We slept in a little late today because we were meeting a former J1 visa worker that both JB and Tina knew and worked with on Cape Cod. We didn't have to meet him until 10 am for brunch. We took an Uber to The Old Lady Restaurant - Tsvetelin and his friend Kostadin met us in front of the restaurant a few minutes later. Both worked at a European airline but at different times. They are now working at the same airline as stewards and doing office work for the airline as well. Tsvetelin has a masters in Aviation Management I think and is doing some work for the company in quality control? Kastadin studied Graphic Design and is designing a new safety card that explains what to do if you are a passenger in a plane and there is an emergency. Both would like to find full time jobs in the fields that they studied. Both are coming to the US in January - Kostadin has a work visa. We'd like to help them find some leads if possible.
Anyway the food was delicious and the conversation flowed.
I got the scrambled eggs with spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, and sheep's cheese which came on delicious toasted bread.
JB's Eggs Benedict looks terrific! You order what you want inside then they give you a number with the Old Lady and her cane on it. The food is delivered to the table. It is not fast food or prepared in advance so it takes a bit for the food to be delivered. We just relaxed over coffee while we waited. And it was well worth the wait.
After eating we all walked up to see Alexander Nevsky Cathedral - it was a couple of blocks away. Apparently it is a symbol of Bulgaria - it was built in 1882-1912 to honor the 200,000 Russian soldiers who died during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1879 - they saved Bulgaria from Ottoman rule. It was named for Alexander Nevsky who was a 13th century Russian Warrior Prince and Saint.
The inside of the Alexander Nevsky Church was fabulous. I didn't take any pictures because unfortunately Bulgaria has some of the worst walkways - both inside and out - cracked, chipped and loose bricks, cobblestones, flagstone, and everything else - no handrails on some pretty steep stairs. I was busy looking around, up and down and trying not to fall - so didn't take pictures. But it was fabulous! We even went downstairs to the museum - unbelievable how old some of the frescoes and icons were.
During brunch John mentioned that he needed a haircut - Tsvetelin and Kostadin tried to get him an appointment with their barber but he was booked up. So they offered to drive us to another barber closer to where Tsvetelin lived! Kostadin went to get his car and met us near the cathedral. We saw a different side of Sofia - the student area near the university. They explained where we were and what the area was like. Kostadin could not find parking anywhere so he dropped us off at the barber's and said he would pick us up when JB was finished. They both arrived at the barber shop before JB was finished and then offered to surprise us with somewhere nice for coffee. We drove a ways out of the city to a place on a lake but could not get coffee there unless we paid to use the pool! We drove a little further on but that place was closed for the season. We finally arrived at another restaurant that is also a wedding venue. It was situated on the same lake, and we had seats right at the window - what great view! It was really lovely and surprisingly wasn't very busy.
We had supper - my chicken caesar salad had very fresh lettuce, tomatoes and terrific shaved Parmesan cheese. The chicken was lightly fried. We had coffee and some of us had dessert. It was a lovely time with Tsvetelin and Kostadin - I can't believe they spent the whole day entertaining us! We saw so many parts of Sofia that we would not have ever seen without them. Then they dropped us off at the apartment to top it all off! I'll be forever grateful. As I said to JB when he asked me if I was sorry I didn't get to see the museums and churches that we had planned to visit, the museums and churches are full of history and will always be here - but when an opportunity like today comes around, you have to embrace and enjoy it - this was the living breathing Sophia.
This picture isn't very good but gives some idea of where we had dinner. You can see the lake through the awnings. I think everywhere seems fancier with white tablecloths and napkins - heavyweight utensils, china, glasses, and the sheer white curtains lent a nice touch.
JB and Tina were meeting other J1 friends - Tsvetelin and Kostadin weren't able to make it when Tina invited them along. I declined the invite - it had been a great day but I was tired and presumed that JB and Tina could use some time away from me. So I stayed in and packed my bag because tomorrow we head for Romania!
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