Blogs from Bulgaria, Europe - page 60

Geo: 42.6976, 23.3222Up bright and early this morning. Ate another crappy breakfast. Then we hit the road for Bulgaria. It took three hours to get through the border. We had our picnic lunch in no-mans land while waiting for them to let us through. The drive was okay, the cook knew how to keep us happy and frequently supplied us with snacks. In the afternoon we watched a movie and in between had plenty of music to listen to. Was also a good chance to have naps.In the evening we checked into our hotel. My room-mate is Krista and our room was on the 14th floor, we had a great view of the city, but it did take about 10 minutes for hot water. Don't know what to expect from Bulgaria, don't know much about this ... read more

Although the sightseeing from Sofia you can visit in just one day (it resume in one yellow-brick street with all the remaining buildings of the communist time), we spent five days there, just hanging out in the hostel drinking beer in 2 liters bottles and in many different pubs during the night. For the beer lovers, Bulgaria is a must. From all the countries we have been in Europe, they have the cheapest beer! Special thanks to Ralph, Christian, Siyka and Margarita for the many beers drunk together!! The hostel we stayed (Sofia Hostel), is the first hostel open in the city. We just got amazed when they said we were the first Brazilian guests. Local dishes are very good, with lots of yoghurt (yoghurt is original from Bulgaria) in every recipe, the only problem is ... read more

Skiing in Bulgaria - Bansko Amazing Hotel - Kempinski Grand Arena - 20 feet from gondola with ski room you can ski to. Hotel has 5 bars, 3 restuarants, 2 pools, massage, saunas, steam rooms, ice room, whirlpool. Top quality. Skiing is not bad - some marked runs no longer exist - be warned - I spent most of one afternoon sliding down the slope on my rear! Food in town is extremely cheap and plentiful. Just had a meal for 4 - 3 courses and wine for 25 UK pounds. ... read more

10th November Arrived into Sofia at 6am - vowed (yet again) that we would never do another overnight bus journey! Found a good hostel for the next 24hrs and after catching up on some sleep went out to explore the city. Sofia is an undiscovered capital on the edge of Europe with a lot to offer the adventurous tourist. We stumbled across the remains of a Roman village and 4th century church hidden within the grounds of the Presidential Buildings. Visited a number of Bulgarian Orthodox churches all with beautiful frescoes and chandeliers. Identified the old Communist Party Headquarters by the Social Realist architechture we had seen so much of in Warsaw. There were many beautiful buildings and interesting streets to explore. A friendly lady who spoke English and saw that we looked lost put us ... read more

We finally leave Brasov quite late in the afternoon after last emails to Robin’s parents arranging for replacement bank cards etc. We cycle for a meagre 13 miles but it feels so good to be cycling again and we find a lovely camp site near the main road but back up near the woods and a river. The land is for sale so this actually translates in Romania to a free camp site that is already well dotted with Romanian families camped for what looks like a good while, all with their own camp fires. We pitch our new tent and gather fire wood for cooking dinner and thank the fact that in Romania it is normal to camp and have fires just about anywhere where there is wood - including in state forests right next ... read more