Sonata Hotel and Restaurant Samokov

... typical battle through Sofia traffic to reach our warehouse (big thanks here to Bulgaria Baptist Union for letting us use some of their space) to unload the truck. The trick with driving in Sofia is to take everything that is bad about UK driving behaviour and embrace it as your friend and ally. Going with the flow is the order of the day and as long as you remember that every motorcyclist that you see has absolutely no sense of self preservation and will attempt to make that ...

... from Belgrade. You get tired, kids. And we're old. Then it was back to the little restaurant down the road with the fireplace. I had my first taste of kavarma, a delicious baked casserole with pork, onions, tomatoes, and an egg on top. It's awesome. Trust me. Sidenote: Fans of The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova will recognize this monastery from the book. If you haven't - read it. Thanks to Jarrod and ...

Day 18 So, we rolled into Sofia station at 8 this morning. We are only here because it is a stop between Budapest and Athens. Our plan is now to get to Athens via a sleeper train tonight and then head to Santarini (an Island off greece) for a good few days and have a real summer holiday for a bit on the beach. It is 37celcius outside today and luckily this internet cafe as aircon. We got some french toast for breakfast after not eating since a burger ...

Our truncated trip along the silk route had left us bereft of a mission. The next one, which we had chosen to accept was to travel in seven days, overland from Istanbul to Amsterdam where we would find the reverend O'Reilly and Sister Talbot in the bottom of a glass of Belgian lager and begin overall mission debriefing. This wacky race would geographically speaking take us across six countries and gastronomically speaking enable us to go on an carnivorous orgy of the ...

... and instantly began yelling about how the US hates Bulgarians and sends them home. Well, his "buddies" are criminals so they got deported. Go figure...... Everyone else we have had contact with has been extremley nice. Always one bad apple right? We noticed there seemed to be many more police on the streets than the day before. Once we got near the main Bulgarian Orthodox church in the middle of the town, we noticed ...

... the coast becomes flatter and wilder, with the thick forests of the Strandza Mountains contrasting breathtakingly with numerous cosy beaches extending between the jutting rocks of the mountain. Settlements here are characteristically small and picturesque. To the north, the coast is steeper, though more developed in terms o tourism facilities, while the views down to the sea are unforgettable. The region also contains the main tourist ...

... Tarnovo, where we climbed crumbling walls and threatened to push each other off rooftops. After that got tiring we walked back into town to our favourite restaurant, which unfortunately I cannot remember the name of, but it has wooden decking out the front and about 300 different options on its menu. A lazy afternoon was spent by all, interrupted only by my trek to a local shop to stock up on cake and ice cream, more boozing was done that evening, although I am proud to ...

... bus station. A local girl who got off the bus with me warned me of gypsies in the area and that it would be best if I take a taxi to a hotel. Another option would be to hang out at a 24 hour restaurant, but even that probably wouldn't be such a good idea. After talking a while with a couple taxi drivers, she got me a reasonable deal for a taxi to Sozopol (about 30km south). The taxi driver didn't speak much English but was nice and made sure I got right to a hotel (I ...

... Budapest now we have lost to much time) and make sure the train avoids bloody Romania. We triple checked our booking and route, then decided to ring all the damn embassies of all the countries we travel through just in case (Serbia, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic). All countries confirmed that we do not need a visa. Our 1pm train departed and we were on our way to Prague and fell asleep immediately.

... away from home. You know what I'll be eating when I get home? Pho. In this part of the world, in Romania and especially in Bulgaria, the staples seem to be tomatoes and cucumbers. In almost every meal we've eaten, the ubiquitous vegetables have made an appearance -- often in a salad, but even if you order a skewer of beef you get your fresh t&c on the side. So, what do you think was in the Chinese restaurant's hot & sour soup?