Sofia, Bulgaria

In a previous post I had mentioned that Bulgaria is the poorest of european nations, with the average citizen earning only $550 USD/month. From what we saw in Sofia, infrastructure is probably the most obvious evidence of any poverty. We saw a number of large projects that looked like they were started and then due to a lack of funding, were never completed. The main train station has this large mall complex that leads down to the metro station that was built I guess in anticipation of it being filled; however, almost all of the stores are empty with the exception of two or three. I should note, however, that their metro system was brand new, clean and cheap so not everything, of course, is like how I describe it above.

We ended up staying at a hostel just outside of the main shopping district. Exiting out of the metro on our way to the hostel the first morning, our fırst view was of the mountain that overlooks the city, Mt Vitosha. It was great to see mountains again, having been in flat countryside since our trip to the Alps in Switzerland. In the summer, or in winter if you had the right equipment, you can hike up to get an amazing view of the city and surrounding mountain ranges. Bulgaria supposedly has some of the best skiing in Europe and cheap, only 30 leves for one resort I saw for a day pass (about $20 CAD). Unfortunately, as we did both of our train rides in and out of the city/country at night we didn't get to see much of the mountains in this country.

That night we ate at an amazing traditional Bulgarian restaurant. It was probably the most legitimate traditional meal yet as you didn't feel as it if it was just a big show for tourists, in fact, I think we might've been one of the only tourists in there. I'll try and post some of the videos I took but they had some pretty extravagent meals that were brought out. One of them was this giant egg that was doused in oil, lit on fire and then cracked and served to an adjacent table. There were also musicians and people from different tables getting up to hold hands and dance around the main part of the room, which was lovely to watch. At the restaurant Geoff and I shared a plate of wet corn bread balls, yogurt, huge chunks of feta and this antipasto/vegetable chutney. Geoff had a big meaty plate of pork knuckle and potatoes, while I tried this garlicky fish dish in tomato stew. The best was desert, creme brulee with homemade blueberry jam and a glass of pear brandy. Mmm... all for around $40 including tip!

The second day was just spent wandering around, checking out some of the churches and parks. Geoff found a couple of skate spots, one which had this huge metal half pipe (see pic below). The statue that you see in the background was erected as a memorial to the Russians for freeing the city in WW2, although, it has become an item of controversy amongst citizens, some wanting it to be taken down owing to the fact that I guess people feel as if the Russians never truly freed them, as they spent another 40 odd years under the influence of communism. Some of the other statues in this park have become famous worldwide as they were painted like superheroes or outfitted with knitted clothing in solidarity for the women of Russia's punk band, Pussy Riot (see pic below).

On the second day, Geoff noticed he was covered in bed bug bites, which was pretty awful! We were put in this four person dorm room for the two of us as they did not have any double beds left, which meant we had separate beds. Unfortunately for Geoff he picked the one with a couple of bugs in it, and ended up with bites on his hand, stomach and face, of all places! We ended up getting a discount on the night, not that there is much a hostel can do to avoid this type of thing as it is so easy for someone to carry these things from one place to another, especially when you have such a high volume of travellers. Of all the places I have ever stayed though, this is only my second time encoutering them (for any of you reading this from the South America trip, I'm sure you will remember Corey's ankles and bum from that hostel in Colombia - eaten alive! :)); hopefully it is my last! I am also really hoping none crawled into our bags, even the thought of it gives me the heebie jeebies.

Anyways, we spent the following night on an agonizingly long 15 hr overnight train ride, where neither of us ended up getting more than 2 hours of sleep, having been checked what felt like million times by various border guards for our tickets and passports and then having to get out at 2 am to get our passports stamped and finding out that we needed to get a visa to enter Turkey for 45 euros each, which we of course didn't have as we hadn't used euros since Germany, and of course they only accept payment in cash. We were luckily saved from being ditched at this remote outpost of a border corssing by the conductor who ended up paying for our visas until we could pay him back at the next station with a bank machine. Crisis averted, although it didn't lead to a calm sleep thereafter.

The only thing that made us feel a bit less clueless about the visa situation was the 20 year old Calgarian backpacker that we saw go barefoot into the soaking wet, reeking of pee, train bathroom, after which, we had a good laugh in our exhausted hysteria, which was a bit mean spirited I guess, but was so shockingly gross! We later heard it was his first time travelling and only his third day on the road, if only his mother knew...:)

Anyways, we have arrived in Istanbul, Turkey! More to update about at a later time...