by Kalina, age 9 from Sofia, Bulgaria, asks Santa about the Christmas Prince movie, Vitosha Mountain, and Bulgaria’s Christmas Eve dish tradition.
Dear Santa, my name is Kalina, and I am nine years old. I live in Sofia, Bulgaria, where my baba says our whole city sits at the foot of a mountain so close you can see skiers from downtown on a clear day.
Dear Kalina, a mountain visible right from the city center makes for one of the most convenient landing views on my entire European route, your baba picked a truly scenic hometown.
Santa, I have three questions.
Do you know the Christmas Prince? My cousin watches that movie every single year and quotes it constantly.
I know it well, Kalina, a cheerful, fairy tale kind of Christmas movie about royalty and holiday romance. Your cousin’s enthusiasm sounds like the exact right way to enjoy a movie like that, quotes and all.
My baba says Sofia sits right at the base of Vitosha Mountain. Is that true?
It is true, Kalina, Vitosha rises right at the edge of your city, close enough that skiers can be down the slopes and back in town within the same afternoon. I always enjoy that dramatic mountain backdrop flying in.
My baba says on Christmas Eve, our family always makes an odd number of dishes, like seven or nine, all without meat. Is that true?
It is true, Kalina, many Bulgarian families prepare an odd number of meatless dishes for Christmas Eve, a tradition believed to bring good luck for the year ahead. Careful, thoughtful traditions like that, passed down through generations, are exactly what make each country’s Christmas feel like its own.
Merry Christmas, Santa.
Your friend,
Kalina Petrova
Sofia, Bulgaria
P.S. Can you count exactly how many dishes are on our table this year?
I will do a careful count, Kalina, purely out of professional curiosity.
