OzBus 14

The morning after the night before and the hotel greets the group with a cordoned off breakfast room. The breakfast isn’t much to talk about, but the night before is, so we just have a good chat in our personal breakfast room. The theme for today is walking tours; one tour in the morning around Sofia, the second being in a city two hours drive away called Plovdiv. After making the daily sandwich (which the filling hasn’t changed just as our bus hasn’t) we meet up with the tour guide for the morning.

Bob, as he liked to be called, was a lovely elderly man, extremely friendly and had a strong passion for travel, tourism and his country. We start our tour in town after a short metro ride and continued to walk around with Bob leading the way. He was very particular with his information and had a wealth of knowledge of both the history and the architecture. The sun is beating down on us and the city and it manages to show us more of the city than what we had seen the night before. After two hours, it’s back to the hotel and back on the bus!

Only two hours for the next destination; Plovdiv. The hostel in Plovdiv was located right in the centre of the old town and has a very clean and crisp appearance. Our tour guide for the city, Mini (named after the fact that he is so small, his words), was just as encyclopedic as Bob and adorably slow too. He tends to ramble on and is easily distracted, meaning the tangents are plenty. After his tour, ending in the main shopping street, I take a wander on my own of the city. I come across a lovely park, more historical buildings and statues and a hell of a lot of hills! Steeped in history and historical relics, the city shows me that Bulgaria has a great charm and charisma if you know where to look!

Dinner is, as usual, local and cheap. After dinner some of us want to find the football on a tv, so we go in search of a pub/bar. The one we find is called Happy Bar and it definately gives you something to be happy about (or at least laugh about). The waitresses in the bar are armed with red mini skirts and grand hair, while the red theme is encompassed throughout the bar itself. Best of all, the price; one beer works out to be £1. Good news to the traveller’s ear. We have a few drinks there before closing and head back for some much needed rest as tomorrow we head to the only country that lies on two continents – Turkey.

Tags: Travel

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