Yesterday I went to bed around 21:00 o'clock and I slept very well. It was pretty hard to get up -- it was still dark outside!

I started at 9:00 at Chess, and this time my computer there was still complete. I enjoy working here at Chess: the atmosphere is friendly and the work is interesting. And the coffee is good.

I'm installing the "Real One Player" player now; I hope to be able to listen to Radio Horizont, a Bulgarian radiostation.

So, here I am, writing from my own computer.

I have a little bit mixed feelings about being back in Holland. I was happy to see our own airport and to be able to call people, but it made me realize that the holiday is definitely over. And worse: that Sasha and I are separated again for a couple of weeks. But I'm certainly not complaining! We had a wonderful time in Bulgaria, prosto chudesno. I'm looking forward to see her again, and also to go to Bulgaria again.

At home everything was fine. I arranged the mail: taxes, bills, insurance information etc. There was quite a lot of mail in a few weeks. A very nice thing is the big pile with Christmas cards that we received. Thanks everybody. I'm also looking forward to read the Christmas issue of The Economist.

Jelly: thank you for taking care of the house and the plants. The clock still works :)

I had a sandwich with Dutch cheese for lunch, with a glass of Dutch milk. I'll unpack some things from my suitcases now, then a shower and a nap. But first a phone-call to Washington -- Sasha starts her work at the World Bank today again.

Ha! Finally home.

This morning around 10:30 o'clock I arrived at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam, and Sasha arrived yesterday according to schedule in Washington.

It was quite a journey! Like I wrote yesterday the connection that I was scheduled to get caused Sasha a day delay a few months ago. And yes: yesterday the same happened to me. From Sofia there was a plane to Budapest, from where a connecting flight would bring me to Amsterdam to arrive yesterday evening. This went spectacularly wrong. The Malev plane had "technical difficulties", and after a long time Malev decided to get a new plane from Budapest to Sofia to pick us up. We spent around seven (!) hours waiting in the departure hall in Sofia.

Actually, the delay didn't really bother me too much; in fact I enjoyed it. I was just hoping that the flight wouldn't be cancelled. If that would happen we would have to go back to get our luggage, arrange a new ticket again, probably again in Bulgarian-style 'line'. But we were lucky: around 22:30 o'clock a new plane did indeed arrive.

I met a few fellow travelers, which made the waiting pleasant. Penga, a lady living in Norwegian and her mother were traveling to Bergen, and Vesi, a Bulgarian girl studying in Arnhem (in Holland) was going to Amsterdam. Without their company the waiting and the flights would have been a lot less fun.

We arrived in Budapest around 23:00 o'clock local time, and we were brought to a hotel. The passengers were mainly Bulgarian, with a number of Germans. It was nice to observe the typical Bulgarian behavior of some passengers. When we had to wait in the bus for the rest of the group to arrive, I heard a Bulgarian woman complaining: "...mrmmmr.... Bai Ganio... mrmrmr...".

I fell asleep around 01:30 but the wake-up call was for 04:00 in the morning, to make sure I could catch the bus to the airport. Checking in went smooth; the airport of Budapest is well organized. We had some coffee, and we took a plane at 07:10 o'clock. This also had a small delay, but that was okay -- we were very experienced already ;)

I'm glad Chess (my employer) was so flexible, and must say I'm very happy I didn't have important appointments Tuesday or today.

The first days of the New Year were very relaxed. We stayed in Perushtitsa, where we celebrated New Year with Milan and Nadia. The next days friends and family came visiting us, and we visited Sasha's aunt and uncle.

Saturday we were in Plovdiv to do some shopping.

We packed our luggage Sunday evening, and Milan and Nadia brought us to Plovdiv Monday morning. We traveled by bus to Sofia, and took a cab to the airport. We had of course a huge amount of luggage. This will not surprise people who know our traveling habits; I think the total weight of our luggage was around 70 kg.

The journey to the airport went well. It was snowing a lot in Plovdiv but the road was clean and it was sunny in Sofia. Sasha's plane was scheduled for today, and mine was to leave around 18:15 o'clock.

Flight canceled
Unfortunately the weather in Vienna was very bad (snow) and my flight was canceled. As this was the last flight to Vienna for that day, it meant an unexpected prolongation of my stay in Bulgaria. I was already through passport control, and Sasha and I had said goodbye. Just when I put my Bulgarian money away, the cancellation was announced. We were told to get back into the terminal, get our luggage and check with our airline (Austrian) what to do next.

The airport personel was very friendly and let me use their mobile phone to call Joana (Sasha was staying with her).

It took a long time to arrange everything at the airport. First I stood in line for 45 minutes to get my luggage, and then there was a huge chaos in front of the two booths of Lufthansa and Austrian airlines. Chaos -- I wouldn't dare to call it a line :) It literally took hours before it was my turn. Luckily Sasha came to the airport around 20:00 o'clock, so at least we stood in 'line' together.

Getting angry
At the end I got angry with the girls in the booth. They said I had stood in the wrong line, because they were working for Lufthansa and my plane to Vienna was carried by Austrian.

I don't usually get angry, but I figured it was worth a try. The alternative would have been to fight my way into the crowd in front of Austrian, and it was getting really late. And it worked! After angrily demanding a few times to speak with the supervisors, somebody said: "all right, all right, give me a few minutes" and arranged my ticket within ten minutes. Later I felt a bit guilty and apologized for yelling, but my Bulgarian advisors later told me that it was exactly the right thing to do in such a situation.

Staying at Joana's

We were done around 23:30 o'clock and my new ticket for today was printed. They offered me a place to stay in a hotel (the Hilton!), but I had a better place alternative. Joana immediately said that we both could stay in her plane again. Unfortunately I wasn't able to see Ivelina.

Now I'm writing from Joana's place. Sasha's plane was scheduled for around 8:00 in the morning, and the internet page says that her plane did indeed leave Sofia. She's flying first to Vienna, then to New York and from there to Washington. I hope she didn't have any delays or cancellations.

The hospitality of Joana has been great. Even though we arrived in the middle of the night she had prepared dinner, and it was wonderful to relax with a nice glass of wine and cheeses and great company.

New flight information
My flight for today leaves at 16:10 from Sofia to Budapest (MA 831), after which I'll fly with flight MA 662 from Budapest to Amsterdam. I'll arrive there around 19:45 o'clock, hopefully. It's the same flight that Sasha took a few months ago. Her first flight then had many hours delay and she had to stay a night in Budapest. Well, if that happens: I still have some place for pictures on my camera ;)

I'm still in Sofia. My flight this afternoon was cancelled due to snow in Vienna.

I'll fly tomorrow with Malev, leaving from Sofia around 16:00 o'clock. Tomorrow more! We're staying at Joana's now.