Sofia Princess Hotel

Due to a different perception of time we only travelled 13 instead of 18 hours from Vienna to Sofia which "enabled" us to spend 5 more valuable hours out in the freezing cold of Sofia, yeah!! Sometimes it's hard to believe that Bulgaria is a EU member... street conditions for cars and pedestrians are hazardous since there are many holes. The favourite food of Bulgarians seems to be pizza and we even met Mr. Flavio Ravioli alias Silvio Berlusconi who visited Sofia ...

... We were up for awhile talking to them about their travels. Spaniards never seem to have a care in the world. They were a good group to hang out with. There were 6 seats - 3 facing 3. Each couple sat across from each other and moved the chairs down so it formed a really narrow bed. Brian and I were at the window so we were booked in pretty well. We couldn't make a narrow bed because there's NO way we would have fit in it - without kicking the couple next to us. Oh, the fun of train travel.

... and you could tell he was as strong as on ox. Three years ago he was diagnosed with a failing heart that was only 37% operative, when it dropped to 36% they said he would most probably die. He was still going strong, and told me about the 825 Russian soldiers that had frozen to death on the mountain fighting for Bulgarian independence. This rather sad tale reflects the good feelings Bulgarians have toward Russia ...

... to go. All of the cars looked like sleeper sections and we did not pay extra for that. We walked towards the back of the train and ran into another one of the ticket men and asked him hoping for some better assistance. He looked at our tickets and pointed to the last car on the train. Apparently there, it's every man for himself and you just take your pick at a seat rather than having assigned ones. We climbed our way up to the last car and immediately felt like we had stepped ...

... the top of Vitosha Mont! Next morning we went for opening ceremony in National museum, where is also situated impressive Thracean collection and other interesting collections from Bulgarian territory and history. Next day we had a short time to visit Sofia which is interesting city ,and I have to say it looks quite better and cleaner than 2 years ago . Sofia is the capital of Bulgaria,and also it's biggest ...

... a wall of cigarette smoke. Through the haze I could just make out a hippy looking fellow sedately puffing away his long term health with great content. I headed sheepishly to the bed, already thinking of ways to get out of this scenario. I had just endured two indescribably smoky hours with Pat and Dot on the train, and my lungs could not now take a whole night in this smoke-filled dorm. After five minutes of the usual introductory speeches - during which time ...

... they look at my big pack with a bright fluro raincover and a packsafe and ask who it is.. haven't washed for a week... so all my clothing is dirty.. I said mine.. he looks at me and at the bag and starts to interagate the other passengers... so about 15 minutes into the trip.. the ladies get up to go to the toilet with empty bags I am oblivious to this Sheree is watching.. they apparently have stockings wrapped around every part of there bodies filled with cigarettes... so they ...

... famous one is definitely Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. It was erected from 1904 to 1912 in memory of 200,000 Russians who fought alongside Bulgarians for its independence in 1878. It is possibly the most popular tourist site in Sofia. At its middle, a huge gold dome that is surrounded by several lower emerald-colored domes. Inside, more than 400 frescoes were contributed by artists from Bulgaria and Russia. When I was inside ...

... every using these phrases. Sofia airport was very dark on arrival. They made me and two other American girls on the plane fill in landing cards, which they promptly stamped and tossed aside. My ride from the hostel didn't show, but thankfully the girls I met had their phone number and soon we were off into Sofia. The city isn't all that pretty, LP describes it as a 'Balkan Novosibirsk,' but that does not mean in the slightest that it ...

... Buy it up now!!! OK...not everything is perfect... Generators are used by each store and restaurant--to provide for the frequent lapse in electric service...hot water is rare... The countryside is full of rural villages without service...the roads are poor and garbage is dumped alongside streets and in local streams... But...Albania has potential! The "muslim" faith claimed by so many is not of the religious ...