Monthly Archives: August 2013

Thessaloniki, Greece

We took an 11am bus from Sofia to Thessalonikia. The bus was a nice, clean, air conditioned tour bus with only 5 passengers. Right after we were on the road a “stewardess” for lack of a better word came around and gave us water, a fruit muffin, and a wet nap. The route was mostly on a brand new highway system. We made 2 scheduled stops in very little towns in Bulgaria and then did the border crossing which only took 5 minutes for customs to clear us. When we arrived at Thessalonikia it was at a remote bus station. They transported us to the main city bus station. We found the bus we needed to take to our hotel – the driver was a great help – we were checked in by 6pm. Then we hit the streets again. Again it was hot! We are much further south and it shows in the temp. We took in some of the sights – see pics- The pic of the statue Stephanie thought looked like the 3 of us looking at a map. About 9pm we stopped for dinner – Greek salad, roasted peppers and tzasitki. The restaurant had musicians playing music. Greeks are party people. Marsha and I had some Ouzo, and then our waiter brought us dessert on the house. We returned to the hotel because tomorrow we are going Kalambaka.

Still having a good time.

Sofia, Bulgaria – Day 2

We slept late – I guess we are all just tired from traveling. We decided to take a day trip to the Vitosha mountain. We had to take the subway and then the bus, I couldn’t believe how nice to subway is – see pics.

When we got off the subway we had to take the #93 bus, but did not know where the stop was. While we were looking at a map a wan stopped to help us. She spoke no English and of course we don’t speak Bulgarian. She asked either if we were French or German or spoke those languages (I guess). I told her “93 bus” in German and she went into the post office to find out where the step was, came out and told us. I am amazed that these people can make themselves understood in several languages. No one is fluent, but at least we can communicate. We found the bus and it started thrust town, but up the mountain. Thank goodness we didn’t walk! The bus rides this elves are interesting – thru narrow, steep streets with switchback turns. We didn’t realize how very large Sofia is until we were halfway up the mountain. I wish I could have gotten a pic, but there just wasn’t an opportunity. The bus let us off and of course we had to walk further up the mountain – it was a steep walk. We came to the Dragalevski monastery. Very serene and peaceful – have pics on the camera. We looked at a map outside the monastery and realized we still had a long way to go to the top. We turned around and headed down the mountain to a local restaurant. Hot and tired as usual we ordered drinks and a snack. We ordered a Bulgarian cheese plate. See pic.

I can’t get over how big the portions are. Sometimes the amount of grams served is posted and that is helpful. We took the bus and subway back to the hotel (air conditioned) and cooled off for a few hours. Then we were back waking the streets. Marsha and Stephanie had salads for dinner and I ordered a beet and carrot salad that I I thought tasted like cardboard. We walked back to the hotel. It is 11pm and we have a bus to Greece tomorrow morning. It’s a bus because Greece cannot afford to run a train. Will fill you in on the bus ride when I can connect again.

Sofia, Bulgaria

We are now in Sofia. We were on a Russian train that originated in Moscow on our overnight from Bucharest to Sofia. The train was comfortable but we were stopped at the border for almost 3 hours while Romanian and Bulgarian authorities did passport checks so of course our train was late. I thought you all might be tired of food pictures, but the food is so different and interesting I can’t help but take pics. While we were killing time at the hotel in Romania we ordered snacks – a cheese plate and vegetable plate – see pic.

We were in Sofia for a day while waiting for our train to Romania and we were not impressed and wondered what we would do for 2 days. We took another 2 1/2 hour walking tour and Sofia is also great. I have many more pics on my camera. After the tour we went to a Bulgarian restaurant recommended by our hotel and of course had to take pics of the food. We had peppers stuffed with cheese then breaded and fried, some sort of cheese and walnut combination, a potato casserole, stuffed grape leaves and a lot of other interesting stuff. The atmosphere was also terrific. It was pretty far away from the hotel and we didn’t get back until midnight. While we were on the tour there were protests against the government. Our guide told us these have been going on for several months. The uniformed guards are protecting the presidential offices, but there are local police that are protecting the palace guards.

Earlier in the day we had been walking around town and were hot and thirsty. It has been hot here, but at least not in the hundreds. I like the Kamenitza grapefruit cooler. See pic. It is made of beer and grapefruit, very low in alcohol and very refreshing. They also make a lemon one I haven’t tried yet. I know it sounds like it would taste terrible, but I think it is really good.

Bucharest, Romania

Yes, we got on a train again. For the past couple of weeks it seems we have been doing planes, trains, automobiles, buses and walking. We haven’t done a horse drawn cart yet. Thank goodness we didn’t get pedometers- we might faint at the number of miles we walked. We got into Bucharest yesterday afternoon and checked into our air conditioned hotel. Our last hotel was not air conditioned and there were no screens on the windows plus out the window everyone had chickens and roosters that crowed every morning. I have to say the hotel was clean and nice and all the staff tried to make us very comfortable. Last night in Bucharest we went on a free 2 1/2 hour walking tour. See pics.

One of the pics is the inside of an Orthodox Church and there are a lot here. These tours are also interesting because they give us a lot of info on how it was when they were under Communist regimes. It is amazing how little we know about these countries. I find it astounding that Romanians speak Italian. We slept in this morning – I think the traveling and the heat are taking their toll. We would have done the free Communist walking tour, but it was also 2 1//2 hours and we figured it would be too hot. We went into town – again. All the cities seem to have the “Old Town”, a shopping district – with all the same stores (Sephora, Claire’s, H&M etc) and a restaurant district. We went onto a restaurant for “breakfast” even though it was 1pm . I wasn’t going to take pictures of the food, but it was so pretty I had to. Marsha and Stephanie had grilled eggplant and zucchini and a focaccia bread. I had a stuffed pancake with ricotta and spinach. Mine was truly delicious and very light. See pics.

We wanted to tour the 2nd largest building in the world (#1 is the Pentagon). But it is a government building and they require passports for entry. Stephanie didn’t have her passport with her so we didn’t take the tour. See pic. Again we walked around for a while and now we are in the hotel lobby killing time until our overnight train to Sophia. Another train!!!

I also went into a pharmacy to get some aspirin. The pharmacist spoke excellent English and he told me he learned it from the Cartoon Network as a child. These pharmacists are great. They make sure they are selling you the right product and provide you with all the necessary information. The dosages are very different here so they want to make sure you take the correct amount. I have to say all the people in these Eastern European countries have been wonderful. It truly is an eye- opening experience.

Curtea de Arges

We were going to take the train to Bucharest today, but heard there was going to be a rock concert tonight in the stadium right by our hotel. Since we did not know how much there is to do in Bucharest we decided to stay in this little town. We walked around again in the heat and finally stopped for a drink at our hotel. They have “coolers” – 1/2 beer and 1/2 lemonade – sounds awful, but quite refreshing and low in alcohol. See pic.

About 6pm we walked to the stadium to see what was going on. It was so hot not much was happening so we returned to our hotel for dinner. The concert/fair had tons of food, but it is all sausages and heavy meals. It is just too hot to eat all of that. At the hotel I had chicken schnitzel and cucumber and garlic salad. Marsha had mushrooms and a tomato and cucumber salad. Stephanie had a pizza.

About 8pm we went back to the stadium. There was a lot more activity and it was much, much cooler. We watched the first performer and decided to listen to the rest from our hotel room window. I think this constant heat is draining. We are hoping for a cool front to move thru. Tomorrow we will go to Bucharest.

Almost forgot – while we were walking to the stadium we were stopped by a girl taking a survey for Ursus Cooler, which is the drink we like. Of course she couldn’t speak English, but no matter we signed her form, told her how much we liked the cooler and she gave us a free can.