Bansko, Bulgaria – Week 4

We are settled into Bankso. We know our way around the town. We have a rhythm with skiing and worldschooling activities and meet-ups. It has been great being in one place for an extended period. 

The weather finally got cold. Average temperatures for the first few weeks were in the upper 30s and low 40s. Now we are consistently in the low 30s. We all wish there was more snow to go with the cold. 

This week our hub organized a family dinner at Queen’s Pub. It is a large restaurant bar that has entertainment every night. They also have pool tables and a video game area. The entertainment that night was a magician and a live band. Henry raved about the food. He had a pork loin and mashed potatoes. The food in Bulgaria is good. Lots of meat and potatoes.  

Magician at Queen’s Pub
Henry was part of the act.

Lucas, Henry and I went swimming with some other families. There are several indoor pools/spas in Bankso. The pools are in hotels, and you can usually get a day pass for about $10. We swam laps and sat in the sauna. We enjoy a chance to warm up since it is so cold outside. We also went on the group hub’s weekly outing to a hot spring. This week we went to Alpha. It is outdoors and has several different pools. 

I went skiing for the first time this week. It was a windy day, so we had to have a couple of breaks for hot chocolate and to thaw out our hands, but we had fun.

On the gondola.
Which way should we go?
Bad to the bone and chilled to the bone!
Lunch after skiing.

We spent another week walking dogs at Bansko Street Dogs. It is not practical to own pets with our traveling lifestyle, but we can still get our animal fix. 

Henry and Lucas enjoyed the kids’ club this week. The club is run by volunteer facilitators who organize activities like board games, and art projects, capture the flag. This week the kids made weapons and tried their hand at soft combat. They also meet weekly to play Dungeons and Dragons.

I went with some other women to a craft event run by a Ukrainian woman who relocated here because of the war. We made notebooks and had a lovely evening hanging out. 

Michael organized weekly roundtable discussions. These are group discussions about various topics important to worldschooling families like education, travel, earning a living, and video editing. It is great to connect with other families who do what we do. I also attended a book club. We read the book Untigering: Peaceful Parenting for the Deconstructing Tiger Parent by Iris Chen. 

Video editing roundtable.

We seek out these worldschooling hubs for the community. We are thankful for the families we met in Bulgaria.