The night we left for our trip, the sounds of the city came together to send us off. At 3:00 am, I awoke to a couple dissessembling a refrigerator that had been abandoned on the sidewalk outside our bedroom window. They tried to load it into their idling van quietly, but large appliances don’t go down easily. They left, and were soon replaced by a horn-happy car. Then, a reggaeton blaster. A trash truck stopped by to grind the waste of the neighborhood. An old man with his salsa boom box. Soon the sun started rising and the upstairs neighbor started dropping his body building weights. By the time the school bus arrived to summon its passenger with more honking, I was out of bed and drinking coffee. There’s only so much noise I can take the night before a big trip.

Now, after a short stop over in Barcelona, we’ve arrived in Sofia, Bulgaria. Another city, and with it, the roar of traffic outside our window. The scream of graffiti on the building walls. The voices raised with alchohol outside the window in the wee hours of the morning. It feels quiet, though. I am quiet: I don’t know the language! In 24 hours, I’ve learned to say zdrasti (hi) and blogodaria (thank you) (but you can also say merci). I am quiet, and the people I see are quiet towards me, perhaps sensing that there’s not much for us to say.

A friend here told us that the city is empty, with everyone leaving for the shore during the summer months. We’ve had no problem finding a table at the many sidewalk restaurants and cafes we stop at, where rosey tomatos are served with parsley and fresh white cheese. There are plenty of people to see, though: Bulgarian Orthodox priests in black cassocks. Friendly children playing hide and seek. The women of Sofia are fun to watch because they are flamboyant, floral women, often with a bouquet in their hand. Outside of the city, rose petals are pressed into precious oil that is sold around the world.

We visited Roman ruins and Bulgarian Orthodox churches with gold ceilings and domes. In the afternoon, we sat under trees shedding tear-shaped leaves that glowed in the afternoon sun.  I’ve learned how to say тих: it is the word for quiet here.