Blogs from Bulgaria, Europe - page 50

Not quite sure how things are in news dept as blog seems to have lost 5 entries!!Suffice it to say I'll start on the weekend before Sam's arrival and hope that there is not too much repetition!My warwound on the shin(ex. flatbacks) was really aching so on the 20th I decided to stay at hope for RandR so locked the car Fri night and did not go back to it till Sun am when I decided to check on my e-mails in Dobrich. Set off and because Dobrich rd is reasonable decided to play CD. - surprise no CD player only wires!! On parking in Dob and checking doors locked found the passenger lock floating free! no prizes for guessing how they got in. Next day went to Kapital to get help to make a statement ... read more

Finally arrived in Sofia.. It was like, 10:30pm and I was at the train station, hoping for someone to pick me up. BUT, noone showed up. So, I was about to get a taxi when they overpriced me! so I decided to take the tram. I have directions to the hostel I wanted to go, but, couldn't find the station to take it!! so asked for help and suprisingly!! I asked these Bulgarian women, which cannot speak a word of English, but was so kind to take me to the tramstop!!!! So nice ne!!!! Anyways, got to the Hostel and its FULLLLLLLLLL ___" They sent me off to another hostel close-by.. ahhhhh....its ok...but like..10x not as good..-___-" no choice anyways. The owner was really nice at least=) So spent a night and the next day, took ... read more

After another 24 hours in flights/layovers, (Beijing - Hong Kong - London - Sofia), I was back in Europe. I was missing Asia a bit, but looking forward to such creature comforts as toilet paper, Western-style toilets, babies wearing diapers, and no street-spitting. Bulgaria was a country I'd been really curious about, as I'd met a fair amount of Bulgarians in the past few years, and was curious to see what their country was like. After some problems with the ATMs, I was able to get some Leva out and was ready to start exploring. I was a bit disillusioned to find out that the Lev was pegged to the Euro, with the dollar at its present standing. Luckily, the prices are deflated so that Bulgaria remains a pretty good bargain for travellers. Another nice thing ... read more

We have a whirlwind seven weeks to hightail back to Paris. We are going via a few more Eastern European nations with plans for all the IA countries, the Slovakias, Romanias, Bulgarias and Hungarias. First up, Bulgaria, proudly boasting "the oldest survived state in Europe which has kept its original name". You suspect a country's tourism is in its infanacy when the customs official at the border asks with a look of resignation if we are just transitting in Bulgaria. It's as if that's all he thinks foreigners do here. A nation that must be crossed enroute to somewhere else. To his great delight, we asked the customs guy to put down his well worn transit stamp and dust the cobwebs off his tourist visa stamp. We are staying, for a short while at least. So ... read more

It is great to walk the streets of Sofia.... read more