in bulgaria, march is the month of the "martenitsa" - the red in this little charm symbolizes health; white stands for long life (of course, the longer you live the whiter your hair ;)). oh, did i write "little" charm? since i am back in bulgaria after my visit in germany, i see martenitsas really everywhere and in all sizes. of course, typically they are small enough to be worn on your wrist or near the collar of your jacket, but....well, it's all about creativity, right?
so, and these are some "fresh" martenitsas in a bush in veliko turnovo. somewhere earlier i posted a picture with older ones from the previous years - now, more and more fresh spots of red and white are appearing in the trees and bushes all around me. i'm still wearing mine around my wrist, but as we are experiencing increasingly good spring weather, i will start looking for a good tree where to hang them, soon. i'm not expecting to see a storck around sofia anyway, so the green buds and first spring flowers have to be a good enough sign to "get rid" of the martenitsas. :D
last week, my biggest sister and my father where here to visit me. we were mostly really lucky with the weather and it was probably the first time that i really enjoyed walking around sofia - going to the market, to NDK, to shopping streets....only on one day "baba marta" (= granny march) was angry, so it was windy and quite cold. especially in the mountains - as we chose exactly that day to visit my friend Hrissi in bistrica (her village just outside of sofia on the foot of vitosha mountain) and take the lift up the mountain. it was freeeeeeeeeeeezing. however this didn't stop us from smiling (see picture).
on our last day together, my friends Dessi and Philip took us to veliko turnovo - the mediaeval capital of bulgaria. there we spent the whole time walking around the beautiful old town and up the hill to the castle tsarevets and eating (lunch, cake, dinner....). next weekend, on the 22nd of march, it is the "day of veliko turnovo" so maybe i'll go there again - this time with Eike and some friends of mine.....
beautiful turnovoveliko turnovo is situated on and between three hills. therefore, people say that in the turn there are but three directions to go: up, down or on the stairs :)
though, there is no tourist-friendly part in the city made only for pedestrians, the old town is really beautiful with its small alleys and typical bulgarian houses.
ugly turnovo
tsarevets - the paintings in the church on top of the hill are quite new in a modern-communist style. i quite liked them. something different ;) but as there was a small tourist group inside when we entered, i decided to pay attention to the sign "no photography" and didn't take any pictures.
2 comments:
We also have them, they 're called MARTISOARE and symbolize the same thing. But we don't have one baba, we have nine of them, one for every day from the beginning of March. When it's windy and cold, we say either that you're year is going to be like that or ... (and that's a mean one) that you resemble your baba: cold hearted, bitchy...
But I'll tell you more when you come here ! We'd be delighted to have you around for a few days, after the Easter. Big hug and huge kiss. Wide open arms ! ISELIN
wonderful!!!
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