Bulgaria

Playing at the Supreme Bulgarian Opera Hall

We all managed to get up in time and our bus driver and guides found their way to our homes by 8:00 - a first in Greece! We said goodbye to our hosts and we were on the road at 8:06 a.m. Almost on schedule. We arrived at the border (after lots of sleep on the bus) at noon and we were allowed through at 12:50 after we were able to get a fax from Athens certifying that we weren't stealing the bus. (?!) The border allowing us into Bulgaria was much faster and we were on our way by 1:30. A mere 1 1/2 hours of border crossing.

We arrived in Blagoevgrad around 3:00, but after asking directions and making a few K-turns in the bus we arrived at our dorm facility at the American University by 3:30. After getting our room assignments and freshening up we were on our way to dinner at 4:30 at a nearby "snack bar" with wonderful food and service that could have been good had we not been rushed for a concert.

We were on the bus at 6:10 and on the way to the concert hall (Opera House) for our 7:00 concert. They were delighted to have us. loved the music, asked great questions and made more friends in the process. We followed the concert with a quick trip into town for some local cafes for some, pizza for others and then quiet time and sleep for all.

At the Rila Monestary

A morning at the market (and finding breakfast items) was followed by a trip to the Rila Monastery. This is one of the oldest sights we have seen since it was established in 927 AD, but after a few battles and fires, most of the buildings were destroyed and the current buildings are from the late 19th century. The trip out to the monastery was beautiful with all of the Rila Mountains surrounding us, the river on one side and usually a donkey or mule cart keeping the traffic speed down. Our plans to play at a local orphanage were thwarted when the director let us know that they were in the process of closing and sending their kids off to other orphanages around the country.

We had a quiet dinner in a local establishment and we are all loving the change to the Leva as the monetary unit. Bulgarian prices put smiles on our faces! After Sam Reid made a presentation to all of the seniors we were off to pack up for an early morning trip to Sofia where we are to ring for a 10:00 worship service. (The bus leaves at 7:00.)

Morning church service in Sofia

Well.... off at 7:00 for the 10:00 worship service. We made it this time - on time. The only difficulty we had was the surprise on the faces of those at the church. They forgot that we were coming, but were thrilled to see us anyway. We found tables, set up in record time and really enjoyed the service (at least as much as we could understand). We won several audience members for our evening concert and they also were able to tell us the address (or at least street name... more on that later) for the evening concert at the Baptist Church.

Following the service we had a fine local guide (an oboist who enjoyed our handbells) take us to the nearest McDonald's and we all found refreshment. The rest of the afternoon was spent finding our accommodations for the evening, someone to lead us there and a quick visit to the Alexander Nevsky Church. Once settled into our hostel (a gracious term) it was time to prepare for the evening concert.

We kilted at the hostel and headed off to the street of the church. After parking the bus, Rich, Essi, Jim, Ean and our driver scoured the neighborhood for anything resembling a church. There was nothing to be found! As the concert time approached, we headed off to the other end of the street for one last look for the venue. We turned the corner at 6:27 and found several folks waiting outside a lovely little church - we found it!

This was one of the most delightful audiences of our trip. They were enthusiastic and they were familiar with handbells. Many questions later, we finished and the seniors had played their last notes. A member of the congregation took us to a Chinese restaurant for dinner and our tour wrap-up, thank you to our driver and the new student conductor.

A 4:00 a.m. wake-up (although some took a little longer and the doors to a few rooms took quite a beating), 4:45 bus loading and 5:00 departure to the airport had all of us stumbling in our sleep. We arrived at the airport in time, checked in quickly and awaited the flight. We arrived in Munich on time and had a few minutes to update the website (to let parents and friends know we were on our way) and check e-mails before the long flight to Boston. Even Meredith got on the plane although she was still considering the long swim home.

We were reunited with our baggage and customs forms in Boston and we made it through the maze of immigration. We switched to the USAir terminal nicely, but our baggage seems to have taken a little longer to reach our plane. We arrived home at 5:30 and the baggage was finally delivered to the church at 9:30 p.m. Actually, it was nice of USAir to take care of delivering the bells since we were tired of lugging them around Europe anyway. All are home and hopefully getting the necessary beauty rest so that they are ready for the fall!