Bulgaria

May 10-20, 2018
Trip to Sofia, Bulgaria

My company is based out of Sofia, Bulgaria and they hosted a computer graphics event called Total Chaos in May. It was a huge organizational feat and the whole company was invited to attend. My boss, the CFO, Martin, was also wanting to have a finance team retreat and that was planned for the weekend before Total Chaos.  These two events made it the perfect time for me to make the trip to Bulgaria and meet the whole team.

In the lead up to the trip, my sister in law, Heather, had been talking with my dad and suggested that maybe Dad also visit Bulgaria while I was there. My boss thought it was a great idea and we made arrangements to switch my hotel room to have two beds. I think he was relieved that I would have company to see sites while I was in town.

I flew to Sofia on the 10th, and was met by Martin, who got me situated at the hotel and gave me a tour of the office. They set me up with a desk with a view of the mountains. Sofia is in a valley surrounded by mountains so there are many beautiful views in the city. The city is a very strange mix of communist concrete buildings ringing the city and stately neo-classical buildings downtown from the early 1900's.

Pirin Golf Resort

The next day the finance team drove to the Pirin Golf Club and Resort in the Pirin mountains. It reminded me of the Rocky Mountains and had similar trees and plants. The air was clear and crisp, cool in the evenings and warm during the day, with a panorama of sky, snowcaps, evergreens and meadows. It was a great chance to talk with my co-workers and trade info about our countries.

I had been practicing a bit of Bulgarian and they were kind to let me practice, repeat and correct my errors. They all spoke English incredibly well and could makes jokes in English. I was just trying to learn enough to be safe traveling and to be courteous. They really appreciated my attempt. My favorite Bulgarian tidbit was the slang for speed bump: spyasht politsaĭ which translates to "sleeping policeman".  Our team went out to a traditional dinner in the nearby town of Bansko, complete with a fire place, paintings of czars, thick woven cloths, and knives in the ceiling. It was fun, plus the food was really fresh and flavorful.

Team Dinner in Bansko, Bulgaria

Everything was foreign of course and the hotel rooms were so quiet. I missed our house, and the family. The time zone difference was hard to work around because the girls were getting home from school late in my evening. When I did get to Facetime with them, Johanna clamored to be front and center. I tried to interact with each of the girls on each call and it was something but not enough. I worry about all of them constantly, maybe it is better described as concerned about them. They sit in my heart and I hope and pray for them constantly, Jim included. Being away was hard on them and me too. Some mornings I would wake up just in time to say good night to Jim. 


When the finance team got back to Sofia, Dad's plane had already landed and he was resting at the hotel. Over the next few days he and I spent time sight seeing in between my visits to the office. Dad and I got very good at riding the metro, which was very convenient to the hotel and downtown. Touring with Dad is an adventure. He is prone to crossing streets at random and talking with strangers. He never hesitated to ask a local a question about a building or their opinion on a historical event or to translate a plaque. We went to a Catholic Mass at the Cathedral of St. Joseph and a few days later witnessed a baptism at a Bulgarian orthodox church, St Nedelya. There were many houses of worship in the city, all which exemplified different periods, faiths and styles, and many of which were works of art in there own rite. 

Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, Sofia Bulgaria

Church of St. George, Sofia Bulgaria

Cathedral of St. Joseph, Sofia Bulgaria

That day was mother's day, and it was lonely but I got a chance to Facetime everyone and then I had a long call with Emma. I did these in the hotel bathroom because it was late in Bulgaria and my Dad was already in bed. I went to bed tired but my hear was full.

Dad and I booked a bus tour to take us to see some of the country starting with the city of Plovdiv. It was a former capital of Bulgaria and was a Macedonian city dating back to 400 BC. There were ancient ruins scattered about the city, mixed with revival buildings and traditional Bulgarian structures. Our tour guide, Dobs, took us through cobblestone streets up of the hills of the city that has been a center for the arts for centuries.  When we adventured on our own we got a bit far from our bus and turned around and had to make a quick hike back just in time. 

Roman ruins in Plovdiv Bulgaria

The House of 100 Windows, an ethnomuseum in Plovdiv

The bus drove through more mountains and valleys and fields of roses and stopped next in Koprivshtitsa, a mountain town, that was a town of revolutionaries. It is where the first blood was drawn in the revolt against the 500 year Turkish occupation. The town remained untouched through communism. It was idealic and the people were obviously self-sufficient.

Home of  Revolutionary Poet, Koprivshtitsa Bulgaria

On Dad's last night we took another trip into Sofia and enjoyed a wonderful dinner at an outdoor restaurant. The US dollar went pretty far in Bulgaria and it was easy to enjoy ourselves. Dad got an early shuttle back to the airport in the morning and that day the US marketing team from LA, California arrived. I met up with them and switched gears to Total Chaos.

LA team working in the hotel lobby while we wait for check in

I've only met a few members of the LA team in person but I've been communicating with all of them semi-regularly for years. It was good to work along side them, as well as just hangout after the events. Total Chaos had some really great presenters from HP, IKEA, and a lot of the best CG artists. I helped out here and there but I also sat in on some of the talks. One of the evenings our company sponsored a dinner at a traditional Bulgarian restaurant that had performers come around the tables. I was pulled up to do one of the dances, embarrassing but fun.

I was so glad to be heading home.  It was a really worthwhile trip for me. It was important to meet my co-workers and get a feel for their office dynamics. Seeing Bulgaria was fascinating and I learned a lot about a part of the world that I previously knew almost nothing about. It was a great trip but 10 days was too long. Home felt so good.