Hi this is Chris and I am traveling for Christmas this year and so this is going to be a repeat

episode of amateur traveler. I picked one that I think you'll like and so here's episode

691 about Bulgaria. It's a gold looking real good in my passport photo.

Amateur Traveler episode 691.

Today the Amateur Traveler talks about craftsmen and churches, one last stand, communism, Byzantine's, Ottomans and Thracians,

as we go to the country of Bulgaria. Welcome to the amateur traveler.

I'm your host Chris Christensen.

With no further ado, let's talk about a road trip through Bulgaria. I'd like to welcome

to the show Tom and Patty Birkett who are coming to us from Ohio but come to

talk to us about Bulgaria.

Tom and Patty, welcome to the show.

Thank you.

Hi there.

And what is your connection to Bulgaria?

Well, I have a cousin who's in the US Foreign Service and he's posted in Bulgaria currently and is married to a Bulgarian woman.

And we decided to celebrate our 48th wedding anniversary that we would like to do a trip that was a bit more exotic than we usually do and that since we had a connection there in Bulgaria and it heard on your show that Bulgaria is a country that is more like Europe

might have been several decades ago but it would be an interesting place to

visit and we discovered that that was absolutely true.

Well I think that feeds into my next question which is why should someone go to Bulgaria?

Well interestingly we got that question a lot from all of our friends and family.

I am not surprised.

And actually also from many Bulgarians who said,

...