I took three small trips on the return to Bulgaria after time in the States. The second was to Corfu, since I thought o should get to one beach during the course of the summer. Corfu is a one hour flight direct from Sofia, so that was pretty much the easiest, nicest option. I do want to get to the Black Sea sometime soon too. In Corfu, I stayed four days on the Northern side of the island in Acharavi.
After being in the Kansas City with family and friends, I headed back out towards Bulgaria via Iceland. The three day trip became two when a storm hit the East coast and made my connecting flight to Reykjavik impossible. But I made the most of it, visiting a number of locations I’d intended to along the southern coast.
Had one extra personal day to use at the end of the year and the cheapest flight from Sofia is Krakow, Poland. It was a fun weekend of exploring an old, yet vibrant city.
On Memorial Day weekend, I headed to a long awaited travel destination for me: Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland. My friend, Sydney, and I stayed in Wengen, a 10 minute tram’s ride up the mountain from the Lauterbrunnen valley. It gave us stunning views of the valley.
Chaperoned the school track team to our meet in Athens for three days in May.
B
Two friends, Emily and Sydney, and I headed to Mallorca, Spain during a long weekend April 30-May 2nd. We stayed in near Palma for ease of access to the airport. After driving around a lot of the island, I think we’d enjoy staying in a less touristy part like along the southeast coastline.
Cala S’Almunia – Southeast coast
Playa es Port
Spring Break started with a night layover in Chișinău, Moldova. I intended to explore a bit more during the first day, but a bomb threat at the airport delayed my wandering by three hours. Here are some photos from the time in Chișinău.
I then headed to Barcelona, Spain for three days and two nights. Enjoyed time at the incomparable La Sagrada Família Church, Guell Park, and walking around La Rambla. A stay at a hotel with a rooftop pool made for a nice time with a great view.
The second half of my break was spent back home in KC.
February 14, 2026
For what the school terms, “ski break,” in February, I headed back to Milan for more Olympics action. This time, my sisters came back very from KC and Chicago to partake in the action before coming over to check out Sofia.
After watching some hockey at the Czech House the first day, we decided to go see some action in person on day two. We caught some speed skating at the ice arena.
Even got on camera behind the flag raising of the medal ceremony.
That night we headed back to the ice arena for some pairs figure skating finals.
The skating was phenomenal and came to an exciting finish.
After attending the Games in Italy, we headed back to Sofia to show off a bit of the city parks, my school, a monastery, and a hot springs about an hour outside of town.
February 6-7, 2026
Back to back weekends in February, I was able to fly to Milan, Italy for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
The first weekend was with a couple friends and we came for one night to see the opening ceremonies.
The economic option is to fly Wizz Air to Bergamo Airport, about an hour outside of Milan. A Terravision bus ride got us to Central Station in Milan just in time to watch the torch parade by and exchange occur.
We made our way towards the Duomo, but barriers prevented us from getting to the main plaza. So, we headed towards our Air B&B until it was time to head to the stadium for the ceremonies.
I was not shocked the torch wasn’t lit within the stadium, but I had to go see it. So I woke up before dawn the next morning and jogged a couple kilometers over to the arch.
Headed towards the bus station but not before snagging an authentic Italian pizza.
January 17, 2026
The Pernik Festival is an annual celebration in Bulgaria and other Balkan countries. The wearing of masks and costumes ward off bad spirits. The competition in Pernik is one of the biggest celebrations of its kind.
WETZEL'S WANDERINGS 