Salad and veges at last (Bulgaria)

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26 OCTOBER - VELIKO TARNOVO

First stop was breakfast this morning - which for five of us took well over an hour. The meals here dont neccessarily all come out at once - but as they are ready. So we all got our fries, then a few omelettes came out, then another two. Well after everyone had finished theirs I finally got mine. After that it was internet and showers before heading up to the fortress. As usual, we ran into pretty much everyone else at some point at the fortress as it was on everyones's to do list.

Wandered around there for a good hour or so. Church was pretty impressive - nothing like anything I have ever seen before anyway.

We thought it was getting late at that stage so decided to head back to the guesthouse where most of us were staying, only to discover that daylight savings had ended so we had an extra hour. Doh.

It was absolutely freezing in our guesthouse and with no heating either. So a large number of us played uno, ate chocolate and chips and watched 'House' on TV as AXN had a House marathon weekend. When it started to get cold everyone pulled out their blankets from their room and I think in the end there were about six of us huddled on the bed with blankets, until it was time for dinner.

Had dinner at a great Bulgarian restauarant where the serving sizes were enormous and the food well priced. Great meal. And finally managed to get some broccoli and carrots. No more potato and polenta!!

27 OCTOBER - TO SOFIA

9am start this morning to get a bus to Sofia. Was about four hours on the bus - and we got to watch another action movie - this time in English. I had a guy sitting in front of me though that had the biggest head I have ever seen and largely blocked my view anyway.

After checking into our hotel in the centre of Sofia (itself an experience - lady was rude and didnt speak English, didnt want to give us enough rooms and despite the fact that they are no longer required to since the end of communism, still insisted on taking all of our passport details) we had a quick beer and grabbed some lunch from the nearby markets before going on a walking tour of the city.

Saw the various churches and went inside the russian orthodox church which was quite interesting. Very different to a lot of other churches I have been in recently. Then it was onto the ladies markets which were supposed to be a must see but which I thought was a bit of a let down. In theory they sell everything from food to the kitchen sink. Open air market open every day and staffed purely by women. In reality, there was a lot of clothes and food and shoes and that was about it.

Dinner that night was at a nice Bulgarian restauarant where the serving sizes were significantly smaller than the previous night but still sufficient and very tasty.

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