Nikolaevo and Margaret
Margaret is visiting this week during her spring break! What a joy to finally spend time with her after all of this time!
And now, to conclude the Nikolaevo races....
As you may remember, the racers galluped towards the finish line and the crowd went wild. Three were out in front, but their relative positions were difficult to determine. The racer in the center gradually fell behind the two on the sides. I tried to get a picture of the finish, but I misjudged the speed of the horses. A cheer rose from the crowd as the winner sped past far sooner than I'd thought he would. He raised his arms in triumph and the other contestants whipped their horses in disappointment. He received his awards from the mayor in a brief ceremony, after which the men informally raced several times. On the last race, a horse tripped, stumbled and almost fell by the side of the road. He regained his footing and sped off to follow the other horses, already disappearing into the distance and the mist. The spectators moved en masse back into the town, the crowd slowly dissolving along the main road.
Margaret arrived last Wednesday. I had intended to meet her at the airport at about 1:45, but her connections were confounded by American Airlines and she was delayed until about 8:30 that night. I was already at the airport when she finally contacted me, so I simply took the bus into Sofia and enjoyed the city for a while before meeting her at 8:30. The airline had also lost her baggage, so we had to wait in Sofia another day. We met some of my friends for lunch and dinner the next day, and Margaret seemed to enjoy strolling around the city in the meantime. On Saturday and Sunday, we visited my host-family in Septemvri and went to Plovdiv. On Monday, we went to Bochkovo Monastery and hiked in the mountains behind Bochkovo to a secluded church and shrine to Mary. There was still snow on the ground back in the valleys and springs almost leapt from holes in the canyon walls.
And now, to conclude the Nikolaevo races....
As you may remember, the racers galluped towards the finish line and the crowd went wild. Three were out in front, but their relative positions were difficult to determine. The racer in the center gradually fell behind the two on the sides. I tried to get a picture of the finish, but I misjudged the speed of the horses. A cheer rose from the crowd as the winner sped past far sooner than I'd thought he would. He raised his arms in triumph and the other contestants whipped their horses in disappointment. He received his awards from the mayor in a brief ceremony, after which the men informally raced several times. On the last race, a horse tripped, stumbled and almost fell by the side of the road. He regained his footing and sped off to follow the other horses, already disappearing into the distance and the mist. The spectators moved en masse back into the town, the crowd slowly dissolving along the main road.
Margaret arrived last Wednesday. I had intended to meet her at the airport at about 1:45, but her connections were confounded by American Airlines and she was delayed until about 8:30 that night. I was already at the airport when she finally contacted me, so I simply took the bus into Sofia and enjoyed the city for a while before meeting her at 8:30. The airline had also lost her baggage, so we had to wait in Sofia another day. We met some of my friends for lunch and dinner the next day, and Margaret seemed to enjoy strolling around the city in the meantime. On Saturday and Sunday, we visited my host-family in Septemvri and went to Plovdiv. On Monday, we went to Bochkovo Monastery and hiked in the mountains behind Bochkovo to a secluded church and shrine to Mary. There was still snow on the ground back in the valleys and springs almost leapt from holes in the canyon walls.
posted by AlexinBulgaria at 3:04 AM
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