Yuzhen Park in May

There's just a hint of winter snow on distant Mt. Vitosha, but the park itself, minutes from our home, is very, very green.


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Enrique Iglesias in Sofia

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A free concert given by M-Tel, one of the largest mobile phone companies in Bulgaria, and it just happened to be taking place in the park down the street from our house. Jodie was very tired and stayed at home, but I joined some 30,000 young Bulgarians to see Enrique.

First to perform was British singer and disc jockey Sonique. After her set there was a long intermission with M-Tel commercials shown on the huge screens around the park. Finally Enrique took to the stage.

I must say, he was a real mensch. He spoke to the crowd in Bulgarian, frequently interjected "Sofia" into his talking and even once into his lyrics. At one point he invited two Bulgarian youths onto the stage and interviewed them, and during the encore he invited a young girl onto the stage and sang his hit "Hero" to her.

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At a distance of one month, it's sometimes hard to believe that we spent two wonderful years living in Bulgaria. We look back with fond memories at the many places we visited, the many people we met, and the many things we learned about Bulgaria, its culture and history. This started as a Top Ten list, but there were too many places to list, so it became a Top 15 list, and still, some of the colorful destinations we visited are not included. The list is presented in alphabetical order.

Balchik. On the Black Sea coast, this town was the summer home of Queen Marie of Romania. We enjoyed walking around the botanical gardens, seeing the old style houses and the simple palace that captured the heart of the Romanian queen.



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