Sofia Excursions to the Train Yard and Mineral Museum

Our first excursions together in Sofia after Papa's arrival:

Here is a picture from the "Museum of Earth and Man"...which is really a mineral museum with a collection that specializes is very large specimens, especially large pieces of quartz. It was a nice surprise actually as the museum is actually quite extensive. We searched and they even have samples of native copper from the U.P.!

Next, we met with a contact whose name papa had been given as a fellow train enthusiast. Assen, it turns out, usually leads excursions to see all the steam trains in Bulgaria. There are 100 steam engines left, with 8 in working order. These have been placed in "strategic reserve" at various military compounds around the country in case of some catastrophic emergency. While we may not be able to see these engines ourselves without some kind of clearance, Assen did take us to Sofia train depot to poke around the yard and take pictures. It was actually quite interesting. They are repairing one steam engine for a special run on the 10th of July along the Iskur river gorge, a very scenic route north of Sofia. They rest of the yard holds a random assortment of old and abandoned engines and rail cars, and currently in-use rail cars, diesel engines, and a few electric trains.