Mostel Hostel Sofia

I had a bad experience upon landing in Sofia. I was half awake, I'm fairly lost and trying to find out if I have any accomodations or if I have to find my own. So I was lucky enough to bargain a guy to 7 euros a night at a hostel, but I have to check my email first. So I decided to go to the place in my lonely planet guide. So I took the tram. No one spoke English to me when I bought my ticket, but I wanted a day pass really. But she couldn't understand so I ended up with a single ticket. I g...

I haven't really visited too many of the sights in Sofia so far, but as it currently seems, there really isn't too many sights to see. It's a flavorless town and it's definitely the most lacklustre of the capitals I've been to. Nonetheless, the people here are very nice and I've enjoyed my time here immensely. I'm sure when I get to see some of the more historic Bulgaria, I'll enjoy it even more. I've heard Veliko Tarnova and the Black Sea coast are amazing. I might even drop down to Turkey w...

So i'm in Sofia to be honest theres not that much here but maybe my expectations were too high after Athens. Had a little wander around town and saw the Alexander Nevski Cathederal which is quite impressive as it has golden spires, theres a few churches and some soviet memorials and whatnot but nothing that really grabbed my interest. Really i just had a rest day and ended up watching a film while lounging around in the hostel met a few nice people and had a laugh and joke around but nothing ...

This is the whirlwind tour of Eastern Europe blog. Hmm, I haven't been sure how to write this entry. All our experiences so far have been what a traveler would wish them to be: great weather, delicious food, lovely people, unique culture, adventure, etc. Occasionally you encounter the odd mini-problem, as expected, but these are largely overshadowed by the other 99.9% of the experiences you have had, and are therefore brushed off and soon forgotten. They are unremarkable. That is, until we be...

So the rest of my stay in Belgrade passed quickly, munching on Burek and chilling out at cafes by day, then hanging out in the evenings with Johnie, swapping stories about martial arts and jumping from things over shots of Rakia. It wasn't quite an even exchange since he had twice as many stories that were much better than mine, but I covered dinner so hopefully we can call it even.

Speaking of which, I was told not to expect much of food in the Balkans, but Johnie took me out for the ...

As anticipated, Sofia didn't really inspire a return to sightseeing mode so aside from running a couple of errands, days in Sofia were mostly spent in Hostel Mostel's spacious and well furnished common area lounging around, reading, napping and chatting with other guests.

Night was a bit more colorful. As mentioned previously, I had arrived late Tues night so crashed after a pleasant dinner with Tomoki. Wed night was spent with a trio of English travelers on their way to Greece, plus D...

Some travel days are worse than others, and today was one of those days that suck. We arrived in Macedonia around noon. Leaving Kosovo was easy; we took a bus from Pristinė's second "bus station." It is a spot on the highway where half of the road is closed, and buses stop. People go there because it is a lot closer than the main bus station and served by a lot of the Pristinė city buses. But as far as it goes as a bus station, it is a curb. From there we caught a bus to Skopje for five Euros...

Hostel Mostel really has it figured out. The organisation of their space is genius. There is a kitchen for cooking, but the brilliance is how they create community. Their breakfasts are good and that brings people to the common room. There are three tables, seating twelve, and then two loveseats for two more. Fellow travellers have an occasion to meet each other. Mostel offers a pasta dinner too, and a free beer. On top of that, they have two computers with free internet access. That keeps pe...

As always, there are things that I forgot to mention in yesterday's update, this time about Rila Monastery. While we were there, we bought holy water! Actually, it's bottled drinking water, but the label has Jesus on it, as well as a picture of the monastery itself. Seriously. Also, it cost 3 times as much as regular water, but it was too great to pass. G bought a bottle, but then refused to let me rip the label off to keep -- he wants to keep the whole bottle, water and all! So I had to buy ...