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Published: July 14th 2010
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Sofia 1
The view from our hotel Day 10 Belgrade to Sofia
We were all ready to get up and go this morning, however, our hostel host, while very enthusiastic, was not terribly efficient. Our breakfast, which was meant to be at 0730, arrived at just after 0800. So our 0800 start this morning became a 0845 start. Deep breath - what can you do?
We were all a bit sad to be leaving Jana behind as well, and it started out a very quiet coach.
So a semi long day ahead, unfortunately Thomas has a very individual sense of time and so we were also 20 minutes late leaving our first service stop. Again, oh well. Just makes the drive a whole lot longer for the rest of us.
We crossed from Serbia into Bulgaria, and again I was the only one who needed to get my passport checked. Back in a EU country for a couple of days. We arrived in Sofia around 1700 and settled into our hotel. It was a former communist hotel, 19 stories high, and fortunately for us the elevator here did work! 😊
We were all on the 13th floor and they were twin rooms. However again
On the Road
This might not look too comfy, but it's the only way to sleep without falling off the seat at every bump Aisleen and Richard opted for their own room, leaving me alone, which was nice for a change.
We went for a walk around the area, and man were there a lot of stray dogs. Ali kept yelling “dingo” every time one growled at her, which they seemed to do a lot. They didn’t bother anyone else though...
Dinner was provided at the hotel, and was a 3 course meal of soup, chicken and cabbage, and an apple pastry dessert. Very nice. And then next door for a couple quick drinks before heading to bed. It was sweltering hot though and I ended up wandering around the hotel for a few hours before I could finally get to sleep.
Day 11 Sofia to Plovdiv
Up at 0730 after only a couple of hours sleep, I felt surprisingly alert! After a very simple breakfast of bread, tomato and cucumber, we met up at 0845 for our 2 hour walking tour of the city of Sofia. Our guides took us via metro to the city centre where we learnt a lot about Bulgaria (interesting but useless information like the area was first settled by the Thracians a few
Sophia 2
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral centuries BC - who knows when this question will come up in a pub quiz somewhere?) and saw the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral which was absolutely amazing, especially inside. Of course, no pictures, so you will have to simply take my word for that...
We also saw the hot mineral springs and tried the water. Though it is rather hot, coming straight form the springs, it was also some of the nicest tasting water I’ve ever tried.
We did of course see a few other things but those two were the most interesting. Arriving back at the hotel we had time to relax before our departure at 1200. Only a 2 hour drive so we did it all in one go. No borders to cross today! And for a change we all had nice cold water with us, as there were fridges in the rooms last night. If only we could have smuggled one of those out!!
We arrived in Plovdiv at 1400 and the roads are all very narrow and cobbled. Our hostel is in the old town, which is pretty much all heritage listed, meaning they can’t even fix the roads. It’s all narrow roman roads too,
Plovdiv
Lynn, Ali, Sean relaxing with a drink in Plovdiv will be interesting to navigate at night. Just as well none of us have stiletto’s!
Our walking tour was at 1600 and as our hostel was right in the centre of the old town, we didnt actually have to walk far for it! It was 1 1/2 hours though and we learnt a lot about Plovdiv and Bulgaria. Unfortunately I think we were a bit more interested in just taking pictures of the ruins and then having a nice cold drink.
After the tour we headed off down the hill to the shopping street and found somewhere to eat before heading back up to the bar by the old roman amphitheatre we saw on the walking tour and had a few drinks before heading back to the hostel at midnight. Going to be a long day tomorrow.
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