Blogs from Sofia City , Bulgaria, Europe - page 12

We arrived in Skopje, our third city of the day, without a solid plan. Evening was setting in, but that was about the only thing we were sure of. We changed a little money and decided to try to contact Emrah's friend, Sotir. I sailed into a closet-sized shop, hoping to buy a card for the payphone, but the communication Titanic was destined to sink. I gave a English a shot and the middle-aged woman replied "your efforts are of no use, my child," in Macedonian, or it could've been just about anything else, for all I knew. Turkish yielded a similar response. Next came miming with sound effects. Judging by her face, she now simply seemed a bit concerned about my mental state. (Her customers were coming and going during this goofy episode). Really now, ... read more

It took me a while to figure out why I was so fond of Bulgaria's capital. The architecture is fairly typical of the region, and the sights and history don't compare to some other cities we have visited, even with it being some 7,000 years old. But Sofia has to be one of the highlights of the tour so far. Discovering that the fine local Zagorka beer was priced at 60p definitely went in its favour, but it is Sofia's diverse street scene that holds its key. Makeshift stalls selling everything from pizza to flowers to jewellery dot the pavements while expensive designer boutiques have moved in alongside independent stores selling anything and everything for extremely cheap prices. People bend down to almost pavement level to buy cigarettes and drinks from squat kiosks. It is all ... read more

Well this is the first day I feel sane and in control of my destiny! The weather has been superb(if anything too hot) so all visitors ' sunny holidays satisfied. Also Mata and georgie can not stop telling people about my delightful family.You all made a great hit in this camp!! However having done its duty the weather has now turned to sporadic rain and overcast but is still too hot to be genuinely autumnal.Have got round at last to organising my 'firm's work and looking forward to 2nd visit from Jan and John who hope to purchase a 'country' property to compliment their seaside one. So all stations go and i now have approx 3 months to wait till Belfast stay (according to Sam). Time I hope to put heating into no 24 for winter ... read more

Geo: 42.7105, 23.3238this morning we were taken on a city tour of Sofia. Left the hotel at 8-30 right into peak hour traffic. As we sat in the traffic jam our guide Valery told us about the background history of this place. I discovered that Bulgaria in Ancient times was Thrace. This was very interesting news. We were driven to a square where we alighted from the bus. This was just outside the Presidential Palace which had two ceremonial guards on duty. The opposite building was the Archaeological Museum which is housed in an old Mosque, no longer in use. My ears pricked up at that! !! From there we walked back along the road to the National Art Gallery where we went inside but only as far as the souvenir shop. This was an excellent ... read more

Soon enough it was time for us all to get on the road again - Carrie & Debbie back to the UK, and Jen & I had decided that we needed to get back to the sea, but this time it was the Black Sea we decided to head for - Bulgaria, to be exact. So, back to Ljubljana, to prepare for a 25hr, 4 country train journey across the Balkans. To be fair, the journey itself wasn’t that bad - the train from Slovenia, through Croatia and Serbia, was very modern, but the border crossings were a bit of a pain (the sooner they all join the EU, the better). I got a few funny looks from a couple of the border police (my passport is 9.5 years old!) and one guy even got out ... read more