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................
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