Associate Professor from Western Carolina University

visiting Technical University of Sofia, Bulgaria

as a Fulbright U.S. Scholar

After returning from Gorna Banya, I took a detour at the National Palace of Culture as I heard that a Christmas Tree had been lit up there. The whole plaza and the roads around it were lighted up. In summer, we saw a group of kids doing bike tricks, and there was still a group there in winter.

I also heard that there was a seasonal outdoor ice rink, called Yunak, opening earlier this month (there is also a year-round indoor ice rink near my current apartment, Winter Palace of Sport). This outdoor ice rink is about 20 min away from the National Palace of Culture by walk, and the air was warm, so I made that walk. The news said that the “penguins” were for rental, and then I saw what they meant. The “penguins” or the “polar bears” were cute and useful as a support. Back home in the skating lessons, the first thing a kid learns is how to get up after falling onto the ice, that alleviates quite a bit of fear as the kids would know how to continue. That walk was a familiar one when we stayed near town center, and I walked a bit more. It was nice to see the Eagle Bridge and the Church of Sveti Sedmochislenitsi (where the old town center used to be) again.