Fulbright Greece/Bulgaria

This will probably be my last post from Bulgaria.  We toured Plovdiv this week with its wide pedestrian malls and old town with its National Revival architecture.  We ate dinner in a restaurant built over Roman ruins and bought pottery directly from a potter in her tiny pottery studio.  The next morning there was a little mix-up with the bus.  It looked too small to hold all of us and our luggage too, but the driver was able to cram everything in.  He whisked us off to the Todoroff Wine Cellar which has been recently been expanded and remodeled.  We received a lesson on how to evaluate wine and then we tasted three of their varieties.  We were served an excellent lunch (and more wine).  After cleaning out the wine store, we were back on the bus. The wine and that big lunch was the cause of some serious “busnosis” that swept the Fulbright crowd on the way back to Sofia.  Most of us were sucking air on the way back (but not Mark).  We really liked the cities and villages we visited on our tour, but it was good to be back to the familiar haunts of Sofia.  Many of us thought it was like coming home.

Speaking of home, the Fulbright days are quickly running out.  It seems like a long time since we were in cool, rainy Chicago for our orientation.  Yesterday “the ladies” put together a Fulbright quiz and slide show during our wrap-up session that spanned our whole experience here and in Greece.  We all got a little wistful watching that. Today was a free day for shopping, figuring out what to pack, doing the last laundry, and generally getting ready to go home. Tomorrow morning our last group activity will take us up to Vitosha Mountain via the gondola followed by lunch.  Sunday evening we have a farewell dinner, and then the taxi will pick many of us up at 4:45 a.m. to begin the journey home.  Wow!  What a trip it’s been!  I’ll be going through my notes and pictures for weeks.  The memories and the frendships will last forever.