Копривщица (Koprivshtitsa)

A little less than a month ago, I made my way to a place I’ve been itching to see for some time – Копривщица (Koprivshtitsa). Steeped in history and one of Bulgaria’s most iconic towns, Koprivshtitsa is a place anyone who lives in Bulgaria for as long as I have should have already seen. But I’m a slacker, and I had just never gotten around to it. Then I read about a folk festival Koprivshtitsa hosts every five years which attracts musicians and dancers from around Bulgaria and the world, and I decided to time my visit to coincide with the festival. In hindsight, I’m not sure that was a good decision. The town simply isn’t equipped to play host to the thousands of people who attended the festival, and, while the festival was fun and definitely worth attending, the hordes of people were too much to endure and left me longing to return when the city’s cobblestone streets are empty. Sometime this fall, I’ll do just that. When I do, I’ll go into more detail about the town and its role in Bulgarian history. Until then, here are some photos from the festival and around town.

A Step Back in Time

If nothing else, Bulgaria is a country of contradictions – a paradox. Among other things, many Bulgarians loathe village life and desperately flee rural Bulgaria for the promise of a better life in the big cities. These same people often look down upon villagers as simpletons, yet reminisce about and long for the simple life. Few of these folks actually like living in the big cities, and every weekend they exit them en masse and head back to their villages.

Since getting off the plane a little over a year ago, I’ve had a fondness for Bulgarian villages. Spending time in rural Bulgaria has always seemed like taking a step back in time and walking through a living, breathing history museum. Seeing this photo album only reinforces that belief and shows how similar two very dissimilar places can be across generations.

Сливен (Sliven)

A group of us recently converged on the town of Сливен (Sliven) for a three-day HIV/AIDS training conference for Bulgarian youth leaders. Most of us confront apathy and ignorance on a daily basis, especially those of us who teach. So it was refreshing to work with Bulgarian teens who actually think about and care about these and other issues and who want to make Bulgaria a better place to live.

We were tied up in the conference most of the time we were in Sliven, but we did get to spend a few hours exploring Сините камъни (the Blue Rocks). Here are a few photos from the area.

Сините камъни is located on the outskirts of Sliven. A 20-minute chair lift takes you up and down the mountain.


And this is what you see ...





Of course, no promise that the view will be so clear or that there will be a pretty girl on the top of the mountain.



Bulgaria is home to two species of tortoise - Hermann's and Spur-thighed - both of which are globally threatened. I was thrilled to find this Hermann's Tortoise plodding along in one of the hotel flower beds.

Cleaning up Shabla

One of the partners I used to work for used to say that being a lawyer is much the same as being the guy with the circus who follows around the elephants and shovels up their shit. It’s been a long time since I’ve gone around cleaning up shit, but that’s exactly what I spent much of the past week doing. I charged exactly $275 an hour less than I used to charge, and I wore a swimsuit rather than a coat and tie. I wore sandals instead of dress shoes, and, instead of an office or a courthouse, my work was done on the beach and dunes and in the marsh. It wasn’t a mentally challenging exercise, but the oppressive heat and constant bending and stooping to pick up garbage provided more than enough of a physical challenge.

We were in Shabla, picking up the trash locals had long considered part of the area landscape. As frustrating and infuriating as it was to see all the trash strewn on the beach and in the marshes (we filled upwards of 700 bags with garbage and with more time and manpower could have filled ten times that many), it was encouraging and rewarding to work with the other volunteers who came from all around Bulgaria to join the effort. We worked hard and played hard, shared our frustrations and laughter, and forged new friendships. More than anything, we had fun.

The experience also reinforced something I often forget. After everyone else had slipped off to bed and I was tending to the bonfire we built nightly, I looked out to the sea. Having been focused on the fire to that point, I was amazed to see the waves crashing in were glowing blue. Upon closer inspection, so were parts of the sand which had been touched by the water. It’s possible I’d seen it before somewhere, but I was really entranced by the phosphorescent sea (this phenomenon is caused by bioluminescent dinoflagellates). And that’s when I was reminded that some people get it, and some people don’t. Most of us waste too much time working with those who don't get it, and not enough time working with those who do. It was nice to spend five days working with a group of people who do get it.

From a distance, the area looks pristine.





Up close, however, things don't look so pretty.


Here is the crew getting some last minute instructions.


And in action.


It was too late to do anything to save this Harbor Porpoise ...


or this dolphin.


But we did see some live Bottle-nosed Dolphins and plenty of other things worth trying to protect, such as Great Cormorants,



European Bee-eaters,


Red-backed Shrikes,


Lesser Gray Shrikes,


Pied Wheatears,


Tawny Pipits,


White Wagtails,


Callandra Larks,


and many other critters.











In July, much of Bulgaria is a seemingly never-ending field of sunflowers. The area around Shabla is no different.






As a reward for our hard work, we were treated to a trip to the Yailata National Archaeological Reserve. Located 1.5 kilometers south of the village of Kamen Bryag, Yailata is one of the more interesting places I've visited along the Bulgarian coast. In addition to ruins of a stronghold dating back to Roman and Byzantine times, the reserve is home to approximately 40 caves which were once part of an ancient cave settlement.

Most of the caves are dug into vertical cliffs hanging over the sea. Here is a shot of the sea looking out from one of the caves.


And here are some shots of the surrounding cliffs.