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A couple of weeks ago I happened to be in the seaside town of Balchik, enjoying a beautiful Saturday. I was very happy to be able to visit the town's landmark - the Balchik Palace and Botanical Garden, which was absolutely gorgeous. The complex consists of a Revival style central palace with a tower and a bunch of villas scattered around, all nestled in a lush park with bridges, romantic paths, colorful flower beds and a fragrant rose garden. The stone alcoves and wrought iron gates create a fairy-tale feel and make you wish you were wearing a ball gown. The sea view from the palace complex is simply breathtaking.
All through my walk, I kept thinking how this would be an amazing location for a wedding and wishing that I could photograph one there. It's got everything - beautiful garden, lovely old buildings, romantic stone arches, a small stream with a bridge going over it, the sea just beyond the gates...you name it, it's there! So while I'm waiting for someone to invite me to photograph their wedding there, check out some of my photos of the place and the flowers there.
I just realized that this year I have dipped my feet in three seas - the Aegean, the Mediterranean, and the Black Sea! Yey me! Last year I didn't even manage to have a proper beach vacation, so this year I was desperate for the seaside. That's why I wanted to brag a little and post the image of the three seas before I post anything else from the stack of stuff I have waiting to be blogged about:
I really enjoy wrapping gifts, so I'm posting a few photos of a gift I wrapped in this really cool colorful paper that I had lying around...the lucky recipient was my cousin Tsveti. I just hope that she enjoys the gift inside :)On a side note, I would like to say that I do realize that my posts have been on the short & sweet side lately. I wish I could say I was sorry, but I'm not, as I've been quite happily distracted, and if there is one lesson I've learned, it is that a people should enjoy being happy when they can and should live in the moment. However, I promise that there's some interesting stuff on my laptop waiting to be blogged about. So there will be cool stuff coming to this blog in the next few weeks (yey!)Oh, and before I forget, if you would like to make me a present (even if it's not wrapped like the one below), you could become my follower by going to the bottom right of this page, clicking the "follow" button and logging in with your google/gmail account :) Yes, it's that easy!
Some things are beautiful even when they fade:
I am pretty much addicted to taking photos in my garden. This one was taken with my new camera, too :)
Finally, a few weeks late, here is my Turkish vacation post. Read what I wrote on one of my last nights there and enjoy the photos below:
As I’m writing this post, to be published after my return to Sofia, I am sitting in the Tea Garden of a beautiful holiday village in Bodrum, Turkey. It is close to 10:00 pm, but the air is warm and smells faintly salty, like the Aegean sea, and also slightly perfumey, infused with the scent of the blooming bougainvillea trees.
It’s one of my last nights here, and my close friend from college, Joerose, who I came here with, has already flown back to London. I miss her already, of course; five short days are not nearly enough to catch up properly, talk enough and laugh enough, mend broken hearts and remind each other that life is beautiful. Yet, I am not lonely. The tea garden is alive even at this time, with people playing backgammon on the small wooden tables and drinking their Turkish tea served in little glass cups. I sip my tea, too, and I am content to gaze at the lanterns lit around us, the calm sea and the ships that are so beautifully lit at night like they’re coming out of a fairy tale. The staff talks to me, and I am thinking that I really like the friendliness of these Turkish people. Even though it is their job to be friendly to the tourists, their attention and smiles never seem fake.
I also think about how this vacation was exactly what I needed and, therefore, completely wonderful. A good mix of relaxation, excitement, sightseeing, and spending time with a close friend, my time here has flown by. I tend to be a worrier – a trait of mine that I am trying to work on, albeit not entirely successfully, so it is with great pleasure that I discover that in between lounging on the beach, parasailing, touring tombs carved in rocks and beaches where giant turtles lay their eggs, and eating insane quantities of crispy sweet watermelon, I have forgotten to worry. Now that’s what I call a good time.
It should come as no surprise to anyone that even remotely knows me that I have also taken about a million photos, all sunny and beachy and looking like they belong on the cover of a travel magazine. Of course, I love the ones that document what we did and how much fun we had on this trip. There is another batch of photos, though, that is all about the feeling of a place, those small details that string together like the beads on a necklace to create the jewel that is the atmosphere here. The straw umbrellas and the stripy shadows that they throw on your skin, the white villas surrounded by blooming trees, the footsteps on the beach and the radiant blue of the sea. Those are the ones that I want to share here, as those are the photos that I believe will make you close your eyes and, just for a second, feel like you are really here with me.
Преди около месец имах огромното удоволствие да допринеса и аз към работата на фондация "Стъпка за Балгария," която организира обучения за деца, лишени от родителски грижи. Моя приятелка от гимназията, Жени, се свърза с мен с идеята да се включа в работата на фондацията като отделя няколко часа и направя творчески уъркшоп за правене на бижута с Хриси, която е едно от момичетата в образователа програма на фондацията. Това щеше да бъде нейната специална награда по случай края на тазгодишната програма. Аз бях страхотно поласкана от предложението и веднага се съгласих.
И така, една слънчева събота се видяхме с Хриси и майсторихме бижута в едно кафене на открито, като си бърборихме на воля :). Жълтите обици на точки, за които писах в миналия си пост, бяха измайсторени точно на тази творческа среща. Хриси направи два чифта много красиви обици - едните в лилаво и бяло и другите в синьо и жълто-зелено. Снимки от нашата среща можете да видите по-долу, а повече за фондацията и как да се включите в нея можете да прочетете на www.stepforbulgaria.org.
Аз и Хриси
Хриси майстори сините обици
Жени с лилавите обици, изработени от Хриси
