
Daisy, Emma and I took a memorable trip to Bulgaria a few weeks ago.
We got to see the country inside out, in a way, because we went with our close friends, Momchil Blagoev and his wife, Tanya Kancheva, and their son Victor.
Momchil and Tanya were born and raised in Bulgaria, and by traveling with them, we were offered a window seat to their world, to their Bulgaria.
We met lots of family members -- mothers, fathers, brothers, nieces, cousins, and Tanya's 87-year-old grandmother, Yona Kancheva, who lives in the tiny village of Klimentovo.
We ate lots of incredible home-cooked food -- from drob sarma, a subtle Bulgarian lamb and rice pie, to what seemed to me to be an entire roasted lamb, cooked to perfection. We drank what seemed like liters of homemade rakia, a fruit brandy that packs a powerful punch. (Check out my separate slideshow on the food of Bulgaria.)
We saw chickens hatching from eggs in the kitchen of Momchil's parents; hand-colored Easter eggs in the kitchen of Tanya's parents in the city of Ruse, in northern Bulgaria; sipped glasses of exquisite Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon straight from oak barrels in the vast aging room at the Bessa Valley vineyards; and strolled beside the Danube in the sunshine.
Hi Grant, I really enjoyed you account of your visit to Bulgaria. I have recommended your post to my readers on my rakia site. If you want to check it out please do.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.therakiasite.com
Thanks for sharing Grant. I've always fancied visiting Bulgaria but never had the opportunity. Now i'm inspired to try and go.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I've puit on six pounds just looking at your photos of the delicious Bulgarian dishes! Yummy!
Thanks, everyone, for the comments. And Wissy, I put on six pounds eating all that food. I ain't kidding. Worth it, though.
ReplyDelete