Bulgaria: Where the Mountains Meet the Sea. Of smooth Skies and rough Rooms

 

After a battle with the taxi gods in the morning, we finally managed to secure a ride to the airport. From there, everything went suspiciously smoothly - the kind of smooth that makes you wonder if you’re accidentally in a parallel universe.

 
Despite it being rush hour, the streets were practically empty. (It was Friday, after all - who actually goes to work on a Friday?) Security was a breeze, with only one other person in line, and both our flights - Tallinn - Riga and Riga - Sofia - left ahead of schedule. By 2 PM, we were already in Bulgaria, basking in the satisfaction of efficient travel.

 
Our pre-booked taxi arrived within ten minutes, and the driver even gave us a quick mini city tour on the way to the hotel. So far, so good.

That’s when things took a slight turn. Our assigned room turned out to be located somewhere behind the boiler room, with a stunning view of… a wall and a rooftop littered with cigarette butts. The complimentary bottle of sparkling wine on the table didn’t quite sparkle enough to make up for it.

We asked for a new room, and about an hour later, we were relocated - this time to one featuring a strong but persistent eau de sewer in the bathroom. Scott, ever the problem-solver, engineered a makeshift fix involving a wet towel over the drain. Surprisingly effective! The crisis was (mostly) contained.

Our hunger led us next door to a place gloriously named Cheesus, where we indulged in grilled cheese sandwiches that felt like divine intervention after the hotel saga.

We then wandered around the city, admired Sofia’s famous cathedral, and went on a mission for traditional Bulgarian food. Unfortunately, the locals seem to love dining out as much as we do - nearly every restaurant had a queue at the door.
In the end, we landed in an Italian bistro that turned out to have a rather creative interpretation of “Italian and European cuisine.” Apparently, this also includes Japanese, Chinese, and Thai dishes.

By 9:30 PM, we called it a day and collapsed into bed.