Rain and Razlog

9.17.12
Yesterday we spent a rainy day lazing around the timeshare. We spent time catching up on some sleep, checked email, and took our laundry to be washed.

Throughout the day we enjoyed several spectacular lightening strikes and thunder crashes.in the evening we watched a movie and fell asleep with the curtains open so we could watch an amazing lightening show with lightening flashes every 5-10 seconds, accompanied by an occasional thunderous response.

Today we arranged for the shuttle to take us in to Raslog, the nearest (small) town. Monday is market day so we went and explored the town and then bought some vegetables for dinner. The town was swarming with kids because today was the first day of school. We found this out from a nice English speaking man that we approached for directions. I have developed a special knack for picking out people who I think will be able to speak at least some English. I hit the jackpot with this man today and we chatted as he walked us to the market street (hotel owner, lived in Miami for a year).

I have been eating a lot of salads since we began our trip, and especially since entering Bulgaria. They have amazing fresh salads, however they aren't what we traditionally think of as salad( lettuce, tomato green salad). I have never gotten what I expected yet, so today I ordered a variety so I would be sure I had enough because I felt extra hungry. When I got to my 4th item the waiter raised his eyebrows at me but took the order. Tom ordered a pizza. As the waiter began to bring me my food, I realized maybe 3 (or even two) items would have been sufficient! Here's what I ended up with from the salad menu: quartered small fresh tomatoes with roasted red peppers on top, a plate of black olives with sliced onions on top, and a platter with roasted pepper slices, sliced tomatoes, sliced cucumbers, a shredded cabbage/carrot combo, with scattered olives on top. That was called the assorted salad. The last time I ordered the assorted salad I got two pickle halves and two roasted pepper halves. You just never know! When I asked to take the leftovers with me the waiter said yes, but when he brought it to me sandwiched between two styrofoam meat trays in a baggie, I got the sense that isn't usually done here :)

Tomorrow we plan to take the shuttle to another town named Bansko, which is the ski resort town in Bulgaria. The shuttle is a free service at the resort which normally runs on a set schedule. Because there are so few guests, and all the others seem to have their own cars, we basically have our own private drivers who will drop us off and return for us whenever we ask. Having xour own car would be nice, however trying to read the Cyrillic alphabet signs, especially while driving is a challenge we are happy not to be facing.