A Week in Bulgaria

Our dental-tourist trip to Bulgaria has been interesting. My hubby ended up needing more work than me which meant 3 trips to the dentist. He had 4 fillings that needed to be replaced. When one's fillings are over half a century old, they rate as antiques.

Staying at the hostel has been fun as there's always friendly folk to chat with during breakfast. It also has wi-fi and internet which is always a big plus. One day we went with a Czech couple out to the suburbs. Because of economy of numbers, we were able to take a taxi to several places for the same cost as the bus. The other couple wanted to go to nearby Mount Vitosha so I had a chance to ride the ski lift. The lift only cost a whopping $2 for the 35 minute trip. Great fun skimming along the treetops in the cool breeze. Since my hubby doesn't do hikes/heights, I probably wouldn't have done this trip on my own. Hubby just had to wait for us and be bored for a couple of hours while we went up the mountain.

Also took in the National History Museum and the Military Museum. The Military Museum was pleasant because most of the signs were in English. It had just opened last time we visited it so wasn't complete. It was certainly worth another visit. Still needs a cafe though.

The weather has been hot. Today we went to the local market to buy a couple of liters of homemade rakia (grape brandy) in plastic bottles. Watched the locals bring huge gallons jugs to the local fountains to fill with water. As always, I see the most photographic scenes when I don't have my camera with me.

I'll have to check our passports but I think this ranks as trip #9 or 10 for hubby and trip #5 for me to this country. My hubby has been coming to Bulgaria since the 1970's so there have been a lot of changes. I was lucky to see it before the change in 1989. It was a fascinating time. There's a lot more color in Sofia these days. I was last here five years ago. I think it is a little cleaner now -- less graffiti, fewer beggars and gypsies. We walked through the dimly lit streets of downtown last night at 11 pm and it didn't feel unsafe, except for maybe tripping on the cobblestones.