Bridges to History

We began our day with a drive to the Rila Monastery. There are no words that can describe the beauty of this located at the base of the Rila Mountains. This Monastery houses Monks who have sworn away a civilized life for one of solitude. A beautiful tower originally made in the 14th century resides over the yard and the museum, in which there was a beautiful, hand made cross that was intricately carved. This specific piece of art was made from one piece of wood that took over a dozen years to make before the artist went blind.


Later in the day, we met some Bulgarian counterparts from the American University in Bulgaria. Dinner and great conversation with faculty, staff, and students. People around the table instantly engaged in conversations with their foreign counterparts

Thursday we traveled to Bansko a historic resort town.


Plovdiv is the second largest city in Bulgaria. It is an ancient city and we saw Roman coliseum ruins and an old Roman theater.

This trip has been a whirlwind experience of immersion into an entirely different culture. Every way we turn we have been seeing sights that made us want to linger a little longer. But never have I wanted to sit and just watch the world pass by as much as I did on the top of the hill, overlooking the sunset and Roman Ruins in Plovdiv.


Dinner was interesting. There were Blah and Lamb Brains. When in Bulgaria?!!!