Excellent Fourth of July/SCA weekend!

         My friends from Kossovo came over for the long weekend and we did all the medieval things, plus a little Independence Day celebrating. We (that's the family, plus folks from the College, and our visitors) started out Friday with a rousing backyard fighter practice, followed by more food than any of us could eat, then more fighting, then fireworks and vodka-spiked watermelon.

Saturday saw us at the Modvs Vivendi medieval fair at the Boyana Church in Sofia (where we saw a fighting demo, visited an encampment setup, and heard several music groups perform).

 

Next was a visit to the National History Museum, then back home and into Blagoevgrad for dinner at the Irish pub.

 

 

And on Sunday, we made a trip to the Rila Monastery. To my surprise, you can now buy a ticket and climb up Hrelyu's Tower! And the ethnographic rooms have all reopened! We had a lovely time and finished up with lunch at my favorite restaurant and mekitzi from the monastery bakery.