Ellis and Jodie's Bulgarian Adventure

Bulgarian Vladimir Kurtev has been honored posthumously as "a Righteous Among the Nations" for his role in the rescue of the Bulgarian Jews from deportation to Nazi death camps in 1943. A medal and certificate of honor were presented to Kurtev's granddaughter on Monday at a special ceremony held at the Yad Vashem memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust in Jerusalem in the presence of Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolai Mladenov, Bulgarian Ambassador to Israel Dimitar Tsanchev, and the Chairman of the Israel-Bulgaria Friendship Association, Dr. Moshe Mossek. "Thank you for helping us not to forget those who had the courage to stand up against the deportation of the Bulgarian Jews. Among the many dark pages in Bulgaria’s history, the events from February 1943 are a beam of light which showed the action of civil society in Bulgaria leading to changing history, something which was supposed to happen everywhere across Europe," Bulgaria’s Foreign Minister Nikol...

Last Wednesday night we joined our friends for a meal together at the Sofia Hilton. The Hilton was having a Thai Food Festival and our friend is the Honorary Consul of Thailand in Bulgaria. It was our first visit to the Hilton and its Seasons Restaurant. The special menu for the occasion had some interesting Thai dishes (although we passed on the prawns and pork). Although the service was a bit slow due to the fact that the restaurant was crowded, we enjoyed the Bulgarian wine and the company. When the bill came for our party of six it was 165 Leva per couple (82 Euros). What made the meal expensive was the wine selection. Last night Jodie and I dined at a Chinese restaurant not far from our house (after two other nearby Chinese restaurants had closed down). The food was quite good and served in large portions. In fact, the portions were so large that we will have another two full meals this week with the leftovers. The cost for this meal for 2 people, including tip, was 28 Leva (14 Eu...

Our last stop on our Sunday travels was in Montana. Montana, Bulgaria, that is. Montana is the administrative center for the region and the hometown of Ivelina, my former coworker and her family. Above, Ivelina and me in the center of the town. Below are pictures of us with our friend from Israel, Iris, and Ivelina's mother and brother.

Belogradchik is a town in northwestern Bulgaria and also the name of a fortress and nature reserve of bizarrely shaped sandstone, limestone and other rock formations . The Belogradchik Rocks were Bulgaria's candidate in the campaign for New Seven Wonders of Nature. The Belogradchik Fortress, known as the Kaleto, incorporates the rocks into its defenses. The original fortress at this location was built during the time of the Roman Empire, and it was later expanded and reconstructed during the 14th century. We visited Belogradchik with our friend Iris from Israel, and with my former coworker Ivelina, who lives in the town of Montana, also in northwestern Bulgaria. Below is the town of Belogradchik as viewed from the fortress above. We viewed the amazing rock formations of the area from the fortress, which entailed climbing up many steep steps and one very vertical ladder. Great work Jodie and Iris! After visiting the Belogradchik Rocks and fortress, we had lunch in a hotel in the...

When we first visited Koprivshtitsa in March last year we shared the colorful, historical village with a heavy snowstorm . We vowed to return and again see the place where the the April Uprising against the Ottoman rulers started in 1876. This time the weather cooperated, and we enjoyed visiting the well-preserved houses from that time that now serve as museums and reminders of that important era of Bulgarian history. Above is the first museum we visited, the Oslekov House, built in the 1850s by one of Koprivshtitsa's wealthiest merchants. The uniforms for the Bulgarian rebels were sewn in Nenchko Oslekov's house. When the uprising failed, Oslekov was captured by the Turks and hung. The house above is that of Bulgarian poet Dimcho Debelianov. Debelianov comes from a different period of Koprivshtitsa's history; he was killed at the age of 29 in World War I. Pictured above is Lyutov's House. It was bought by local merchant Petko Lyutov in the early 1900s. Above is the h...

Vasil Levski, who worked to liberate Bulgaria from the yoke of Ottoman rule in the 1800s, is regarded as the country's national hero. The main stadium in Sofia and streets all over the country are named in his honor. We stopped at a memorial to Levski as we drove east through the mountains on Saturday morning. The view from this lookout point overlooking a colorful valley cloaked in morning mists was amazing. We stopped at the exact same spot on our return trip to Sofia later that day and again we were amazed at the view.

You never know what you'll see on the roads of the Rila Mountains. We particularly enjoy buying fresh, local honey on the roads leading up to the monastery. This stand let us taste the different varieties before we settled on a dark, rich honey with a unique taste. As we had done on our previous visits to Rila, we stopped for lunch at a riverside restaurant for a meal of fresh trout. The beer hit the spot, and luckily the threatening dark clouds never broke the spell of our great visit. Here's yet another picture of me guzzling Zagorka Beer.

We had first gone to the Rila Monastery last June with my coworker Ionatan and then we returned with our children when they visited in August . This summer we'll probably return a few times with our many guests. The first of our visitors was our Neve Ilan neighbor and friend, Iris Peer. Jodie took Iris around Sofia on Thursday when I was still in Israel, and we headed south together to Rila on a Friday morning. It seemed that the wall paintings on the church had been cleaned up since our last visits as the colors were very bright and the religious features, telling stories of the Bible and sainthood, were distinct and clear. There was still snow on the distant mountains. Just beyond those peaks are the Seven Lakes where I had recently hiked.

The morning after attending Elton John's concert in Sofia, I (Ellis), headed to the airport to catch a flight to Israel on a short business trip. Waiting at the gate before boarding the plane I noticed a long-haired man, vaguely familiar. I asked him if he was in the concert the previous night, and he confirmed this. It was one of Elton John's guitarists. The band and crew were taking an El Al flight ahead of their concert in Israel on Thursday night. I had a chance to shake hands with drummer Nigel Olsson and guitarist Davey Johnstone. They, of course, flew business class while I was back in economy, but it was still interesting to meet them.

The string of major concert acts to visit Bulgaria continues! Just 10 days ago we saw Bob Dylan in concert, and now we had a chance to see Elton John and his band perform. We had seen Elton John when he visited Israel some 30 years ago, and we were excited to hear him again. His Rocket Man Tour promised all of the singer's greatest hits. We were not to be disappointed. The concert took place at Lokomotiv Stadium, in Sofia's far northern neighborhoods. We took a long taxi ride to get there, arriving in the midst of a traffic jam of fans heading into the stadium. The location provided places only for some 20,000 fans. We had seats in the 37th row and a good view of the stage. In short, it was a great concert! Elton and his band performed for 2 1/2 hours without a break, singing hit after hit. Elton spoke to the crowd, saying that this was his first visit to Bulgaria but hopefully he would be back. A non-definite list of Elton John songs at the concert included: Funeral for a Fri...

"After the deterioration of our relations with Turkey, which was a main destination for about 400,000 of our tourists, naturally Bulgaria will be the best alternative for them," Israeli Welfare and Social Services Minister Isaac Herzog said at an official meeting with his Bulgarian counterpart, Totyu Mladenov. Media sources reported this week that Herzog was meeting with Mladenov to discuss cooperation on social issues, but the subject of tourism was raised as well. "There are many retired people who go to spa resorts in Greece and Romania. The most natural thing for them would be to visit Bulgaria afterwards. Varna is a very popular tourist destination," Herzog said, as quoted by Novinite.com, the Sofia News Agency .

One of Bulgaria's most important exports is rose oil for the cosmetic industry. Every year there is a Festival of the Roses in central Bulgaria, where the roses are grown. We traveled to Kazanlak on Sunday for the parade that concluded the week-long festivities. Bulgaria is one of the largest suppliers of rose oil to the world's perfume makers. Roses are grown in the central Valley of the Roses, with Kazanlak being the small town at the valley's center. The Bulgarian oil-bearing rose, or Rosa damascena, has been cultivated in this area of the country for some 300 years. It takes approximately 4,000 kilograms of rose petals to produce one kilogram of pure rose oil. The roses are picked from the middle of May, usually by gypsy laborers at very low wages. We arrived in Kazanlak with friends after 2 1/2 hours of driving from Sofia. We sat down for drinks and watched troupes of young girls performing ahead of the parade. Everywhere in Bulgaria you can find souvenirs made of ro...