Blogs from Bulgaria, Europe - page 55

Here is the first part of several postings about some interesting places to visit in Bulgaria. This Eastern European country is a good place to visit and enjoy both winter (skiing, hiking) and summer (hikinig, swimming) activities. This summer my family and I had a good visit to several nice resourts in Bulgaria and this is a quick write up about it. Bansko is located in the Southwest part of Bulgaria (directly south from the capital Sofia). To get there you have several options. We drove from Plovdiv (the second biggest city in the country located in central south Bulgari). We drove through Pazardzhik and through the Rodopi mountains. Prior to getting to Bansko you will go through the village of Bania. Once you get to Bansko this map will help you navigate and find one ... read more

The train ride from Bucharest to Sofia was a blast. The 3 frenchies who shared the compartment with me had alcohol and a pack of card! They showed me a new card game which was a blast and the night passed really fast. We were woken up at around 5:30AM and got off the train in one of the most confusing and beaten down train station I've seen in a long time. It seems that the train station's designer thought they were building a station for Moscow and forgot that Sofia is not like 15 millions people. It's way too big and not maintained, plus everything is written in cyrillic and the women we tried to ask direction were about as nice as a unionized french employee. I hate to be pessimistic about a whole people ... read more

that day will be tomorrow. Up late of course, but still have time to be a professional tourist and see all the Plovdiv sights. Start with the obligatory church, this one the church of Sveta Bogoroditsa. Painted a camp pink colour it sits atop 176 steep steps. Inside an elderly crone locks her gaze upon me, her eyes piercing the back of my neck as I look unreverently upon the various photographs of Jesus her saviour. There's a possibilty that she is actually glued to the chair at the back of the church, a chair she once outgrew and then shrunk back to fit once more. From the church I walk up past the academy of music (an experimental workshop in place as I pass, Yoko Ono I believe is this week's guest tutor) to the ... read more

Be My Guest Hostel/Sofia/Bulgaria Got up around midday and went upstairs to pay the rent. The grouchy hostile owner had been replaced by a friendly girl from Lithuania so I postponed leaving to chat over a cup of coffee and a cake. Got the tram to the train station North of the centre. Had some strange food in a cafe there it was a combination of peppers in some bizarre fizzing sauce, like popping candy. The woman in front of me in the queue had drained two of the dishes dry by ordering the whole lot, so I went for the large tray whilst there was some left. Also got a sandwich of some unkown meat product and a bag of rotten pistachio nuts. So I advise fellow travellers to avoid the station food stalls/ ... read more

Back in Varna but it's just a brief stop on my way somewhere else. Got to move on from the East Coast it's been nearly a week now... I've booked a train to the capital, FIRST CLASS on the 2215 and arriving early morning. I don't know what to expect from FIRST CLASS (unavailable in lower case), but you can imagine my excitement. ...hopefully upload some photos... read more