I had hoped to do more, but Monday and Tuesday ended up being days where I worked on my classes and then took it easy. I did go out for a couple of walks each day. Wednesday, I walked to the Habitat Bulgaria office and met all of the staff, plus Connor who was in from the regional headquarters in Bratislava, Slovakia. I then worked for while online and then went to lunch with Assya, Raina and Denitsa - we had a delightful lunch outside at a restaurant a block for the office. I then walked to the Bulgaria Fulbright Commission office and met with Rada. I learned about several of the programs they run of which I was unaware - several possibilities for the future.
I then returned to Hotel Rodina and found it teaming with people. Two things were going on. The waiter in the bar told me it was the "Main Event." Bulgaria's team was playing Real Madrid in Football - that was why all the bars and cafes with big screen tvs were full. The second thing is that there was some youth sports event going on, so there were several busloads and many carloads of kids, chaperones and parents in the hotel.
Breakfast buffets in the past two weeks had been relatively quiet, except for the day when a busload of tourists were there. But Thursday morning was different. Instead of the two or three waitstaff, there were a dozen. They had filled in every empty space in the dining room with tables and chairs, and they had opened a room across the hall that was bigger than what I thought was the main room. It appears that the preteens and families were directed across the hall, all the kids in uniforms. Teens and adults were in the room we always ate in. Most mornings, there would be maybe 10 - 15 people for breakfast - this morning there were hundreds, and there were multiple serving lines set up.
After breakfast, I got my stuff together, did some work online and then got my taxi to the airport. Denitsa had scheduled taxis for everyone to get to the airport, and as far as I know, they all went as scheduled. My taxi driver was proud of his son who works for Lufthansa (they appear to provide all the ground service for all of European airlines that fly there).
Sofia airport is a surprisingly nice airport, all was quick and easy through check in, checking luggage, security, immigration and customs. There were three cafes/bars in Terminal 2 - all had a good selection of food and beverage. The Lufthansa flight to Munich was nice - they served muesli and yogurt for lunch on the 90 minute flight.
Surprisingly, at Munich airport, instead of jetways, many planes have to use buses to get from airplane to terminal. I would have expected that for a commuter jet or propeller driven plane, but not for a full size A-319 jet. Again, all was quick and easy with immigration, customs and luggage retrieval (once I got into the terminal).
I then took the SBahn train into the main train station - this is about a 40 minute ride on the suburban train system. Once in the main station, I switched to the DBahn for a regional train to Garmisch. While the SBahn was standing room only and very hot, the DBahn was only half full, so plenty of room and comfortable temp for the 90 minute ride Garmisch.
The foliage is turning here in Bavaria, just as back in Vermont.
Our daughter Megan worked at Edelweiss Lodge and Resort in Garmisch - it is run by the Army and is one of a half dozen resorts for military people. I could have stayed there, but it is a couple of miles from the train station and because of my pay grade, I would pay the highest rate for a room. Instead, I had reservations at Hotel Garmischer Hof - a pleasant three star hotel less than two blocks from the train station. They have some single rooms which are quite compact, but more than adequate for my stay.
They also have a nice restaurant. For dinner, I enjoyed rahmscnitzel and two Konig Ludwig weissbiers.
I then returned to Hotel Rodina and found it teaming with people. Two things were going on. The waiter in the bar told me it was the "Main Event." Bulgaria's team was playing Real Madrid in Football - that was why all the bars and cafes with big screen tvs were full. The second thing is that there was some youth sports event going on, so there were several busloads and many carloads of kids, chaperones and parents in the hotel.
Breakfast buffets in the past two weeks had been relatively quiet, except for the day when a busload of tourists were there. But Thursday morning was different. Instead of the two or three waitstaff, there were a dozen. They had filled in every empty space in the dining room with tables and chairs, and they had opened a room across the hall that was bigger than what I thought was the main room. It appears that the preteens and families were directed across the hall, all the kids in uniforms. Teens and adults were in the room we always ate in. Most mornings, there would be maybe 10 - 15 people for breakfast - this morning there were hundreds, and there were multiple serving lines set up.
After breakfast, I got my stuff together, did some work online and then got my taxi to the airport. Denitsa had scheduled taxis for everyone to get to the airport, and as far as I know, they all went as scheduled. My taxi driver was proud of his son who works for Lufthansa (they appear to provide all the ground service for all of European airlines that fly there).
Sofia airport is a surprisingly nice airport, all was quick and easy through check in, checking luggage, security, immigration and customs. There were three cafes/bars in Terminal 2 - all had a good selection of food and beverage. The Lufthansa flight to Munich was nice - they served muesli and yogurt for lunch on the 90 minute flight.
Surprisingly, at Munich airport, instead of jetways, many planes have to use buses to get from airplane to terminal. I would have expected that for a commuter jet or propeller driven plane, but not for a full size A-319 jet. Again, all was quick and easy with immigration, customs and luggage retrieval (once I got into the terminal).
I then took the SBahn train into the main train station - this is about a 40 minute ride on the suburban train system. Once in the main station, I switched to the DBahn for a regional train to Garmisch. While the SBahn was standing room only and very hot, the DBahn was only half full, so plenty of room and comfortable temp for the 90 minute ride Garmisch.
The foliage is turning here in Bavaria, just as back in Vermont.
Our daughter Megan worked at Edelweiss Lodge and Resort in Garmisch - it is run by the Army and is one of a half dozen resorts for military people. I could have stayed there, but it is a couple of miles from the train station and because of my pay grade, I would pay the highest rate for a room. Instead, I had reservations at Hotel Garmischer Hof - a pleasant three star hotel less than two blocks from the train station. They have some single rooms which are quite compact, but more than adequate for my stay.
They also have a nice restaurant. For dinner, I enjoyed rahmscnitzel and two Konig Ludwig weissbiers.
And after dinner, I had time to make phone calls home.
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