http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Bulgaria/West/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Europe , Bulgaria , West en-us Sun, 03 Jan 2010 10:04:30 +0000 Sun, 03 Jan 2010 10:04:30 +0000 After the false dawn in the last blog we found the changing of the guard this time same location outside the Presidentrsquos Building minus the heavies with the dark glasses. The numbers of soldiers were somewhat less but more than compensated by some red uniforms and an awful lot of goose stepping.Central Sofia is not that big on must see sights but various recommendations after the Nevski http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Bulgaria/West/Sofia/blog-458881.html The arrival into the new swanky Terminal 2 at Sofia Airport on the eastern fringes of the city was smooth and efficient. The terminal is presumably an investment by the EEC to redistribute wealth across all itrsquos citizens and give an outwardly modern first impression of Bulgaria to the outside world. We relieved the cash machine in the arrivals hall of some Leva and avoided the vigorous peste http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Bulgaria/West/Sofia/blog-458880.html Well umm dont know where Caroline left the last one Think we just left 2 days of glorious sunshine on the med and headed north getting sick of Turkey We first went to see the calcium pools at Pamukkale and so old ruined city the pools could have been fantastic but as water wasnt flowing over the edges it was quite dull. From there to Ephesus another ruined city from way back when Jesus playe http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Bulgaria/West/Sofia/blog-450959.html Total Distance Cycled 854km over 9 cycling daysThe forecast for Tuesday and the rest of the week was suppose to be nice but overnight and into the morning there was no sign of that. I'm not sure if we had even seen the sun since a week ago Sunday. We took our time until there was some confirmation that the weather was starting to break. It finally did and we were off by 930 We found a side ro http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Bulgaria/West/Sofia/blog-447543.html Our growing laziness had not evaded us and our estimated time of departure from Plovdiv began to be aimed much later during the day. The fast train was slightly too soon for us to move from the cosy garden social area in the hostel and we were ambivalent as to getting the slow train since we had little else planned that day really Plus the slower train was a little cheaper as our faux budget http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Bulgaria/West/Sofia/blog-431032.html Sofia and Bansko day 15 17 June 21 23The truck was still wedged in our street the next morning so we headed up the stairs with our luggage to walk the long way around to the Bus station. The trip was on a fairly comfortable bus. We sat near a young girl who was a local Bulgarian singer who gave us some tips on Sofia and some insight into Bulgaria. When we got to Sofia our rooms were in a fai http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Bulgaria/West/Sofia/blog-425596.html Well I have finally started my travels and first stop is Sofia Bulgaria. A country I know little about and whose language completely escapes me. I feel somewhat disabled by this and struggle not start speaking Spanish as my brain only knows two languages English and Foreign.We arrived today at noon Nikesh my travelling buddy who I met for the first time at Gatwick this morning but had planne http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Bulgaria/West/Sofia/blog-424193.html One of Chris Alger's wily investments had seen him purchase a one bedroom apartment in the Bulgarian ski resort of Bansko. So what better way to enjoy this than to cram six of us into the apartment for a 6 day skiing holiday and as we drew straws for the beds Chris ended up sharing a futon in the lounge of the apartment that he actually ownedGetting there had been the usual noqueuing affair http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Bulgaria/West/Bansko/blog-422308.html UPDATEThe land clearing phase has just ended and as you can see from the photos the property is actually taking some form now. Both older houses have been completely demolished and all that is remaining are some rocks used for walls and base from the smaller old house. The rock pile has grown considerably and my back is thankful that this work is finished for now.Our friendly backhoe operato http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Bulgaria/West/Sofia/blog-420628.html Well this morning we left Plovdiv to head back to Sofia. After the usual train fun we have come to enjoy really how can you call a train 'express' when its 30 minutes late we made it back to Sofia or as they call it here squiggle. Sofia bored us before there was little to do and were here purely because the plane happens to be here. Were stopping in a different hostel this second time a p http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Bulgaria/West/Sofia/blog-417760.html 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 didnrsquot really feel like roaming the s http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Bulgaria/West/Sofia/blog-415212.html I had the most bizarre encounter as I left Frankfurt. I truly have skill.Bus ride last night was alright I didnrsquot sleep much bc Irsquom so excitednervous about Bulgaria but I still managed to get 23 hours. I hate passport controlhellip again at 1230am as we pass into Germany we get the guards. At least they were friendlyhellip but we got stuck there for an hour. Sigh.Rest of th http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Bulgaria/West/Sofia/blog-414781.html The beginning of work on our property....The pictures and captions tell most of the story. Thus far we have mostly been cleaning up the land a bit and demolishing the main old house. Our friendly neighbour Gregor agreed to help us in return for the old wood from the house which we didn't need anyway. He put 5 days of hard labour in for us and in return got a huge stack of wood for his stove a http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Bulgaria/West/Sofia/blog-414014.html 62309LilyOver the last four days we have been in Pamporovoro and Sofia Bulgaria. Pamporovoro is up in the mountains. We stayed at two different apartments. We did lots of hiking in the mountains. The views are small until you get up high but when you are high up the views are great.Sofia is the capital of Bulgaria. There is lots of architecture in Sofia is European. I enjoyed the f http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Bulgaria/West/Sofia/blog-412597.html I arrived in Sofia and was about to try couchsurfing again. I originally had a host from Australiamdashhim and his familymdashbut they decided to take off for the weekend so I almost was without a place but luckily I posted an emergency couch request to the Sofia network and was able to find a host. Her name was Radina and she was a 19 yr. old Bulgarian girl whorsquod only just began to l http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Bulgaria/West/Sofia/blog-412241.html After Boarding the Train for Sofia we were in for another surprise the cabin which we wondered the last time how it ever fitted two people ended up being for 6 people this time around... a real space saver Thankfully we had to share the cabin with only two others. Lizzy and Cos from the UK who had just finished University and were Interrailing Europe for a few weeks as a treat. We also met Ma http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Bulgaria/West/Sofia/blog-410462.html Well here I am writing again but this time I find myself in my homeland of Bulgaria visiting the family. This is the first time I have ever been here alone but it is largely how I imagined it would be...I spent a couple of days in the beginning in the capital of Sofia where I was born where I saw my aunt and some of my cousins. I spent the majority of the time with my aunt who showered me http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Bulgaria/West/Sofia/blog-400806.html Coming Soon http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Bulgaria/West/blog-382895.html Has anyone been to Bulgaria Well our traveling group didn't cover much ground in Bulgaria but what I remember about this trip is how well we started it. Coming from more than a week's travel around Greece we drove from Thessalonika towards Bulgaria. Our introduction to Bulgaria was a visit to the impressive awesome Rila Monastery. The pictures do not do justice to the lovely sights of Rila http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Bulgaria/West/Sofia/blog-363656.html Finding our hostel in Sofia was a bit of a scavenger hunt. The Hostel Mostel was listed in our Lonely Planet and was on our map of Sofia. We thought it would be a piece of cake to find. The spot listed as the Hostel Mostel was easy to find but there wern't any hostels near the dot on the map. We must have looked somewhat flustered as we were standing on the sidewalk because a German fellow came http://www.travelblog.org/Europe/Bulgaria/West/Sofia/blog-357079.html