WanderlustandWhimSea

To be honest, I didn’t do a lot of research. before this trip and I had few expectations  of what I would find in Bulgaria.  What I found were lots of churches and monasteries  of all denominations and sizes from tiny brick countryside churches from the 1500’s to giant and beautiful churches found in Sofia, Bulgaria.

Many of the Balkan countries seem to have an identity crisis fueled a fierce independence and discontent amongst neighbors.  Bulgaria was occupied by the Ottoman Empire for 500 years and amazingly the resentment of that occupation seems to linger in 2019.  However, the Russians (The Romanov’s) are held in high esteem as they liberated Bulgaria in the latter part of the 19th century.  Of course the Communist Russians of 1947 -1990 are not held in high regard and in fact, the National History Museum of Bulgaria, outside of Sofia, seems at a loss to describe this period, so just ignores it entirely.  Of course, before all of this was the conquering Roman’s and their ruins are everywhere. I’m not into the old rocks, so I don’t take a lot of pictures but imagine gates, amphitheaters and markets.

Not only are the churches beautiful structures but they are FILLED with fresco’s and icons. I liked these as the devil and hell were easily depicted and the colors were vibrant.

This is St Christoper, the Patron Saint of Travelers.  So I have to say he is my favorite as he keeps a close watch over me. I even lit a few candles and said a few prayers  hoping to keep in good standing.

This little girl was determined to feed this lion an apple. She kept holding it up waiting for the lion to take a bite. Brought a smile to my heart. Kids are kids.

Next stop Macedonia, the first non EU country in the trip.