Postcard from Bulgaria : Ice

It’s been a long time I’ve seen snow and ice covering the entire landscape and turning the world into a black and white Japanese painting. This morning wasn’t white, however. It was silvery-blue and scintillating.

“The cold earth slept below;
Above the cold sky shone…”
Percy Busshe Shelley

If I could only somehow capture how vivid and metallic the icy morning smells, as the cold obliterates all odors apart from those of frozen earth and burning wood.

Photography by Bois de Jasmin, the village of Gorno Draglishte in Razlog Municipality, in Blagoevgrad Province, Bulgaria.

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24 Comments

  • Anne: Beautiful! It doesn’t snow a lot around here either. January 24, 2020 at 10:25am Reply

    • Victoria: Thank you. Yes, winters here have been getting warmer. January 25, 2020 at 8:20am Reply

  • Sherry: This is such a stunning picture!! It snows a lot where I live. I tend to associate snow with 2 hrs of shuffling snow and the back pain came after. 😂

    I appreciate the serenity of it, reminds me winter can be beautiful. Guess I don’t always slow down and “smell the rose”. The first perfume came to my mind is Frederic Malle L’Eau d’Hiver. Safe traveling in Bulgaria and happy weekend! January 24, 2020 at 11:20am Reply

    • Milka: To me as well, it is one of my all time favourites. January 24, 2020 at 2:34pm Reply

      • Victoria: Lovely, isn’t it? I might wear it today. January 25, 2020 at 8:21am Reply

    • Victoria: Yes, I also find snow much less romantic when I have to commute, but it’s so beautiful when it starts falling. I miss that.

      L’Eau d’Hiver would be so appropriate. January 25, 2020 at 8:21am Reply

  • Milka: Such beautiful scenery. Soft and austere at the same time. And the cow in the middle, it’s warm, honeyed colour like a ray of sunshine against the frosty landscape. January 24, 2020 at 3:00pm Reply

    • Victoria: The cows looked so vivid in the silvery blue light. January 25, 2020 at 8:22am Reply

  • rickyrebarco: Beautiful photo. Snow is beautiful in rural areas, but it causes so many traffic snarls in cities. I grew to hate it when I lived in Washington, D.C. My commute would go from 1 hour to 3 or 4 hours as the buses tried to make their way through the snow drifts. We moved much closer to the city, right on a subway line and that solved the problem! January 24, 2020 at 3:55pm Reply

    • Victoria: It’s even worse when cities aren’t prepared for snow and then it becomes a state of total chaos. January 25, 2020 at 8:25am Reply

  • Sebastian: Yes, a beautiful photo. There isn’t really any snow, is there? It’s stark and a bit bleak, bluish and icy. A bit disconsolate, were it not for the cows. What perfume would be like that? Surely not anything powdery and soft like L’Eau d’Hiver! (Which also has that unfortunate almondy-honey sweetness, totally unwintry.) But what? I think I would love to have such a scent. Something that smells like Purcell’s Cold Genius sounds. January 24, 2020 at 7:18pm Reply

    • Victoria: There isn’t much snow in the valley, but a short distance up the mountains, everything is white. That being said, this winter is unusually warm for Bulgaria, and even high in the mountains, the temperatures are what you’d expect in March or April, not January.

      When I smelled L’Eau d’Hiver, it seemed perfect for the scene. I also would pick Chanel 18 for that metallic, melted snow nuance of the ambrette seed note. January 25, 2020 at 8:32am Reply

  • OperaFan: Love the contrast of the cows against the frosty landscapes. Alas, we are not getting the kind of snowfall like we’re used to anymore in NJ…. January 25, 2020 at 7:44am Reply

    • Victoria: I also haven’t seen ice like this for ages! January 25, 2020 at 8:32am Reply

  • Klaas: Oh, I miss snow and ice!! In Amsterdam where I live the temperatures hardly drop below 0 Celcius anymore. I miss winter weather, all we get now is grey skies and drizzle……brrrrrrrr……. January 25, 2020 at 10:51am Reply

    • Victoria: We have similar weather in Belgium, although the light these days is beautiful and pearly. January 27, 2020 at 4:18am Reply

  • spe: That looks like what we call hoarfrost in Canada.
    I think of Chanel 22. January 25, 2020 at 12:05pm Reply

    • Victoria: Chanel 22 is a great choice. January 27, 2020 at 4:18am Reply

  • Aurora: This beautiful photo from Bulgaria (hope you’re having a great time) reminds me of ‘In the bleak mid-winter’ poem which is also set to music to make a very popular Christmas Carol.
    I would wear something warming to counter the cold, for eg. Folies de Saisons Delires d’Automne, my favorite ginger which always read as warming to me, on delicious resins. January 25, 2020 at 12:33pm Reply

    • Victoria: That sounds wonderful! January 27, 2020 at 4:18am Reply

  • Aurora: reads as warming sorry for the typo.

    If I were to go with the weather instead of fighting it I would pick Wrappings. January 25, 2020 at 1:37pm Reply

    • Victoria: I do like Wrappings on such days. January 27, 2020 at 4:19am Reply

  • Christine Funt: Thank you for sharing this beautiful image–one to meditate on. January 25, 2020 at 2:41pm Reply

    • Victoria: Thank you, I’m glad that you liked it. January 27, 2020 at 4:19am Reply

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