Blogs from Sofia City , Bulgaria, Europe - page 2

How time flies when you're having fun! Our time in Bulgaria was quickly drawing to a close. The previous day was our last full day in Plovdiv and the greater part of it was spent exploring Asen's Fortress and Bachkovo Monastery in the Rhodope Mountains. This was followed by a few final hours in Plovdiv's Old Town where we had lunch, and bought & mailed postcards before returning to the hotel. We were set to leave Plovdiv on Monday, the day after this 2019 Euromeet officially came to an end with our final group dinner at Restaurant Dayana (Diana) 3. There was so much to like about Plovdiv, and I knew it was going to be a bit sad to leave. It was especially difficult knowing too that some lucky friends would be staying on an ... read more

For well over 10 years there has been a gathering in Europe of the former members of the once popular travel blog site, VirtualTourist. Refusing to let the bonds of friendship be broken even though the website that brought them all together is gone, every year these former members vote on a proposed site for an annual gathering called a "Euromeet" where they reunite. When the votes were counted for Euromeet 2019, the winner was announced: it was Plovdiv, Bulgaria, one of two cities chosen as Capitals of Culture for 2019!! It was an exciting choice to be sure! Bulgaria, a country we have never visited previously, would present some challenges due to the "many moving parts" of the trip. Most of us would be traveling independently and would make travel decisions as such, but many ... read more

HE SAID... Today we were travelling north from Gorno Draglishte to Sofia (via Rila Monastery). We woke reasonably late following the feast and free flowing wine the night before. After gathering ourselves and our packs, we headed down to our homestay family’s small dining room for breakfast, where we enjoyed scrambled eggs, toast, mekitsi (fried dough), local jam and peppermint tea. After bidding farewell to our incredibly affable hosts, we left the homestay and headed northwards with Boris the bus driver at the wheel. We were making our way to the Rila Mountains, where we were visiting the Rila Monastery. The monastery is located in a forested valley deep within the Rila mountain range, and when we arrived mid-morning, the air was brisk and mist shrouded the surrounding hills. While the building and surrounding structures were ... read more

My hubby could have been a Palace Guard in Bulgaria once upon a time. Out of a whole group of tourists from UK, Canada, USA, Chile, South Korea, Russia, Australia and Spain, he was the only one who fitted the criteria to get this once well paid and illustrious job. All he had to do was catch an eagle and pluck a tail feather to wear in his hat and the job would have been his. What is this illusive criteria you ask? You just have to be blonde, blue-eyed and over 185 cms in height. However these days those rules are relaxed as there's not many blue-eyed blonde tall Bulgarians to choose from. Plus there's an eagle at the local zoo that supplies the feathers and the job is less prestigious with less pay. We ... read more

Takze nakoniec moj trip zacina uz o den skor a to vo viedny, kde hral svoj vonkajsi zapas ac milano. O 12/30 koniec v robote, doma rychla sprcha, strihanie a zbalenie minima veci. V sofii ma caka slnecno nad 30C. Avsak tu je zima a veterno. Naskakujem na vlak a cez tt sa dostavam do bratislavy, na fakt prisernu stanicu. Hanba hlavneho mesta. Keby som turista a vystupim z vlaku na takomto mieste, hned dam spiatocku a padim kade lahsie. V Ba si vystojim peknu 10.min frontu na listok, zistujem cenu jednosmerneho do viedne, krasnych 12€, spiatocka 14€ a spiatocka s celodennym mhd 18,80€. Berem poslednu moznost, kedze sa este musim presunut z hlavnej stanice vo viedny k stadionu metrom. Mensi problem s platbou, platit som chcel fio kartou ale chuj som zabudol,ze uz mam dnesny ... read more