Autumn in Ottoman paradise

Well here we are two weeks into our Bulgarian experience. Here are a few things I have learned so far:
1. They make their own moonshine here, a distilled form of wine, called rakya. This is immensely powerful, enough to blind.

2. If you have too much rakya, more than two glasses, they will carry you home.

3. It is impossible to refuse something offered to you, (especially rakya)- really it seems to be the only thing that angers them.

You see where this is going.

The forest is sacred to Bulgarians, and of the forest, one tree in particular is most sacred. I don't know the name of this tree but it is beautiful and used in fine carpentry. Near to us is a valley famous for hot springs. Resort spas have built huge swimming/soaking pools here and charge a modest price, 6 lev I think, for a day use. We have not been yet but it is on the menu.

I have been able to work as a carpenter out here, and although masonry was real fun, it is nice to work with wood again. Hey Jerry, real 2x4's! We did a bit of work in a town called Leshten on a British family's getaway home. And hoo boy, you're really getting away from it out here, all of it, everything. Leshten is a bit different from Kruschevo in that it is mostly getaway homes. It is very beautiful and also high up in a mountain valley. However it lacks the true grit lived-in feel of our little rocky rutted gem. A bit too much plastic and chrome feeling.

The house we were fixing up had been taken over by a seriously aggressive fungus. Like a Star Trek episode, or Doctor Who for you Brits. It was our job to insulate the subfloor and install in-floor heating under a slab to be poured, and finally finished off with natural stone or tile. Both boys got to help do this and were very good, adept natural foremen. At one point, I caught them leaning on shovels and drinking sodas quite importantly. I was so proud.

On the road to Leshten you pass a gypsy camp, oops that's a bad word out here, instead they prefer to be called Romas. This camp has no name outside of the Roma and is not on any map. The Bulgarians don't really like them I think. Anyway, they have improved the camp and it is starting to look like a little town, pretty run down, but a few brick buildings. The road through here leads up to a tourist attraction past the town of Leshten. We haven't seen it but it is supposed to be a traditional old Bulgarian village, and I hear its nice. So the government decided that they would build a new road so the tourists would not see the Roma town. This road is yet to be finished, so you drive through the Roma town and wave and smile. And sometimes if you're lucky they throw rocks at you, which is Roma for "Hello and Welcome". Most times though, you just drive through and realize how incredibly lucky (and wealthy) you are.

The house we are staying in at the top of the village is also a storehouse for 30,000 books. A bit of scavenging around turns up gem after gem. I have already read "Dilbert, Journey to Cubeville" and a Rolling Stones songbook, while Cade has busied herself with as much Danielle Steele as she can get her hands on. (Editor's note: Cade only read one Danielle Steele book and that was during a night of insomnia. Most other times she reads extremely intellectual tomes, like 'So You Want to Be a Shaman', etc.) (Writer's note: Mike also reads intellectual books, such as James Glieks 'Chaos').

Summer is passing into fall out here and the nights grow cooler each day. The days are still warm and sunny. We have a wood burning stove in our room so we stay toasty at night. There is plenty of work to do before the rains of winter begin towards the middle of November, so we will keep busy.

We did have a cold rainy day last week. Luckily we were outside at a fair in Dospat. Diego and I went on a swingy ride and we had hotdogs and kebabs. It was fun but everyone was a bit cold so we didn't stay too long.

Well that's it for now. You keep reading and I'll keep writing.

Naz'drave!

The mountains of Mordor

Well the photos got a bit jumbled, so just in case yer confused a bit, the beach ones are not Bulgaria. We spent a few terrific days and nights on the Kassandra penninsula at the beach town of Posidi. This is on the northern fingers of Greece. Totally sweet. Plus we had two Engish speaking Greeks, one from Fourka just up the road from Posidi, as our tour guides. Posidi is named for...anyone, anyone, that's right Posidon. There is an ancient ruin of a sanctuary of Posidon right near the beach. Honestly, there are ancient ruins everywhere in Greece. You could literally drop a shovel with your eyes closed and find some ruin.

We were introduced to an old family friend named Paraskevas, which means Friday, who is a sculptor. Not only did he build his own house from limestone but has a huge gallery in his basement filled with sculptures big and small. About 200 or so. He is also an expert on this particular areas ancient history and took us to the site of the very old town of Mendes. There was a old established olive grove growing here, and under this was the town of Mendes... dating back to the 8th century BC. Here we found pottery shards scattered all around and a few tombs that had been raided ages ago. There is no official archeological dig here so we got to play Indiana Jones a bit, totally cool.

Another highlight was swimming to sea caves. Our friends took us to a small beach surrounded on both sides by large cliffs. On this day, the sea was a bit large and wavy. I went with our two friends on about a 1/4 mile swim in deep water, about 10 meters, or 30 feet. After a bit of wave swimming we came to these small openings in the cliff. A bit of timing and good swimming skills were needed to navigate the openings in the crashing surf. Once inside the caves, the sun shone down from holes in the cliffs above and lit up the floor of the sea far below. So too much. We stayed here a short while before heading back to the little beach. At this point I realized not only was I up against the formidable surf but also a fair current, in the wrong direction. I am glad I had been swimming in the pool at the gym all last year. At one point about 1/2 way through I thought to myself, " Take it easy, breathe, and please, don't let me spot any sunken treasure right now." Obviously I made it, but I was spent. Swimming in the sea is not always easy. Needless to say the boys missed that one.

We had a nice campfire on the beach to say goodbye and it was all buses and trains the next day to Bulgaria.


We arrived in the early evening to Krushevo. This town is set at 3200 feet in the Bulgarian mountains just northwest of Gotse Delchev. It is also set in the year 1300. Horse drawn carts, donkeys, cows living in the house, chickens and dogs all over the place, and stone houses and roads. Our house is a 4 bedroom traditional home with a first floor that was historically reserved for livestock. This is set on the top of the town with a beautiful view of the mountains of Mordor. (Take a look at a map from the Lord of the Rings... England is the Shire and Bulgaria is Mordor.)

We also have a lovely view of the newly painted mosque as this is a muslim town. Not radical just normal... you know we drink beers, smoke and eat bacon. No raising pigs, but sausage? Hell yes.


Traditional Bulgarian costume is worn by the elder ladies and some younger ones too, especially on holidays. A sort of pantaloon and headscarf usually with a homemade sweater. There are many children ages 5-15 and also every age all the way up to 90 or so. There is not one sort of type to the look of everyone; there are blue eyed blondes as well as hazel eyes and brown and red hair. I guess when your country is invaded for 5000 years, people tend to leave their mark. Some of the men are short, round faced and as wide as they are tall, while others are almost gaunt. The locals are very kind and welcoming to us. Also they really like to stare and get right in your face. Not mean, just curious. And no English whatsoever, alhtough I have found a couple that speak Spanish.


The other day marked the end of Ramadan here and a large party was thrown in town. This involved a variation on trick-or-treating for the kids in the morning and then much greeting, singing, dancing and drinking later in the day. In the afternoon, I went from our house to the local water spout when five stern Bulgarian locals gestured me to sit near them. Refusal is not an option... made more difficult because the head shake for no here means yes. So I sat and smiled and said Barack Obama, to which they all began smiling and patting me on the back. Then they dragged me to a local bar and began to buy rounds of beers and local spirits. What I learned is that if they see you with a empty or near empty beer, there will be a near fight to see who can buy you another one. I barely made it out alive.

We know about 10 words in Bulgarian so far, although you can get by on 3. Molya=please, no, sure, whatever, yes. Naz'drave=cheers. And spek'oyno=everythings cool, take it easy.


The place we are working at has four buildings on it, all of green construction of some type. The main house is a straw bale round house. This is a completed living area. There is a caravan being built into a small house structure, a large barn under construction, and a completed chicken coop/tool shed/greenhouse.

There is plenty of work to keep us busy here for awhile. The weather is beautiful; the days are warm and the nights are cool, and our hosts are lovely. It really is a little piece of heaven out here.

So check in soon for more exciting forest adventures in Bulgaria, and thanks for tuning in!

Naz'drave!