Travel

On Friday July 10 my mom and our kids brought us to the airport for 1:00 in the afternoon.  We had lunch at the Pita Pit and then drove to the airport where they dropped us off.  Coden thought that he would be able to see us take off in the jet so he was disappointed and sad for us to leave and so it was a hard departure for him.  We hugged everyone and grandma took them back home.  We have never left our kids for 2 weeks before so this is new for all of us.  We went through security and found some comfy couches to sit and wait on for our flight that was to take off at 3:40.  I took a little nap and Travis read until it was time to go to our gate for boarding.  We watched an adoption "trust based relational intervention" video during the flight.  We landed in Toronto at 7:00 and found a place for supper.  We had chicken and grilled zucchini which was really tasty and face timed with the kids.  They had just finished swimming and it was good to see them.  At10:00 we boarded our overnight flight to Rome.  I was a bit nervous about flying through the night because I don't sleep well sitting up but I had lots of reading material with so I knew I would be fine.  It ended up that the flight was quite empty and so the 2 seats beside us were free and so we could lie down to sleep!  Thanks Lord for taking care of details even when it is just a preference!  We were tired so as soon as we were in the air we got out our pillows and went to sleep.  1 hour into the flight someone taps us and says "pasta or chicken? Do want pasta or chicken?"  What?  It is 11pm Toronto time.  Midnight our time and they are serving supper!  Travis just said "no thank you" but being the good Mennonite that I am I could not with good conscience turn down a "free" meal!  So Travis slept and I ordered chicken because I read online to never take the pasta.  It came with chicken in a marinara sauce, potato wedges, broccoli and carrots, potato  salad and cold cuts and a nice bowl of fresh fruit.  I could not eat that much food but the fruit was a perfect middle of the night snack!  We landed in Rome at 1:00pm their time and sat in the most crowded airport I have ever been in.  I'm sure Rome is a very nice city maybe someday we will get to see more of it then the airport.  Our flight from Rome left 45 minutes late but we got to Sofia and our agency person was there waiting for us and our checked bag made it as well.

He drove us to our hotel which is in the heart of the city so that we can walk down the main strip where all the shops and restaurants are.  We have a small, quaint and comfortable hotel

The view from our room is not stunning but the air conditioning works well and the bed is comfortable!

Our agency person took us to a restaurant and we ordered a pizza and had a good discussion about how the process would look for the rest of our trip.  Then he left us and we went to walk around in some ancient ruins.

Wheel chair accessibility is a high priority here!

There were buskers everywhere and it was a beautiful evening to see the sights in Sofia.  We retired early and tried to forget that at home it was early afternoon and we were ready for bed.  What a privilege to be here!