Sofia travels

I took another lazy day today. I woke up to a bit of thunder, and was not at all motivated to move. Also, I could hear the street dogs barking all last night and wasn't too keen on meeting them in person. So instead, I decided to take today to upload a bunch of photos, organize some travel stuff, and just relax.

Oh, and I had no local currency yet, and I didn’t really feel like roaming the streets of Sofia by myself. Sketch.

When I went down for supper though, the restaurant was closed. Crap. Looks like I’ll be venturing out today after all haha. Reception was super helpful and nice, telling me how to first find an ATM. (Minor detail) And off I went.

It wasn’t too far, about a 15min walk down the same street. The area’s apparently quite safe (it’s where all the embassies are), yet I still find it odd. I don’t know if odd’s the right word, but we’ll stick with that. I think it’s just the idea that I’m in a completely different locale than I’m used to, and the minor detail I’m the obvious foreign girl and I'm alone. Details, details.

On the walk I encountered about 5 stray street dogs. The first two freaked me out a bit, but then I realized they don’t bother you, they don't even notice you - they carry on their merry way, and sometimes happen to glance up and just watch you walk by. They were actually pretty cute for street dogs… but obv I didn’t want a closer look.

Then there was a garbage can with something furry in it. Upon closer inspection I realized it was a dead kitten missing a leg. I was not pleased that I had decided to do that closer inspection. Poor kitty.

I found the ATM (so I thought), but it didn’t recognize my debit, and I don’t have a PIN on my Mastercard. FML. So, I walked back to the hotel in defeat. Reception told me I could walk to “Student Town” (University area?), and there would be ATMs there. She gave me a list of directions that included about 10 turns. I nodded, yet was thinking ‘oh god, not happening’. I left the hotel going in the general direction she told me, and just hoped I wouldn’t get lost haha.

I followed the first few turns she gave me, and found myself climbing stairs. I looked up before I started to climb and saw two huge dogs staring down at me. At this point I’m thinking ‘oh my Godddddd. There better be a fence’. They weren’t barking or anything, but they looked like those wild African dogs. I took a few steps - the dogs just watched - and then I got high enough that I could see they were indeed behind a fence. Phew. (Actually, they were behind the fence of the Swedish Embassy. Skill)

I continued on my walk and found myself going down a small side "street" (more like a dirt path) w/ nothing around it. The main street was only a block away, so I chickened and went back to that. I headed back to that ATM because I had noticed other hotels in the area, so I thought maybe I could find a restaurant and use my credit. As I got closer, I realized there was another ATM a block down from the first one… and this one accepted my CIBC. Score, money is always a good thing.

I then went to a restaurant in a hotel - music was blaring, people were dancing, I’m like ‘hey, this is pretty sweet’. I then realized I had just crashed a wedding haha. FML again.

I retreated and found a small café. A bunch of people were eating outside, so I figured it must be good. I had a hazelnut shake (very good) with a hot ham sandwich (mmm melted cheese) and veggies. I talked for a bit with the waitress, she was really nice. I do have to give Sofia that - the people have been very sweet. I then headed back to the hotel, and I am now making final plans for tomorrow and packing everything back up.

There’s another guy coming from Canada - his flight arrives tomorrow, so we’re meeting up at the bus station and busing over to Plovdiv tomorrow! Yay. I’m super nervous, yet super excited. I don’t know what kind of internet access I’ll have there, but I’ll try to do updates if I can.

---

Part of trip: Euro Trip 2009

---