2 night trains and a short introduction to Bulgarian life

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Hello again everyone,

Really nice to get loads of messages and emails from you all, keep um coming. Well since my last blog we have been in 3 different countries - though one, serbia, was just on the train.

We left Istanbul at 10pm on monday and took the night train to Plovdiv. Wow. For those who have never been on one before, it is quite an experience. Very different indeed to british trains. The windows are all open so you can stick your head and and watch the countryside go (usually very slowly) by. The combination of this, our small but compact cabin and men in uniforms banging on your door at 3 in the morning calling "PASSPORT CONTROL!" gives it all a really exciting edge and makes you feel a bit like a stowaway.

At 10am we arrived in Plovdiv, the second biggest city in Bulgaria, though still only about the size of Leicester. Unfortunately, brilliant as we are, we had forgotten to write down the address of our hostel. So after consultations with a taxi driver, who had never heard of the place, but pointed us in the direction of an internet cafe, we finally arrived. The hostel, the 'Raisky Kat' - chosen because of the name - is a small family run hostel with Svelda our host warmly greeting us. That afternoon we went for a stroll around the old town and part of the new, taking in the Bulgarian sites and sounds, and then had the nicest meal we,ve had so far at a place called Janets. Mmmm good. The sun and heat in bulgaria is intense, reaching around 35° between 2 and 5pm, Tori was quite shocked by this as for some reason she had been under the impression it would be cool in Bulgaria! After a long night of chatting to Svelda we went to bed exhausted.

The next day we visited some old roman ruins, situated on one of the highest points in Plovdiv. We then went to the Ethnographical museum and saw traditional Bulgarian clothes, homes, tools ... After that we went to an art gallery, which had some very beautiful paintings in and also some not so good ones. Our plan for the day had been after doing this, and visiting the train station, to go to a nearby monastery by a river, HOWEVER, by this time my leg had swelled up to double its normal siye, with what looked like the plague. It was really caused by 3 mosquito bites, which my leg seems to have decided to have an allergic reaction too. So after the train station and organising our train: ufortunately, due to the timing of the trains would have to leave at 8am the next morning, we returned home where Svelda nursed my leg (it is now looking a bit more human, though the bites have gone purply red).

So on the thursday morning we set out on the most epic journey our travels will entail 8am - 10am from Plovdiv to the Bulgarian capital Sofia, and then 1.10 - 5 in the morning from SOfia to Budapest. Luckily the trains are so much fun that it was quite enjoyable, other than passport control, which to be honest loses its charm pretty quickly. So we are know safely in Budapest, I have one gammy leg, Tori has loads of bites, and a slight mark on her head, where I accidently slammed the cabin door on her.

Until next time... adios amigos!
Meg and Tor Xxx

MOst the photos are on Toris camera

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Photos

Tori pretending to fall of a rock
god, why did I let her come with me

Ethnographical museum
inside

OWWWWWWWWW
Plague leg

Comments

[dad]

leg shock syndrome
Hi Meg - finally got to access this blog having been blocked on last one by our school system. My estimate is that if your leg continues to swell at its current rate it will be well over the size of the Isle of Wight by next Wednesday. COuld well make it into a museum of strange and unlikely objects and be the subject of GCSE sceince projects... on the other hand you could just find you recover. Delighted you're having a fab time. Lots of love dadxxx

[Steve "The Hitman" Milnes]

Hey Megan, Your Dad is a funny, funny man. Hope you leg is better. Give my love to Tori. Bye! xx