WELCOME TO BULGARIA!
- Hannah McDonald
- Jun 23, 2023
- 8 min read
Updated: Jun 25, 2023
Добре дошли в България!
Arrival in Sofia
After 22 hours of travel from Denver to Frankfurt to Vienna to Sofia, we finally landed in Bulgaria for our trip often referred to as the “why are you going there?” or “wow, that’s off the beaten path” trip. It is safe to say we are exhausted and still need to do the most daunting tasks: Pick up our rental car and navigate the unknown streets to the unknown place we will be calling home for the next week.
Rental Car
We find the “Enterprise” kiosk and begin the process of picking up our car. We are asked for our passports, licenses, and international driving permits (shout out to Joelle for ensuring we have that last one). As he begins telling us about the car, a concerned look quickly spreads over his face: “The car is manual transmission…”. This is a valid concern considering he just saw our U.S. passports. Fortunately, Joelle and I get to brush it off (thanks mom and dad): “We know. We can drive it.” Relieved, he responds, “Ah, sorry for being stereotypical,” with a laugh.
In the parking garage (floor -4), we get a glimpse at our sweet ride: A small, fiery red Suzuki. Joelle squeezes—and I mean squeezes—our luggage into the trunk. It is a tight fit. We do a damage check on the car, then jump in. Reaching for the peddles, I feel like a kid in a Go-cart: I cannot reach them. While I readjust the seat, Joelle asks, “you have the keys, right?” I respond, “No, I thought you did.” Oh my…not off to a great start. We look around the front and find nothing, so I get out and start going through the back. This is not looking good. Where are they? Joelle joins me looking in the back and eventually finds them hiding under her backpack, phew. We get back in the car, and I finish adjusting everything. “So…where are the keys?” Joelle stares at me blankly in response. Oh my goodness. Did we loose them again? After some more searching, they turn back up, this time in her lap. I turn on the car, test the gear shift to make sure we do not accidentally end up in reverse, and we are off to navigate the streets of Sofia.
The Drive
The drive out of the airport and to our Airbnb starts out simple enough. Very functional-yet-bleak communist era apartment buildings line the highway as we make our way toward the main part of the city. Soon though, I am so focused on the road that nothing else registers. The streets turn to cobblestone, the paint is faded, and the traffic lights are in weird places, like giant roundabouts. I have no idea if I am in the correct lane, or any lane for that matter. At one point, I am driving down the street where the tram lines are when I see the cars going the same direction as me on the other side of a median to the right. “Joelle… am I allowed to be driving here??” “I don’t know,” she casually responds. For our loyal readers, I had flash backs to Sweden: “Is this a one way street?… Google it!!” I was starting to get stressed.
Apple Maps tells us we reached our destination (Google Maps said our destination was in the mountains somewhere...), as I cruise past it. Oops. Joelle navigates me on how to circle around and messages our Airbnb host. He lets us know he is waiting out front for us and will show us the parking garage. As we approach this time around, I go slow. I see a man waiting on the sidewalk staring at us but am too nervous to stop, so I miss it again. I try to pull off on the next street, which just results in more confusion, and several honks at me. Our host messages us to circle around again, and this time (after several more honks), I get it right. Phew. To be fair, you have to drive over the curb of the sidewalk to get into the parking garage; it is not obvious.
Our Airbnb
Misho, our host, is incredibly nice. He lives an hour outside town and drove in to meet us (and thank goodness because I probably would have missed that turn 100 more times). He shows us several things, and as soon as he takes off, I crumple into a ball on the floor: “I just need a minute.” That was a stressful drive, and I am exhausted.
Despite being made fun of multiple times–“Bulgaria has food, you know”–the freeze-dried black bean soup mix I managed to stuff in my backpack saved the night for dinner. Neither of us had the energy to find food. After dinner, it was a quick shuffle into bed, deciding our travel-greasy hair could be washed tomorrow.
First Morning in Sofia
We learned a lot during our travels last summer. One of those lessons: It is okay to get some sleep once you arrive, so you can start the adventures well-rested. Joelle had booked our first activity for 2:00pm today. When she wisely asked me if that seemed too optimistic before she booked it, I thought it was a silly question: Of course we would be good by then. Nonetheless, we appreciate that lesson. Joelle set an alarm for 8:30, assuming we would wake up naturally before it.
After dismissing the alarm, 8:30am turned into 9:30am, which quickly turned to 10:30am. I finally peel myself out of bed, thinking it is time for some breakfast (I also packed oatmeal packets for the first morning, despite the snarky comments I received). After walking down the stairs and making breakfast, it suddenly becomes hard to do anything. My body does not feel right. I have no energy. Joelle comes downstairs to find me hunched over a bowl of oatmeal, hardly able to sit up. “Are you okay…?” I am not. My ear hurts, but mostly I am simply unable to function. Joelle methodically goes down the list of everything Google says could cause a red, itchy, swollen ear. Really hoping it is just contact dermatitis and not an infection, we soon realize that I ate next to nothing for our entire travel journey, or last night (I ate very little soup)—a total of about 35 hours. I genuinely was not hungry during that time, but now I am having a major blood sugar crash. We decide the ear thing is unrelated and throw some Benadryl on it. Joelle forces food into me, hoping I will perk up in time for our first scheduled activity. Turns out, being up and at ‘em by 2:00pm is not at easy as I expected.
Discover Bulgaria Dance Class
I rally for our first activity of the trip: A Bulgarian dance class! We walk through the streets of Sofia (I will be avoiding driving in the city) for about 40 minutes before arriving on the corner where we are supposed to wait. It is warm out! Joelle and I are both sweating. How to describe Sofia? In many ways it is your average European city, just without some of the romanticized notions. Some buildings are a bit crumbly with graffiti; there is not a bakery with fresh croissants on every corner; and the streets are surprisingly quiet for a Saturday afternoon.
Joelle and I wait on the specified street corner where Viki, our dance instructor, and Tommy, her preschool-aged son/little helper, meet us. Arriving at the dance studio, we are impressed by the large space. Viki lets us know it will just be the two of us, which is surprising because we were told they moved our session today to a bigger studio due to the number of registrations. More personalized for us!
Tommy cruises around the studio on his scooter, while Viki starts teaching us some dances. In the hour, she teaches us four variations of the standard traditional dance style, each from a different region of Bulgaria. We forgot to have her write them down for us, but Joelle’s detective skills on Google give us a good guess on three of them: Pirin Horo, Shopluk Horo, and Trakia Horo (learn some more here). Each dance is a series of steps that move in a large circle, with everyone holding hands. The first one is simple, just a couple steps. Then, it gets progressively harder, adding skips and changes in direction. We eventually get them, and Viki has us dance them to different music. Dances are similar throughout the Balkans, although the music is country-specific, so we danced to Bulgarian, Greek, Turkish, Macedonian, and Serbian music with the same steps.
Having learned the dances, it is time to get dressed in traditional Bulgarian attire. Viki hands us the outfits and instructs us on how to put them on. They are comfy! Joelle asks what season these clothes are meant to be worn, and Viki tells us it is for Spring and Summer. Might be a little toasty in today’s weather! Rather than trying to describe the clothes, you can look at the pictures. Joelle's outfit comes from the Sofia area and mine is traditional of the mountains in the middle of the country.
Back in the studio, Viki starts the music for Joelle and I to show-off the dances we just learned, while she videos. Umm…what were the steps? My retention is low. We figure out the first, simple dance together, and then Viki sets the down phone to record from the floor, so she can help us. What a fun way to learn a little about the culture! Viki says if we go to a traditional Bulgarian restaurant, we will be ready to dance.
Borisova Gardina Park
Joelle needs to get her run done and found a large park near the dance class. Actually, it is near a lot of things because the park is so massive. Entering the park is like entering a forest. “Enjoy the vegetation while we have it; there is none in Greece,” Joelle says. We agree on a meeting point and time, and Joelle is off on her run (do not worry mom, we also have our locations and data turned on). While she runs, I walk, winding through the trails. It is easy to get lost; there are so many directions to go. I make my way toward the middle (of this section of the park), and find myself walking past soccer games, live music, restaurants, stadiums, kids playing, and more. This is where everyone is on a Saturday afternoon! No wonder the streets were empty. I eventually find a pretty garden and sit on a bench by the fountain. I fight to keep my eyes open while a watch the locals go about their day. I check-in on Joelle by watching her Find My icon run through the park. She covered a lot of distance! Once we reunite, she tells me the vastness of the park, how lost she got, and the fun things she saw. There were a lot of families on bikes and she saw at least one kid's birthday party at play area full of ropes to climb and swing on. This was only a small section of the park, so I am sure we will be back for more runs. For now, it is back to the Airbnb, via the grocery store, just as the afternoon storm rolls in and starts to drizzle on us.
On the way we pass the iconic St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, a Bulgarian Orthodox church and what seems to be the symbol of the city, if not the country. Despite construction machinery parked around it (the cathedral seems to be getting some work done), the area is quiet, and it looks like wedding guests are arriving. It is cool to see such a beautiful building actually being lived in, especially because a church like this in the more popular European cities would be surrounded by hoards of people and choked with tourists.
Lidl Grocery Store
The goal of this grocery store adventure: No juicy stories for the blog. It was a success! Sorry folks. We got a weeks worth of groceries for $50 and only got sprinkled by the rain.
I love all of this! Did the ear clear up? Have the best adventure!
Thanks for the update. Great moves on the dance floor!!!! I want all that food for $50!
Fun! And good food! Bring on the adventures! xo
Awesome first day. Way to go girls. I live the dance class. Such a unique way to experience the culture. Are you going to try to put it in action and hang with the locals?