escape from a hot day in the city

We were invited to spend a day in a house high in the Rhodopi mountain. The name of the village is Manastir - allegedly the highest village on the Balkans. It is situated around 1500m above sea level, and is really really very beautiful. This was my second visit there. The first one was long ago - we were searching for a place to picnic with friends and finally ended up there.

Of course, we did not spend the day in the house. After collecting some herbs we decided to climb up the nearest hill to a very controversial Muslim monument - Enihan baba teke. They say Muslims respect Enihan baba as a preacher and healer, while most Bulgarians believe he brought Islam to Bulgaria.

Vihar - waiting for us to drive further.

Climbing up more than 600 stairs was worth it...

...to enjoy this magnificent view - a 360 degree panorama view of the Rhodopi mountains.
Incredible scenery indeed, more impressive than any monument to me.

early sun and sea

Back from a short vacation at the coast. Not very typical for me, this time I was early in the morning at the beach, missed my breakfast to be there as early as possible.
Could see the white-grayish colour of the sea changing to green-blue later in the afternoon.
Enjoyed the warm water with no people around, and the presence of the local dog - my only companion at the beach.

on a creative journey

In the middle of the preparation for our first Creativity training.

It takes a lot of drawing...

...and a lot of surprises...

...and the camels are my favourite part.
I am so eager to see it all working...

extraverted young man

I actually loved the photo, and this time was not so interested in the text in this post.
about media html microformat

But the photo, the photo brought the shiny day in my office, and made me smile a little...

Words and the City

Spent a long weekend at the sea, which I really enjoyed. Have been reading on Eat Pray Love there (I am a slow reader indeed), and came to a point that made me think. The book said each city had its own word. Like Rome's word was SEX. Then I asked myself which was the word of Plovdiv. AYLAK? The word aylak is of Turkish origin and means lazy (that's how a Turkish girl once explained it to me). We use it to define a state of idleness when you really enjoy doing nothing. To me it sounds pretty close to what the Italians call dolce far niente. Or that's what I imagine it is... Yes, I believe that's the word that describes Plovdiv. It is not so popular in the rest of the country. People here very often build a sentence with it in reply to the usual "How are you doing?" Hah, not very encouraging for someone eager to achieve...
Then I thought about the cities I'd lived in before. Which are their words? What should be the word of Sofia? For me Sofia was a lot about COMPETE. Is there someone else thinking the same or was it only my Sofia competing?
And which is the word of Leipzig? Ist schon lange her... It's been really a long time since I lived there, and I can't say now which word matched Leipzig then. But I am sure there is one.
And what are your words for your cities?

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Eat? Pray? Love?

I started reading Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert. No wonder I got inspired to read the book after listening to a TED talk by the author of the book about her relationship to creativity. It sounded very personal, honest and intelligent. This happened some time ago and that's how the book ended in my to-read list but I somehow never felt it was the right moment to start reading it.
Until yesterday - I had a few minutes before my appointment in the bank and instead of waiting in the bank I decided to check what's new in the nearby book store. And then while going through the new books I heard myself saying, "Do you have the book by Elizabeth Gilbert..." "Eat Pray Love, you mean? Yes, we have it."
I spent the evening reading and now I know why the book landed in my hands right in this moment :)
And I will be also translating Nurturing Creativity...