A View from the Bridge

As usual, I got out of bed and took that naughty, pampered Plovdiv pooch for her walk. That was when I noticed some Police cars on the other side of the river.

Later, as I was munching my toast (with yummy homemade marmalade) and drinking my second cup of coffee, the doorbell rang. It was an Army officer and he wanted me to move my car. That was when I realized that we were going to have the weird and rather Monty Pythonesque tradition of throwing the wooden cross into the river. About forty young men were actually in the river, trying to catch the cross that was thrown into the river by the Orthodox bishop. The water in the Yantra River must have been flipping freezing! Anyway, this all happened on and around Vladishki Most, the old wooden bridge next to our apartment. We could see the whole thing from the dining room window. Of course, this cross throwing and catching business is some strange Bulgarian tradition that is supposed to have something to do with the baptism of Jesus. Well, that is what they tell the tourists. 

Yes, at long last I am feeling a bit better and I can take Tina for longer walks. Life here in VT is pretty dull and there is not much to do. This morning we did have a nice walk with the VT Walkers and the weather was amazingly warm and sunny for January.

As well as putting up electricity bills by nearly 9%, the Bulgarian government has decided to put up VAT to 20%. Gasp! This will make quite a lot of things more expensive, I would imagine. As for Bulgaria's introduction of the Euro, this has been put off yet again until the summer. The good news is that that they are also putting up the pensions here in Bulgaria and not before time. I am really glad that I do not have to struggle on a Bulgarian state pension.