A Broad Abroad: Monastic Bulgaria

It was an eventful weekend. Thursday, I went walking with my Bulgarian friend, Stefka, and her dog, Rosie. We visited the Samara Flag Monument in Stara Zagora, which honors the Bulgarian soldiers who died during the effort to liberate Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire. It was a gift from the Russians during the 1970's. Next to the Monument is a large park, and we walked Rosie there for about an hour or so. Rosie is a Bulgarian sheepdog who is only four months old and super energetic! It was nice to play with a puppy again for awhile, but it made me miss mine a lot!

Friday morning, I headed to Sofia for my friend Ellen's birthday and the Fulbright trip to Rila Monastery. We celebrated Ellen's birthday with food court Chinese, ice cream sundaes, Indian food, an Irish pub, an Italian bistro, wine, and Star Wars over the course of two days. It was a ton of fun! And Saturday, we were part of the Fulbright tour that went to Rila Monastery. Rila was originally built in the 10th century on the site where St. John of Rila lived as a hermit and performed miracles. It was burned down several times, and its current incarnation has only been standing since the 19th century, but there are remnants of the old structures left, and one tower remains from the 14th (I believe) century. It was an incredible place. During communist times, the monks had to go fairly underground and only conduct services during the wee hours of the morning. They were given permission to function as a monastery in the 1960's at the request of tourists who felt that the monastery felt empty without monks, but they did not want to call too much attention to themselves. Now, they hold service twice a day, and there are nine monks on site. It is a functioning monastery but also a very popular tourist spot. And it's up in the mountains so it has a gorgeous view. :)