Honestly, would you have guessed correctly in which country the pictures at right and below were taken? I must confess I wouldn’t have had a clue. Doing a little research on this Eastern European country, I became more and more curious about its natural beauty, rich culture and history.
Once in a while we receive home exchange offers from places less travelled. (At least from the perspective of a Western home exchanger.) All things 
considered, would you accept a home swap to a country totally unfamiliar and unknown to you?It is not like that place you have been dreaming and fantasying about for years (think Amalfi Coast!). It is more like a real travel adventure where you don’t know what to expect.
(On a side note, that reminds me of a trip to Lahore, Pakistan, that I took as a young flight attendant for Swissair. Lahore is situated on the legendary silk-road. Its unique blend of 
architecture is evidence of its centuries ago Mughal rule and the era of the British Raj.
I came to Lahore with an invitation from a carpet dealer who I had met in Switzerland through a friend. When I asked a local taxi driver for his address upon my arrival, the taxi driver laughed at me. I later learned, Lahore was an 8-million-people-city and the name of my host, Malik, was as common as “Miller” in America. But after only one hour, Mister Malik showed up at the train station to pick me up. It must have been thanks to the taxi driver’s excellent networking skills. 
For the next 4 days I was treated like royalty and shown the most amazing mosques, gardens and palaces. However, what stayed most vividly in my memory was a dinner conversation about arranged marriages that the wife (and matriarch) of my host’s family held with her four teenage sons in front of her husband and me.)
Such an unforgettable trip can be a true revelation for the adventurous traveler. Pakistan hadn’t be on top of my travel list, but because I had the opportunity 
to visit there, I was given an extraordinary chance to see a world culturally so different from my own. The same holds true for home exchange offers from less traveled territories. If you like to discover new cultures this might be a good opportunity for you.
These beautiful pictures, here, were taken in Bulgaria. If you are interested in exploring parts of South Eastern Europe via home exchange, please contact JewettStreet member Rachel in Stara Zagora, Home-ID 2360 and Home-ID 2409. 
Her preferred travel destination is Southern France this summer.
Other listings in Eastern Europe
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Pictures from top to bottom: Rila Monastery, Red Creeks at Belogradchik, Todorka Peak, Roman Amphitheater in Stara Zagora, Street in Stara Zagora, Burghas Black Sea
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