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Jonnys Eastern Delights!
After a par for the course (i.e. uncomfortable!) overnight bus journey, I was glad to arrive in Bulgaria - hoping for a little easier time of it! I was supposed to be getting picked up by the hostel, but once again nobody was there. As I set off finding my own way, a local guy called Valentine came up to me and started chatting - completely in his element once he found out I was English since his dream is to live in England. He was so keen on just talking to me he walked me all the way to my hostel, despite him living in the other direction. He then waited while I checked in and said he wanted to give me a tour of Sofia, giving my suggestion of a coffee short shrift as he wanted us to go for a beer - at 7am! So we did - what a legend! He was a really nice guy who even wants to write to me back home. There was just one point when I got ever so slightly worried though - when he started showing me pictures of his daughter!
After a busy couple fo hours spent with Val on hardly any sleep, I had a much needed extended siesta, got some tea and then got chatting with a big group of people in the hostel over some beers, which then continued as we all went out to, according to the LP the "best bar in Bulgaria". Quite a claim, and one in which it failed miserably in lliving up to - really, where on earth do these researchers come from?!?! Anyway, 1am came and I had to jump in a cab to the airport, only realising when I felt myself swaying a bit in the arrivals lounge how much I was feeling the beers! Eventually Bex appeared through the doors, and it was so great to see hear. I had been looking forward to her coming for a while, and it ahould be the start of a great 3 weeks together.
The theme on Tuesday was basically getting lost - it turns out Becky has no better sense of direction than I do! In our defence though, matters aren't helped by the fact that all the street names are in Cyrillic and so don't correspond to the map! Sofia is a nice place - nothing in particular stands out, but anything was an improvement on Macedonia & Albania!
In the evening we had a night out with people we met in the hostel - Nifty Normann and Steve, and a few girls from England, though being a schoolnight we had to make our own entertainment as it was a bit quiet - to the point where we got told off in a trendy bar for making too much noise!
We made an incredibly feeble effort on Friday to put the day to good use - lasting only about an hour out before we gave up and returned home for a nap, before we did it all over again at night, ending up (without knowing) at a gay club suggested to us by a policeman! That didn't stop there being an almighty fine collection of women out though - Bulgarian ladies really are up there with the best so far!
So after having a right good laugh, meeting some cool people and having Bex by my side, I left Sofia more than content.
Jonny
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