Category Archives: Adventures

Stories of some of my adventures, either indoors or outside

Apr28

A breather in Bulgaria – Walltopia

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Sunday, 31-August-2025



“Seriously? Walltopia is based in Bulgaria? It was FOUNDED in Bulgaria?”
– Ben, upon hearing that the company that build his favorite climbing gyms around the world was started in Bulgaria.

It wasn’t something I’d expected to ever hear, and it wasn’t a place I ever expected to make a pilgrimage to… but the idea of visiting the showroom for the company that’s made almost all of my favorite climbing gyms did start to grow on me quickly.

Walltopia is a manufacturing company that makes wall panels, holds, HVAC, and then slathers textures pseudo-rock on top of it all. They make climbing gyms, and I owe them a huge amount of gratitude for the quality of the gyms I’ve been to.

And, interestingly, down the street from where Andrea’s family has an apartment in Sofia, Walltopia has their showcase gym. A spot where they can invite people to climb while showing off all the new technology that they’re working on.

We, of course, tested it all out, and had an absolute blast doing so.



Apr24

A breather in Bulgaria – Sofia!

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Tuesday, 26-August-2025 through Sunday, 31-August-2025


Bulgaria.

I haven’t been to this part of the world, before. I knew that I had the best tour guide I could ask for in Andrea, and had done the base background research on the history and culture (and had obviously absorbed some myself, such as Banitsa), but the adventure was a first foray into a new world, regardless.

It was glorious.


I can’t overstate how great of a guide Andrea was / is – I lovingly call her “The queen of Sofia”, and that title was well earned the whole time we were in town. Everywhere we went, people recognized her. Every restaurant saw the owner, chef, or someone similar come out to visit and catch up… alongside consistent extras unexpectedly appearing. Each bite was excellent, and each drink was special. I was in incredibly good hands.


Now, what did we do, specifically? Quite a bit:
– We visited Andrea’s Grandma for her birthday!
– We had amazing food – Italian, Turkish, pastries, and BBQ
– We met fun and interesting people – tons of folks from Andrea’s previous life, all interesting and enjoyable
– We explored. Walking around the city, I even had an afternoon of solo exploration where I got to recollect the fun of my Grand Adventure, exploring a city where I don’t know the language.


It really was an excellent start to an excellent vacation.

Apr22

A breather in Bulgaria – The flights

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Late August and early September, 2025


With classes complete and the job search just starting up, we needed a break.

The United States wasn’t looking ideal for a post-completion celebration, and neither Andrea nor I really wanted to stay in Ireland for the time being. Ideas were bandied about, itineraries considered, and a final idea settled on. Bulgaria!

We start our journey in the airport, on the planes, and with a lovely little robot keeping the floors of the airport clean.

(Ed. note: Ben had completed classes at this point, but hadn’t actually officially graduated – that would come later, in October)