This will definitely be one Christmas i will never forget....
I woke up groggy eyed today at 7.00 and packed and dressed at turbo speed to reach to the Central Bus Station as fast as I could manage...The matriushka(shuttle bus) was filled with home sick students all packed and headed home and I silently hoped and prayed that a last minute ticket to Sandanski was not too much to ask for at this extremely busy travelling period...I was in luck..I got myself a ticket, bought a Banitsa and Cappucchino to go..stopped by the news stand for the weekly Sofia Echo and I was set...

Mitko and Yuri were at the Sandanski bus stop waiting for me . We headed for Mitko's very warm and cosy home....There was heavy activity in the kitchen with Mitko's wonderful mom preparing all the goodies for dinner....After a quick ham and toast we headed straight to explore the city....Sandanski is three hours away from Greece and the warmest city in Bulgaria.....The first stop was the Central street with the quaint cafes and beautiful sidewalks,,,,This charming city on the banks of the River Sandanski has a distinct charachter .....intangible, distinct and yet unassuming and simple....

We walked around the ancient Roman ruins that was just right in the center of the city...without any security,without any boards or banners or any extra frills...it was right there where it was for all these years as the city changed around it ...and thats where it would stay...
Next was a walk around the main park...we stopped to drink at at every single ancient mineral water spring that dotted the very well planned park...most of these springs were very ornate watering holes for the thirsty horses...'Ancient Gas Stations' as Yuri put it....

Mitko,our very skilled guide took us around the frozen artificial lake where we broke thin flat slabs of ice from the bank and flung it across the frozen lake to watch it break into a million tiny ice cubes and make a lovely tinkling noise... Later, Mitko took us to a hill and we began a mini hike to the top and the view was something that was definetely worth the slippery, muddy,freezing and very confusing climb...We just stared in silence at the beautiful bird's eye view of Sandanski . The beautiful city on the bank of the river, with a sea of traditional houses with red tiled roofs and chimneys puffing away smoke from the log-filled fireplaces...It reminded me of the drawings of ' A house' that I did in primary school...complete with chimney and picket fence...to call it idyllic is an understatement....

The broad road that stretched across the city was right in front of us, three hours to your left was the Greek city of Thessaloniki and three hours to your right was lovely Bulgarian Sofia , and we were right in the middle, its nice to be in the middle.....After the climb down , I asked if we could visit the local town open market ....there between the fruit vendors and old ladies selling knitwear I could feel the city...after buying a jar of homemade unbranded honey and sesame jam(??!) we were all set to head back for our meal....

Xmas Eve Dinner, is very important in Traditional Bulgaria ...The meal is completely vegetarian- no meat or eggs. ( the very religious turn vegetarian for the whole 40 day Orthodox Christian Advent period)...The meal on the 24th must have an odd number of dishes (usually 7 or 9 ) for good luck...
When it was time for dinner, We sat around the table, Mitko's parents , his 9th grade sister , Yuri and I . Homemade white and red wine were the drinks for the evening ..... We started with a very hearty bean soup (chorba) and bread, next was...rice and mushrooms wrapped in vine leaves and salted cabbage that were pickled in Spring....
Then came the time to break the Oval Bread ...The oldest male (Mitko's dad) tore the fat oval loaf into pieces...the first one was for God, the second for the Home,the third was for the second home , the fourth was the car and then we were all given a piece each...starting with Mitkos's mom,Mitko, his sister Mimi , Yuri and then me.....The one who finds the hidden 20 stotinki coin in their piece of bread was guaranteed luck for the whole year....this year it was Mimi :-)

For dessert there was wheat cooked with nuts and milk ....and the loveliest banitsa I have ever tasted...pumpkin,nuts and cinnamon baked between thin filo leaves...yummy

We ended the wonderful day with a great Nicholas Cage movie called The Weather Man.....I am really humbled that I was invited to visit such a lovely family in such a wonderful city at this time of the year...Thanks Mitko really appreciate it....