Sofia - Days 102-103

I'm leaving Sofia for Plovdiv today, another town in Bulgaria. This little capital has really grown on me and I'm kind of sad to leave it and my host. 

Sofia has multiple museums and churches and cathedrals and mosques but really who wants to go from attraction to attraction all the time? In my three full days here I managed to not visit a single museum, and that's fine by me. I've been walking around the city visiting different shops, hanging out in cafes and bookstores, meeting my host for lunch and cooking dinner together. 

Yesterday, at the suggestion of my host, I did do something touristy and attended the Free Sofia Tour. I seriously think every city should have an equivalent. It's a non-profit organization staffed by volunteers who take time out of their schedule to guide people around. They don't skimp either, the tour lasted two and half hours! And I learned so much about the history (although I won't retain even 10% of what they covered) and factoids about the city. Sofia means wise but as the guide said, the city isn't wise when it comes to decision making. They have paved and built over the pre-existing Byzantine and Roman cities without making effort to preserve much of the remains. However, there are a couple of underground sections where people can walk on the original Roman roads and see the structure under the city. Also, the city is gifted with numerous thermal springs but unlike Budapest for example, there is not really a bathhouse. 

After the tour I met Veneta and went to a Turkish restaurant for lunch - a little preview of what's to come next week. It was amazing :) She's a huge Istanbul fan as well and has been several times. Then for dinner, we made empanadas for a Spanish themed party she's attending tonight. Sadly I won't be around to go but at least I got to sample the food. That was supposed to be dinner but based on my experience here, dinner usually isn't until 10pm so I ate a pre-dinner dinner snack around 7pm. Thank goodness I did because the empanadas took a lot longer than expected. We finally sat down to eat at 12:30am! But they were delicioso :) 

So now I bid farewell to Sofia and will take a short bus ride to Plovdiv. 

Ohrid/Sofia - Days 99-101

Thank goodness I was stranded in Ohrid for another day because the last day was the best yet. The sun finally decided to be less timid and made a full appearance - what a difference it makes. At the suggestion of the guest house owners, I took a local bus to a monastery called St. Naum about 30 km from Ohrid. The ride itself was along the lake shore and and up into the mountains, so naturally really scenic.

The monastery itself was beautiful but the location was absolutely ideal. Right on the cliffside by the Albanian/Macedonian border, it overlooks the length of the lake with Albania on the left and Macedonia on the right. And if you look behind, it's yet another snow-covered peak. Plus the grounds were inhabited by a dozen or so peacocks, a couple of which were quite the showmen. I'll post pics on Facebook later :)

So that evening, I made a second attempt at catching the bus to Sofia - success. 7 pm departure, midnight border crossing, and 4 am arrival (which is really 3am Macedonian time). At least they make the border crossings here relatively easy compared to the ones in Africa. The passengers get to stay on the bus while the border patrol comes on and collects everyone's passport. Of course there's always the occasional luggage check where people have to get off and open all their belongings.

I made it to my host's place around 5:30am after waiting at the station for the public transportation to start running. So it's back to couchsurfing. This time my host is a Bulgarian girl named Veneta and she is hosting with a young daughter. Now I generally trust people and will totally host when I get the opportunity, but hosting with a child is a whole other story. I assume you have to be really really selective and careful, and she told me she doesn't generally host men or even couples, but there are evil women out there too! But I'm grateful that my profile seemed legit enough for her to trust me and let me into her home.

Sofia is a small capital city and the center area is compact enough to walk everywhere. It has a quirky mix of Ottoman and European architecture and some parts of the city are so ornate that it feels like you're in Paris, except without the sky high prices and snobbery. Bulgarians are really friendly and whoever said that no one in the Balkans speak English totally lied to me. When I first arrived, I asked a local guy (at 5am) how much the ticket for the bus costs and if any exchange places would be open at that hour. He said "Not at this time," gave me 1 Lev and said "Welcome to Bulgaria." :)

Yesterday I explored the city by myself and met up with my host after work for a walk and decided to try to sneak into a Brand New Heavies concert. I had no idea who they were but why not? First attempt totally  failed, but second attempt was a breeze (much like the bus to Sofia). Turns out the Brand New Heavies is a jazz/funk group from the UK and they were quite good. Not really my cup of tea, but for a free concert it was appropriately entertaining. I was also witness to some of the most passionately awful dancing I've ever seen in my life. I can't even describe it...sort of like Austin Powers stepping on hot coal and getting bit by fire ants.

By the time I finally got home around midnight I was pooped. So today I slept in and spent a better part of the day at "home" online - checking email, writing this blog, sending out couchsurfing requests, and applying for a couple of jobs. Tonight I'm meeting Veneta again for dinner.