Christmas..A little different in Bulgaria

Yes, it is a little different, but very special.  My host family really makes me feel like part of the family.  Especially when I'm trying to catch the train home and find out there's a problem with the train tracks..
For Christmas..they put up a tree and decorated it.  They made pitka..which tells you your fortune for the next year.  Mine was 'you will travel abroad'!  They set off some beautiful fireworks.  We listened to the Koladeri sing a Christmas song; we opened gifts..I got a great book that I've heard all Bulgarians read, 'To Chicago and Back'.  We ate great food, drank home-made wine, and on Christmas Day went to the Ledenika caves..I also saw Nina and Ken and Pepe.

I made it back to my apartment and spent many hours talking to my family on Skype for Christmas Day!..and left for Chiflik shortly after that.  Chiflik was interesting..on the way, we stopped to see the Shipka monument called the 'Monument of Freedom'.  This was where one of the great battles of the Russian Turkish wars was fought.  Several thousand Bulgarian volunteer soldiers helped the Russians defeat the Turkish here.  We also saw the church in Shipka, a gift given by the Russians to commemorate the soldiers who died during the war.  It is built in the traditional style of a Russian church in the 17th century.  In the same day we also entered one of the recently discovered Thracian tombs. 

Chiflik was great with its mineral springs (if only we had snow!).  I think this was one of the most International experiences I've had.  My friend Katya and her brother's family are Bulgarian, and her Bulgarian friends live in England, and her cousin's (half-Russian) husband is from Spain, and my other friend is from Germany, and of course me..the American.  We also visited Beklemeto, and a huge monument there shaped like this 'П'.  The views on the drive up were amazing, until we hit the snow and fog..lots of fog.  We walked up the last part because of too much snow blocking the road.  It was worth the walk!  On the last day we also stopped at the Troyanski Monastery.

I posted new pictures if you want to see some of these places.