Dragoman to Sofia: Day 28

A challenge trying to reach Sofia then a walking tour, wine tasting and generally enjoying being back in a busy city.

This morning I was suffering from my long walk yesterday. My feet were painful with blisters, my left ankle hurt, my stiff legs had trouble bending. Walking was an inelegant stumble. Progress was a work of will. I stumbled to the railway station, nearby I bought a coffee and a fried doughnut affair, which was salty rather than sweet and had no hole (it's called a "mekitsa").

The Internet indicated there was a train at 9:20 am. I waited patiently at the run down railway station at the appointed time. No train appeared. Further investigation online, plus a gang of orange suited workers further down the line, suggested trains were cancelled today due to work on the line. So I tried a bus. A man with a few words of English, sitting by a hole in the wall shop, pointed out a bus stop on the opposite side of the square. The Internet implied there was nothing for two hours, but a notice at the bus stop suggested one in an hour if I understood the Cyrillic characters correctly. A promising collection of people were waiting. A 22 seat bus, more of a minibus, appeared at the appointed time. I worried whether we could all squeeze on as it was already two thirds full and the other people waiting had rushed to get on first. I was the last on, completing the line stretching the length of the short aisle. Displayed on the dashboard a card said СОФИЯ and the driver agreed that he was going to Sofia (or at least he said "Da" when I said "Sofia"), so I was hoping that the 4 lev fare (less than £2) would get me there. Things improved when the bus stopped at a town on the way where a big group left, at least they left once I moved out the way as I was blocking the aisle. I then managed to get a seat. (Technically there was a seat available earlier, but the man sitting in the aisle seat blocking it, was powerfully built and looking at pictures of large knives on his phone, I decided not to disturb him).

Dragoman railway station.

 

Successfully reaching Sofia and having checked into my hotel I decided on a "free" walking tour of the city, i.e. one where there was a suggested donation at the end. For two hours we went through the town's history, illustrated by buildings and ruins from Roman to communist periods. Then I went to a Bulgarian wine tasting with tapas. A bit embarrassing as I was the only one booked in. However some excellent local wines created from indigenous grape varieties, but my sense of smell was going, I could not detect the different bouquets of the six wines I tried, apparently ranging from strawberries to chocolate.

Night time Sofia.

On my return trip to the hotel I was tempted by products in a patisserie (so much nicer with a mascarpone topping rather than anything sweeter) and then by people eating pizza slices outside a small place selling them (I went for pepperoni). Back at the Art Hotel 158, there was a "Rock Bar" in the basement. After some great music from the Beatles to the Pretenders and the Who there was a live band. Pretty good I thought.