Belcheff's to Bulgaria in 2009

Hello family and friends. This blog site has been created so that everyone that is planning on being a part of the trip to Bulgaria this summer can begin communicating with each other. A few emails were sent out last fall that we will also post here. Then we will begin adding information along the way as details begin to unfold.

We had mentioned that our friend Vania Vladimirova, who lives in Sofia, would be visiting Albuquerque in October '08. In fact, she did come and was able to meet many of the Belcheff's who live here. We talked about an itinerary for the trip and she has agreed to plan the details, and will begin making arrangements starting in the middle of February. So we will need to get a solid count of who is going by February 15th. If you weren't planning on going before, it's not to late to change your mind!

A map is attached that shows the route we will take through the country. We will first stay a few days in Sofia and there are some Belcheff descendents who live in Sofia who we will meet. Then we will travel by bus and along the way will visit various representative towns and villages, historic sites, the mountains, and of course spend time in Popovo to meet Grandpa Belcheff's brothers' families. Vania agrees that we will also have time to go all the way to the Black Sea before returning to Sofia. We have written an email to the family members who live in Sofia to invite them to travel on the bus with us since most of those who live in Sofia speak English. So that would be an added treat if they are interested in doing so.

Most importantly, we hope that you have made your airline reservation by now, or are at least working on it. We personally tried a variety of airline arrangements and found that awards travel is booking fast, so if you hope to use points to get free tickets, it is particularly important to do so now. Otherwise, you probably have some time, still, if you are paying outright for your tickets. The best prices we found when buying the tickets were to book them with BTC 2000, the Bulgarian travel agent in New York City; or to use one of the discount travel websites. For those of you who have booked your flight, we are hoping this blog will allow everyone to share in the details and we can also help each other out if someone has found any special deals.

Please ask questions and provide any suggestions for improving lines of communications as the blog progresses. (This is our first time at trying a blog, so we are learning along the way).

We are so excited for each of you to experience visiting Bulgaria. It's rather ironic that it will be exactly 50 years since Grandma Lucy and Grandpa Belcheff visited in 1959. And we will visit the very same house that they stayed in when they visited Popovo, Grandpa's birthplace.

If you can confirm now that you are still planning on going on the trip, please comment in response to this posting as soon as possible (or email Debbie @ debkdixon@cs.com) -- and if you have airplane reservations confirmed, please include your arrival and departure dates/times for Sofia (and if you are traveling elsewhere before or after Sofia).

More to come................

Tentative Route of Bus Trip

Details for Travel Dates

THE BELCHEFF FAMILY REUNION IS NOW OFFICIAL. (from email in SEPTEMBER 2008)

Incredibly, thirty-one (31) family members have so far indicated a desire to be a part of the trip to Bulgaria in 2009 and several more have said they are interested and may be able to commit once they know more details! The names of each of you who have indicated your plan to join the Belcheff reunion are listed at the bottom of this letter. If their is a mistake in the list, let us know. It is still early and you are welcome to join in at any time. Just let us know so that we will have an accurate count as we begin making arrangements for travel while in Bulgaria. We have appreciated your ideas and will make every effort to take each of your suggestions into account. With regard to the length of the trip, you have expressed an interest to travel anywhere from 7 days to 2 weeks. Looking at it from the standpoint of length of time to travel to/from Bulgaria and the number of sights to see, it appears that 10 days is about the minimum practical time for the trip. If you absolutely cannot travel for more than 7 days, let us know and we will try to figure out an alternate plan for you.

We are sending this email to everyone on the family list. We will continue to do so. If you see that someone's name is missing, please let us know their address. Likewise, if you prefer to be deleted from future emails, let us know that as well.

So, here are the preliminary details, (as they evolve, we will continue to keep you all posted so that as many as are interested in going can still make plans):

1. The reunion trip will begin upon arrival in Sofia, Bulgaria on Monday, July 27, 2009.
2. The basic itinerary includes:
1. Spend Tuesday and perhaps part of Wednesday touring Sofia and meeting relatives.
2. Tentatively, on Wednesday (July 29) we will depart Sofia and begin a bus tour of several towns and historic sites in Bulgaria.
3. Arrive in Popovo, Bulgaria by the weekend to spend 2 or 3 days visiting the birthplace and home of Grandpa George. While in Popovo, we will arrange to meet with Grandpa’s living relatives who are direct descendants of Grandpa’s brothers, and who are our 2^nd and 3^rd cousins.
4. Continue to Varna to spend a day at the Black Sea.
5. Return to Sofia on Wednesday, August 5, and either:

i. Depart the following day,Thursday, August 6, 2009, or

ii. Many have expressed a desire to stay for two weeks in Sofia - so for those wanting to stay longer, a few day trips could be arranged from Sofia to visit the nearby mountains, monasteries and other historic sites.

Five or six families have said that they intend to go to other countries in the region either before or after the Bulgaria excursion, so we are going to start a blog site that will let everyone begin to exchange information with each other in the event that some may want to coordinate other travel plans together.

Many of you have said that you are hoping to use frequent flyer points to schedule your air travel. So this email, in particular, is to tie down the dates of arrival and departure so that everyone can begin scheduling flights. As we understand it, frequent flyer seats become available 300 days before travel. However, paid seats are better to reserve 180 to 200 days before flying to get better prices. So there are probably three main options for making plane reservations:

1. Using frequent flyer points, make reservations yourself ASAP to arrive in Sofia, Bulgaria on July 27. Because we are spending the first day or two of the trip in Sofia, however, if your best choice is one or two days either side of the arrival date, that should still work. But, you should plan to arrive in Sofia no later than early morning on July 29. The August 6 departure date is the first full day we would be back in Sofia, so make your reservations for departure for either that day or any day thereafter if the 6th is unavailable.

2. We have contacted a travel agent in Albuquerque that will make group reservations for anyone that wants us to take care of the reservation for you (but they tell us "group" does not necessarily mean "group discount" - apparently there may be no such thing anymore). You do not have to be leaving from Albuquerque to be a part of this group, and we would try to get everyone together for the longest leg of the flight. Let us know if you want us to make reservations for you.

3. We are familiar with a travel agent in New York that specializes in travel plans to Bulgaria. They suggest making reservations in early January. You may prefer to contact them directly, BTC2000, Inc. (212) 252-9277, yourself to make your own travel plans. However, this company can probably not help you with traveling to other countries, only USA to Bulgaria and return to USA.

Please know that once everyone arrives in Bulgaria, all arrangements will be taken care of including transportation, most meals and hotels – you can just relax and enjoy.