Poetsunited, Act 2, they meet...

When I first met Angel in the PAL server he invited me into his own newly started Poetsunited server, where I was the 13th to join. Soon a very nice report started going on between Angel and me and I think it was only a few weeks later that the idea to visit each other popped up. Since then the Poetsunited server has grown to over 500 members and a lot of change and innovation has occurred. We have worked tirelessly for the community ever since. Days of 12 hours or more are no exception still but, we do it all out of love and a vision for this community. So, after 6 months of work and many hours of talking to Angel it was inevitable that we would meet.

So, now that I am back in the Netherlands from my trip to Bulgaria I want to share my adventures with you.

Last week Wednesday I arrived at Sofia International Airport in the early evening after a comfortable flight and got picked up by Angel. It was good to finally see him for real, instead of just pixels on a screen. He drove me to his home town Plovdiv, which is a 133 KM drive. We talked all the way to his house. We arrived at his house around 11 pm to be met by his lovely wife Diana. I felt like being with friends straight away. We talked for a few hours about all sorts of things. Then Angel and me walked though the hot and humid night to his old place, where he lived with his family until recently, a seven minute walk. I slept like a log through the hot and clammy night not realizing the place had an airco...

(Roman theatre in de center of Plovdiv)

The next morning I tried walking to Angel's house and got lost. After Angel picked me up it turned out i got really close and should've gone on just a bit. I was a homing pigoen in a previous life but by now a bit rusty... Then I met his sweet daughter Mimi and baby Kalina, who seems already to have a strong purpose in life and a very mischievous smile to go with that. We had breakfast together and many subjects passed conversation. Late in the afternoon we made a leisurly walk through Plovdiv, which is a very old city with many Roman ruins. The more recent past is of course Soviet and that is to be seen in the typical housing blocks and public buildings. I was a bit surprised by modern buildings standing next to the neglected. Usually very nice old ornamented buildings, but in need of some serious TLC. I bet you could make some dough there if you have some to invest. I have seen higher prices for a garage box here.

(View from Angels balcony)

The temperature was around 35 degrees Celsius (95F) in the city and it was decided to make a run for the hills to escape the heat. The drive into the hills was interesting, beautiful and a bit scary since trafic rules and road surfaces are more or less optional in Bulgaria, but more about this later... We arrived in the early hours of the evening in a nice and cool valley into an old and solid house. After dinner we took a walk a bit up the mountain to get some fresh mountain water, which is deliciously cold and clear. Angel, Diana and me chilled and talked out on the porch untill the early hours again.

(View from the porch)

Friday morning we woke up to the cool mountain climate and had a light breakfast after which we walked through the village and got some more water too. It being Friday we also had a show to think of, the first show that we would really do together. Next time we present it together it will be from my place probably. You can watch the recording here.

We spent most of the rest of the weekend doing essentially nothing but talk, walk, eat and sleep, or try to.

(View from my bedroom window)

We discussed many ideas, about Poetsunited as a community, the witness server and also a few real life business ideas. The chimney has to keep smoking, right? One of those things is an invention by a Bulgarian scientist, he invented a revolutionary kind of concrete. We are going to sell this stuff because it will change the lives of many people in this world, not the least our own, for the better. The plan is, on Monday, to go and see a demonstration of the stuff in a city called Varna. Varna lies on the coast of the Black sea about 500 KM away from Plovdiv. Quite some distance, but also a great chance to see more of the country.

The time came we had to come off the mountain to drive back to a hot Plovdiv again, to be in time for the trip to Varna. we had a late dinner in the city, which was very nice, then headed off home. After 'chewing the fat' until late we really needed to get to bed as we had to leave at 6 the next morning to be in Varna on time to see this concrete in action. In the morning we picked up Angel's dad and headed off to Varna, which was an interesting experience as they say. :D As I mentioned before, trafic rules and road surfaces are kind of optional in Bulgaria. Luckily no one blinks an eye or is offended by anyone breaking one of the 'lesser rules of trafic', like speed limits or overtaking on the right. Add to that a highway where driving on the right lane is impossble at a 140+ KM/h and you get the picture I think. Fortunately Angel and his dad are both excellent drivers and we made it to Varna in around 5 hours. The demonstration would turn out to be in an huge constructions site in the middle of the city. We watched the proceedings in the burning afternoon sun for about 3 hours, almost melting into the ground... But the stuff we saw was seriously interesting, we saw how the concrete was made and we saw his invention do it's magic. I got handed some of the samples I asked for too, this stuff is really amazing... So it was totally worth all of the effort and heat. After that we needed to get going to get back to Plovdiv on time and made the return trip in the dark. Needless to say we were all exhausted when we returned and I think I was asleep about 10 seconds after I hit my pillow.

(Cathedral of the Assumption of the Virgin, in Varna)

I woke up early the next day after a deep and dreamless sleep and decided to walk into Plovdiv to get me some coffee and breakfast. Since the day before had been so exhausting I decided to leave Angel to sleep (hopefully) and go it alone in Plovdiv. I took breakfast at a hotel and then I walked over to the post office to get some post cards to send to my friends and neighbours. Nowadays the mail is kinda depressing because it's only bills, so a postcard is a nice surprise I think. Of course I have been in contact with them with todays instantanious means but that's beside the point :D When Angel finally called me it took a while to figure out where I was since I was in a park when he called. But the younger generations speak English quite well thankfully, I had gone quite the distance from where I started. The rest of the day we just had some r&r and talked more on the balcony, this was the last evening of my stay after all. I would have to leave at 10 am to get to the airport in time.

In short, I have had an awesome time in Bulgaria, it had the pace of a road movie and never a dull moment ;) I have taken Angel, and his family, into my heart. I hope they will all visit me next year, or sooner! They are such warm, generous and loving people! So, much love for @AngelVeselinov, Diana, Mimi and Kalina!

@madevi

All pictures by me, except the first one, which is a screenshot from our DLive show... Looking through my pictures I saw there was no picture of us together... DOH!