Debates Again but by the Black Sea

Week 8 of my life in photos

I knew it would eventually happen. I just didn’t think it would happen so early in my year of documenting my life in photos, but on Monday, I completely forgot to take any photos.

I blame this on the fact that it finally looked like winter for a couple of days. No precipitation of any kind, but the sky hung metallic and dreary, reminding me — at least partially — what winters were like.

The cutting wind reinforced the chilly atmosphere, and I was glad to have only one assignment due and an hour or so of tutoring.

I started my Monday morning slowly, enjoying savory muffins and mint tea for breakfast. I then finished and submitted a Medium article, cleared a few work emails, and read a bit. In the afternoon, a friend came over and we went out for a post-birthday hike. After the hike and a chat by the fire, I sent her off and finished my one work assignment for the day.

My lead photo from Tuesday could’ve easily been taken on Monday. I snapped it in the morning as I was getting ready to get back to the city. Instead of taking the bus, I hitched a ride with my aunt and cousin, who were on their way to Plovdiv for some shopping.

The day remained cold, but after working for a couple of hours and a short meeting, I ventured out for a walk around the old town.

Though I’ve roamed these cobblestone streets extensively over the past few years, I always seem to encounter new and curious finds. Like the one in the photo above. I’d have not even noticed it if I hadn’t decided to capture the lantern. No one was around, or I’d have asked for a story. Another time.

On Wednesday, the temperatures went up a bit, though the cloud cover remained. I worked all morning and afternoon, so before my evening meeting, I went out for my daily walk.

After I grabbed a berry juice, I decided to hike up Sahat Tepe, one of Plovdiv’s seven hills (writing an article on them now!) and the one easily accessible from Glavnata (the main pedestrian street in the city center). It offers views of the old town on one side.

And views of the two highest hills on the other side. On a whim, I decided to sit down on a rock, reading my book and looking up every now and then to admire the views. I could’ve stayed for hours but had to head back and get ready for my meeting.

After three days of winter, we went back to spring on Thursday. The sun came back, and so did the unusually high temperatures (21C/70F). A long train ride awaited me on Friday, so I spent most of Thursday finishing one set of assignments and getting a head start on two with Friday deadlines.

I did, of course, enjoy a nice long walk in the afternoon, meeting with a friend and stopping by the train station to purchase my ticket. I also had a Zoom meeting with my accountant to file my taxes. My least favorite thing in the world, but it has to be done.

On Friday, I woke up bright and early, had breakfast, and made it to the central railway station just in time to hop on the fast train to Burgas, a city on the Black Sea coast.

Though it’s been an unusually warm winter, hardly anyone travels to the beach in February, so for about three of the four-and-a-half hours the trip took, I had an entire train cabin all to myself.

For the last leg of the train ride, groups of high school students — going to Burgas for the same reason as me: the East BEST Speech & Debate Tournament — got on and filled most of the empty seats.

The sulfurous, salty smell of the sea and the screeching of seagulls welcomed me when I came off the train in Burgas. For the first time in 30+ years, I was back to Bulgaria’s east coast.

The Black Sea makes up the entire eastern border of Bulgaria (370+ kilometers of coastline), and when I was a kid, summer trips to the beach were a given. Then all (political) hell broke loose in the early 90s; my dad — like many others — lost his job, and the annual beach trips were no more.

I’m not a beach person, but I have to be honest, it felt exhilarating to be back to a place associated with tons of fond childhood memories, including the one of my cousins trying to bury me in the sand.

Knowing that the train station is close to the water, I first walked over to the beach, taking in the views and listening to the calming sound of waves. Only then did I walk over to my rental to check in and drop my bags. I spent the rest of the afternoon/evening working and reviewing materials for the upcoming debate tournament.

On Saturday, I had a long day of judging debates, and of course, the weather turned out gorgeous — 24C/75F. Luckily, there are breaks between rounds, so in the afternoon, I went out for a walk around the Burgas city center.

Similar to many other Bulgarian cities/towns, a main pedestrian street allows for easy and relaxing access to restaurants, cafés, and shops. As I often like to do, however, I turned down a few side streets, and that’s how I came across whatever is happening in the above photo.

What do you think the story is?

A fiery red glow woke me up on Sunday morning, earlier than I had planned to wake up after the long day before, but I didn’t complain.

Instead, I sat on the balcony and watched the sky burn.

The second day of debates finishes earlier, usually around 3 pm, so I had already planned to spend the rest of the day walking and exploring, and that’s exactly what I did. After dropping off my laptop at the rental, I headed over to the beach.

At the beach, I called my sister and nephews so they could see and hear the waves of the Black Sea. I can’t wait to bring my nephews here one day.

Walking on sand is not the easiest, so I eventually headed to the Sea Garden, Burgas’s largest public park spread along the coast. It’s huge and boasts plants from all over the world.

Also, hundreds of cats.

And I mean hundreds. I thought Plovdiv was the city of cats, but the Sea Garden in Burgas alone has more than I’ve ever seen in the entirety of Plovdiv. Under every bush, by every tree, on every bench, there is at least one cat, often more.

If you love cats, you’d love walking around the Sea Garden, which very well could be renamed the Cat Garden.

The park is huge, and as much as I wanted to, I couldn’t walk it in its entirety as I was getting tired and hungry. Plus, as the sun set, so did a wet chill that forced me to head back to the apartment.

As I was about to exit the park, I spotted bunches of bright blossoms and had to stop and snap a few shots. Can’t wait to explore more of the Sea Garden in the coming days, so be ready for more Black Sea and blossom photos next week!

This photo essay is inspired by the works of Dennett and Anne Bonfert. Anyone can join the challenge, and I highly recommend it!