Sofia, Bulgaria

We stayed at a place aptly named the Internet Hostel just off the main street Vitosha. Your typical room, free lame breakfast (which we missed because our watches were off an hour), and shared bathroom situation. I love the bathrooms with just a showerhead mounted to the wall over the tiled floor so you get water all over the toilet, your towel, and everything else in your path. Pure genius.

But the room came with a bonus nightly cocktail at Murphy’s Irish Pub one floor down. Can’t beat a free drink! Bulgaria is the first place since our trip started that has cocktails we could afford, so after our freebie gin we had to order a couple more at the rock bottom price of $3. It didn’t get too out of hand but boy was a perfectly iced beefeater gin & tonic a revelation we didn‘t want to end.

We only spent two days in Sofia so we mainly did a walking tour, meandering to churches and statues, taking photos along the way. We found a flea market in the park to buy a souvenir, and perused fascinating Nazi memorabilia, like a bullet shaped lighter that still worked like a charm half a century later.

The sidewalks and streets are treacherous. There are holes and ridges and loose tiles everywhere. You have to consciously lift your feet up when you walk or you’ll trip every now and then like a total loser.

Their corner stores were halfway underground and you had to crouch down to a little window to place your order. Which makes me wonder what grandma does when her sciatica acts up and she needs some Gatorade.

Although we escaped the nonstop newsreel of MJ’s death, we still happen upon makeshift shrines and cries of grief for Micheal Jackson. Our friend Gerry in Budapest asked us to visit Neverland and light a candle for him. Better add that to the list for the California leg of the tour.

Cyrillic script is really wackadoodle, it makes Greek look like hooked on phonics. What’s up with the mirror-image “K” letter?! Try parking your car here...