August 2011
By the time we’d reached Varna, I was fed-up. We were in our fourth week of traveling through Croatia and Bulgaria, and I was tired of everything associated with a long road trip in countries with unfamiliar languages. It was hot, and my knees were in pain. Adding to my irritation, our hotel was in a seedy part of town. After misreading the listing outside the Opera House and waiting in line at the box office, we learned that we’d missed the performance of “Rigoletto” by a month. The final irritant was coming across an event sponsored by women-targeted cigarette, razor, and magazine companies – short foot races of models wearing tight clothes and high, high heels.