Back in Sofia

Well, it’s been a funny couple of days since I last blogged from Veliko Tarnovo.

I missed the train I was due to get from there to Bucharest and ended up heading back to Sofia as I didn’t fancy spending another night alone in the hostel. I say I missed the train but I kinda deliberately let things work out that way, whether it was having another lonely night in a hostel or something else that got to me I don’t know and I decided that I was going to head home. It’s not as if I am not having a good time and enjoying the places I am seeing, but for some reason I’m just doubting the point of it all, which is something I have never felt while travelling before. Anyway it seems to have passed now.

When I got back to the hostel in Sofia I immediately bumped into two girls I’d met in Istanbul while I was there and a group of us went out to a bar and restaurant last night for a few beers and something to eat, which is probably what I needed to get over the effects of the solitude, as I’ve said before there isn’t exactly a lot to see here but it’s so cheap I could probably happily stay for a while. Alas that isn’t to be and I’m booked on a train to Bucharest tomorrow night with one of the girls, I haven’t heard a single positive comment about the place though so, if that turns out to be accurate, I may just spend the day looking round the few sights there are before heading up into Brasov and Transylvania, which looks to be far more interesting.

Before that though I’ll be going to see CSKA Sofia in action tomorrow, a few people thought the Galatassary ticket was cheap, well I’ve got a seat in the most expensive part of the stadium for the game and it cost me the equivalent of one pound thirty eight, I could have actually got one for about 35 pence, but I thought I’d treat myself.

To think if I’d been at home now I could have been watching City’s relegation be sealed by a defeat at Rotherham for a mere twenty quid.

Touch me, I’m English

One of the things I like best about travelling in Europe is the fact that countries geographically so close can be so different in every other way, as an example the people I have experienced in Sofia are very different to those I found in Istanbul. They are very reserved and prefer to keep themselves to themselves and ask few questions, as opposed to the Turks who would chat to you, put hands on your shoulders when talking to you, pat you on the back etc etc – though that’s not to say the Bulgarians are unfriendly.

They certainly weren’t today anyway, when I went for an early morning stroll around Sofia before heading to Veliko Tarnovo, I was walking through a park when a girl in a group asked me something, I replied saying I couldn’t speak Bulgarian (in English, ashamedly) and she then asked me where I was from, when I replied “England” this inspired glee in the group of five, who went on to ask me lots of questions in reasonable English and, somewhat oddly, stroke my jacket. After correcting the girl who claimed to be 70, rather than 17, I said I was on my way – at which point one asked if I was a “rich businessman” and staying in the big hotel across the road
! For a second I did consider trying to impress the girls with such a tail, then I decided I am too old to do that sort of thing, and told the truth. That wasn’t the end of it though as today is March 1 the Bulgarians consider it the start of spring, and give each other small gifts like friendship bracelets and ribbons for good health and good luck, after explaining that one of the girls took hers off and gave me it, which was nice!

So, on to Veliko Tarnovo which was a nice journey through some lovely scenic countryside – though I wasn’t too impressed with the minibus driver who drove like a madman over what seemed like hundreds of potholes! The place was the medieval capital of Bulgaria and was long an important town as it was located on the Lviv to Istanbul trading route. There isn’t much to see here apart from a fortress and former royal palace, which I visited this afternoon – but the city is beautiful and a great base for activities like hiking, climbing etc – I was planning on staying a couple of nights and doing a spot of walking but there is noone else in the hostel here, and noone is booked in for tomorrow so I think I’ll shoot off to Bucharest in the morning before I get too bored.

Sofia

While the journey here from Plovdiv was quite pleasant, passing mountains and forest, in all honestly there isn’t a great deal to see here. It is only the capital of Bulgaria for it’s proximity to Macedonia which was much sought after in times gone by, though that doesn’t mean the place isn’t likeable, it must be as I am into my third day in the place, though I do plan to leave in the morning and the fact that the hostel is nice helps, as always.

Sofia is a place that is nice to stroll around, there are a few parks dotted about and plenty of shops, and though nothing really stands out as overwhelmingly worth a visit, there are a few nice churches, museums and other buildings concentrated in one area of the place that can last a day, or two at a stretch. There’s been a nice crowd at the hostel so the nights have gone by swimmingly with a few local beers sunk (equivalent of two quid for five 500ml bottles of lager), good conversation and the playing of backgammon.

The plan is to head off tomorrow either heading to Belgrade or staying in Bulgaria and heading north to Veliko Tarnovo, the ancient capital, I really can’t decide what to do and may end up tossing a coin or rolling dice in the morning.