Sofia was, unsurprisingly, very different to Istanbul. We
arrived quite late to what was to be the last hotel we would stay in until
Berlin – it was tents from thereon out. I was rooming with Rob and we spent a
good 10 minutes trying to actually get in (I think the place had been built
while Bulgaria was still behind the iron curtain). Once we’d forced the door we
found two very tall beds with an ancient radio between them that was the size
of a small fridge. The bathroom wasn’t too bad, or so we thought. It’d been a
long journey so I wanted to at least wash my face and brush my teeth before we
went out, but when I turned the tap on I got some sort of black liquid instead
of water. Rob then managed to soak everyone who had gathered to see the state
of our taps by turning on the shower. Lovely.
Our night in Sofia was a bit of a strange affair. We went to
a cocktail bar that had an English menu and most of the guys ordered a “gin
fizz” expecting, well, something carbonated at least. Safe to say they were
disappointed. Luckily I’d opted for a Manhattan.
Later on we stopped off at the local off-licence to stock up
on spirits for the trip because they were so cheap there. The shop itself was
in a basement with a small window opening to the street, so you had to tell a
guy who was basically in a hole in the ground what you wanted. This situation
was made even more surreal when we noticed that we were being eyeballed from
across the street by two guys and a woman dressed in tracksuits. The woman was
providing what can only be described as “hand-relief” to one of the men while
they were watching us, so as soon as we’d handed over our money we got straight
in a taxi – we weren’t quite ready to involve ourselves in some Bulgarian love
triangle just yet. We made it back to the hotel unscathed and ready some
sightseeing the following day (and also fairly surprised that our 20-minute
taxi journey had only cost us the equivalent of 50p each).
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We didn’t have a lot of time in the city the following day,
so we visited the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral…
…and the nearby war memorial before getting on the bus and
heading to our next destination.
Next Stop: Belgrade, Serbia.
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