Grand Sofia Hotel

... ruins of Serdica lie right in front of it. I wonder how many people staying at the Sheraton realize their $500 a night rooms overlook one of the oldest churches in the Balkans? <br><br>Celts, Byzantines, Romans, Ottomans, Soviet Communists...this ancient city has seen it all and I sensed it walking around. Amazing Orthodox churches are scattered about and there was even one old mosque. I really enjoy seeing how different cultures have left their ...

... from a Florida college in 2003, she'd been working and continuing her studies in Manhattan's financial district. She debated aloud, during my visit, on whether or not she should return to New York. She compared her job in Sofia to other jobs in finance in New York, and she was preoccupied by the possibilities of promotions. I advised her to stop thinking about "moving up", and to try to find a place she was happy NOW.<br><br>As I was on the way to buying MY ticket ...

... back 7,000 years. When we arrived we decided to check out some places for dinner, and Hannah wanted to check out this restaurant called the Art Gallery. It was authentic Bulgarian food and very delicious. Hannah and I both had a lamb dish with vegetables and a rich tomato sauce. The table split several bottles of wine and after dinner, we decided to walk downtown and check out some ...

... small talk as it was being in a house but we coped and the fine Bulgarian vodka helped! We were having a grand ol' time until Simion told us we had to attend a press conference the next bloomin' morning!!! "What the **** am I going to wear Ned" and Ned responded - "apart from your hangover dear"! great help huh... So off we went to bed both of us agreed that things couldn't get anymore bizarre, but they did.... In the morning as ...

... us like human beings since departing Prague. Before descending on the cable car, Scott and I concluded the obligatory winter ritual while "strolling" the snow covered hill, and slipped and fell ******* our asses. We did this at different moments in time, but both on Tampa Hill, nonetheless. Back at the bottom, we walked around the old medieval wall and its ancient bastions, climbed as far up the Black tower and White tower (both were closed) to get overviews ...

... drove another 45 minutes to Erdine- a city whose name I had been struggling to pronounce for days so we dubbed it "the city that shall not be named". Apparently, Erdine is famous for its mosques, which did look impressive lit up at night. We unpacked the car and went in search of a beer. After a few failed attempts, we ended up in a bar next to a wedding reception with live music and dancing. We called it an early night, given that we had to cross the whole of Turkey tomorrow.

... the ticket booths were closed and we were fined for riding the tram without a ticket (about five bucks each). The woman who gave us a fine was really rude about it, and told me that my stop had come one stop before it did. The result was that we were left to wander around lucklessly. We argued as to whether or not I should have paid the fine and, since it was raining too, we were pretty miserable. We cursed at one another until we had had enough of that. On ...

... 5km (but we deserted our buddies). The guy reached his stop and let us out. We continued up the road without anyone stopping for us. I told Stephanie she needed to stick her leg out. A bit later a covered truck stopped for us with some hillbilly-looking guys in back (there was an old lady in back with them too). Steph was reluctant to get in but when I said we don't have to she said it was ok. They had a case of beer and asked us if we wanted any. I said "no" but shook my ...

... Europe and its kinda one of those 'have to be there' sort of jokes! "I'm sorry..." - Another Kenny joke that won't go away is the ignorant traveler voice saying "I'm sorry...I don't speak...very good...Polish", that came about from Nicholas, the Aussie that Kenny tied up in Krakow...that is what he was saying all night long in his belligerent drunken stupor. It's also now an Eastern European catchphrase that you can hear everywhere!

... hopefully catch an aprox. twenty hour ferry to Santorini, an island known for it's beautiful volcanic beaches. Bulgaria treated us well. We were perplexed by the people and their heavy carpe diem style of living. It was difficult for us to understand some of the features of life here. Every person smokes cigarettes. Little children play with fire and knives. Nobody wears seatbelts and they wonder why Americans are so eager to do so. We asked them why they don't care that ...