Blogs from Sofia City , Bulgaria, Europe - page 4

Sometimes life at home overtakes you and the last trip I took is now months away in July and I didn't get round to writing up my blog on Sofia.. so I better get it done before the next trip in 2 weeks or I really will be lagging behind. I wrote about the intercity buses ( if you can call them that) in my previous blog and this time the vehicle was a coach ... getting tickets can be a bit daunting with the Cyrillic script and nobody who speaks English but with a few smiles and a calendar handy you can make yourself understood and at least numerals are the same. You are usually given a ticket with the number of the bus stop at the bus station and your seat number too. By ... read more

The train ride from Athens to Thessaloniki was one of little enjoyment. I was so damn tired by the time it left, I thought I was going to be able to get a good night’s sleep on the train. This, unfortunately for me, could not have been further from the truth. I boarded with no issues, found my seat and settled in. For some reason, in their infinite wisdom, they left the lights blaring all night. There was no respite, and to make matters worse, the seats were just about as uncomfortable as you could imagine. So I arrived in Thessaloniki at 6 o’clock the next morning severely sleep deprived. Instead of trying to figure out which bus to take to the hostel I just walked the distance instead. I knew the hostel probably wouldn’t have ... read more

27/28 juillet (De Varna vers Sofia) Je suis dans un vieux train rouillé en direction de Sofia. Night train. Je suis le seul passager de ma capsule. Il y a quatre bancs vides devant moi qui font face aux identiques quatre bancs de mon côté. Le train ballotte dans la tiède nuit ferroviaire. Parfois, pour me dégourdir, je vais longer les corridors métalliques en m'imaginant agent secret en terrain ennemi. Ke-Klock, Ke-Klock, Ke-Klock font les rails sous les wagons. (Musique de James Bond) Par les fenêtres entre-ouvertes, j'observe les paysages industriels illuminés par les usines au ralentit et par les veilleuses rouge des inactives cheminées s'étirant comme des canons qui auraient la puissance de trouer la lune. Thermo nucléaire. La fenêtre dans ma capsule personnelle s'ouvre grande comme une porte. Je l'ai testé. Je me dis ... read more

14 juillet 2014 ... Je sors de l'avion de Turkish Airlines en prenant bien soin de remercier l'agent de bord aux grands yeux qui m'a gentiement changé de place durant le trajet Montréal/Istanbul. C'est mon escale ça, Istanbul. Il est 16h00 à l'atterrissage ici alors qu'à Montréal, il est presque l'heure de déjeuner. Sans surprise, je n'ai pas très bien dormi. Mais je suis probablement plus reposé que si l'agent de bord aux grands yeux m'avait laissé à mon banc initial. Vous voyez, j'avoisinais une jeune pleurnicharde qui s'était probablement gavée de sucreries avant le départ de YUL. Quelques coups de coude et grimaces furent suffisant pour me convaincre de faire la grande demande aux grands yeux de la Turkish Airlines. C'est ainsi que je me suis retrouvé collé au hublot, jambes allongées et pantoufles aux ... read more

Hello my fellow travellers! After a sleepless and chaotic night in Edirne I arrived in Sofia at 6 am. I must admit that I didn't feel quite okay in this city at this hour, it stank of urine pretty much everywhere and I'd heard some real horror stories about the area around the Central Bus Station. It's apparently in a quite bad neighbourhood. Thankfully the bus driver I travelled with was kind enough to exchange my last TRY for BGN and fortunately I met a nice Bulgarian traveller who helped me get in touch with my host Georg so that he could come and meet me. Georg is a sweet guy that lives with his wife and son not far from the Central Bus Station. After I met up with him I went in and took ... read more