The Worst Road EVAR

These pictures are of the -good- part of the trip from Varna to Plovdiv. We did all the prudent things - we had a map. We printed off directions from google. Everything should have gone smoothly, right? Nope. We got lost. Actually, we took the right road ... it was just a goat track. So. Here's the good part: we stopped for lunch just north of Shumen at this place. The owner didn't speak a word of English and we didn't speak any Bulgarian. From deciphering the menu written totally in Cyrillic, I was able to order us chicken soup and shop salad for lunch, along with diet coke and bread. It was excellent!

Here's a picture of the soup. It was obviously homemade and very full of bits of chicken.

This is a typical shop salad plus a few extras - the local feta-type cheese, cucumbers, and tomatoes. There were olives and onions in this one too. We ate the whole thing. This salad is normally served without dressing.

As you can see, the owner keeps this restaurant in the middle of no where in immaculate shape. The local shepherd was enjoying a midafternoon beer, his flock across the road, while we were eating. Anyway, we'd gone too far on this road and we were on the way to Romania instead of Bulgaria when we passed here. We turned around just after and got onto the "right" road. BIG mistake. I was driving, my first time driving in the Balkans (another story there), and we ended up on a road that was washed out in one direction and full of potholes in the other. Lucky for us, we were supposed to take the pothole direction - over a several thousand foot mountain behind a logging truck on basically a one lane, two way dirt track. I drove it all, though, and my companion didn't complain about my driving once. It was still scary! No photos of the road - we were so busy driving and trying to stay un-wrecked that pictures just didn't cross our minds.

What was supposed to be a six hour drive took almost double that. I'm just glad that we got a good lunch and a warm welcome at the hotel in Plovdiv when we got there. Never, ever take Route 7 in Bulgaria. It's a nightmare.

Last Kosovo Finish

I finished this round robin block just before I left Kosovo. I'm back in the States now, having landed yesterday. This is Rebecca's Novice block. It's very small, and she says she's making it into a bible cover. This top picture is before the work I did on it.

This photo shows my work added. I did three small motifs and one seam. The trim on the pink I found in Varna. I had seen the block before I saw the trim, and I bought it specifically for the block. I think it's really for making bridal garters and such. The meandering line on purple is to represent a meditation maze. This block was a challenge for me because it's totally a different style than my usual.

The Other Finished Temari

This is the other temari I finished. It's a bit more elaborate and I also used Valdani perle 8 on it, this time a brown variegated.

It's also got the polyester thread base, which was still slippery. Both of these will be given in June, just before my friend leaves Kosovo for good. I just had to finish them before I left so I didn't have to mail them.

Bulgaria's Stone Forest

About ten miles west of Varna, just off the highway back to Sofia, there's a natural geological formation. We visited it, and here are some pictures. It's the Stone Forest, and it's a national heritage spot in Bulgaria.

Even though there's sand underfoot in these pictures, the surrounding area is tree-dotted meadow. The "forest" runs about three kilometers by half a kilometer and a road straddles it. They say these rock formations were made just like stalactites and stalagmites and then the cave just fell in and eroded around them while they stayed in place.

The guide/money collector (entrance was less than two euros each) gave us a New Age spiel about the energy of the rocks and their spiritual healing power. Needless to say, we didn't fall for that. We did, however, take lots of pictures of lizards and flowers. Those aren't on flickr yet, though. Anyway, if you get to the Varna area, do visit. It's impressive.

An Actual Finish

My host is leaving Kosovo in July, and he needs to give gifts to his local employees. I offered to make temaris. This past week, I finished two! Here's the first. I made large interlaced kikus at the poles.

The ball is shiny because I used polyester thread to wind it. I -don't- recommend this unless you have a lot of patience for slippage. The stitching is with a Valdani perle 8 and Petite Treasure Braid. Considering, I think it came out pretty well. The locals don't have any kind of tradition like this, so we're hoping they'll like it more due to the novelty factor.

Yarn from Sofia

My first yarn shop in Bulgaria introduced me to a brand I've never heard of before - Alize. I bought its mohair blend, which I'm turning into an afghan. It's got great loft and a very luxurious feel. What's better is the price was about $4 a skein ... for mohair ...

The smaller balls are all perle cotton. They were about a euro each. I really like the colors, but haven't used them yet.

Working on the Second Half

The second half is begun. Now I get to do strips the other way, in green and ivories. At least it'll be done soon.