We have arrived in BG!

Rob and I finally made it to Sofia, Bulgaria about 2:00 pm Sunday after almost 21 hours of travel time and not a lot of sleep. Our driver, Julian, took us to our apartment for the night, helped us to exchange some money and also took us to a great little pub for dinner. After dinner, Rob and I headed straight back to the apartment for some much needed sleep. Even though it was only 6:00 p.m., it was dark outside, and we were two very weary travelers. Both of us slept well until about 3:00 a.m. and then we got up to have a snack and read a book. I later went back to sleep for another hour or so, but I was worried that we would miss our driver coming to get us at 7:00 so I did not sleep well.

Our driver, Ettie, arrived at 7:00 a.m., and we joined her and another couple from Oregon in the car for the three hour journey north to the town where our son is located. We arrived before our room was ready at the hotel so Rob and I were on our own for a while. Our translator and driver took the couple from Oregon to meet their daughter who is at a different orphanage in town than our son. We will not be able to meet our son until later this afternoon when the director of his orphanage will be available.

While our translator was gone to the first orphanage, Rob and I decided to take a small walking tour of the city. Our hotel is very close to a park, the mall and several historical churches. We took several pictures of the park, the churches and some monuments, and then we decided to return to the hotel for lunch. The hotel has a very nice restaurant with very reasonable prices and more importantly, a menu in English.

Rob had a large skewer of grilled chicken and lemons while I had a skewer of pork loin and vegetables with a green salad that was tossed with a lemon juice and olive oil mixture. The food was very good, and the restaurant also fed our caffeine habit by having Coca Cola and Coca Cola Light (Diet Coke). Our translator and our driver returned to meet us in the restaurant and informed Rob and I that we would be able to see our son for the first time in about three hours.