Koprivstitsa

Avi had mentioned to Evan that I wanted to see the places around Sofia and he suggested that I visit Koprivstitsa. He also offered that he will come at 7:00 AM to our hotel and take me to the central bus station to put me on the bus to Koprivstista. He would also arrange for a lady to escort me about the place.

I too wanted to visit Koprivstitsa since I had read about it being a ‘town-museum’ and it’s Rose Festival.


                Lush greenery of Koprivstitsa

Evan was waiting for us when we finished our breakfast at 7:00 AM. I was surprised because according to the guidebook, Bulgarians are not very punctual, but Evan was very punctual as well as the lady escort he had provided, who actually turned out to be his own cousin.

So, you cannot believe everything that the guidebook says. There are always exceptions to the rule.

True to his word, Evan took me to the Central bus station by tram. At the central bus station, we had to cross an underpass and with his Slavic gallantry, he offered me his arm.

I was taken aback. In all my life so far, no man had ever offered me his arm. (Avi did offer me his hand in marriage but that is different.)

I hesitated with my Indian diffidence only for a second but then I thought to myself, ‘why, I must be his mother’s age’ and took his offered arm confidently.

Gently he escorted me across the underpass and put me on the bus to Koprivstitsa.

The road to Koprivstistsa winds through green grassy plains and dense forests to the high pass between two mountain ranges. Everywhere you see, shades of green meet your eye, which end in bluish green mountains in the far distance.

Peppa, Evan’s cousin, who joined me on the bus, took me to Evan’s house, which is now converted into a hotel.

It is a cute little house being managed as a hotel by Evan’s mother, grandmother, and aunt. I met all of them and had a nice time chatting with them. (Peppa interpreted.)

Koprivstista is very small. The old houses, which have been converted into museums are interesting. One of the houses belonged to a poet revolutionary, who led the April Uprising against the Ottoman overlords.

One of the houses had a fine collection of laces made by the ladies of the house.

Embroidery and lace-making are things that interest me intensely, though I am afraid, I will never have enough time or patience to make a lace as fine as the samples that were on display. I mean, I start a tatting project with great enthusiasm but then it languishes for months together.

So, I specially appreciated the samples of fine lace and decided to just buy the lace-and-embroidery doilies from the vendors around Nevski Cathedral.

After a nice lunch with Peppa, I came back to Sofia by 6:00 PM. I had hardly time to tell Avi about my Koprivstista trip and get ready before Evan came to our hotel again. He was taking us out to a nice dinner with his wife and another gentleman Andrei. I admired the man’s energy.

We had a wonderful time at the dinner with live music from a Gypsy band, who sang ‘mera juta hai Japani’ and ‘chal, chal chal mere hathi’ especially for us.

The rhythmic, foot-tapping Bulgarian music induces one to dance. Even the waiters came to serve us, dancing to the tune of live music.

Raj Kapoor’s Hindi movies were immensely popular in Bulgaria once upon a time and Evan’s mother and grandmother were lamenting that they do not get any new Hindi movies to see in Bulgaria.

‘But we get Hollywood movies now’ Andrei said happily.

The political scene has come a full circle in Bulgaria. By virtue of being a part of EU now, they do not need visa to visit western European countries, but they need visa to enter their former Communist league countries like Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Azarbaijan etc.

The situation was exactly opposite before their entry in EU.

That is what Balkanization is all about.

The guidebook, which was given to me by Evan and which, incidentally, was edited by a lady of Indian origin, mentioned both the good and bad points of Bulgarians. When I told Evan that I write travel-blogs, he asked me whether I had found anything bad to write about Bulgarians and if so, I should definitely write about it.

“So that Bulgarians would know how foreigners view them and improve.” Is how he put it.

I told him that I had only one complaint – the pavements of Sofia are uneven and so, tourists have to spend half their time looking at the pavement to avoid being tripped.

“Yes, our pavements are rather in a bad shape.” he agreed.

Then he told me that one of the foreigners that he was accompanying, mentioned on the first day that there are a lot of shoe-shops in Sofia. On the second day, the foreigner had discovered the reason for it.

Sofia pavements ensure that you always have to buy new shoes.

I am sure the Bulgarians would improve their pavements. They too are now vying for the tourist trade. At present, not many tourists visit Bulgaria, not even the camera-toting, ubiquitous Japanese groups.

How I missed the Japanese!!

Would I, like Evan, ask any foreigners to name the ills that bug India? I am afraid, I dare not. The list would be endless.