Monday dinner on Sept. 22 and non work day on Tuesday Sept. 23

Monday we went out for dinner.  It was raining so hard that we took taxis, even though it was only about a 20 minute walk.  There were nine of us, so we took three taxis with three people in each - our taxi cost 3.12 leva, about $2.08 and was well worth the ride.

Vitosha Street (named after the nearby Vitosha Mountains) has been converted to a pedestrian mall for about ten blocks in the city center.  It is lined with restaurants and shops.  We went to

Щастливеца София - the literal translation is "Lucky Sofia" but the menus said "True Love."  It is rated as a five star restaurant.  The website is at http://www.shtastliveca.com/

We had a great meal - I had penne pasta in a cream sauce baked with chicken and mushrooms.  All of the meals were large.  For nine of us the cost for the food and non-alcoholic beverages was 165 leva (about $110).  Since the funds given to Habitat cannot be used for alcoholic beverages, that is always done on a separate tab - two 750 ml bottles of wine, one 375 ml bottle of proseco, three half liters of beer and two bottles of Stella Artois beer was 58 leva (about $40).  Tips are given here, but 10% would be the max.  For an excellent meal at this five star restaurant, this was quite reasonably priced.

My penne pasta

Tom's pork tenderloin

Left to right: Me, Tom, Donna, Tim, Reina from HFH, Bob our team leader, Caroline, Linda hiding behind her husband, Gary

Gary's ice cream

My dessert that was like a baked light custard that is rolled, covered with maple syrup and crushed nuts

We got up Tuesday, ready to work - but to no avail.  It was raining with a forecast of 100% chance of rain for the rest of the day.  Since we can only work on house #3 and it is not yet closed in, there was nothing we could do, so we were set free to fend for ourselves for the rest of the day.  People walked, visited museums, went shopping, did whatever to occupy themselves.  I did some school work, took an hour walk at lunch and relaxed.  One of things I have been doing to help me learn more about Bulgaria is buying these booklets about the various locations we have visited.  They are all only a couple of dollars, but well worth the cost.

Tonight, we will meet in the lobby at 7:00 and head out for another lovely dinner.