Beautiful View

For those of you who don't know, I grew up in the beautiful St. Croix Valley in Minnesota.  For most of my childhood I lived in a small city called Bayport.  As you drive into Bayport from the south up Minnesota Highway 95 you come to a bend in the road, and as you round the bend you see the river valley stretched out before you in what is, in my opinion, one of the most beautiful views in the world.  It is a view that used to give me the feeling that I am almost home.  I never thought I would ever find a view that gave me the same feeling.

Recently I was driving back to Sofia from a trip out of town.  It was a beautiful sunny day, and I was enjoying the drive through the mountain passes along the Bulgarian expressway.  As I approached the Sofia Valley I drove around a curve in the road, and laid out before me was the entire valley.  It was so clear that I could see all the way across to the mountains on the other side.  As I looked down at the houses, factories, and fields, I could not help but feel like I was almost home.  It has been years since I have had that feeling.  It was a beautiful view, and it was good to be on my way home.

Up the Mountain

I recently got back into a running regiment.  I have been running for about the past two years now, but every time I transition from one home to another it throws off my grove.  It took a bit longer this time, but I am finally back.

There is a lot of construction in our neighborhood, so I have to be careful.  I have also discovered that there are a lot more stray dogs that I once thought.  On on run I found myself running head on into a pack of about 7 or 8 strays in the middle of the road.  The leader looked directly at me.  I knew he was trying to figure out if I was going to feed him or threaten his turf.  I stared him down and kept running straight at him.  I was a bit concerned that he might give the order to attack, but I knew that from his vantage point there was a 215 pound animal of some sort running at him at charging speed in black and white (because dogs see everything in black and white).  He and his crew quickly beat feet and scattered into the surrounding bushes and rubble.

Though I don't mind the dogs too much, I decided to take a different route today just in case they figure out that 7 or 8 dogs is a match for one unarmed man no matter what his size.  I decided that rather than running into the city, I would try to run out of it.  We have a huge dormant volcano just south of the city, and our house is located on the lower part of the slope.  If I start running toward the edge of the city (which is several kilometers away) I run up hill and toward nature.  I have not made it yet, but I am hoping that the day will come when I can find the southern edge of Sofia and run myself out of town.

Mr. Pizza

Last week we ordered our first home delivered pizza since moving to Sofia.  We found a local pizza place online.  The following is written on the main page of the website in English.  We have not altered anything:

Mr. Pizza is the good gentleman
who takes care of your belly.

Hello to all of you, connoisseurs of true
gastronomical perfections. Every
self-respecting person is striving
to satiate the demands and fancies of their belly.
When you eat, you're not
just satiating your hunger.
You are taking care of yourself,
you are bringing unparalleled joy and
giving your respect to the most natural
of human needs. The need for food
and pleasure. Mr Pizza knows that each
'detail' of the 'eating' ritual is of
a great importance. And that's why
he has created a fairytale oasis, 
where you can indulge in your
culinary passions, uninterrupted by
any outside factors. The gastronomical
art is a supreme form of self-expression
and of giving respect to the whole of
humanity, as well as to each 'consumer'
personally. Our 'kitchen gurus' know how to turn
the various foodstuffs into a
masterpiece fit for your stomach.


After reading that, we had to try their pizza.


Our bellies were indeed satisfied.

Here are a few pictures of this amazing pizza :)

We also got to try these yummy cookies from a cute little shop called "100 grama sladki" (100 gr. cookies)"
Lots of good eats in Bulgaria.  Come try them!