Progress for Philipp

I made some progress while traveling on Philipp's heart. It's -much- bigger than the first one I made, so it's going slower.

Sofia Fabric Stash

Just off of Vitosha Boulevard and west from the Ministry of Justice, there's a quartet of fabric stores and even a yarn shop. I found them! Actually, I didn't know they were there, but they're only a couple of blocks from Hotel Niky, so we found them on one of our walks. These pictures are of what I bought.

The green lace was by far the most expensive fabric, so I only got half a meter. It's really pretty and has lots of motifs. The shiny cream has a metallic jacquard woven into it, and the gray has cut out floral patterns. I just fell in love with it. All are coming home with me!

I still need to take a picture of my yarn shop finds. She wasn't open until Saturday, after I'd taken these photos.

The Tortured Turtle

Our hotel in Sofia, Hotel Niky, had an attached restaurant/beer garden. It's pictured here. On our last night in Sofia, we decided to take it easy and eat there. It was Palm Sunday evening and the place was crowded with kids and families. Children were running all over the place, and it's a garden with water and ... a turtle.

If cats have nine lives, this turtle had dozens. The poor thing was petrified with fear the whole time we were there, and with good reason. The children were barely avoiding it as they played in the area. Once, a child almost fell, knee onto the turtle's back. Poor turtle!

The pictures were taken the following morning at breakfast, so it looks empty. Turtle was still intact and in basically the same position. The food there was good and inexpensive, like almost everywhere in Sofia. Most places, you can walk out with full meals for under fifteen euros. We only paid more at one overpriced Greek restaurant.

Checkerboard Blackwork

The designs on this panel remind me of a checkerboard. I've made progress this week, but there's still a lot to go. Hopefully I'll work on it some this week. I'm sooooo behind on these stitchalongs.

Another Sofia Day

These pictures are all from Saturday in Sofia. It was another gorgeous day and we did a lot of walking again. This top picture is of the old Turkish baths building. It's in really bad shape and is being renovated, so you can't go inside. This site is an ancient baths and mineral springs site, dating back to Roman times.

This is St. Nedalya church, right next to the Sheraton. We never went inside, but when we walked by it on Sunday it was really crowded.

Sofia herself, supposedly. It's a modern statue and sits in a crossroads across from Tzum. To me, she's ugly, but well... she's the city's symbol.

And here is the oldest church in Sofia, dating back to the 4th century. It's surrounded by the Sheraton and the Presidential residence, oddly enough. The excavations around it are from the old Roman-era village that surrounded it.

I've Got Two Hands...

Bibendum's got both his hands now. Soon I'll be starting his bicycle. I still think he looks cute.

It's raining here in Varna this morning. We got here yesterday evening and it was overcast and cloudy. Maybe it'll clear up by this afternoon. I hope so - Varna is a seaside resort, and it's definitely better viewed in the sunlight.

Necklace from Pristina

I realized that I haven't posted a picture of this. When we were out fabric shopping a week ago Saturday, I saw this necklace in a jeweler's window and commented on how I liked it. My host dragged me into the shop to find its price. It was relatively inexpensive and is completely hand made. The filigree flowers were made in Prizren, home of a long tradition of filigree. The jeweler himself put it together into a necklace and, it turns out, it's not really a necklace, even if it was displayed that way. It's a chain for a belly dancing costume, to wear at the bottom of the skimpy bodice. That's why there are extra rings - to put dangling things on it. Anyway, I like it and it's a perfect necklace for me.