A Roman "track" from around the second century

It is really cool how they unearthed this track and are integrating the site right into the middle of town. They estimate it seated about 30,000 people. It is similar to the track in the movie "Ben Hur." Most of the track is right under the middle of an upscale shopping street.



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A scale model of the track at the beginning of the excavated site.

Location:Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Sunday morning in India

This is where we went for church service this morning. The house was packed and about 50 people sat outside in an overflow tented area. Pastor Andy ministered. Great service and lunch on the grounds.


It is expected that you remove your shoes before entering the church. The church was packed so actually about half the people came barefooted.




Need some large quantities of rice? We've got the pots for it. The pails are what they serve the curries from. Today there were three types of curry to go with the large scoopful of rice.




Of course, then someone has to clean up. :) - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Tenali, India

Old town

Visited Plovdiv today. At the turn of the century, (the first one :)) it was Philipopolis. Roman amphitheater from 2nd century AD. Stadium about the same time.



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Preparing to put on a pretty elaborate stage show in the old Roman amphitheater. Modern technology meets history. You can speak in a normal voice and be heard in the amphitheater. The acoustics are something else.

Location:Plovdiv Bulgaria

A bit of home in Bulgaria

Street singer along the shoreline walk on the Black Sea singing and playing Dylan. Had to put a couple of Leva in his basket. :)



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Location:Bulgaria

Late dinner

Take a look at the pics below. Guess where we are? No it's not a Roman ruin (of which there are many here). It's the restaurant we ate at last night.
This afternoon we start our pastors seminar/conference - we stay there tonight (a couple of hours from Stara), finish tomorrow at lunch, and then on to the Black Sea for site seeing and I'm sure some shopping.



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Location:Stara Zagora, Bulgaria

I have been wanting to show the landscaping at the houses in our little village - which seems to be the norm for the residents of small towns. One thing we have noticed is that people here (and in at least some areas in Italy) love plants, plantings, and landscaping. The pictures below are all from our little village of Fohren-Linden and all are within about 200 yards (I mean meters :)) of our apartment. I took them all by just waking down the sidewalk.
























The people here take great pride in their homes. They love to have plants about everywhere there is a place to put one and you don't see ANY houses where the plantings, yard, walks, etc are neglected. They are well tended. Winter wood piles are stacked neatly. You will not find junk sitting around anyone's house. The few we have been in are just as well tended on the inside.

Encouraging Walkers

Lots of people walk here in the villages of Fohren-Linden and Berschweiler. People take walks on the country roads all the time. Many have dogs with them - which are extremely well trained and good mannered - and others just walk - often in pairs. Many of the small country roads are paved (even though they are not much wider than about a lane and maybe a half) AND they maintain benches where there are great views and usually a good breeze. The benches are not a long walk from about any location. Here are three benches and some views they afford which are all within a mile of our apartment and Zeb's house.










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The benches are great for a break or for pondering life, writing, etc.

Location:Berschweiler

Catch up on Germany

Denise and I took Hazel and Rueben to a couple of parks on post to play. We are trying to do some entertaining of young ones while the others are in school.


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And of course, Mima has to give it a try too.








They have some great play areas for kids on post.

Location:Post park for kids at Baumholder

On to Bulgaria

Well, here we are in Bulgaria. Beautiful fall weather. The food is great AND not expensive. Here they say that if you want to see the "head" ( read political capital) of Bulgaria, go to Sophia. If you want to see the heart of Bulgaria, go to Stara Zagora.
Pastor Andy ministered at our host's church this morning. Awesome service. Tonight we are going to a "gypsy" church. Tomorrow we will put on a conference/ seminar for several local pastors.



Pastor Luybo in the back, his daughter Debra in the middle, and pastor Tanya in the foreground. Great hosts. Debra speaks Bulgarian, English, and Spanish very well, and is learning French as her fourth language.



The next 2 or 3 pics are the park and streets outside the door of the hotel we are staying in. For a few blocks, this avenue is only open to pedestrian travel - no vehicles.









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Location:Stara Zagora

More flowers and plants

Here are a few more pictures of the greenery outside of their homes in the hill towns:








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Location:Hill towns of Tuscany

Plants and Flowers

In each of the hill towns we visited, it was very common to see plants and flowers set out next to the apartments and homes that made up the narrow streets. They would be hung from the windows, set on the road itself near the walls, or climbing on the walls and terraces. When I was a little girl








, I saw a quote that said we should plant flowers and flower seeds, they feed the soul. Here are a few pictures we took from various towns.


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Location:Hill Towns of Tuscany