Week of 6-16

On Sunday we didn't do much.We did decide to go to the theater located in one of the new malls.It was kind of expensive for Bulgarian standards.Tickets were about $5.We saw Pirates of the Caribbean 3.It was a little out there but had enough action and plot to keep it enjoyable.

Bush came to town on Monday and we got the day off because most of downtown was blocked off, making travel in the city difficult.Because we had the day off, and our trains passes, we decided to go to Plovdiv, which is located SE abut 2 ½ hours of Sofia.We didn't get there until 1:00. But this still gave us plenty of time to see the city because the museums were closed.There is an ancient Roman Coliseum and Amphitheater.I guess the city decided to cover up the coliseum, because there was a street that ran on top of most of the ancient ruin.The entrance was still visible and some of the seats and ring.The amphitheater was pretty well preserved and sat on a hill overlooking the city.The city has restored most of the seating area and still uses it for events.There was also an Ancient Thracian Settlement that was located around the amphitheater.After visiting the ancient sites we hit up the Old Town Plovdiv. Old Town had a very quaint, small town feel.There was classical architecture similar to Brasov and the spirit in the city was good.We also ran into a festival hosted by Kamenitza, a local beer.They had setup in a square at the end of old town.We hung out there until we had to leave to catch the train.

During the week we just worked and went home, nothing exciting.Thursday the office decided to go out to dinner and a night club located downstairs.On Friday Dale had fish, which was the special of the day; unfortunately it didn't make him feel too special.We decided to stay in due to the "food poisoning".We tend to eat at this place down the street from work for lunch everyday.It's called Griffin, and is a British style pub with cheap eats.A full meal tends to run us about $3-4.It is actually cheaper than getting groceries I believe. The only problem is it is located all the way across town, because our backup apartment is in BFE.

On Saturday we went to lunch back at the Mall of Sofia, our second favorite place to hang out, and the walked around the city a bit.We went down the main pedestrian boulevard and walked to a park on the southern end of the city center.Located there is one of the worst monuments ever constructed.I believe it was built in 1980 and less than 10 years later was starting to fall apart, and that's not even a result of gypsy activity.Now it is just surrounded by a fence so passerby's don't get knocked out by falling debris.After the park and another rain, I think it rains here as much as back home, we met Ivan's sister for dinner.She took us to a place on the top of some building on the south side of town. It was very fancy, a little too fancy if you ask me J There was a really nice view of Mt. Vitosha and of the city looking north.After diner she walked s to a club that Gergana, our boss, had gotten us tickets to.M-tel, a local cell phone operator was throwing a party at one of the fancier clubs.Unfortunately the club was dead until 2:00, and even then it was a sausage fest.We decided to leave when our party was leaving and did something unusual for us, we caught a cab home.