We're in Sofia, Baby

Hello all

Firstly, we have to say that we haven't done a great deal since our last post. Not very much at all. It's been too hot!! But there are still some nice pictures (see below) to keep you entertained. And comment please, we aren't seeing enough comments. Must try harder, C-.

Met up with a couple of Brummie boys the eve before last, and an arrogant Londoner, and had a few drinks (mineral waters..) in a cafe on Plovdiv's main street. The heat here has brought out various little beasties, not least a peculiar flying black beetle which lands/falls heavily on yer neck and scurries down along your spine with its hairy black legs. So the five of us spent the evening writhing and squirming as hundreds of these little blighters tried to make their homes under our shirts.

A guy came up to us towards the end of the evening, looked like a beggar, and stood next to our table, motionless, with his hand open and outstretched. We shook our heads and tried to ignore him, but he carried on standing, motionless, no expression, staring at the tabletop. Gave him a cigarette, which he took, and wandered off a short way. Glanced over and he had produced a small plastic bag, which he clamped over his face and inhaled, probably glue. Very odd, sad, sight, on a busy street. Saw another young boy doing the same, on our way back - he asked for money, following us, we said no - in frustration, he gave H's bottom a quick squeeze and ran off - cheeky rascal.

Also had nice, if slightly delayed, conversations with parents back in Blighty (MumMina & DadPippip - really looking forward to seeing you in Florence and hope you have more ink now! MumSue & BigAl - really nice to hear your voice, hope you have a LOVELY time in Wales, try and get thee to an internet cafe, good luck!)

Caught the train to Sofia this afternoon - much confusion over which platform (our platform number was 2 to the power of 4 - would you know?!) but made the train with minutes to spare. It was possibly the oldest, grimiest train yet, with a layer of dirt on every surface and great difficulty seeing through the windows. (Some jumped-up young man in flourescent yellow shorts even told us to take our feet off the seats - we were probably cleaning them, not dirtying) There were odd noises when pulling away from the stations (of which there were many - some just a small stretch of bricks in place of a platform in the middle of a field), in the form of clanks and bangs, and 'uncoupling' sounds.. Looking forward to Western air-conditioned, clean passages through the countryside!

Arrived in Sofia and got an OK Taxi to the hostel (OK is the only reputable taxi firm in Sofia - you must never use any other) - the hostel is very sweet, it's quite funky and modern inside, with thick wooden doors, exposed floorboards and plush furnishings - we expected it to be run by funky, young staff, instead of the mid-fifties train-spottery 'socks-with-sandals' man who greeted us. But its a nice, relaxed place, and it's very close to the city-centre. Even given a cup of tea on entering, 'it's free!', called 'Good Morning' tea which was green and tasted of basil. But a lovely welcome, nonetheless.

Were very weak and went to another Irish pub for dinner (H went there last year and remembered nice food) and had - yes, we KNOW we should be eating local food - fish 'n' chips. It was delicious, and we did have vegetables with it so it was half-healthy.

Looking forward to having a wander around Sofia tomorrow and see the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral (a pretty impressive sight) and various museums (one of which has a white rhinoceros which was stuffed in 2004, according to the guide, so a must-see)

Lots and lots of love to all of you

From the Adventurous Ones xxx

Pics...

View of the Veliko Tarnovo castle from our hostel...


Sunset seen from train to VT...


Cat on wares at tourist shop!

Bran - Dracula's Castle...

Brasov...

By popular request, we hereby bring you...

Scary Sighisoara...

Pwovdiv (The True Pronunciation)

Went to see Superman Returns yesterday afternoon, at the local cinema. The screen was tiny, with just over 100 seats, 6 small speakers stationed around the room and only 11 of us watching the film. We had been rather worried whether or not the film would be dubbed into Bulgarian, and were debating whether or not to walk out if it turned out to be. But there were subtitles, and the film was very enjoyable.

We ignored the few hiccups, such as sound mysteriously getting very very quiet, and strange 'splicing' of reels, where the film would jump ahead a few minutes... But it was fun, and nice to have an afternoon sitting in an air-conditioned room. Very odd walking out, because we expected to be in England again - your mindset changes and you forget entirely where you are. It took us a while to get used to being in Bulgaria again!

Had a meal in a little restaurant off the main shopping street last night - unfortunately our waiter confused 'bread' with 'veal' so he brought us our spaghetti, and then a plate of veal each. We pointed out his mistake, he got rather huffy, removed the veal and spent the rest of the evening walking past with his nose in the air, refusing to look in our direction. (We assume he had to pay for it from his wages...)

Still, wasn't as bad as the previous nights' food - had 'pork neck' in a nice-looking place on the street, and when it turned up, it was bloodier than a medium beef-steak in the middle. Only realised half way through, so called the waitress over, explained the problem (as far as one can in a foreign country), said no to more and ended up paying for one, rather than two. Spent the rest of the evening hoping that we had bypassed any food poisoning - but it was fine.

Had a musical late evening, with a performance on a stage in the main square of a dance group jumping into the air amidst much smoke and loud music, and an aging rock group (we heard the name 'Rolling Stones' in there somewhere, but seeing as it was Plovdiv, with a crowd of just a few hundred, and they spoke Bulgarian, maybe they were just a tribute band...). Walked away, into a crowd watching a small harmony choir called Synergy from the USA - they had fantastic vocals, and it was great to watch them perform.

Went into the Old Town this morning - on the way along the cobblestones, up the hill, we spotted an 80-odd man with a wind-up organ, who suddenly sprang to life when some tourists emerged from a nearby building. He energetically turned the handle and plinky-plonk music poured out of the machine, but he quickly tired and the music started to sound rather odd and v-e-r-y s-l-o-w... He then stopped and (we assume) turned the handle quickly the opposite way, so came out back-to-front and sounding like some sort of weird Beatles' backmasking...

Visited Nebet Tepe - one of three hills surrounding the town, with remnants of a Byzantine fortress and ruined Thracian citadel looking over Plovdiv. The view was fantastic on a day like today, with no clouds in the sky.

Made our way through the narrow cobbled streets to the Amphitheatre (took a while because, due to no signage and useless map, we got lost). It is a huge arena, situated over a busy dual-carriageway - they found the ruins when excavating a tunnel for the road underneath. The semi-circular seating is largely intact, with some renovation using concrete and stone. Also found some ancient symbols on the seats, possibly noting where the 'important people' would sit.

Walked around and behind the theatre, where we saw a huge swallowtail butterfly on a flower. Typically, when H got the camera out it moved and, much to the amusement of a local Bulgarian sitting nearby, a chase ensued, whereby it would sit on a flower, pose, then float happily away just as the shutter was pressed. And no, we didn't get a photo.

The Old Town is gorgeous, with National Revival-period houses overhanging the small streets and wooden shutters across the windows. Roman ruins lie around every corner, and numerous thin and moth-eaten cats saunter along the streets, adding to the character. Made the mistake of feeding a couple of cats some morsels of ham and (yellow) cheese as we ate lunch - they became very excited and looked up mournfully with big hungry eyes, for the rest of the meal.

Another thing about Bulgaria - they are obsessed with ham and yellow cheese. Everything has yellow cheese (not red cheese, or green cheese but yellow cheese) - it's actually made from a specific sheep's milk and is called 'Kashkaval', or, as the Bulgarian's translate it, 'Yellow Cheese'. Numerous menus offer (along with tripe soup - yum) 'Yellow Cheese with a Hat', 'Yellow Cheese Under a Cover', 'Yellow Cheese in a Pot' or even, for the adventurous, 'Yellow Cheese Rolled in Ham'. We like yellow cheese.

On that note, we will say goodbye, and go and buy an ice cream. Hope it's not too hot for you over there - it's not too bad here, however hot it is, there's always a refreshing breeze.

Lots of love to all of you

From the both of us xxx