Winery Adventure

April 23rd

Today's adventure was in support of the high school seniors' graduation party.  In other words, we went to a brewery and two vineyards and the bus fare went to the kids.

Our first stop was Saint John's brewery in Faicchio near Benevento. 

This is Gianni.  He decided to open a brewery in the wine country.  His family thought he was crazy.  

The brewery opened in 1999 and gets its ingredients from Germany.

Kolsh - 5% abv	Marzen - 5.2% abv
Tripel - 7.5% abv	Weiss - 5% abv

There was also a fifth beer, Dark Strong Ale - 7.5% abv, of which I failed to get a photo.

Across from the brewery were these lovely views of the Benevento countryside.

And these fun magenta flowers.

Our next stop was at Santimartini Winery. 

The lady on the right is Maria, she arranged the trip.

We tried a falanghina, an algianico, and some falanghina and algianico blends (not together each other mind you).

The winery had quite a spread.  

We tried several of their wines, as well as local cheeses and cured meats.  

Vines!

Landscapes!

This winery is located in Solopaca (also in the province of Benevento - think of it like a county). 

So the bus we took out here broke and we were divided into two smaller groups to get to the next stop.  Luckily people on the party bus opened a bottle of wine and brought cups for sharing, hence the party bus.

Next stop is the Solopaca Cantina.

Here you can get wine by the liter.  It comes out of a pump, just like gas, and goes into whatever container you brought.  You can also buy plastic containers from them.

This is not how you transport people.

Bottle equipment!

This place had a landslide a few years ago and the cellars were filled with 2-3 meters of mud.  Luckily the wine was safe inside the barrels, but it was still a huge mess.

We also tried many wines here.  Luckily we were on a bus that had underneath storage for all the wine/beer the group purchased today.  Oh, and we got the original bus back!

Our last stop was at Martone, an olive oil production company.  They had a variety of infused/flavored olive oils as well as some very good regular olive oil.  I apparently didn't take any pictures at this point or didn't like any of them.  Oh well.  The olive oil was good.

We loaded everyone onto the bus, where most people fell asleep, and went home.

This concludes our adventures for today.

Submarine Birthday Ball

April 16th

Today was the 116th Submarine Birthday Ball.  We went.  We looked fabulous. Our friends went and looked fabulous.  The Ball was held at the Italian Airforce Academy, which had a great view.

Our fabulous friends Chris and Helen as well as Jen and Doug.

Savannah and John both looking quite dapper.

 We of course are the most lovely.

Dan wants you to know (as does Jen) that I made my dress from scratch.

We had a really good time.  We dragged my cousins Ryan and Heather along too.  I think they had a good time.  We did not think to get a group photo this time...or a photo Ryan and Heather at all.  Oops.  Sorry guys!  

Beautiful Sofia Bulgaria - Day 3

April 10th

Today we did a walking tour of Sofia.  But first some street art!

A monster and hist duck floaty.

And some guys in their underpants on a beam.

And the amusing monsters on the various recycling bins.

First stop is the Coat of Arms of Sofia.  The shield has four symbols - Top left is Sofia, a symbol of wisdom and after whom the city is named.  Top right is the ancient city of Serdica, a symbol of the cities ancient origins.  Bottom left is Vitosha, the mountain at which the foot of Sofia is located.  Bottom right is Apollo Medicus in a baldachin, a symbol of the healing mineral springs located around Sofia.  In the center is a fifth symbol, a lion.  It is important to know that Bulgaria LOVES lions.  They are everywhere despite lions not being from Bulgaria.

The statue of Sofia again.  I already explained about her.

This is St. Petka of the Saddlers.  It's from the 1400s or 1500s and was built with whatever materials they, the leather craftsmen aka saddlers, could find.  It is at the center of the ancient and modern city.

The archways of the communist era mall.

This is neat.  To the left is the dome of a synagogue, in front is a mosque, and behind us a bit is the church of St. Petka.  The mosque is Banya Bashi Mosque and is the only functioning mosque in Sofia.  There used to be more during the Ottoman Empire, but after the empire fell, many of the mosques were destroyed or made defunct. 

The Central Mineral Baths also the "prettiest building in Sofia."  

It has fun details.

It also houses the Museum of Sofia.

Dan wanted proof that I was there.

Dan wanted proof he was here.

Until August of 1990, this building was the Communist Party Headquarters.  

Underneath the former Communist HQ is a pass through to cross the street and the walls of the ancient city and this commemorative tablet.

Chickens!

There is a changing of the guard at this governmenty building.

The original Bulgarian lion.  Clearly, the artist had never seen a lion.

This is St. George Rotunda.  

This is the oldest building in Sofia;  it was built in the 4th century by the Romans.   

This is St. Nicholas - patron saint of sailors, prostitutes, pawnbrokers, merchants, children, and a bunch of other groups.  He is on the corner of the Bulgarian National Bank.  Notice the little balcony above him to the right.  This was the balcony the bank manager was expected to throw himself off of in the case that the bank failed.  

ART!

Tulips!

Wisteria!

And....That Guy!

And St. George killing the dragon.

This is the famous St. Sofia Church.  A little more on it in a bit.

This is the Holy Synod of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church.  

Annnnd more of St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. 

Dan is recreating the monument to possibly Cyril, or something else....  

Cyrillic script was created in the First Bulgarian Empire around the ninth century.  

The followers of Cyril and Methodius created the script.  

This monument is for the Bulgarian pilots who died in the wars between 1912-1945.

This ended our walking tour.  I'm sure there was more information that the guide gave us, I just don't remember it.   We wandered off to find lunch and ended up having some really good Indian food.

On our way back I wanted to stop and explore St. Sofia.

"In the year 1943, while the Holocaust of Europe's Jews was reaching its peak, a unique phenomenon occurred in Bulgaria.  Eminent leaders of the Bulgarian people, the heads of the church, enlightened public figures, writers, doctors, lawyers, workers, ordinary citizens and the Royal family, they all stood together and succeeded to rescue all of the Bulgaria's 49,000 Jews from deportation to the death camps.  The great majority of Bulgaria's Jews immigrated to Israel in the years 1948-1950 and took an active part in the Jewish State."

This is written in Hebrew, English, and Bulgarian.  My understanding is when the Nazis said "send us your Jews" the Bulgarians said "No.  We need them as laborers.  We'll send them later."  and then didn't send them.

  

A floor plan of the church.

It was almost an all brick interior with little to no decoration.

A bit different from the Rila Monastery we saw yesterday or any of the Orthodox churches we've been in realy.

St. Sofia does not have a bell tower, instead they have a bell tree.

On our walk back to our hotel we saw some art....or something.

And we caught some of the Changing of the Guard.

We picked up our luggage and headed to the airport.

Where I found this map, which is the Wine Map of Bulgaria, which I thought my dad and some of his friends would find interesting.

This concludes our adventures to Sofia, Bulgaria.