In this latest series, I will be going through all the countries I’ve travelled to on my mission to visit every single country in the world. In this article, we will be covering country #70: Bulgaria. If you haven’t gotten a chance already, read this story first to find out why I’m trying to visit all 193 UN-recognized countries.
VIDEO – Country #70: Bulgaria
Blog post on Bulgaria
- My Journey From Sofia, Bulgaria to Thessaloniki, Greece
- My Complete Albania, Macedonia, Bulgaria, and Greece Spending Breakdown
Arriving in Sofia
I arrived in Sofia after a long bus ride from Skopje in Macedonia. I was still recovering from the food poisoning bout I had from the night before. Luckily for me, it seems that I was recovering at a pretty good pace compared to my previous food poisoning experience.
I walked the streets of Sofia and noticed how quiet and deserted it felt compared to other European cities. After walking for 15 minutes, I finally made it to my Airbnb which turned out to be a hostel.
The friendly new hostel owner
The owner of the hostel and myself became friends instantly. He was an Italian man by the name of Lucio and he left Italy to search for a better life. Apparently, living conditions in Italy have gone really bad and so he left to start a hostel in Sofia, Bulgaria.
I was the second customer ever of the hostel owner and he took me for a walk at night to help me find a place to buy food. He also gave me a walking tour of Sofia which was a very nice gesture of him.
His hostel is fantastic; however, after checking Airbnb recently, it looks like his hostel is no longer a hostel. It looks like he converted it to a furnished apartment rental unit.
My girlfriend is mad I picked her up late from the airport
The next day, I was supposed to pick up my girlfriend from the airport. However, I completely forgot to change my clock and I was still a one-time zone behind. I ended up arriving late and my girlfriend was pissed at me. We’ve been separated for months now and she envisioned a lovely reunion at the airport. Instead, I showed up late.
She was still mad at me as we took the train towards our accommodation. Soon enough, she calmed down as she realized it was an honest mistake and I really just forgot to change the time on my phone.
Two more days in Sofia
During our two days and one night in Sofia, we ate a lot of McDonald’s. Yes, we were curious to see what McDonald’s was like here. The only thing different or weird that they do is put your drink on a paper bag; otherwise, it’s not too different from the ones in Canada or USA.
The next day, we took the train to go to our real destination which is Greece. The train we were on was pretty beaten up. It looked like a wooden box stapled together and was somehow moving. My girlfriend actually thought it was fun to ride on a beat-up wooden box.
Got locked in the washroom while taking the train from Sofia to Thessaloniki (Greece)
As we were taking the train to the border of Bulgaria and Greece, I got locked in the washroom of the train. I got freaked out as I started kicking the door trying to open it. To make matters worst, I don’t have a sim card so there was no way for me to contact my girlfriend or anyone for help.
I tried making a lot of noise but no one came to help me.
I started messing around with the lock, doing everything that I could to open the lock that got stuck. After some tedious effort, I made it unlock. The next time I used that toilet, I made sure not to close the door.
After arriving at the Bulgaria and Greece border, a bus took us to the train station where we would be transferring to in order to make our way towards Thessaloniki in Greece. We actually got stuck here for a long time before the train finally arrived and we made our way to our next destination: Greece!
Conclusion
Travelling to Bulgaria was a nice side adventure on the final month of my one year trip around the world. I think if I visit Bulgaria again, I would definitely check out the Rila Monastery which I missed during my first time travelling here.
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