The Good, The Bad, The Beautiful, and The Ugly
Sunday, July 1, 2007
- Bulgarian techno music – Beautiful because at least it is not American music! I get so tired of hearing the theme from Grease overseas
- Hearing George Michael, Prince, and the theme to 9 ½ weeks – BAD, c’mon guys there has been music made since 1982
- Bulgarian Hospitality – Definitely beautiful.
- Bulgarian Greed – UGLY, was charged double for internet and told so ‘because speak you English”; also charged for milk in my coffee, twice the rate of stamps at the post office, and breakfast because the breakfast “allowance” in the ‘included breakfast’ was less than one cup of coffee.
- Hiker’s Hostel in Plovdiv – BEAUTIFUL – the people were wonderful and so very helpful. The accommodations reasonable, the internet free, and the price exceptional.
- Plovdiv Women – hmmm, HOT would be a better adjective.
- The Cyrillic Alphabet – Good, much easier to learn than I thought. I enjoyed the challenge of reading the signs and finding how many were actually in English but written in Cyrillic letters instead of Roman letters. I’ve gotten pretty good at it now.
- The Heat – UGLY. Plovdiv was incredibly oppressive; the Black Sea not much better.
- Rila Monastery – breathtakingly Beautiful
- Bulgarian cherries – sigh, beautiful and inspiring, and they taste pretty damn good
- Bulgarian politics – Bad and Ugly when it is Mafia controlled
- Ralitza – Beautiful
- Orlin – Beautiful
- Vlady – Beautiful
- Angel – Beautiful
- My new Bulgarian family – Beautiful beyond words
- Keeping up Bulgarian appearances – not sure if it is bad or good, it is more important to take your friends out than to keep your home up, it says much for their hospitality but little for aesthetics in the city
- The shores of the Black Sea – beautiful shades of purple from the mussel shells broken along the shore, from the richest royal purple to the lightest lavender, lovely
- Kpuboto – hmmm, I won’t tell
- The slogan for Sofia – “You WILL Like Sofia” disconcerting if not ugly seeing as how it is a picture of the mayor pointing his finger like Uncle Sam. A mayor who claims to be ex-Mafia. I thought the only way you became ex-mafia was in a casket!
- Communist concrete block buildings – oh so ugly – especially since there are no condominium arrangements and no enforcement to provisions for common areas, thus all are in a sad state of disrepair.
- The price of cigarettes – Good if you’re a smoker but perhaps bad in the end for the Bulgarians who wake up, go to sleep, and pass the day with a cigarette permanently wedged between their lips. I’ve always been curious, why do Americans all die of lung cancer from smoking and Europeans don’t?
- Garage Bars – good, cheap, and cool
- The price of beer – Great!
- People who throw their trash out the window – So, so ugly.
- People like Ralitza who clean it up – Beautiful
- Bulgarian Salads – Good!
- The Bulgarian countryside – Beautiful!
- The aftermath of communism – depends who you ask…. Some miss the security – they were willing to pay the price of freedom and luxury for security. Others are eagerly embracing the capitalist ways, (and means)
- Rositsa, the hostess with the mostest, and her boyfriend Emil - Definitely beautiful!
- The bathrooms – Bad! Ugly! Bad! Ugly! Without a doubt, country wide, the worst restrooms I have seen in my travels.
- Sunflower fields – Stunning
- The architecture – Beautiful, especially near the centers, especially when the buildings are maintained.
- Cost of Living – Great – if you’re making an American salary.
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