night this was basically impossible.\r\n\r\nThere were a number of factors that made it this way. First Nevski is just a big church, second it was windy and made protecting your flame difficult at best and third there were so many people there it was hard to actually walk around the church. We made it about half way around the church before we gave up on our flames. I think makes us fair-weather Orthodox Christians. We did however walk around the church; we just didn\'t manage to make it around with our candle still burning.  But for the record, even people with plastic cups, yogurt containers or other means of flame protectors other than their hands were also struggling to keep their candles burning.\r\n\r\nOne of the things that was interesting to me as an outsider was the huge range of people participating in this tradition. The participation of the young and old didn\'t surprise me as much as the participation of teenagers and young adults. In the States, this is the segment missing from most religious ceremonies and here in Bulgaria they were out in droves--actively participating burning candles in hand.\r\n\r\n<strong>Egg Fighting</strong>\r\n\r\nThen there\'s the egg fighting. After the religious ceremony has ended people unwrap hard boiled eggs and an unofficial ceremony begins: egg fighting. You take your egg--ideally a red one--and you wack/hit your egg against your opponent\'s egg. The winner\'s egg remains whole and uncracked. The loser\'s egg is cracked. I think that winning a battle not only proves the greatness of your egg but also your moral superiority over your opponent. But of course, you should feel free to correct me on this part.\r\n\r\nLittle kids are serious about this part of the tradition and they smash their eggs against their opponent\'s with great relish.\r\n\r\nIn fact teenagers, take this seriously as well. At school on Friday, I had a long talk with a group of teenage boys about this Easter tradition. They were shocked that this wasn\'t part of the Protestant Easter tradition.  I reminded them that in the States we have the Easter Bunny and that he\'s absent in Bulgarian tradition. They nodded in agreement but it was also clear that they thought we are certainly depriving our children in the States of one of the best parts of Easter.','Easter Traditions in Sofia ','','inherit','open','open','','4781-revision-17','','','2011-04-24 12:18:36','2011-04-24 10:18:36','',4781,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/4781-revision-17/',0,'revision','',0),(4809,1,'2011-04-24 12:19:10','2011-04-24 10:19:10','[caption id=\"attachment_4782\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"225\" caption=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4782\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4782\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-4782 \" title=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02440-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nSurprise, surprise: it\'s Easter!\r\n\r\nI\'ve had a great time poking around the city this weekend.  I wasn\'t in Sofia for Easter last year but I did spend my first year in the city for the holiday. It just seemed like the thing to do and last year I am pretty sure that I was traveling and that Easter was lumped in with Spring Break.\r\n\r\nI\'ve been amazed by the feel of the city over the weekend. On Friday the city center is was hopping. There were people every where: on the streets, in cafes, in the parks, in shops. You name it--there were people there. Sofia was alive and bustling. It was the start of a four day weekend. <em>Easter Weekend!!</em>\r\n\r\nOkay for better or worse, I just sat down to type up a quick post on Easter Traditions in Sofia--a post that turned into a 2000+ words making it anything but short or quick. So I\'ve broken it down into four subsections--Kozunak, Eying Easter Eggs, Alexander Nevski Cathedral and Egg Fighting. I hope this helps in the read-ability of this massive post and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I hope that maybe you learn something new about Easter in Bulgaria and I hope that those of you more familiar with these traditions help me out where my knowledge is murky.\r\n\r\n<strong>Kozunak</strong>\r\n\r\nI bought kozunak at my favorite little bakery/banitsa shop on Graf Ignativ--it\'s right next to the new cafe Lime. I know that there are other bakeries in town but I am a loyal shopper. When I lived downtown this was my shop. I only bought banitsa and slices of pizza there. The women who worked there (and still do) were always really nice to me. In the beginning they let me stumble through my order in Bulgarian without ever giving me any sign of annoyance--even when it was busy.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4800\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Fresh Kuzonak\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4800\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4800\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4800 \" title=\"Fresh Kuzonak\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8255-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nYou get a lot of points in my book for that. And you get me traveling from Mladost into the city center for your kozunak for that reason as well. I can\'t imagine that they remember me or even notice my semi-regular support of their shop but that\'s okay.\r\n\r\nThe day I bought my kozunak, the shop was buzzing with activity and with crazy shoppers. There was a display of kozunak in the window and a line inside the shop as well as at the walk up pizza window. It\'s the kind of scene where you know from the line that the kozunak is going to be good but you\'ve got to steal yourself for the meyhem that will ensue as you try to place your order.<!--more-->\r\n\r\nThe problem is the shop is pretty small and generally speaking Bulgarians are only so-so when it comes to lines. Luckily, I know these things now and it takes more energy to get annoyed with the lawlessness of the line rather than just to smile and make eye contact with one of the women working at the shop. Before I got waited on however I did get elbowed a few times and I had a man blatantly cut in front of me. The woman behind the counter shot me a look of apology and annoyance at the same time when this happened. But what are you going to do, I am not fighting anyone on Easter weekend over bread. Even if it is really, really good bread.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4801\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Wow, Kozunak!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4801\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4801\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4801 \" title=\"Wow, Kozunak!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8257-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nNow kozunak is a bread that takes hours to prepare and while it\'s a tradition lots of people don\'t want to spend the time making themselves. Enter bakeries. When I was at the shop on Friday, there were three women behind the counter taking and filling orders. There was another girl bringing a fairly steady stream of kozunak out from the back and I can only assume there were just as many people making the bread in back.\r\n\r\nI guess it makes sense. Kozunak is a sweet airy bread and when you cut into it or pull a piece off the loaf you see these beautiful long fibers of bread inside. I am told that this requires sifting a lot of air into the bread, careful kneading, at some point you need to hit the dough on the wooden board you\'ve been kneading it on 100 times and you let it rise and you punch it down two or three times before you finally bake it in a hot oven.  No wonder so many people buy the bread rather than make it themselves.\r\n\r\n<strong>Dying Easter Eggs</strong>\r\n\r\nAfter buying more kozunak than a single girl probably should, I went to the grocery store to buy a few things for dinner and some eggs to hard boil and dye.\r\n\r\nAt Billa I was confronted with a problem: brown eggs.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4785\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4785\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4785\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4785 \" title=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02427-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nOkay, just to be clear, Billa always has brown eggs. Normally, I am totally fine with this. Only I have never dyed eggs that aren\'t white--oh to be an American. In my mind brown eggs don\'t really seem to offer a very good base to work with.  The thought of brown-pink, brown-blue, brown-green Easter eggs didn\'t really do it for me.\r\n\r\nSo I bought a box of white eggs--which I think cost considerably more than the brown ones. <em>Oh well</em>. A dutiful shopper I checked on the structural integrity of my eggs. No one wants to buy cracked or broken eggs. I thought: great 12 eggs. That\'s plenty. I also grabbed a packet of egg dye and some apple cider vinegar.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4786\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"615\" caption=\"Dying Eggs! \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4786\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4786\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4786    \" title=\"Dying Eggs! \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02429-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"615\" height=\"462\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nMy plan was this, make dinner. Then boil the eggs so that I could dye them on Saturday. Needless to say, this didn\'t happen. I used three eggs for dinner leaving me with 9 to dye. Again, that\'s plenty for just me.\r\n\r\nSaturday when I finally got around to boiling and dying the eggs them I realized two things.\r\n\r\nFirst, I bought 10 eggs not 12 so I\'ve only got 7 eggs. At this point it felt pretty silly to dye seven eggs--given the time and energy it takes--but it\'s Easter and I did buy the egg dye so I boil seven eggs. This leads me to point two, it turns out the instructions for dying eggs are in about 12 language none of which I really speak. Among others there\'s Polish, Czech, Lithuanian, Greek, Romanian, Danish and Bulgarian.  Greek and Danish have letters that I can\'t even read so I parse out the Bulgarian. As luck would have it, it\'s not too hard.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4787\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"My five un-cracked eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4787\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4787\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4787  \" title=\"My five un-cracked eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02432-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nAfter boiling my eggs, I realize that two of my seven eggs have cracked in the cooking process. Stupid eggs. I figure that dying five eggs is about as silly as it gets. So I dyed the two cracked ones as well.\r\n\r\nAnd best part of the story? All seven of the eggs turn out simply beautiful. The colors are extremely vibrant none of the pastel <a title=\"Paas Easter Egg Dying\" href=\"http://www.paaseastereggs.com/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Paas business</a>. This leads me to suspect that I probably could have dyed brown eggs but who cares. The pink-red is shockingly bright and the blue is a midnight-blue color. It doesn\'t really get better than this.\r\n\r\nMy fingers smelled a little strange after words but I\'m trying not to think about that as I eat my hard boiled eggs.\r\n\r\n<strong>Alexander Nevski Cathedral</strong>\r\n\r\nThe highlight of the day, well night, was a trip to Alexander Nevski Cathedral to celebrate the arrival Easter at midnight. My friends S. and P. were both down with the idea of heading downtown to celebrate the holiday. There was a lot of discussion about how to get downtown at back.\r\n\r\nMy first year I lived in the city center making it super easy for me to walk to church and back. This year however, I wasn\'t sure what to expect. It\'s easy to get from Mladost to the center via Metro but the last train most nights is shortly after 11 pm. This schedule makes it pretty easy to get downtown but means that you can\'t rely on it to get home again. On a regular late night in the city center, I\'d grab a taxi to get back to Mladost but a taxi on Easter? I don\'t know.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4796\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Nevski: Easter\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4796\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4796\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4796 \" title=\"Nevski: Easter\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02433-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nLuckily, my ever-clever friend P. said, if we were in Boston and there was a big even like this the city would extend hours on public transportation. She checked and sure enough, Sofia had extended Metro hours for Easter. That\'s cool. Really cool. It made the whole evening really easy. <em>Thanks, Sofia public transportation!</em>\r\n\r\nWe got downtown a little bit early and stopped by Memento to have a drink inside before going to stand outside in the cold. It was about 7 degrees celsius last night. When we got there it was crowded and at 15 minutes to midnight when we\'d gone to the bathroom and paid our bill the place was basically empty. Apparently if you\'re twenty-something it\'s totally acceptable to have a drink or two before heading to church to celebrate Easter.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4797\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"P. and S. in front of Nevski\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4797\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4797\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4797 \" title=\"P. and S. in front of Nevski\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02438-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nOn our walk to Nevski, we bought candles from a young man selling them on the street. The Russian church was humming with activity and crossing the street Nevski was beautiful as usual. It was lit up with high power lamps and there was  huge crowd of people clustered outside the church. The lighting it turns out was for television as the ceremony was being televised.\r\n\r\nI hate to admit this but I know very little about the actual ceremony. Here are the highlights as I see them but the actual order of these things is pretty unclear to me. <em>Sorry</em>.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4798\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"People streaming of the church\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4798\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4798\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4798 \" title=\"People streaming of the church\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02447-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nThis said, I loved the way that the bells of the church seemed to work in hand in hand with the actual ceremony. It was incredibly beautiful to experience the bells, the chanting of the priest and the murmuring from the crowd. The result of this is a feeling of being actively pulled in the the ceremony and tradition even when you\'re not in the church or physically close to the priest because you\'re surrounded by it.\r\n\r\nSo the priest comes out of the church with a candle and from here the light is passed to everyone in the crowd outside of the church. In practice however, I spotted many young people outside of the church lighting their candles with lighters rather than waiting for the flame to be passed to them. This in part leads to part of the time order confusion that I have. In the large crowd outside of the church it takes a long time to actually pass on the light or the flame and when others are simply lighting their own candles the timing becomes all muddled. It doesn\'t help that last night it was also pretty windy making it difficult to light your candle the first time. One of the nice things is that Bulgarians who would never otherwise talk to you, do ask to light their candles from yours and you have to ask to you light yours on someone else\'s.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4799\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Side view of Nevski on Easter\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4799\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4799\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4799 \" title=\"Side view of Nevski on Easter\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02453-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nWhile everyone is struggling to light their candles I think that the priest reaches the part of the ceremony where he exclaims: Christ is risen and the people respond: He has risen indeed. This happens three times. I think. Check out this great list of the greeting in <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paschal_greeting\" target=\"_blank\">different languages from all over the world</a>.\r\n\r\nAbout this point, everyone starts walking around the church. You\'re supposed to walk around the church three times with your burning candle. If your candle goes out, it\'s supposed to be bad luck and I think it reveals that you\'ve sinned in the past year.  Some people even say that you should walk home with your candle still burning after walking around the church but I don\'t really think this a part of the tradition. You don\'t want your candle to go out at any point after it has been lit but it\'s especially bad for it go out on your trip around the church. Last night this was basically impossible.\r\n\r\nThere were a number of factors that made it this way. First Nevski is just a big church, second it was windy and made protecting your flame difficult at best and third there were so many people there it was hard to actually walk around the church. We made it about half way around the church before we gave up on our flames. I think makes us fair-weather Orthodox Christians. We did however walk around the church; we just didn\'t manage to make it around with our candle still burning.  But for the record, even people with plastic cups, yogurt containers or other means of flame protectors other than their hands were also struggling to keep their candles burning.\r\n\r\nOne of the things that was interesting to me as an outsider was the huge range of people participating in this tradition. The participation of the young and old didn\'t surprise me as much as the participation of teenagers and young adults. In the States, this is the segment missing from most religious ceremonies and here in Bulgaria they were out in droves--actively participating burning candles in hand.\r\n\r\n<strong>Egg Fighting</strong>\r\n\r\nThen there\'s the egg fighting. After the religious ceremony has ended people unwrap hard boiled eggs and an unofficial ceremony begins: egg fighting. You take your egg--ideally a red one--and you wack/hit your egg against your opponent\'s egg. The winner\'s egg remains whole and uncracked. The loser\'s egg is cracked. I think that winning a battle not only proves the greatness of your egg but also your moral superiority over your opponent. But of course, you should feel free to correct me on this part.\r\n\r\nLittle kids are serious about this part of the tradition and they smash their eggs against their opponent\'s with great relish.\r\n\r\nIn fact teenagers, take this seriously as well. At school on Friday, I had a long talk with a group of teenage boys about this Easter tradition. They were shocked that this wasn\'t part of the Protestant Easter tradition.  I reminded them that in the States we have the Easter Bunny and that he\'s absent in Bulgarian tradition. They nodded in agreement but it was also clear that they thought we are certainly depriving our children in the States of one of the best parts of Easter.','Easter Traditions in Sofia ','','inherit','open','open','','4781-revision-18','','','2011-04-24 12:19:10','2011-04-24 10:19:10','',4781,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/4781-revision-18/',0,'revision','',0),(4810,1,'2011-04-24 12:20:20','2011-04-24 10:20:20','[caption id=\"attachment_4782\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"225\" caption=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4782\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/easter-traditions-in-sofia/dsc02440/\"><img class=\"size-medium wp-image-4782 \" title=\"Me in front of Nevski candle in hand\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02440-225x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"225\" height=\"300\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nSurprise, surprise: it\'s Easter!\n\nI\'ve had a great time poking around the city this weekend.  I wasn\'t in Sofia for Easter last year but I did spend my first year in the city for the holiday. It just seemed like the thing to do and last year I am pretty sure that I was traveling and that Easter was lumped in with Spring Break.\n\nI\'ve been amazed by the feel of the city over the weekend. On Friday the city center is was hopping. There were people every where: on the streets, in cafes, in the parks, in shops. You name it--there were people there. Sofia was alive and bustling. It was the start of a four day weekend. <em>Easter Weekend!!</em>\n\nOkay for better or worse, I just sat down to type up a quick post on Easter Traditions in Sofia--a post that turned into a 2000+ words making it anything but short or quick. So I\'ve broken it down into four subsections--Kozunak, Eying Easter Eggs, Alexander Nevski Cathedral and Egg Fighting. I hope this helps in the read-ability of this massive post and I hope that you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed writing it. I hope that maybe you learn something new about Easter in Bulgaria and I hope that those of you more familiar with these traditions help me out where my knowledge is murky.\n\n<strong>Kozunak</strong>\n\nI bought kozunak at my favorite little bakery/banitsa shop on Graf Ignativ--it\'s right next to the new cafe Lime. I know that there are other bakeries in town but I am a loyal shopper. When I lived downtown this was my shop. I only bought banitsa and slices of pizza there. The women who worked there (and still do) were always really nice to me. In the beginning they let me stumble through my order in Bulgarian without ever giving me any sign of annoyance--even when it was busy.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4800\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Fresh Kuzonak\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4800\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/easter-traditions-in-sofia/img_8255/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4800 \" title=\"Fresh Kuzonak\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8255-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nYou get a lot of points in my book for that. And you get me traveling from Mladost into the city center for your kozunak for that reason as well. I can\'t imagine that they remember me or even notice my semi-regular support of their shop but that\'s okay.\n\nThe day I bought my kozunak, the shop was buzzing with activity and with crazy shoppers. There was a display of kozunak in the window and a line inside the shop as well as at the walk up pizza window. It\'s the kind of scene where you know from the line that the kozunak is going to be good but you\'ve got to steal yourself for the meyhem that will ensue as you try to place your order.<!--more-->\n\nThe problem is the shop is pretty small and generally speaking Bulgarians are only so-so when it comes to lines. Luckily, I know these things now and it takes more energy to get annoyed with the lawlessness of the line rather than just to smile and make eye contact with one of the women working at the shop. Before I got waited on however I did get elbowed a few times and I had a man blatantly cut in front of me. The woman behind the counter shot me a look of apology and annoyance at the same time when this happened. But what are you going to do, I am not fighting anyone on Easter weekend over bread. Even if it is really, really good bread.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4801\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Wow, Kozunak!\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4801\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/easter-traditions-in-sofia/img_8257/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4801 \" title=\"Wow, Kozunak!\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/IMG_8257-1024x682.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"409\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nNow kozunak is a bread that takes hours to prepare and while it\'s a tradition lots of people don\'t want to spend the time making themselves. Enter bakeries. When I was at the shop on Friday, there were three women behind the counter taking and filling orders. There was another girl bringing a fairly steady stream of kozunak out from the back and I can only assume there were just as many people making the bread in back.\n\nI guess it makes sense. Kozunak is a sweet airy bread and when you cut into it or pull a piece off the loaf you see these beautiful long fibers of bread inside. I am told that this requires sifting a lot of air into the bread, careful kneading, at some point you need to hit the dough on the wooden board you\'ve been kneading it on 100 times and you let it rise and you punch it down two or three times before you finally bake it in a hot oven.  No wonder so many people buy the bread rather than make it themselves.\n\n<strong>Dying Easter Eggs</strong>\n\nAfter buying more kozunak than a single girl probably should, I went to the grocery store to buy a few things for dinner and some eggs to hard boil and dye.\n\nAt Billa I was confronted with a problem: brown eggs.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4785\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4785\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/easter-traditions-in-sofia/dsc02427/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4785 \" title=\"Instructions for Dying Eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02427-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nOkay, just to be clear, Billa always has brown eggs. Normally, I am totally fine with this. Only I have never dyed eggs that aren\'t white--oh to be an American. In my mind brown eggs don\'t really seem to offer a very good base to work with.  The thought of brown-pink, brown-blue, brown-green Easter eggs didn\'t really do it for me.\n\nSo I bought a box of white eggs--which I think cost considerably more than the brown ones. <em>Oh well</em>. A dutiful shopper I checked on the structural integrity of my eggs. No one wants to buy cracked or broken eggs. I thought: great 12 eggs. That\'s plenty. I also grabbed a packet of egg dye and some apple cider vinegar.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4786\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"615\" caption=\"Dying Eggs! \"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4786\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/easter-traditions-in-sofia/dsc02429/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4786    \" title=\"Dying Eggs! \" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02429-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"615\" height=\"462\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nMy plan was this, make dinner. Then boil the eggs so that I could dye them on Saturday. Needless to say, this didn\'t happen. I used three eggs for dinner leaving me with 9 to dye. Again, that\'s plenty for just me.\n\nSaturday when I finally got around to boiling and dying the eggs them I realized two things.\n\nFirst, I bought 10 eggs not 12 so I\'ve only got 7 eggs. At this point it felt pretty silly to dye seven eggs--given the time and energy it takes--but it\'s Easter and I did buy the egg dye so I boil seven eggs. This leads me to point two, it turns out the instructions for dying eggs are in about 12 language none of which I really speak. Among others there\'s Polish, Czech, Lithuanian, Greek, Romanian, Danish and Bulgarian.  Greek and Danish have letters that I can\'t even read so I parse out the Bulgarian. As luck would have it, it\'s not too hard.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4787\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"My five un-cracked eggs\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4787\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/easter-traditions-in-sofia/dsc02432/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4787  \" title=\"My five un-cracked eggs\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02432-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nAfter boiling my eggs, I realize that two of my seven eggs have cracked in the cooking process. Stupid eggs. I figure that dying five eggs is about as silly as it gets. So I dyed the two cracked ones as well.\n\nAnd best part of the story? All seven of the eggs turn out simply beautiful. The colors are extremely vibrant none of the pastel <a title=\"Paas Easter Egg Dying\" href=\"http://www.paaseastereggs.com/index.htm\" target=\"_blank\">Paas business</a>. This leads me to suspect that I probably could have dyed brown eggs but who cares. The pink-red is shockingly bright and the blue is a midnight-blue color. It doesn\'t really get better than this.\n\nMy fingers smelled a little strange after words but I\'m trying not to think about that as I eat my hard boiled eggs.\n\n<strong>Alexander Nevski Cathedral</strong>\n\nThe highlight of the day, well night, was a trip to Alexander Nevski Cathedral to celebrate the arrival Easter at midnight. My friends S. and P. were both down with the idea of heading downtown to celebrate the holiday. There was a lot of discussion about how to get downtown at back.\n\nMy first year I lived in the city center making it super easy for me to walk to church and back. This year however, I wasn\'t sure what to expect. It\'s easy to get from Mladost to the center via Metro but the last train most nights is shortly after 11 pm. This schedule makes it pretty easy to get downtown but means that you can\'t rely on it to get home again. On a regular late night in the city center, I\'d grab a taxi to get back to Mladost but a taxi on Easter? I don\'t know.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4796\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Nevski: Easter\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4796\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/easter-traditions-in-sofia/dsc02433/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4796 \" title=\"Nevski: Easter\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02433-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nLuckily, my ever-clever friend P. said, if we were in Boston and there was a big even like this the city would extend hours on public transportation. She checked and sure enough, Sofia had extended Metro hours for Easter. That\'s cool. Really cool. It made the whole evening really easy. <em>Thanks, Sofia public transportation!</em>\n\nWe got downtown a little bit early and stopped by Memento to have a drink inside before going to stand outside in the cold. It was about 7 degrees celsius last night. When we got there it was crowded and at 15 minutes to midnight when we\'d gone to the bathroom and paid our bill the place was basically empty. Apparently if you\'re twenty-something it\'s totally acceptable to have a drink or two before heading to church to celebrate Easter.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4797\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"P. and S. in front of Nevski\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4797\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/easter-traditions-in-sofia/dsc02438/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4797 \" title=\"P. and S. in front of Nevski\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02438-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nOn our walk to Nevski, we bought candles from a young man selling them on the street. The Russian church was humming with activity and crossing the street Nevski was beautiful as usual. It was lit up with high power lamps and there was  huge crowd of people clustered outside the church. The lighting it turns out was for television as the ceremony was being televised.\n\nI hate to admit this but I know very little about the actual ceremony. Here are the highlights as I see them but the actual order of these things is pretty unclear to me. <em>Sorry</em>.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4798\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"People streaming of the church\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4798\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/easter-traditions-in-sofia/dsc02447/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4798 \" title=\"People streaming of the church\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02447-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nThis said, I loved the way that the bells of the church seemed to work in hand in hand with the actual ceremony. It was incredibly beautiful to experience the bells, the chanting of the priest and the murmuring from the crowd. The result of this is a feeling of being actively pulled in the the ceremony and tradition even when you\'re not in the church or physically close to the priest because you\'re surrounded by it.\n\nSo the priest comes out of the church with a candle and from here the light is passed to everyone in the crowd outside of the church. In practice however, I spotted many young people outside of the church lighting their candles with lighters rather than waiting for the flame to be passed to them. This in part leads to part of the time order confusion that I have. In the large crowd outside of the church it takes a long time to actually pass on the light or the flame and when others are simply lighting their own candles the timing becomes all muddled. It doesn\'t help that last night it was also pretty windy making it difficult to light your candle the first time. One of the nice things is that Bulgarians who would never otherwise talk to you, do ask to light their candles from yours and you have to ask to you light yours on someone else\'s.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4799\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"Side view of Nevski on Easter\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4799\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/easter-traditions-in-sofia/dsc02453/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4799 \" title=\"Side view of Nevski on Easter\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02453-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nWhile everyone is struggling to light their candles I think that the priest reaches the part of the ceremony where he exclaims: Christ is risen and the people respond: He has risen indeed. This happens three times. I think. Check out this great list of the greeting in <a href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paschal_greeting\" target=\"_blank\">different languages from all over the world</a>.\n\nAbout this point, everyone starts walking around the church. You\'re supposed to walk around the church three times with your burning candle. If your candle goes out, it\'s supposed to be bad luck and I think it reveals that you\'ve sinned in the past year.  Some people even say that you should walk home with your candle still burning after walking around the church but I don\'t really think this a part of the tradition. You don\'t want your candle to go out at any point after it has been lit but it\'s especially bad for it go out on your trip around the church. Last night this was basically impossible.\n\nThere were a number of factors that made it this way. First Nevski is just a big church, second it was windy and made protecting your flame difficult at best and third there were so many people there it was hard to actually walk around the church. We made it about half way around the church before we gave up on our flames. I think makes us fair-weather Orthodox Christians. We did however walk around the church; we just didn\'t manage to make it around with our candle still burning.  But for the record, even people with plastic cups, yogurt containers or other means of flame protectors other than their hands were also struggling to keep their candles burning.\n\nOne of the things that was interesting to me as an outsider was the huge range of people participating in this tradition. The participation of the young and old didn\'t surprise me as much as the participation of teenagers and young adults. In the States, this is the segment missing from most religious ceremonies and here in Bulgaria they were out in droves--actively participating burning candles in hand.\n\n<strong>Egg Fighting</strong>\n\nThen there\'s the egg fighting. After the religious ceremony has ended people unwrap hard boiled eggs and an unofficial ceremony begins: egg fighting. You take your egg--ideally a red one--and you wack/hit your egg against your opponent\'s egg. The winner\'s egg remains whole and uncracked. The loser\'s egg is cracked. I think that winning a battle not only proves the greatness of your egg but also your moral superiority over your opponent. But of course, you should feel free to correct me on this part.\n\nLittle kids are serious about this part of the tradition and they smash their eggs against their opponent\'s with great relish.\n\nIn fact teenagers, take this seriously as well. At school on Friday, I had a long talk with a group of teenage boys about this Easter tradition. They were shocked that this wasn\'t part of the Protestant Easter tradition.  I reminded them that in the States we have the Easter Bunny and that he\'s absent in Bulgarian tradition. They nodded in agreement but it was also clear that they thought we are certainly depriving our children in the States of one of the best parts of Easter.','Easter Traditions in Sofia ','','inherit','open','open','','4781-autosave','','','2011-04-24 12:20:20','2011-04-24 10:20:20','',4781,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/4781-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(4811,1,'2011-04-25 09:36:01','2011-04-25 07:36:01','Hello, Spring! I\'m glad that you\'ve finally decided to stick around in Sofia.\r\n\r\nSo glad in fact that I finally found the time to get a haircut <em>and</em> I had my first iced latte of the year. All in all things are looking up after a very long and fairly cold winter. I am happy to tuck my winter coat away and I am looking forward to pulling out some warmer-weather clothes out of my closet.\r\n\r\nGetting your hair cut is great because it makes you feel like a new person. So does the arrival of Spring. Top that off with a four day weekend and an iced latte. <em>Wow</em>.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4814\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"New haircut &amp; an Iced Latte\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4814\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/25/spring-is-in-the-air/dsc02425/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4814 \" title=\"New haircut &amp; an Iced Latte\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02425-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nAll of a sudden, bang!\r\n\r\nA new haircut, a shot of caffeine, a dose of sunshine and a long nap and the whole world seems better.<!--more-->\r\n\r\nAll of this said, it\'s been months since my last hair cut.  Part of the reason for this is that I am nervous about communicating what I want in Bulgarian. Don\'t get me wrong, I am not high-maintenance when it comes to my hair I just want something that looks good and is relatively easy to style. I\'m pretty happy applying mousse and waving a hairdryer around my head for a few minutes until my hair is mostly dry.\r\n\r\nI think this anxiety boils down to this, I am nervous to speak Bulgarian because I don\'t necessarily have a clear idea of what I want it makes it that much more difficult to communicate what I\'m looking for. You know, aside from the fact that I want a haircut.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4815\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"And a serious picture of the new haircut\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4815\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/25/spring-is-in-the-air/dsc02426/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4815 \" title=\"And a serious picture of the new haircut\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02426-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nAnyhow, I conquered these fears this weekend. I made an appointment and got my haircut and I did 95% of it in Bulgarian. Not bad.\r\n\r\nWhen I told my MoM this she laughed and asked me what I was talking about. She said so the bangs are American and the rest of the haircut is Bulgarian?! No, <em>MoM</em>. Gesh. I communicated nearly everything in Bulgarian to the hairdresser. Only 5% of my conversation was in English visa vie a second hairdresser.\r\n\r\nMy dAd says it looks <em>very European</em>. I think he says these things when he doesn\'t know what else to say. I assume that in his mind it\'s a complement. Or at least I hope that it is.\r\n\r\nAnd last but not least, a special thanks to my friend G. who snapped this pictures when we were out shopping. He thought originally that I was joking when I asked him to take a picture of me and my iced latte. As these pictures prove, I was not.','Spring is in the Air! ','','publish','open','open','','spring-is-in-the-air','','','2011-04-25 09:36:01','2011-04-25 07:36:01','',0,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?p=4811',0,'post','',9),(4812,1,'2011-04-24 13:59:16','2011-04-24 11:59:16','I finally found some time to get a haircut.\n\nEvery time I get my hair cut I am reminded of this: getting your hair cut is great because it makes you feel like a new person. So I don\'t know why I always put it off.\n\nThis said, it\'s been months since my last hair cut.  Part of the reason for this is that I am nervous about communicating what I want in Bulgarian. Hell, I can\'t always communicate what I want in English. Then you plop yourself down into a chair and hope for the best.\n\nMy dAd says it looks very European. I think he says these things when he doesn\'t know what else to say. I assume that in his mind it\'s a complement. Or at least I hope that it is.','My New Spring Haircut! ','','inherit','open','open','','4811-revision','','','2011-04-24 13:59:16','2011-04-24 11:59:16','',4811,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/24/4811-revision/',0,'revision','',0),(4813,1,'2011-04-25 09:22:08','2011-04-25 07:22:08','Hello, Spring! I\'m glad that you\'ve finally decided to stick around in Sofia.\n\nSo glad in fact that I finally found the time to get a haircut <em>and</em> I had my first iced latte of the year. All in all things are looking up after a very long and fairly cold winter. I am happy to tuck my winter coat away and I am looking forward to pulling out some warmer-weather clothes out of my closet.\n\nGetting your hair cut is great because it makes you feel like a new person. So does the arrival of Spring. Top that off with a four day weekend and an iced latte. <em>Wow</em>.\n\nAll of a sudden, bang! New haircut, a shot of caffeine, a dose of sunshine and long nap and the whole world looks different.\n\nThis said, it\'s been months since my last hair cut.  Part of the reason for this is that I am nervous about communicating what I want in Bulgarian. Don\'t get me wrong, I am not high-maintenance when it comes to my hair I just want something that looks good and is relatively easy to style. I\'m pretty happy applying mousse and waving a hairdryer around my head for a few minutes until my hair is mostly dry.\n\nSo it boils down to two things, I am nervous to speak Bulgarian and because I don\'t necessarily have a clear idea of what I want it makes it that much more difficult to communicate what I\'m looking for. You know, aside from the fact that I want a haircut.\n\nAnyhow, I conquered these fears this weekend. I made an appointment and got my haircut and I did 95% of it in Bulgarian. Not bad.\n\nWhen I told my MoM this she laughed and asked me what I was talking about. She said so the bangs are American and the rest of the hair\n\nMy dAd says it looks very European. I think he says these things when he doesn\'t know what else to say. I assume that in his mind it\'s a complement. Or at least I hope that it is.','Spring is in the Air! ','','inherit','open','open','','4811-revision-2','','','2011-04-25 09:22:08','2011-04-25 07:22:08','',4811,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/25/4811-revision-2/',0,'revision','',0),(4814,1,'2011-04-25 09:26:01','2011-04-25 07:26:01','','New haircut & an Iced Latte','New haircut & an Iced Latte','inherit','open','open','','dsc02425','','','2011-04-25 09:26:01','2011-04-25 07:26:01','',4811,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02425.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(4815,1,'2011-04-25 09:27:32','2011-04-25 07:27:32','','And a serious picture of the new haircut','And a serious picture of the new haircut','inherit','open','open','','dsc02426','','','2011-04-25 09:27:32','2011-04-25 07:27:32','',4811,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02426.jpg',0,'attachment','image/jpeg',0),(4816,1,'2011-04-25 09:30:07','2011-04-25 07:30:07','Hello, Spring! I\'m glad that you\'ve finally decided to stick around in Sofia.\n\nSo glad in fact that I finally found the time to get a haircut <em>and</em> I had my first iced latte of the year. All in all things are looking up after a very long and fairly cold winter. I am happy to tuck my winter coat away and I am looking forward to pulling out some warmer-weather clothes out of my closet.\n\nGetting your hair cut is great because it makes you feel like a new person. So does the arrival of Spring. Top that off with a four day weekend and an iced latte. <em>Wow</em>.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4814\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"New haircut &amp; an Iced Latte\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4814\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4814\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4814 \" title=\"New haircut &amp; an Iced Latte\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02425-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nAll of a sudden, bang! New haircut, a shot of caffeine, a dose of sunshine and long nap and the whole world looks different.\n\nThis said, it\'s been months since my last hair cut.  Part of the reason for this is that I am nervous about communicating what I want in Bulgarian. Don\'t get me wrong, I am not high-maintenance when it comes to my hair I just want something that looks good and is relatively easy to style. I\'m pretty happy applying mousse and waving a hairdryer around my head for a few minutes until my hair is mostly dry.\n\nSo it boils down to two things, I am nervous to speak Bulgarian and because I don\'t necessarily have a clear idea of what I want it makes it that much more difficult to communicate what I\'m looking for. You know, aside from the fact that I want a haircut.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4815\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"And a serious picture of the new haircut\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4815\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4815\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4815 \" title=\"And a serious picture of the new haircut\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02426-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nAnyhow, I conquered these fears this weekend. I made an appointment and got my haircut and I did 95% of it in Bulgarian. Not bad.\n\nWhen I told my MoM this she laughed and asked me what I was talking about. She said so the bangs are American and the rest of the haircut is Bulgarian?! No, <em>MoM</em>. Gesh. I communicated nearly everything in Bulgarian to the hairdresser. Only 5% of my conversation was in English visa vie a second hairdresser.\n\nMy dAd says it looks very European. I think he says these things when he doesn\'t know what else to say. I assume that in his mind it\'s a complement. Or at least I hope that it is.\n\nAnd last but not least, a special thanks to my friend G. who snapped this pictures when we were out shopping. He thought originally that I was joking when I asked him to take a picture of me and my iced latte. As these pictures prove, I was not.','Spring is in the Air! ','','inherit','open','open','','4811-revision-3','','','2011-04-25 09:30:07','2011-04-25 07:30:07','',4811,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/25/4811-revision-3/',0,'revision','',0),(4817,1,'2011-04-25 09:31:35','2011-04-25 07:31:35','Hello, Spring! I\'m glad that you\'ve finally decided to stick around in Sofia.\r\n\r\nSo glad in fact that I finally found the time to get a haircut <em>and</em> I had my first iced latte of the year. All in all things are looking up after a very long and fairly cold winter. I am happy to tuck my winter coat away and I am looking forward to pulling out some warmer-weather clothes out of my closet.\r\n\r\nGetting your hair cut is great because it makes you feel like a new person. So does the arrival of Spring. Top that off with a four day weekend and an iced latte. <em>Wow</em>.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4814\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"New haircut &amp; an Iced Latte\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4814\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4814\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4814 \" title=\"New haircut &amp; an Iced Latte\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02425-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nAll of a sudden, bang! New haircut, a shot of caffeine, a dose of sunshine and long nap and the whole world looks different.\r\n\r\nThis said, it\'s been months since my last hair cut.  Part of the reason for this is that I am nervous about communicating what I want in Bulgarian. Don\'t get me wrong, I am not high-maintenance when it comes to my hair I just want something that looks good and is relatively easy to style. I\'m pretty happy applying mousse and waving a hairdryer around my head for a few minutes until my hair is mostly dry.\r\n\r\nSo it boils down to two things, I am nervous to speak Bulgarian and because I don\'t necessarily have a clear idea of what I want it makes it that much more difficult to communicate what I\'m looking for. You know, aside from the fact that I want a haircut.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4815\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"And a serious picture of the new haircut\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4815\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4815\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4815 \" title=\"And a serious picture of the new haircut\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02426-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nAnyhow, I conquered these fears this weekend. I made an appointment and got my haircut and I did 95% of it in Bulgarian. Not bad.\r\n\r\nWhen I told my MoM this she laughed and asked me what I was talking about. She said so the bangs are American and the rest of the haircut is Bulgarian?! No, <em>MoM</em>. Gesh. I communicated nearly everything in Bulgarian to the hairdresser. Only 5% of my conversation was in English visa vie a second hairdresser.\r\n\r\nMy dAd says it looks very European. I think he says these things when he doesn\'t know what else to say. I assume that in his mind it\'s a complement. Or at least I hope that it is.\r\n\r\nAnd last but not least, a special thanks to my friend G. who snapped this pictures when we were out shopping. He thought originally that I was joking when I asked him to take a picture of me and my iced latte. As these pictures prove, I was not.','Spring is in the Air! ','','inherit','open','open','','4811-revision-4','','','2011-04-25 09:31:35','2011-04-25 07:31:35','',4811,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/25/4811-revision-4/',0,'revision','',0),(4818,1,'2011-04-25 09:31:36','2011-04-25 07:31:36','Hello, Spring! I\'m glad that you\'ve finally decided to stick around in Sofia.\r\n\r\nSo glad in fact that I finally found the time to get a haircut <em>and</em> I had my first iced latte of the year. All in all things are looking up after a very long and fairly cold winter. I am happy to tuck my winter coat away and I am looking forward to pulling out some warmer-weather clothes out of my closet.\r\n\r\nGetting your hair cut is great because it makes you feel like a new person. So does the arrival of Spring. Top that off with a four day weekend and an iced latte. <em>Wow</em>.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4814\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"New haircut &amp; an Iced Latte\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4814\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4814\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4814 \" title=\"New haircut &amp; an Iced Latte\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02425-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nAll of a sudden, bang! New haircut, a shot of caffeine, a dose of sunshine and long nap and the whole world looks different.\r\n\r\nThis said, it\'s been months since my last hair cut.  Part of the reason for this is that I am nervous about communicating what I want in Bulgarian. Don\'t get me wrong, I am not high-maintenance when it comes to my hair I just want something that looks good and is relatively easy to style. I\'m pretty happy applying mousse and waving a hairdryer around my head for a few minutes until my hair is mostly dry.\r\n\r\nSo it boils down to two things, I am nervous to speak Bulgarian and because I don\'t necessarily have a clear idea of what I want it makes it that much more difficult to communicate what I\'m looking for. You know, aside from the fact that I want a haircut.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4815\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"And a serious picture of the new haircut\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4815\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4815\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4815 \" title=\"And a serious picture of the new haircut\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02426-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nAnyhow, I conquered these fears this weekend. I made an appointment and got my haircut and I did 95% of it in Bulgarian. Not bad.\r\n\r\nWhen I told my MoM this she laughed and asked me what I was talking about. She said so the bangs are American and the rest of the haircut is Bulgarian?! No, <em>MoM</em>. Gesh. I communicated nearly everything in Bulgarian to the hairdresser. Only 5% of my conversation was in English visa vie a second hairdresser.\r\n\r\nMy dAd says it looks very European. I think he says these things when he doesn\'t know what else to say. I assume that in his mind it\'s a complement. Or at least I hope that it is.\r\n\r\nAnd last but not least, a special thanks to my friend G. who snapped this pictures when we were out shopping. He thought originally that I was joking when I asked him to take a picture of me and my iced latte. As these pictures prove, I was not.','Spring is in the Air! ','','inherit','open','open','','4811-revision-5','','','2011-04-25 09:31:36','2011-04-25 07:31:36','',4811,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/25/4811-revision-5/',0,'revision','',0),(4819,1,'2011-04-25 09:36:01','2011-04-25 07:36:01','Hello, Spring! I\'m glad that you\'ve finally decided to stick around in Sofia.\r\n\r\nSo glad in fact that I finally found the time to get a haircut <em>and</em> I had my first iced latte of the year. All in all things are looking up after a very long and fairly cold winter. I am happy to tuck my winter coat away and I am looking forward to pulling out some warmer-weather clothes out of my closet.\r\n\r\nGetting your hair cut is great because it makes you feel like a new person. So does the arrival of Spring. Top that off with a four day weekend and an iced latte. <em>Wow</em>.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4814\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"New haircut &amp; an Iced Latte\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4814\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4814\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4814 \" title=\"New haircut &amp; an Iced Latte\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02425-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nAll of a sudden, bang!\r\n\r\nA new haircut, a shot of caffeine, a dose of sunshine and a long nap and the whole world seems better.<!--more-->\r\n\r\nAll of this said, it\'s been months since my last hair cut.  Part of the reason for this is that I am nervous about communicating what I want in Bulgarian. Don\'t get me wrong, I am not high-maintenance when it comes to my hair I just want something that looks good and is relatively easy to style. I\'m pretty happy applying mousse and waving a hairdryer around my head for a few minutes until my hair is mostly dry.\r\n\r\nI think this anxiety boils down to this, I am nervous to speak Bulgarian because I don\'t necessarily have a clear idea of what I want it makes it that much more difficult to communicate what I\'m looking for. You know, aside from the fact that I want a haircut.\r\n\r\n[caption id=\"attachment_4815\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"And a serious picture of the new haircut\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4815\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/?attachment_id=4815\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4815 \" title=\"And a serious picture of the new haircut\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02426-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\r\n\r\nAnyhow, I conquered these fears this weekend. I made an appointment and got my haircut and I did 95% of it in Bulgarian. Not bad.\r\n\r\nWhen I told my MoM this she laughed and asked me what I was talking about. She said so the bangs are American and the rest of the haircut is Bulgarian?! No, <em>MoM</em>. Gesh. I communicated nearly everything in Bulgarian to the hairdresser. Only 5% of my conversation was in English visa vie a second hairdresser.\r\n\r\nMy dAd says it looks <em>very European</em>. I think he says these things when he doesn\'t know what else to say. I assume that in his mind it\'s a complement. Or at least I hope that it is.\r\n\r\nAnd last but not least, a special thanks to my friend G. who snapped this pictures when we were out shopping. He thought originally that I was joking when I asked him to take a picture of me and my iced latte. As these pictures prove, I was not.','Spring is in the Air! ','','inherit','open','open','','4811-revision-6','','','2011-04-25 09:36:01','2011-04-25 07:36:01','',4811,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/25/4811-revision-6/',0,'revision','',0),(4820,1,'2011-04-25 09:37:07','2011-04-25 07:37:07','Hello, Spring! I\'m glad that you\'ve finally decided to stick around in Sofia.\n\nSo glad in fact that I finally found the time to get a haircut <em>and</em> I had my first iced latte of the year. All in all things are looking up after a very long and fairly cold winter. I am happy to tuck my winter coat away and I am looking forward to pulling out some warmer-weather clothes out of my closet.\n\nGetting your hair cut is great because it makes you feel like a new person. So does the arrival of Spring. Top that off with a four day weekend and an iced latte. <em>Wow</em>.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4814\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"New haircut &amp; an Iced Latte\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4814\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/25/spring-is-in-the-air/dsc02425/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4814 \" title=\"New haircut &amp; an Iced Latte\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02425-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nAll of a sudden, bang!\n\nA new haircut, a shot of caffeine, a dose of sunshine and a long nap and the whole world seems better.<!--more-->\n\nAll of this said, it\'s been months since my last hair cut.  Part of the reason for this is that I am nervous about communicating what I want in Bulgarian. Don\'t get me wrong, I am not high-maintenance when it comes to my hair I just want something that looks good and is relatively easy to style. I\'m pretty happy applying mousse and waving a hairdryer around my head for a few minutes until my hair is mostly dry.\n\nI think this anxiety boils down to this, I am nervous to speak Bulgarian because I don\'t necessarily have a clear idea of what I want it makes it that much more difficult to communicate what I\'m looking for. You know, aside from the fact that I want a haircut.\n\n[caption id=\"attachment_4815\" align=\"alignleft\" width=\"614\" caption=\"And a serious picture of the new haircut\"]<a rel=\"attachment wp-att-4815\" href=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/25/spring-is-in-the-air/dsc02426/\"><img class=\"size-large wp-image-4815 \" title=\"And a serious picture of the new haircut\" src=\"http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/DSC02426-1024x768.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"614\" height=\"461\" /></a>[/caption]\n\nAnyhow, I conquered these fears this weekend. I made an appointment and got my haircut and I did 95% of it in Bulgarian. Not bad.\n\nWhen I told my MoM this she laughed and asked me what I was talking about. She said so the bangs are American and the rest of the haircut is Bulgarian?! No, <em>MoM</em>. Gesh. I communicated nearly everything in Bulgarian to the hairdresser. Only 5% of my conversation was in English visa vie a second hairdresser.\n\nMy dAd says it looks <em>very European</em>. I think he says these things when he doesn\'t know what else to say. I assume that in his mind it\'s a complement. Or at least I hope that it is.\n\nAnd last but not least, a special thanks to my friend G. who snapped this pictures when we were out shopping. He thought originally that I was joking when I asked him to take a picture of me and my iced latte. As these pictures prove, I was not.','Spring is in the Air! ','','inherit','open','open','','4811-autosave','','','2011-04-25 09:37:07','2011-04-25 07:37:07','',4811,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/25/4811-autosave/',0,'revision','',0),(4822,1,'2011-04-25 10:40:27','2011-04-25 08:40:27','I got a request from one of my readers via <a title=\"Twitter: Carolyn Emigh\" href=\"https://twitter.com/#!/CarolynEmigh\" target=\"_blank\">twitter</a> a couple of days ago. She wanted to know what to do in Sofia for a day in June before grabbing a flight to Varna at 11pm with a friend.\n\nGood question.\n\nUltimately, I guess it depends on what you are into. In a new city, I generally like to mix up my routine a little bit usually this includes a museum or something culture, a stroll around town, a coffee and people watching, snacking on some local food, seeking out some young and hip shops and then topping it off with beer or a cocktail on a pedestrian zone watching the transition between late afternoon before hitting up a new-to-me restaurant.\n\nThese days I feel no pressure to hit up every museum or to seek out every famous building/monument/statue/neighborhood. I\'d rather have a good taste of the city rather than the alternative which is to rush, rush, rush in order to check tourist sites off of some arbitrary list made up by a guidebook.\n\nSo if I were in Sofia for a day, I think about checking out one of these museums/galleries.\n\nOr I might consider a walking tour with Free Sofia Tour.\n\nI\'d have a coffee in one of these two parks.\n\nI\'d visit these two shops.\n\nI\'d pick between one of these quick and cheep restaurants for lunch or dinner.\n\nI\'d have a drink on Vitosha at Memento.\n\n&nbsp;','Sofia for a Day? ','','inherit','open','open','','4821-revision','','','2011-04-25 10:40:27','2011-04-25 08:40:27','',4821,'http://www.karolinkabulgaria.com/2011/04/25/4821-revision/',0,'revision','',0),