Gabi Plovdiv

... whole process is starting again. The website took our credit card number and issued a receipt which we had to pass onto the guesthouse!

2. When someone tells you to catch a bus from Sofia to Plovdiv stick with your convictions and use the train!

NOW FOR THE GOOD BITS

The travel from Sofia to Plovdiv was pleasant and the scenery lovely. Our only regret was that we did not catch the train!

Plovdiv was always one of those places ...

... in Plovdiv and Vienna, and M. Jackson, because his death was the biggest news and she is a musician.

When I went back to the station to catch the train at 2130, I was happily surprised: I expected to spend the next 12 hours sitting up, but I found out that got a sleeper! And besides that, the whole car was filled with jolly and friendly international travelers. It was not a boring night.

... too much trouble then headed into Plovdiv with our trusty tourist map. It has nice wide boulevardes with some modern stores, lovely parks, outdoor cafes and also an Old Town area. The Old Town was fairly spread out and walking was quite difficult on the large stones of the cobbled lanes. There were some interesting buildings and also some Roman ruins, the usual ...

... The hostel was really a converted flat, decorated in IKEA style furniture with a young couple running it from one of the rooms. We showered and retired after a big trip.
May 29th - Plovdiv to Istanbul
Unfortunately, today it rained. This was a bit of a pain as we had to wait all day to catch a night train to Istanbul. Thankfully, the young couple in the hostel were really nice and said we could come back and hang out with them for as long as we wanted. We had some Bulgarian ...

... had no green card insurance. As our paper work from the rental company was not green we had to pay 100 euros to cross into Serbia. Ouch! As we were unable to go any other route we were stuck with paying it. Grumpily we drove through and found the roads poorer than anywhere so far. Not wanting to spend time here we drove through the day on towards Bulgaria where we passed the border without problems. However the roads were dreadful, full of potholes, uneven and slow ...

... first that I had seen of any of this was when two scared looking bargirls yelped (quite literally) for the manager. James had actually pursued them behind the bar itself. Corey and I quickly came around the bar to get control of him, but by this stage the girls had already hit their panic button to bring the local police running. James didn't want to leave the bar, nor his prospective loves (in the form of the now frightened witless bargirls) and Corey and I basically had to ...

... then in the next moment passing by a fancy new football pitch complete with electronic scoreboard and floodlighting. Oh and the people in my compartment were definitely talking about me as I heard the words 'pantalon' after I had got my ticket to show the inspector out of my money belt tucked inside my trousers, and the words 'music', 'Anglia', 'Student' and 'Veliko Turnovo'. God knows what they were saying about me! They were nice though and despite speaking no English ...

... monastery itself is nice enough, but takes only a half hour to see thoroughly. The paintings inside the main church have been so darkened by years of candle smoke that they are difficult to fully make out, though the exterior offers a wonderfully relaxing setting. Leaving the monastery, we remember to stop and collect mineral water from one of the many natural taps. It is cold, clean, and good. An older woman is there, filling a three gallon jug with the ...

... museums whose staff looked at us from inside. Paused outside, invariably someone got up to go to the till so we could buy a ticket from them, just in case we came in. There were not many other tourists around. These museums can't be making too much money in this season. Ottoman houses usually have parts that overhang the road. Most of them have been repainted recently and some others are under renovation. One had its walls entirely removed: normally this means it was deconstructed ...

... with a cigarette dangling from his mouth. He began asking to see our passports. Sighs of relief filled the room. We wouldnīt be shot, tortured or buggered. We were at the Turkish frontier - the last stop before entering Bulgaria. Instead of getting on the train to check visas, like everywhere else in the world, the Turkish border police made everyone get off the train and come to them. I watched as the smoke-puffing official pounded away with his rubber stamp. He didnīt ...