Dear Sally, Part 1



On the Charles Bridge

Dear Sally,

How wonderful to hear from you! Yes, of course I remember you very well. You and your husband were so kind (and so brave) to volunteer to come with me and seventeen children to the Czech Republic. I am sending you a few Czech photos, to bring back some memories. 

Yes, I did get an e-mail from Adam and of course I have ordered my very own copy of Kings of the Yukon from Amazon. (They did not have it any bookshop in Sofia, alas.) You must be very proud of Adam! The Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year award is very prestigious. (Let’s hope a big cheque came with it.)

I still remember Adam as Mortimer in Arsenic and Old Lace. He was absolutely brilliant! It is a very big part. (I suppose that he must have been about ten years old at the time.) Of course, Arsenic and Old Lace is black comedy and an adult play – it was never written for children – and it is about two hours long! Of course, he was also excellent as William in William the Bigamist.


As Adam has probably told you, Irena and I now live in Bulgaria. We bought a house about 60 kms north of Sofia about fifteen years ago. After Norman Court, we were international wanderers for quite a while: Kenya, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Romania, the UAE, Qatar, China and finally back to Bulgaria. At the ripe old age of 59 I was retired, but that only lasted for six months. Then I read about St. George’s School in Sofia, so now I have a new job.

Yes, my blog has now reached 30,000 “hits”, so maybe one person has read it 30,000 times or perhaps 30,000 people have only read it once. I really started it as a sort of diary, but it gradually grew. When we were in China, we missed our home in Bulgaria (that is why it is called bulgariawithnoodles). Now we are back in Bulgaria and we miss our friends in China. Ho hum!

I am not in the UK very often these days and in fact I really stopped going back after my mother died. There did not seem much point in going back any more, although I did go back for the memorial service for my old Latin teacher. Anyway, if you are ever passing through Bulgaria, maybe on your way to get a ferry to Lesbos, PLEASE come and see us!

Simon


     

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