We woke up at 3am, Sofia time, to get to the airport at 4am. After a questionable exchange with a taxi driver (lessons learned!), we arrived at the airport, ready for our flights:
- Sofia to Vienna with a 4 hour layover
- Vienna to Chicago with a 4 hour layover
- Chicago to Portland!
Arriving in Vienna, we found the airport to be less than spectacular: dirty bathrooms and terse staff. I will make sure we don’t go through Vienna in the future.
While waiting for our Chicago flight, I came across this man:

Why did I take a photo of this man? Because it was Tuesday, after a Saturday night football game back home. He was decked out in Ohio State gear…shirt, hat, even a fanny pack. I so desperately wanted to chat with him about the game, since we had “watched” it via ESPN Gamecast. *For those of you NOT in the know: Oregon beat #3 Ohio State, at Ohio State. An UNEXPECTED. win*
This Ohio State fan was very tired and looked rather depressed, when he did look up.
I left him as is.
Sue with a mask. Yet another amazing sunset in Chicagoland.
We had noticed an earlier flight to PDX but decided against it – for fear our luggage wouldn’t make it with us.
As we arrived in Portland at 10:30pm on Tuesday, we received a message that our luggage had in fact taken the earlier flight…so it was waiting for us when we hit baggage claim. Oh well, we made it, as did our luggage.
Bob, my sweet cousin, picked us up at the airport and drove us home.
Jan and I want to thank Bob for staying at our house, taking care of Autzen and Aspen and the house. It was relieving to know everything was safe at home. Love you, Bob.
We also want to thank Patrick for yet another awesome adventure.
Maybe, in 2023, we can visit Albania? That’s my idea.
And we’re hoping in 2024, when Emily graduates from AUBG, we can work with Patrick to have family and friends tour some of Bulgaria besides attending her graduation.