Sofia on Friday

We wandered around the more "official" part of Sofia yesterday. One thing I have to say is it's full of sculptures, most of them good. We toured the national art gallery and the ethnological museum and were disappointed. This top picture is the Russian orthodox church a couple of blocks from the main Alexander Nevski cathedral.

This interesting bishop or king was in a park in front of the National Art Gallery and Ethnological Museum (they're both in one building, and that building was -not- crowded).

We saw this cute little puppy when we stopped in Macedonia to stretch our legs. She was very friendly and loved being pet! I resisted and did not take her with. The blue doors to the back are the restrooms - well, not really restrooms. No real toilets, only pissoirs. One of those really third world moments.

And this is another sculpture in the same park. There were a lot of them here! You can see more pictures of Sofia from our wanderings here.

Another Heart Start

This is the second of the German charity hearts. It's much bigger than the first on, and as you see, I didn't get much done this week.

Still Going Up

The town's still going up with all the buildings, and I got quite a bit done on it last week.

I've also plopped myself down in Sofia for the rest of the week. Pictures after going out tomorrow. We did eat at a nice restaurant this evening, and spent less than 15 euros doing it. Even cheaper than Kosovo. The town (except for the stripper bars) closes down by ten, though.

Pristina Scenes

Here are a couple of pictures we took on our walk Saturday - that are not condom ads. This first one is the statue of Skanderbeu, the Albanian national hero. He lived in the fifteenth century and fought the Ottoman empire. Lots of things are named after him, including a local brandy.

Here is one of the few visible remnants of the war in Pristina. It's a mosque that was turned into an Orthodox church during the Serbian dominance and then sacked during the war. There's still barbed wire around it, and it's sad looking. At least KFOR isn't still guarding it like other places around Kosovo. It's safe now.

How Much Brown?

Yes, I was working with brown again this week and am getting a bit tired of it. I do, however, seem to make real progress every time I stitch, at least. This week's brown was around the edges of the light panes of the skirt. They're almost completely sided now and it's looking pretty good.

One Heart Done

I finished the first of my two hearts this week. It's kind of cute, and I hope they like it.

Fabric Stash

After hours of walking in the wrong directions on Saturday, we managed to find a fabric store! It's just a few blocks from the National Museum, in the area where most of the formal gowns imported from Turkey are. No cottons there, and the selection was small, but what they did have was pretty. All of the fabrics are rayon blends.

My favorite fabric is this black - it reminds me of a forest on a winter night. I have a quilt block to piece by the 20th, so I really needed fabric. I also like the one with the embroidered swirls on it.

Hopefully, I'll be able to make a quilt square that looks like autumn from these fabrics. I think so.