I write in the lobby restaurant of the Sofia Hotel Balkan. It has been an eventful few weeks since I wrote my last blog entry in Las Vegas / Varna and posted.

I certainly recovered from COVID although I cannot shake this cough. I flew to Varna, suffered one of the worst cases of jet lag I’ve ever had, found an apartment for Jakob and I, rented it [see pictures in the gallery], and am now on my way to the Philippines. I love the apartment. The kitchen especially. and the views are amazing. It is located in Primorski Park in Varna right next to the sea. We were lucky to find it I think.

Winter in Bulgaria. Don’t. Just don’t. As someone said, it might be different at the ski resorts but in the cities, they let people smoke INSIDE the restaurants. Even if I could stand the smell, I hate the idea of my clothes smelling of cigarette smoke. And I just don’t take the cold well any more. And I lucked out by experiencing the worst winter weather Varna has had in a long time. Luckily, I did have my winter gear with me.

As I mentioned in the last post, the Philippines opened back up to tourists without quarantine just a few weeks ago so I changed my plans and decided to cut my stay in Bulgaria short. First, I just wanted to get home, second, I didn’t see any point in hanging around in winter weather.

I tried not to think about it when I had no choice, but it will be good to get back ‘home’. I’ve been traveling for 26 months more or less. It was two years ago this week that I got out of Argentina and landed in Las Vegas. Yes. I partially settled in Las Vegas but it never really felt like home. Especially after Mark died. I’m tired. I hope a couple of months being in my own house with my own office and seeing my friends will recharge me.

I don’t want to dwell on the Ukraine conflict very much. The Financial Times of London wrote a pretty good article on Putin and his inner circle.

https://www.ft.com/content/503fb110-f91e-4bed-b6dc-0d09582dd007 - Worth reading

But in essence these morons ‘resent’ the fall of Russia from the world power they (kind of) represented during the cold war. Never mind it was due to the stupid and blinkered policies of genocidal goat shaggers like Stalin and Khrushchev. They should just get over it, but they (Putin and his inner circle) are mentally ill and not being treated.  I hope the economic sanctions will work and quickly but who knows. I have sent a fair amount of money towards Ukrainian charities of one sort or the other. A drop in the bucket but it is all I can do. I did (for a few minutes) contemplate volunteering for the Ukraine (Google it, they are accepting foreign soldiers and granting them citizenship), but of course, my body couldn’t handle it. And I don’t speak a speck or Russian or Ukrainian. Oh … I didn’t mean as a fighter but more as maybe logistical / operational / emergency medical type support but I just didn’t see how it would work. I would be more a burden than a help.

By the way, I said Russia were ‘kind of’ a world power because even back in the 80s, the quality of their military was more about nukes and numbers. Their soldiers were poorly trained and led (even more so now with the purges Putin has inflicted on leadership) and their equipment poorly designed and badly maintained. Their performance in Ukraine kind of speaks to that.

So that is the update for now. I am awaiting my COVID test this afternoon. I did one a few days ago and did turn up negative but I worry. The Philippines does not honor a COVID recovery letter (unless you are a Filipino national ?!?).