Blogs from Sofia, Sofia City , Bulgaria, Europe - page 3

Geo: 42.7105, 23.3238(By popular demand, I've included a picture of the skinny lion. It's from a distance, so you can't really tell it has a mohawk, but check out those ribs!)Breakfast this morning was the usual European array of meats, cheeses, yogurt, muesli, breads - both savory and sweet - eggs and bacon. Also, stewed vegetables, olives, celery sticks and sliced tomatoes. I had a nice conversation with Barb from Illinois/Arizona (and who looks so much like a Barb that it would be weird if she were called something else) and Ray from Camano Island. He makes glass art (not blown glass though), and his wife was wearing a pretty example of some earrings he made.We met in the lobby at 8:55 for our walking tour of Sofia. It was very cool this morning, which I ... read more

Geo: 42.7105, 23.3238My flight was at 1:43, so naturally we left the house at 10:35 (well, it is the Friday of Labor Day weekend!) and got to SeaTac just after 11:00. My flight was booked through KLM, but Delta operates the flights out of Seattle to Amsterdam. Bag drop was a little chaotic and took maybe 15 minutes, but then I discovered that I'd been selected for TSA Pre-Check, which meant that I could just march right up to the conveyor belt, plop my carry-on down, and go through the scanner. No taking out my liquids or laptop; no taking off my shoes and sweater. Pretty slick! I wonder how I can get selected every time I fly. (I was actually behind three JAL flight crew. It was like this was their first time through security. ... read more

27/28 juillet (De Varna vers Sofia) Je suis dans un vieux train rouillé en direction de Sofia. Night train. Je suis le seul passager de ma capsule. Il y a quatre bancs vides devant moi qui font face aux identiques quatre bancs de mon côté. Le train ballotte dans la tiède nuit ferroviaire. Parfois, pour me dégourdir, je vais longer les corridors métalliques en m'imaginant agent secret en terrain ennemi. Ke-Klock, Ke-Klock, Ke-Klock font les rails sous les wagons. (Musique de James Bond) Par les fenêtres entre-ouvertes, j'observe les paysages industriels illuminés par les usines au ralentit et par les veilleuses rouge des inactives cheminées s'étirant comme des canons qui auraient la puissance de trouer la lune. Thermo nucléaire. La fenêtre dans ma capsule personnelle s'ouvre grande comme une porte. Je l'ai testé. Je me dis ... read more

14 juillet 2014 ... Je sors de l'avion de Turkish Airlines en prenant bien soin de remercier l'agent de bord aux grands yeux qui m'a gentiement changé de place durant le trajet Montréal/Istanbul. C'est mon escale ça, Istanbul. Il est 16h00 à l'atterrissage ici alors qu'à Montréal, il est presque l'heure de déjeuner. Sans surprise, je n'ai pas très bien dormi. Mais je suis probablement plus reposé que si l'agent de bord aux grands yeux m'avait laissé à mon banc initial. Vous voyez, j'avoisinais une jeune pleurnicharde qui s'était probablement gavée de sucreries avant le départ de YUL. Quelques coups de coude et grimaces furent suffisant pour me convaincre de faire la grande demande aux grands yeux de la Turkish Airlines. C'est ainsi que je me suis retrouvé collé au hublot, jambes allongées et pantoufles aux ... read more

Hello my fellow travellers! After a sleepless and chaotic night in Edirne I arrived in Sofia at 6 am. I must admit that I didn't feel quite okay in this city at this hour, it stank of urine pretty much everywhere and I'd heard some real horror stories about the area around the Central Bus Station. It's apparently in a quite bad neighbourhood. Thankfully the bus driver I travelled with was kind enough to exchange my last TRY for BGN and fortunately I met a nice Bulgarian traveller who helped me get in touch with my host Georg so that he could come and meet me. Georg is a sweet guy that lives with his wife and son not far from the Central Bus Station. After I met up with him I went in and took ... read more