Royal Victoria Sofia

Hallo zusammen,<br><br>bin um 7:30 morgens in Sofia angekommen, zwischen Griechenland und Bulgarien gibt es schon noch eine Grenzkontrolle, obwohl beide Staaten der EU angehoeren.<br><br> Auch in Sofia war schoenstes Wetter, musste allerdings feststellen, dass am Montag alle Museen geschlossen sind. So war ich schnell mit der Besichtigung fertig und habe beschlossen nach Rila weiter zu fahren.<br><br>Gruss<br>Ralf<br>

... buildings including the very impressive gold domes of the St Alexander Nevski Temple Church. We also loved St Nikolai Russian Church and the impressive National Art Gallery Building. It's a warm evening and everyone is out and about in the gardens and streets. We explored for a couple of hours and then went back to our hotel's garden restaurant for a lovely (late) meal and to relax.

... are KFC's, Maccy D's and Dunkin Donuts everywhere and it gets very cold in winter (-6' plus windchill when we were walking around today). Wandered down Vitosha which is the main shopping street and hit the park at the end of it (not sure which one as I left my map in Sofia). Saw the monument to Communism, Morman's singing Christmas carols and a local busking by playing a bagpipe ...

... the Bulgarian idea of a festival is not what we were expecting... It was basically an amateur showcase of bands and poets lasting all of about 4 hours! It's impossible to describe it but think student gig in student venue... It was quickly transpiring why they needed us however what also became clear is that they couldn't afford us! We both couldn't wait to get out of the place - we had been treated like **** by being given such a ...

... what Bulgarian food is, but everything in Sofia is a revelation and a positive experience which has put a more than positive end cap on our trek south to Istanbul. Canaussie rating: Brasov, Romania: 5, it's so beautiful Bran Castle: 4, if only we could have gone in... Brasov's "Hollywood" style sign: 5, it's way too cool, especially at night, it looks like its hovering Sofia: 5, easy-going, pretty, relaxed... great little city Polenta with sour cream: 5, strange, but delicious

... at about 3 a.m. Tuesday, June 12 We figured six hours of sleep was enough and got up for breakfast. Our goal for the day was to hike to the summit of Bulgaria's highest peak in the Vitosha Mountains, the bus to which left at a quarter to twelve and cost 1.5 lev (or about $1). Before we left we loaded our hiking bag with sandwiches, apples, water, and nuts for energy. Rich and I didn't expect the hike to be easy. When people told ...

... i only say that we had moslty bad experience while our staying in BG. i do not mean to offend anyone as i know that of course there are so many people, i cannot just generalise what happened to me. so i do apologise; i have a BG friend, and he is a really nice guy, friendly and so on, so if anyone feels offended i just wanna point out that it was not my intention of any kind and i apologize in advance.

... bus station. I was worried during that entire taxi ride and sure enough when we got there he wanted 60 leva (about $55). He printed out the receipt and pointed at the meter as we were yelling at him that he was ripping us off. The doors were child-proof so we couldn't get out, but he let me out just a short while later. Couldn't get our bags out of the trunk and continued to argue with the guy. The police came over to try to help settle the dispute but didn't speak ...

... stuff it up and crack up laughing. Sofia was oddly cool, i rather enjoyed it but then again i feel no need to return to Sofia but perhaps a nice summer break in Varna next time. We left Bulgaria via a quick exploration of Veliko Tarnarvo before heading to the Romanian border.

This dead people thing is getting beyond a joke!!!!! In Australia it really bugs me when people place white crosses on the roadside where somebody has been fatally injured. My argument is, besides being a roadside hazard to motorbikes, with approximately 1000 people dying on NSW roads each year, potentially there could be an additional 10,000 white crosses on the road within 10 years. Well if i want to drive my car/bike in a bloody cemetary i will ...