Farewell to Moristotle & Co.

By Valeria Idakieva

When I was talking to Geoffrey Dean about my experience on the European route El Camino and he said “Why don’t you write something about it for my father’s blog? It doesn’t have to be something long and complicated and if you don’t want to do that, we can make it as an interview, you would only answer some questions,” I didn’t know “Adventures from Bulgaria” would become part of the great adventure called Moristotle & Co. But now that I know, I also know I will miss it. I will miss every bit of it – sharing the experience which made me live it once again, the encouraging words from other members, their colorful stories, the considerate, never tired, and always understanding Moristotle who not only looked through my eyes to make my texts sound better, but supported and encouraged me as an editor and a dear friend. I will be forever thankful for everything, Morris. You made my life more meaningful.

Copyright © 2023 by Valeria Idakieva

Adventures from Bulgaria: The Most Unanswered Question

A Requiem 

for My Nephew

By Valeria Idakieva

A month after my 33-old nephew took his own life, when the rivers of grief and tears that had flooded us shrank a bit, I decided to take my mother out, change the view from four white walls, and breathe some fresh air.

Christopher Dean’s Bulgarian Designs

Entrepreneur
Christopher Dean
wearing a silk twill tie
of his own design

Follow your dreams
and Be YOUR Version!

By Christopher-Joseph 

       Ravnopolski-Dean

It is a pleasure that Moristotle invited me here to share the mission of B. Version with the diverse and open-minded audience of Moristotle and Co.! Let us go on this journey together!

From the Alwinac: Sounds of Bulgaria: The Music of Lazar Nikolov

[Click on image to
go directly to
the Alwinac’s home page]

[The Alwinac blog is part of the schroeder170 project, honoring the life and musical career of cellist Alwin Schroeder (1855-1928) and exploring the history of cello playing in the US.]


It was a world beyond anything I had yet experienced or imagined. When I recall it, the sounds come back to me first. I hear the spontaneous burst of vibrant applause of the passengers around me, most of them returning to Bulgaria for the first time in many years, triggered by the bump of the wheels of that aging 747 touching down on the tarmac in Sofia thirty years ago. I hear the tra-ka-ta tra-ka-ta tra-ka-ta of the yellow trams rattling along the tracks, competing with birdsong in the center of Sofia as the day begins. I hear the rush of water as the fountains in front of the National Palace of Culture or the National Theatre or the National Bank begin to spray. And I hear people, people waiting in ill-defined lines to buy banitsa or pay bills, the phrase “tuk ne e Amerika” (here isn’t America) often catching my ear.

    There was music too. The resounding intonations of the priest and the harmonious hymns of the hidden balcony choir at the neighborhood church, the infinite repetitions of conscientious piano practicers wafting through open apartment windows, the pay-per-piece performances of street musicians ranging from fiddle players scraping folk tunes as their trained bears danced to classical musicians traversing concertos and chaconnes before heading to rehearsal at Bulgaria Hall. I never knew where or when I would run into a particular Bulgarian bagpipe player on the streets of Sofia, but he was out there most days throughout my 23 years there, improvising to the clanging accompaniment of his strategically-placed bell belt.
_______________
Read on….

Copyright © 2021 by Geoffrey Dean

Adventures from Bulgaria: Gifts of Spring

By Valeria Idakieva

At the height of Summer, as the heat waves were roasting most of the greenery around us, I was reminiscing about the exquisite flowers, tender colours, and superb views that Spring was gifting us with in the higher mountains, where the heralds of Spring were following on the heels of the withdrawing snow and frost,

Adventures from Bulgaria: Autumn Memories

By Valeria Idakieva

A lot of people had been waiting for the winter, not only to go skiing, but also to enjoy the mountains covered in snow – white, clean, serene…. Undoubtedly they are beautiful, especially when the sun rays make the snow sparkle and the blue sky seems bluer than ever.

Adventures from Bulgaria: The Peony Mountain

By Valeria Idakieva

As time goes by, and the mind and the body, driven by curiosity, have wandered off to faraway places, the mind starts longing for familiar sights and feelings from the past, and the body has no other choice but to follow it. As years passed by, memories from my childhood started popping up more and more often and my mind started longing for the scents, colors, and sights of the mountain near which I was born. And I couldn’t help following my mind to the fragrant meadows of my childhood.

Adventures from Bulgaria: Belasitsa and the 3 Dogs

Detail from 12th photo

By Valeria Idakieva

Stuck at home in the middle of coronavirus lockdown, I am following the current social debate about going out of your home. While reading comments like “So, you can take your dog for a walk, but you can’t take your child for a walk!,” a memory of three dogs that followed me on one of my hiking adventures occupied my mind and made me go back two years and look through the pictures I made during that adventure. I am not going to take a side in the debate whether it is right to take your dog but not your child out; I think there should be a way to take both of them for a walk, even in quarantine time.

Adventures from Bulgaria: Summer in the Mountains – Days 12 & 13

Click to enlarge

On under clear, blue skies

By Valeria Idakieva

[Sequel to “Days 10 & 11,” published on July 30.]



The morning after another wonderful day in the Rhodope Mountains woke me up with a clear, blue sky and gentle, soft sunshine streaming through the window. I had the usual morning cup of coffee and hit the road, filling my head with pleasant memories and my lungs with fresh air. The mountain was revealing a softer beauty now – some houses of a nearby village perching on a hill, stacks of hay, rounded slopes, trees.

Adventures from Bulgaria: Summer in the Mountains – Days 10 & 11

Click to enlarge

Imagination and reality

By Valeria Idakieva

[Sequel to “Days 8 & 9,” published on July 3.]

After the lazy day I had spent in Pamporovo, the clear blue sky and the fresh air the next morning urged me to continue at full speed. The grass was glistening with the morning dew, the forest was awakening with the vibrant song of myriads of bugs and birds. Every single creature was worshiping life and giving its share to the harmony that reigned over the forest.

Adventures from Bulgaria: Summer in the Mountains – Days 8 & 9

[Click to enlarge]

Backwards to Pamporovo

By Valeria Idakieva

[Sequel to “Days 6 & 7,” published on April 7.]

I woke up early in the morning on the back seat of the jeep where I had spent the night and started getting ready quietly so as not to wake up the kind people who shared their food, good spirits, and time with me. Later, when they did wake up, we had some coffee and then it was time for me to continue through lush meadows and pine forests.

Adventures from Bulgaria: Summer in the Mountains – Days 6 & 7

Under the scorching sun

By Valeria Idakieva

[Sequel to “Days 4 & 5,” published on March 2.]

When I got up early in the morning and started walking, the sun was still hiding behind the grand ridges surrounding the gorge of the river I was following, and the fresh, cool air was sharpening my senses.

Adventures from Bulgaria: Summer in the Mountains – Days 4 & 5

Forest and Water

By Valeria Idakieva

[Sequel to “Days 2 & 3,” published on February 12.]

I woke up early in the morning to find out that the village was wrapped in thick, white fog, but I knew that when I went higher it would vanish. Climbing up the steep forest hill early in the morning was not to my liking, but I quickly reached the neighborhood where I had entered the village the previous day.

Adventures from Bulgaria: Summer in the Mountains – Days 2 & 3

Leaving Rila

By Valeria Idakieva

[Sequel to “Day 1,” published on January 24.]

After a cup of coffee, I left the lodge in the morning and met the first strangers for the day.

Adventures from Bulgaria: Summer in the Mountains – Day 1

Eastward  from Borovets

By Valeria Idakieva

At the beginning of January 2017, I started thinking about doing the Bulgarian part of the European long distance path called E8^*. In Bulgaria the route starts in the Rila Mountains and crosses the Rhodope Mountains, reaching the Turkish border. As usual, my preparation consisted of obtaining information and waiting for August when I could run away to the mountains. Finally August came and I was soon getting my backpack ready for the summer adventure. I could not make it light enough, but it was not the first time I’ve had this problem, and I knew I was going to get used to its weight anyway. I got on the bus and headed for Borovets – a ski resort in the Rila Mountains where my route started. The next day rose a bright blue morning with fresh, cool air, and I eagerly followed the path, which weaves along a beautiful river.

Five Years Ago Today

Getting to know the devil

By Moristotle

[Originally published on June 14, 2012, not one word different.]

I completed one of those political questionnaires yesterday that, besides seeking numbers to rank election issues, seeks to gauge how likely it is that you might donate money to the party. To a direct question whether I’ll donate, I checked the “no” box and found myself explaining, “I don’t have money to waste on stupid political money wars.”

Adventures from Bulgaria: Questions without answers

Adventures from Bulgaria: Questions without answers

By Valeria Idakieva

In the beginning of April, after I had lost a friend in February, and my friend Dimitrinka, who had joined my adventures in the Rila Mountain (“In the Rila Mountains with a 70+”), suffered a stroke in March and was struggling for her life in hospital, I felt I was stifling in the city.

Приключения от България: в Рила планина с 70+

Чрез Валерия Идакиева

Винаги съм мислил за планините като мястото, където се чувствам свободен от всички притеснения на всекидневния живот. Сърцето ми скача от радост в цялата красота и спокойствие, което изпълва душата ми. Ето защо аз обикновено прекарват малкото свободно време, имам в планините.
    Аз също имам голямо уважение към хората, които са били в планината много. Такъв е моят приятел Димитринка който е опасана българските планини за повече от 30 години. Преди започване на дълги разстояния пътека, аз обикновено посещават й да говори за това и тежи раницата. При един случай, когато щях да ходя на екскурзия по протежение на дългата писта в българските планини - около 720 км - тя ме посъветва да вземе малка бутилка ром, защото е добре да има някакъв алкохол в планините.

Adventures from Bulgaria: In the Rila Mountains with a 70+

By Valeria Idakieva

I have always thought of the mountains as the place where I feel free of all the worries of everyday life. My heart leaps with joy at all the beauty and serenity that fills my soul. That is why I usually spend the little free time I have in the mountains.
    I also have great respect for people who have been in the mountains a lot. Such is my friend Dimitrinka who has crisscrossed Bulgarian mountains for more than 30 years. Before starting a long-distance trail, I usually visit her to talk about it and weigh my backpack. On one occasion when I was going to hike along the longest trail in the Bulgarian mountains – about 720 km – she advised me to take a small bottle of rum because it was good to have some alcohol in the mountains.

Second Monday Music: Bulgaria intensive

Source

AISU students travel abroad for music and other arts

Edited by Morris Dean

[Editor’s Note: In the March 9 edition of this column, Christa Saeger introduced us to two-week intensive programs for students at the American International School of Utah. The school’s latest performing-arts intensive involved a trip to Bulgaria. With permission, we’ve taken some excerpts from the blog “AISUBULGARIAINTENSIVE,” where participants recorded their impressions. Bloggers are identified by their initials.]