We said goodbye to our hostess at the City Boutique Inn who provides in her own words American Hospitality in Varna. Maggie is a dual citizen and lived across the United States for 24 years.Maggie gives her full attention to every detail. Even the toilets have a decorative decal.
It seems to be a family affair since her mother readied our bountiful breakfast each morning. Maggie introduced her: калинка Kalinka which means Ladybug. How darling!
I won’t name names but I saw this T-shirt on a man. It looked like he was advertising a Bulge Area.There was a lot of gull screeching as this is the breeding time, and they are trying to feed their young. They will snatch food out of your hand, and the whole flock comes in to partake of the bounty.We had a long bus ride from Varna to Sofia from 10:45am-6:15pm. Seeing a young man reading a book among a sea of cell phones was refreshing and a rare sighting.I was sitting across a table seat from this 87-year-old man, Angel.
I can’t imagine spending 7½ hours without communicating so I decided to initiate a conversation. I asked him if he spoke English. All of a sudden, he started speaking Bulgarian nonstop for about five minutes. I told him again that I didn’t speak English, but he kept going. I smiled and nodded.
I got out Google Translate, but the Internet would go in and out. I motioned for him to talk, but he spoke so softly that it didn’t register every word.
Then he got out his glasses to read what I wrote.
Next he put on a hearing aid and changed the battery. I don’t think that will help much.
When I asked him his name, he got out a pen and wrote it with a very shaky hand but in Cyrillic.
There were lots of smiles and nods which is the best form of communication. I told him through Google Translate that he had beautiful blue eyes and that he made my long train ride more interesting! We parted as true friends.
There was a lively and large crowd of people on the train … perhaps going to a wedding or other celebration. When they got off about halfway, they were met by these women dressed up with teeth blacked out. There was lots of laughter.We checked into our hotel near the Sofia Airport, and, unbelievably, Rob’s long lost coat was waiting for him at reception. They offered to send it up to our room by the robot named Roomy. Hmmm. This is a first.She has been programmed to our room number. Off she goes chatting along the way that she is working.Here is Roomy in the elevator. She spoke to Rob and to the elevator requesting the 9th floor.Once she exited, she said that she hoped to see him again soon.Roomy would not be deterred until she reached our room down the hall.Once she arrived at our door, Roomy called the phone in our room. We pushed a button on the robot to open a compartment, retrieved the coat, and pushed a close button. Then Roomy went back to her “desk” downstairs.
Today we talked by Zoom with relatives all over the world to sing Happy Birthday to Rob’s Aunt Ann who turned 100. When asked how to get to 100, she said, “It just happens.” True that!
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