Sofia, Bulgaria

Steve and I visited the Bulgarian National History Museum here in Sofia, Bulgaria today. We enjoyed learning about this ancient culture and how it has existed for centuries. Bulgaria is fascinating and quite unlike any other country we have visited. New to democracy, it is struggling to become a nation that can meet the needs of it's citizens. We were very fortunate to have Dr. Koch and her sister, Sylvia, as our guides and to learn so much of it's proud heritage.

Below is a helicopter from the Bulgarian military that sits to the side of the Museum. I am not sure how old it is, but I suspect it is no longer used.

Below is a photo of one of the rooms at the Bulgarian National History Museum. The ornate carvings on the ceilings are authentic and made of chestnut and the chandelier is immense.

Below is a photo of the two brothers St. Methodius and St. Cyril who were declared by Pope Paul II as "patrons of Europe"; as well as the Slav-Bulgarian translations of the holy books. They also developed the first ever Slavonic language alphabet still used by many Slavic countries and Russia.
Below is a photo of a store, of sorts, in Sofia, Bulgaria. During communist times, the people were not allowed to own their own stores--everything belonged to the government. The first capitalistic thing they did after the country gained their freedom was start these tiny storefronts. The families run the store out of their homes in the cellars of buildings. Today, the government frowns on these businesses, but they still exist.