Tag: Sofia

So you’re all absorbed in the GF and I daresay not a thought for the ‘Explorer of Bulgaria’. I, on the other hand, told everyone I could that it was Grand Final Day in Melbourne…for some reason they all looked totally blank.

Well now it’s to me. I know you will all be sleeping off hangovers, no matter what time zone you’re in but eventually, sometime next week you’ll get to read this!!

Last night I embarked out on an epic journey to find the ‘Top Choice’ (LPG) Bulgarian food restaurant. And it was epic as I walked bloody miles to find it (the doctor always said I could eat well as long as I walked for it). And it really was worth it. It was one of those fantastic eating experiences that happen from time to time. Firstly though, you have to get over the fact that you are the proverbial shag on the rock…this single woman that you can can tackle one of many ways and this restaurant took the ‘overwhelm with kindness’ approach…an approach I actually quite appreciate and it is probably the most common one. I could go on and on about this place but they source all their recipes from the local monasteries and it is really heaven food. I put myself entirely in the hands of my lovely waiter who produced firstly fried Bulgarian White Cheese with honey and walnut…to die for. Then a sensational lamb ‘hotpot’ type thing cooked in nettles and god knows what else but it was amazing, with a selection of sides that were a bit of a mystery but contained rice, yoghurt, kind of mash…god knows. Then of course he persuaded me to have a Bulgarian dessert that really was divine. Good thing it was a long walk back to hotel…I waddled!!!!

Then today…my trek to Rila Monastry and Boyana Church. World Heritage sites both.
Picked up by my shuttle bus at designated point. Others with me for the day…a mother and daughter from Iran, lovely and a Gay American/ Philippino who was a bit of a hoot….you couldn’t shut him up!! 2.5 hr drive to Rila Monastry. Got out of the bus to absolutely freezing weather around 0, snow on the mountain above the monastery and a kind of sleety drizzle. Bloody hell the transition of climates within 24 hrs is doing my head in and I FROZE, so ill- prepared was I. Anyway, 100s of photos later back in the bus. It was actually a really special place by the way, quite extraordinary really. Lunch in the mountains. I had trout, the local special, due to all the gorgeous trout streams flowing through the mountains. Then off we chuffed for the next stop Boyana Church…by all accounts totally amazing.

Then Guess what?…flat tyre…driver (lovely guy) with no idea. Bolts stuck on like glue…spanners broken, no idea how to jack the bus, couldn’t find the jack etc etc. A very long time passed and we knew we were losing the opportunity to see Boyana that closed at 5pm. I wandered off and watched women picking apples and vegetables…lovely women…locals came with their tools to try to help. All to no avail. We kept saying he should get help i.e. serious help!! Anyway to cut a long story short he eventually got in a car and went to a garage fairly close by and came back with 2 serious operators who got out all the right equipment and had the tyre changed in 2 seconds flat.

Well…then the race was on! They’d phoned ahead and told Boyana we were on the way. We flew through the hills like madmen and got to the church with minutes to spare. Thank God because it was the highlight of the day…totally amazing ancient frescoes covered this C12 Church. It is UNESCO World Heritage listed, only 8 people allowed in at a time for only 10 minutes and absolutely no photos so it’s all in my head and I hope it stays there because it was probably the most impressive of the trip so far.

Back to the hotel and no key card to room…obviously left on bus. Man on desk gleefully said that would cost me but got me in to the room. Ho Hum. Have decided to eat in tonight, can’t bear the thought of being cold again so got a pizza Bulgarian style.

But just to restore faith in human nature and the lovely driver of today…the desk just rang up to say he had dropped off off my keycard…how lovely is that!!

Well there is no doubt that on the laptop emails will only send from the hotmail address. I will just live with that until I meet up with Hammy and get him to sort me out!

Well Sofia…I’m reeling from the change compared to Turkey and it’s taking a bit of adjusting I have to tell you.

Firstly I wake up and it’s grey and raining, and has rained steadily all the bloody day. A sort of drenching persistent rain. I set out this morning in my Tshirt as per usual! A bit slow at adjusting to change, I know! About 10 mins in I was freezing and wet and had to head back to the hotel for the Merrill jacket, which actually failed to keep me entirely dry but was an improvement. Tomorrow I think it’s jumper and Merrill jacket!! This is not to mention wet shoes and wet socks but all this is minor.

Setting out this morning was completely overwhelming. I had no idea where I was and how I needed to proceed. The hotel is completely unhelpful…annoyingly so and I was a bit at sea. I decided I had to find the Tourist Information place…not something I had to do even once in Turkey(they are all tourist information offices). The difference here is that people don’t try to help they just say ‘NO” if they don’t know what you’re talking about! Anyway ages later and with considerable difficulty I found the tourist office. Best thing I could have done because when you find the right people they are incredibly helpful. I walked in looking like a drowned rat but walked out with a plan.
So they set me straight and suggested I go on a 2 hour walking tour with volunteers. I could just make it if I got on the subway…oh shit another challenge to work out but with her clear instruction I managed to work out the ticket, which train to get on etc and made it in time for the tour.

The other thing she did was tell me about a shuttle bus service that goes to Rila Monastry and Boyana Church both of which I really wanted to do but thought I wouldn’t be able to given that there was so little information available about how to get there. That was exciting and that is tomorrows adventure.

So today, 2 hours of walking this city to start with. The highlight was the story that Del had given me about his grandfather and how he had saved the king, Boris, from an assassination attempt. He died in the attempt and the king went to his funeral. He was therefore late for another funeral and the cathedral it was being held in was blown up by communists killing over a hundred people but the king again survived as he was late. Well the guide was telling this story, or just part of it because she didn’t know, or didn’t relay, as much as I knew…it absolutely sent shivers up my spine. It was amazing, honestly, to feel so connected to it across both time and distance.
Anyway, the tour really oriented my and after it I retraced my steps and went into all the places we had walked by. It took me all day but at the end of it I know my round the city and feel much happier.

Tomorrow my activity is locked in as above and then the next day(is that Sunday??) I’m off to Plovdiv for a couple of nights. My plan at the moment is to go from Plovdiv to Veliko Tarnovo then over to Burgas so I can visit Sokopol and maybe Nesebir. From Burgas I’m hoping I can directly to Bucharest. From what I can see the transport from the coast is fairly easy.

So said my farewells earlyish this morning and off to another bus station. This time a 9.5hr trek up to Sofia. I’m late getting on to this because I’ve been overwhelmed by comments and ‘likes’ on Facebook. I can’t work out how to see them all so it takes me forever. I’m also still in the process of working out my computer so technology is taking up an inordinate amount of time suddenly.

The bus ride was fairly gruelling, mainly because not a word of English was spoken and I had to concentrate madly to work out what to do at the border crossing.That was a real performance. With the bus even stopping between the countries so everyone could do their bloody duty free shopping. I was cross with myself for not being more on the ball cos I had some TLs left and should have bought a nice bottle of French wine.

Anyway all went smoothly until the customs people started going through the cases on the bus. There was a very brusque call foe seat 5 (ME). Id locked my case as I’m in the habit of doing for the first time in my traveling life. This obviously meant I was hiding something!!! I unlocked it for them and out came everything. Knickers on the top with everyone peering into my case. Lesson 101: DO NOT lock case at next bus trip crossing a border.

Over the border and suddenly I know nothing! Its one thing to have a language problem, quite another when everything is in Cryllic (or whatever its called) and you don’t even recognise where you are.

First impressions on the road: Roads! They deteriorated badly. The Russians have got a very good deal to answer for architecturally speaking. Lovely ancient old farmhouses collapsing and ugly grey concrete buildings everywhere. Many of them derilict and ugly ugly. Very depressing. Sunflowers!! If I was here 2 months ago I think it would have been an amazing sight. Now it is fields and fields of black, dead flowers. Animals, I didn’t realise how little animal farming there is in Turkey. I was struck by cows again! Anyway…..

Eventually got to Sofia. Got myself some money (always an anxiety for me) and a taxi to the hotel. Very basic place but it will do…they won’t be much help sorting myself out though in terms of getting where I want to go. I’ve actually decided I may have to give up on Rila Monastry unless I can work it out all very quickly. Asked the hotel where to find food…did I want Bulgarian food?…of course. They gave me instructions and of course I didn’t find it. So ended up getting a pizza thing and a bottle of wine and coming back to the hotel. I then had another saga. Asked for a bottle opener (the Turks always opened my wine for me when I bought it but they wouldn’t do that here)..after much foraging around they gave me one. Got up to my room to find that it actually didn’t have the screw part at all!!
Being the resourceful Aussie girl I am I eventually found a way to push the cork in but it was a real bloody effort.

No idea where I am in relation to what I need to see so tomorrow is another day and I’ll get myself sorted one way or another.

This has been one of those nights when company would have made life easier!!!