Bulgaria Journeys
Bulgarian Ties- Our Flagship Program
July 18-31, 2013
Bulgarian Ties Lite
July 18-27, 2013
Private or Semi-Private Travel
“The end of all our exploring will be to arrive
where we started and know
the place for the first time.” T.S. Eliot
BULGARIAN TIES HIGHLIGHTS –
Our Flagship Program
|
Bulgaria Itinerary
- Arrive in Sofia, where Ties staff will meet you and provide transportation to the hotel. Bulgarian Ties families stay in moderate, clean hotels, where after a day out experiencing many new tastes, smells, sights and sounds, families can relax.
- Gather for an orientation meeting, a chance to connect with the other families, and discuss the journey ahead.
- Tour Sofia, where you will visit the city centre to enjoy historical sights and bustling local markets, eat scrumptious Bulgarian cuisine, and yes, shop!
- Travel to nearby Rila Monastery for a day of gorgeous scenery of the Rila Mountains, listen to the Rilska and Drushlyavitsa rivers rush on either side of the monastery, and take in the architecture, paintings, and significance of the oldest monastery in Bulgaria.
- Next stop: Balkan Mountain Villages!
- Visit Bojentsi village to experience mansions from the Revival Period, and the Old Town of Tryavna where colorful traditions are alive and well including bagpipes and woodcarving, Etara for an open-air ethnographic museum showing traditional Bulgarian life, and overnight in Kmetovski, a magical mountain village!
- Walk through Arbanasi, seeing well preserved mansions and churches with traditional architecture, before heading to Veliko Tarnovo, the medieval capital of Bulgaria, where the old town and markets are filled with traditional artisans and crafts!
For most families, Veliko Tarnovo will be the jumping off point for the “Centerpiece of your Adoption Homeland Journey.” Families will visit places like Burgas, Buzovgrad, Teteven, Silistra, and Petrovo. If your adoption connections are elsewhere in Bulgaria, The Ties Program will help with those arrangements too.
While on adoption visits, families will:
- Travel with a car, driver and English-speaking guide.
- Visit orphanages, hospitals, caregivers, and other special people related to their adoption. Some families will meet birth family.
- Bulgarian Ties Lite families will return to Sofia and fly home after their adoption visits.
- Bulgarian Ties families will reunite in Varna with time to process adoption visits together.
- Once in Varna, on the Black Sea, take a tour of the ancient Stone Forest. Fun and relaxing activities abound in Varna – bring your swim suit and enjoy the pool, rent a motor boat or sail on a yacht, play tennis, take a horseback ride, go for a hike in the national park, or take in the newly built Aqua-park.
- Leaving Varna, visit the Rose City of Kazanluk, then travel to Stara Zagora where you will visit an “Equal Start” school in the Roma Community.
- Visit one of the most beautiful towns in Bulgaria–Plovdiv, where you can explore the Old Town and its Renaissance atmosphere. Finally, return to Sofia for your return trip home.
Relax. Savor. Reflect.
BULGARIAN TIES LITE
As we move forward, many of our programs will be offered as traditional Ties Programs, and in some countries (Bulgaria included), will include a Ties Lite option. It will give you all of the advantages of traveling with a Ties Program, but a shorter stay, lowering your costs. When you request information, both Bulgarian Ties and Bulgarian Ties Lite will be sent to you.
PRIVATE OR SEMI-PRIVATE TRAVEL
While we believe strongly in the support a group provides, we know there are times when individual family travel is a better fit. We are happy to work with individual families or small groups of families. Please email us your request.
