Teaser Photos of Bulgaria and Romania by Annettte

Hi - We're on our way back to Bulgaria after two days in beautiful Transylvania.  Here are a few teaser photos. More will be posted later.

  Above and below - Frank and Chrissy on the Black Sea in Southern Bulgaria.

     Chrissy and I on the Black Sea.

     A big  Orthodox church in Varna, Bulgaria.  I went inside and witnessed the baptism of a 2-year-old girl.

     Bulgaria and Romania are filled with sunflower fields.  This one is in Romania.  You see them for miles and miles.  Sunflower oil is used in most Eastern European kitchens.






Our first view of the mountains approaching Brasov, Romania where we visited "Dracula's Castle" in Bran.

Annette's Post after a Two-Week Hiatus

  We're finally home and rested after wonderful visits with our daughters, Elise and Chrissy, and Elise's boyfriend, Matt.  On May 30, Frank and I met Matt and Elise in Ulqin, Montenegro, which is on the Adriatic.  We had great accommodations right on the sea and enjoyed a day in Montenegro before bringing our visitors back to Prizren with us the following day.  Frank is still going to post about Montenegro, including our time in Ulqin with Elise and Matt and a previous trip we took to Budva and Kotor.  Hopefully, we will get some posting done in the the next few days days since we'll be leaving for Bulgaria and Romania on Tuesday.  I am presenting at a teachers' conference in Varna, Bulgaria (on the Black Sea) next weekend.  After the conference, we hope to take a detour into Romania. Chrissy is staying with us until we return to the U.S. in August, so she chose Dracula's castle to see.  Elise and Matt spent a week with us and returned to San Francisco last weekend. 

     Matt and Elise enjoying lunch after Mass on Sunday in Prizren.  This is at the most popular and best traditional restaurant in town - Te Syla.  We sat on the Lumbarda River bank.  Matt and Elise were looking forward to eating a lot of quality veal in Kosovo - you can see qevap (small sausage looking) and grilled meats.  They're holding the hot peppers that we like to have with the qevap.

     Elise and I in front of the hammam (old Turkish baths now used as an art gallery at times)

    Another walk up to the Prizren fortress.  Each time we go up, there is a better photo to be taken.  This is Pashtrik mountain in the background (the crest forms the border between Kosovo and Albania) and the city of Prizren.

     Matt and Elise on top of the fortress.

     Frank with Matt and Elise on top of the fortress.

     Koritnik - the other big mountain in Albania from the inside of the fortress.

     The next couple photos are a few views of the flora that we saw on our hike.

          Matt with Pashtrik in the background.

     Elise and Frank walking in the middle of the fortress.

   

     A lizard that was on display for the biologists.

     More flowers.

Elise in our apartment with our European dinner - beer that Matt and Elise brought from Germany for us to sample, ayran (kind of yogurt drink) that is usually served in Kosovo with traditional meals, and burek (delicious savory phylo-like pastry filled with meat or cheese).  A small shop (named Sarajeva) right in Shadervan after one crosses the Old Stone Bridge has the best burek that we have sampled anywhere in the Balkans.  One very long strand of the burek costs 1 Euro.

     Matt and Elise gave a talk about their research work at the American Corner.

     After the talk, they played Uno which is now an American Corner favorite.


More to come later!!!