August 22, 2005 - Launch Day for Vionet7

It is Monday and last week I thought of launching a new blog. This is the birthday of vionet7, which comes seventh in a row of vionet blogs where I publish my photo diaries. In fact, I started the blog business in December 2004 with the intention to keep a diary online about my life in the USA as a Fulbright exchange teacher. As a result of this I maintained six blogs while I was in the USA. Now I am back in my home country Bulgaria and my friends and acquaintances in Bulgaria, the USA and other countries want to know how I am readjusting to life here and what the reverse cultural shock looks like. This is the main reason for launching a new blog from the vionet family today. I chose this day as it is easy to remember - tomorrow is my dad's birthday. It is 22 C (72 F) in Sofia at 9 a.m. and the day is gloomy.

Party Time in Sofia

Time for meeting with friends came after almost three weeks of unpacking, cleaning up, tidying up and repairs.

A Tavern for Serbian Food

On July 19 we had dinner with our close and devoted friends Snezha and Sasho and followed their recommendation to go to the a local tavern in our neighborhood where they cook and serve Serbian food.

This Is the Sign in the Bulgarian Language

The place where we took Snezha and Sasho to for dinner was the "Three Grass-snakes" Tavern on Pirotska Street near the corner with Konstantin Velichkov.

The Three Grass-snakes Tavern Logo

This is the logo of the "Three Grass-snakes" Tavern. The restaurant is in a house built back in 1910.

Just Parked

We went to the restaurant by car. Boyan parked it on the street and we kept on eye at it while we were eating Serbian food. The crane-bill smelled good and was fresh after the rain.

Happy to Be Together Again

We had not been to that restaurant before and we were lucky to find a table for four on the patio.

My Dream Salad

The salads were tasty and looked beautiful. My "Kyuopolu" was something I had often dreamed of while we were in the USA.

Salads for Gourmets

We had four different types of salad. Snezha had a Serbian Salad, and Boyan had "The Three Grass-snakes" Salad (to the right in this photo).

"Sache" Was the Main Dish for Everybody

The main dish was grilled pork with vegetables served on a wooden plate. It was delicious.

Before we left, we had a tour of the restaurant. Our waiter took us around and we saw some popular sayings engraved on the walls.

Vessels for Wine and Rakyia

We had a great time at "Trite Smoka" ("The Three Grass-snakes") on July 19 with the major back-up team of friends for my American partner. They did a good job and even managed to make friends with her.

A Trip to Stara Zagora

On August 12, 2005 we made a one-day trip to Stara Zagora.

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Stagozagorski Novini (Stara Zagora News), the local newspaper, published on July 26, 2005 Boyan's article about Hamilton Public Library in Chandler, Arizona.

We stopped by the ancient theater next to the Court House. Some fabulous opera performances are given here.

We spent a couple of hours at Geo Milev Museum House.

There had never been ivy in the yard, but this time the famous oak tree was all covered in sprawling ivy. The oak tree is the symbol of the yard. It was planted by Geo in 1901.

The apricot tree is more than 40 years old. For years it gave no fruit, but this year its apricots were juicy and abundant. Maybe it gave fruit as a contribution to the celebration of the 110th anniversary of Geo Milev�s birth in 2005.

Milio Kassabov, Geo Milev's father, would come home for lunch from his bookstore. In summer he would carry a watermelon and a loaf of bread for his big family - a wife, six kids and two grandmothers. He would shout a greeting from the gate, leave his groceries and head for the outhouse.

A few turtles were playing in the yard. This picture has become part of my turtle collection.

The frugal household items are arranged neatly in the cupboards. On the flap side of one of them we saw one of the first drawings of the little Geo.

The paintings of children, participants in a Drawing Contest for Children, are on display in the yard.

If you want to visit, here are the work hours and admission policy of the Geo Milev Museum House:
Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday: 9-12; 14-17
Little Kids - 0.5 Lev
Students - 0.90 Lev
Thursday - Free Admission

All captions are based on the tour that Leda Mileva, Geo Milev�s daughter, gave us at the museum house. We felt honored and enjoyed her lecture.

We are planning to go back to Stara Zagora for the opening of the Exhibition dedicated to the 110th anniversary from Geo Milev's birthday. It will be opened at the end of September in the local Art Gallery.

A Presentation About the USA for our Family

A view from a 16-story apartment building of Sofia on a gloomy afternoon on August 15, 2005.