Greenville Hotel and Apartments Sofia

... on this city and the most notable is the Soviet influence of most of the buildings. Again, not much to look at but such a great place to wake up the senses and put a face to those endless facts we had to memorize in school. Being in a city that has been at the crossroads of civilization since that time we all read about in world history class is actually pretty overwhelming when you think about it. Where else in the world really has seen so ...

... a guy on the street tried to sell me a Hari Krishna book. He wasn't trying too hard, and when I told him I couldn't read Bulgarian, he just started to speak to me like a happy friend. He told me he was a teacher. But, in order to try to educate the masses, he was selling these books on the street. He was kind of a missionary then, actually, but it seemed like he was spreading a good word. I didn't envy him, though; the busy Sofiites didn't look like spiritual ...

... We were able to see a roman amphitheater in near mint condition, in the middle of the town square. It is such a strange thought considering the U.S. is so lacking in historical relics. We wandered down the plaza and then headed back home for a good nights sleep. The next couple of days were spent mostly shopping and seeing historical sights. We went to several museums and art ...

... can imagine I was having kittens - we were going to be on the Bulgarian equivalent of the BBC and I didn't have an 'outfit' in mind for either of us and worst of all I didn't have my hair strengtheners with me!!! However the style queen that I am and the fact that I packed something for EVERY occasion, I quickly came up with suitable attire for both of us phew - Right, Next, Ned get shaved, me put my face on and boy did it feel ...

... gorgeous little Brasov, walked the one minute through Str. Sforii, famed as one of the narrowest streets in Europe, and tried, in vain, to visit the dominating Black Church, as it was closed from the 31st to the 2nd, precisely when we were there. As a must, we took a freezing 40 minute bus ride (the windows were completely frosted over) to tiny Bran, where Bran Castle, aka Dracula's castle juts impressively out of the craggy mountain side. Market stalls ...

Sunday, June 10-Monday June 11 Departing from the Istanbul Otogar on a night bus, Rich and I made the 9 hour journey to Sofia. We left at 11 p.m. and got to the border at 2 a.m. We left the border at about 4:30 a.m. after sitting stationary for no apparent reason, and none of the passengers seemed bothered enough to ask. Judging from my own experience and based on the information from a number of my friends, poor bus personnel ...

... s suggestion we went to a McDonald's to see if we could find anyone who spoke English to give us some directions to the street the hostel was on. Inside we found an old lady. She spoke some English but very fluent French and was overjoyed when she found out that I did too. I wanted some directions but she wanted to reminisce about Paris and then Vienna and I did some of that until she felt like giving us some directions. When she did, we found our way to the ...

... while saying it (the head shaking thing is opposite in Bulgaria, so me shaking me head no would mean yes). One of the guys handed me a beer. Steph was asked the same thing and got a beer and a cigarette (she doesn't smoke). So there we were in the back of this truck with Bulgarian hillbillies drinking beer about 8:30am. We were toasting them repeatedly and it was fun. They dropped us off before they turned onto a side road. Steph and I proceeded to get pictures of ...

Pinch and a punch! Hope you all had a happy halloween! They celebrate it here (in Bulgaria!!!), so we GAPpers (minus Chris A...he couldn't come to Bulgaria with us this week and is coming on his own later on) borrowed a couple of jack-o-lanterns from a nearby restaurant, filled our hostel room with candles and incense, and spent the evening playing cards and charades (sp?) with maybe just a touch of cheap Bulgarian vodka. Friday was also a joyous occasion as we ...

... have a twenty year longer life-span average and twenty times the per-capita GDP. Interestingly, nobody is offended and few seem to care. They are happy people, and they shared their hapiness with us. A special thanks to Val & our Bulgarian hosts for making our time here so special. Off to be lost in Greece, which for some reason unbenounced to us, qualifies as western Europe. So lost (almost) in western europe, Adam & Ethan "Capitalism makes the world (and us) go round."