Our Malko Luna del Miele

Our lovely Bulgarian crew gave us a one night stay at the hotel and spa of Todoroff Vineyards - one of the leading wineries here in Bulgaria. On Saturday morning we started off towards the central part of Bulgaria, stopping for lunch and a quick tour of the former capital of Bulgaria - Plovidv - which has a beautifully preserved old town, before making our way through backroads and wrongturns until Kate eventually spotted the hotel. We loved our stay and thank those Bulgats dearly...

Our fives wines:
Todoroff Boutique Cabernet Sauvignon - Boutique Mavrud - Gallery Mavrud - Gallery Cabernet Sauvignon - Teres Mavrud

Swirl the wine, look at its color, sniff the wine with your nose all the way in the glass, swirl again, sniff again, take a drink, move the wine around in your mouth, swallow, think about each stage of the taste from the moment the wine hits your tongue to seconds after you swallow, eat a piece of cheese, respect the bread, take a drink of water, and now you're ready for a different wine.

Although it is considered somewhat classless, both Kate and I wanted to finish each glass.

Kate and I had our private wine tasting with our knowledgable, professional guide Georgi.

I was getting drunk just on the aroma that came from the Todoroff cellars.

One day we will have a wine cellar that looks something like this.
These bare bottles contain a special reserve that Todoroff will be selling by year's end.



This is from the year's harvest and the wine will remain in these Bulgarian oak barrels for about 8 months.

The clientele at Todoroff was right up our alley. I felt at home as I backed the Volkswagon Passate alongside these other fine automobiles. We weren't sure if the winery just put these cars out in front to give the appearance of exorbitant wealth, or if there all of the other guests are in a whole other income bracket than us. I was also a little worried that they would make us move our car.

Basically the same car.

Bent and Broken

After a four course meal, we needed a little walk through the town and into the Mavrud grape vineyards. Mavrud is a grape used for a wine only found in Bulgaria.


The little town of Brestovitza is home to Todoroff Wine and Spa. A beautiful hotel that is harder than hell to find.

The Todoroff vineyards are found throughout the central part of Bulgaria, called the Thracian Valley.

As we searched for the hotel, we spotted this stork nest with a new momma stork getting ready to feed her young. We have seen these nests, empty, earlier in the year, and they are a sight to see. Very impressive indeed as the massive nest tops the electricity pole, like a cherry.


The closer you get, the more amazing it is to see. A work of art.

Although I didn't catch them in this picture, shortly after this shot little stork heads started appearing and clamoring for food. It was adorable.

Heather's Moment

Our friend Heather, the writer... the poet... the artist... the dreamer... the believer.. the deep thinker... (the over-thinker)...the philosopher...the feeler... the "She's our friend,"(we brag) ....wrote this beautiful poem for us and shared it during our wedding ceremony. We are honored, inspired, envious...and, yet, Heather simply calls it a "thingy."

So here's Heather's thingy:

These Days (with inspiration from Mathew Rohrer)

This morning I woke in the same city they introduced me to.
This morning I dressed in front of a window whose view is always reflected in me.
This morning we all woke and whispered, today we will bless this.

And this day we are here under the trees and shiny things.
This day we were let in on a secret

On this day, the wedding is theirs and we are witnesses.
As we have witnessed all along.

We witness
The secret they tried to keep
(from prying teenage ears and prying grown up eyes)
We witness the world they made their own
(through bicycle tours and downward dogs)
We witness the languages they learned to speak
(from smoothworn cobblestones to communist bloc)
We witness the way they let us in
(when eyes and ears stopped prying there they were, as if they’d always been, just the way you see them now, as if they’d always been)

What we witness is what we strive for.
In the marriages we have and in the marriages we imagine.
In the friendships we celebrate and in the friendships we long for.
In the journeys we plan and the journeys we dream about.
This day, we witness all of this.

Here within the circle of trees.
There just beyond the trees.
We bless this.
We wish for a little bit of this.
We hope for just a little but of this

And here's Heather's Inspiration:

Epithalamium by Matthew Rohrer

In the middle garden is the secret wedding,
that hides always under the other one
and under the shiny things of the other one. Under a tree
one hand reaches through the grainy dusk toward another.
Two right hands. The ring is a weed that will surely die.


There is no one else for miles,
and even those people far away are deaf and blind.
There is no one to bless this.
There are the dark trees, and just beyond the trees.

from wikipedia
epithalamium (from Greek; epi- upon, and thalamium nuptial chamber, sometimes also spelled "epithalamion") specifically refers to a form of poem that is written for the bride. Or, specifically, written for the bride on the way to her marital chamber. The word derives from the Greek epithalamios which means "of a wedding", epi (of) + thalamos (bridal chamber.) This form continued in popularity through the history of the classical world; the Roman poet Catullus wrote a famous epithalamium, which was translated from or at least inspired by a now-lost work of Sappho.

And here's Heather:

The Wedding in Photos