Sasha and I are now in the Prague airport, in Czech Republic. We left Perushtitsa yesterday after lunch, and said goodbye to Milan and Nadia in Sofia.
We stayed a night in the Sofia Holiday Inn on a good recommendation by Irena. In Sofia we met first Milena, Svetla, Rado, Hristian of course, and then Svetlio and Tsetsa. It was very nice to see everybody in person again.
In the evening we went to see the камбините, or 'bells', a monument with bells from all over the world that was created in the UNESCO year of the child (see pictures).
Our next flight is in two hours, to New York JFK airport. There we'll take the last flight of our trip, back to Raleigh Durham.
Sasha and I spent a great day in Plovdiv yesterday. We explored this beautiful city as tourists and we had a great time. We walked down the main street and then spend the rest of the day in Old Town. There is a Roman amphitheater that is still used for special occasions. We had coffee and Coca Cola in an outdoor bar overlooking the amphitheater.
We visited two museums, the National Historical Museum and the Etnographical Museum. Both are located in Old Town, in beautiful old Bulgarian houses. Old Town is in general very well preserved and restored. There are many paintings of the street views, we have one in our living room.
I'm on my way to the airport in a cab whose window almost fell out.
I'll fly to Atlanta and from there to Prague, Czech Republic. My original flight through JFK was canceled and I was not able to do my seat assignment online because of that so I hope I can make sure to get an aisle seat at the airport.
Update:
Guus is happy with his aisle seat and is on his way to Prague. (2 days 5 hours ago)
Guus getting worried about his seat assignment now: "eh, please come back in 20 minutes sir while I hold on to your passport and tickets" (2 days 5 hours ago)
Guus just learned that the British Museum's exhibition on the Terracotta Army is coming to Atlanta in November (DC after that) (2 days 6 hours ago)
Today I am traveling to Bulgaria! I'm staying for a week with Milan and Nadia; Sasha has been there for a while now.
My original flight was through JFK, and left around noon, but two days ago that flight was canceled and I was rebooked through Atlanta. I certainly don't mind, since the layover in Atlanta is a lot shorter. It's the first time in a long time that I don't start my international flight with having to get up at some crazy hour. I had already taken a day off so I have plenty of time to pack my luggage and get ready.
We arrived in San Diego on Thursday, August 14th, and we stayed there for four nights. We stayed in The Sofia Hotel in downtown, a few minutes from the Gaslamp Quarter.
Here is a selection of pictures we took in San Diego over those four days.
We spent a lot of time in Balboa park, a large cultural park in downtown San Diego.
It's a great place to go for a walk, and there are a lot of museums and attractions in the park.
The first thing we saw, right near the entrance, was a beautiful rose garden and an even better cactus garden.
That looks familiar!
Promenade in the park.
Balboa park.
Pond.
We had a good time in the San Diego Museum of Art, and then had lunch outdoors in the garden. We were just saying to ourselves how great it is to look at these paintings, when Sasha found another museum in a brochure we had taken, 5 minutes away. It was a small private museum, but with a very nice surprise: a real Haarlempje! One of the famous "views of Haarlem" by Jacob van Ruisdael.
We spent a great day in the San Diego Zoo two weeks ago.
The Zoo is beautiful and very large. There's a huge variety of animals and plants; the grounds are lush and green. It was the first time we saw koala's in real live.
Elephant getting his or her nails done.
The Zoo is very large. On our way back we took a cable car from the Polar Bear's area back to the main entrance.
We're going to make a roadtrip from San Diego to San Francisco, and we're taking plenty of time for it. It will be my first time in California, and we're really looking forward to this vacation.
Saturday morning started off with a home made breakfast.
The breakfast was a great start of the day, good food and coffee on a beautiful table in the living room. We had coffee on the porch and then went for a long walk through the city.
Tonight we sat on our own balcony. We had dinner outside, and watched a thunderstorm passing by -- beautiful lightning.
Our breakfast table.
Coffee on the porch.
Gaston St.
Forsyth fountain.
The magnolia's were blooming and the city smelled great.
Savannah is located in the north of Georgia, just across the border with South Carolina. The border is actually a large bridge, as soon as you leave the bridge you enter Savannah.
We arrived around 9.30 pm in the city, and after some confusion between 'East Gaston' and 'West Gaston' we found 204 East Gaston St. All was fine until we looked at the house... spooky! We had heard about ghost and graveyard tours in Savannah but this looked like a place were you wouldn't wake up the next morning. A quick phone call made it clear that it was actually 402 East Gaston St that we were looking for and it did indeed look much, much nicer. We were staying in an renovated old house that is now a beautiful Bed and Breakfast.
After unpacking we walked to the river front, and there was live music and an art festival. It was getting late but we had done our research so around 11.30 pm we went to one of the few places that was serving food till late: Vinnie van GoGo. After a long drive their pizza and beer were very welcome and the food was delicious. It was only fitting that the place called after a Dutch painter served Grolsch beer. (I must say that perhaps my taste in beer is changing; I found Grolsch a little on the bitter side!). A great start of a great weekend.
Sasha and I spent a great day in Plovdiv yesterday. We explored this beautiful city as tourists and we had a great time. We walked down the main street and then spend the rest of the day in Old Town. There is a Roman amphitheater that is still used for special occasions. We had coffee and Coca Cola in an outdoor bar overlooking the amphitheater. 
I'm on my way to the airport in a cab whose window almost fell out.
We arrived in San Diego on Thursday, August 14th, and we stayed there for four nights. We stayed in The Sofia Hotel in downtown, a few minutes from the Gaslamp Quarter. 
We spent a lot of time in Balboa park, a large cultural park in downtown San Diego. 
We spent a great day in the San Diego Zoo two weeks ago. 
Saturday morning started off with a home made breakfast. 
Savannah is located in the north of Georgia, just across the border with South Carolina. The border is actually a large bridge, as soon as you leave the bridge you enter Savannah.
