Sofia, Bulgaria is a great town. Drove from Plovdiv rather late but found a radio station playing hits from the 80s and 90s so a great singalong ensured we got to Sofia awake. All in all, we didn't see too much of the city unfortunately due to it being unappealingly FREEZING (almost - max temps during the day around 2 degrees) and also coz we were trying to organise insurance for the Mondeo for the next few countries (which Lei found out through a phonecall to Pommyland they don't cover). Lei and I also did lots of shopping. Both bought gorgeous leather boots and Johnno and I both got new prescription glasses. Quite a bit cheaper than Australia! We also liked eating in Bularia and Johnno raved about the great Indian we had on the last night, arguably better than the Punjabi Palace, West End (Brisbane). The food is the cheapest I've had so far (for Lei and Johnno, Poland was cheaper still :)). Loved having hot chocolates for the equivalent of about $1.30AUD. Unfortunately Sofia will remain in my memory as the town where I stepped in dog poo twice! Until then, I'd done really well and my (intricately-gripped) shoes were always clean!!
A lion statue - behind is St Sophia church, built around AD527 (Byzantine) and made into a Mosque during Turkish rule before being damaged by earthquakes in 19th C. Restored in 1900s.
Dog poo mishaps meant I was forced to buy some new shoes :)
Check out those pancakes ('and the piggies about to eat them' Johnno would say!)!
(Ladies) Markets in Sofia, check out all those cold bods.
Fantastic Indian restaurant the Taj Mahal!
I also fell in love with the Alexander Nevski Memorial Church - it is my favourite church so far in Europe. It is one of the largest Eastern Orthodox churches in the world and was built in 1912 (in honour of the Russian soldiers who died fighting the Ottomans in the War of Liberation). I just loved the paintings on all the walls and the marble walls and columns. It had a lovely feeling to it and there were people praying and lighting candles.
After Sofia we eventually braved the Serbian border. We had no problems and were in Serbia before we knew it. For all three of us it was a really strange experience. We all felt as if we had been carrying preconceptions of this part of the world and they were finally being checked against the current reality. It is just like anywhere else though, just a bit poorer maybe, is the best way to describe? But the people were really friendly and tried to help us, except the lady at the burger stand who didn't explain to Johnno that he was ordering a liver burger - YUCK. It ended up in the bin.
We drove through so much empty country - agricultural land and open grassed/treed areas. We decided to scoot through Serbia due to the tight timeline so we visited Nis, where there is a Skull tower. This is a tower made (in 1809) by a Turkish commander out of about 900 Serbian skulls as a warning to other Serbs. The tower was closed (and we never saw it, unfortunately, because it was closed Monday as well), chatted to a few skatey youths in between being blown away by the really old public buses! There is no cheap accom in Nis, so we drove out of town and managed to find a really cute little place for about 17 euro (~$27AUD) each. Brand-new!
Frost anybody? (the road leaving Sofia, Bulgaria for Nis)
The border with Montenegro is a very temporary affair it seems (Montenegro split from Serbia in June 06) and we showed passports and rego papers, had our shopping bags prodded (this time I had to bribe little Rob with chocolate to shut his mouth) and we were through.
We were immediately hit by the number of houses and hotels and just generally the extensive infrastructure. Well, not road infrastructure! We did lots of driving at night in the rain, along some of the most notorious road in the Balkans ('Notorious for what Lei?!!!!!!') - NOTORIOUSLY DANGEROUS due to rock falls, traffic, road surface etc. etc. Crazy tourists!!
Anyway, thanks to Johnno's driving skill (& Lei's soothing massages I think), we made it to the capital, Podgorica around 8pm and found a motel room for 45 euro (~$70AUD). It rained all night.
The next day we made the mistake of parking near a huge puddle. Not usually a problem right, puddles really are quite harmless (don't want the Supporters Of Puddles organisation onto me), but I (in the back seat) opened the car door right as a car went whizzing past thus letting a few decent litres through the open door - I got drenched and Johnno, in the driver's seat, copped some too. The Mondeo's poor old interior needed some wiping down too. We then drove around for a while, trying to dry out, getting lost around Podgorica looking for the centre of town (´Was that it?˙). After some yelling at each other, we kicked that popsicle stand and left for Kotor, on the coast. Torrential rain the whole way. And flooding in the small C15th town (capital when Crnojevica feared Ottoman attack) on the banks of Rijeka Crnojevica one of the rivers feeding into the Skadarsko Lake (one of the Balkans' largest). There was also flooding at Kotor: a burst water pipe right at the front gate of the old town, emergency services and TV cameras right next to the town wall. Good fun!!!
My pic - raging torrents of the Rijeka Crnojevica under the unusually non-symmetrical bridge.
Pic from montenegro.com in non-flooding times.
Johnno unable to take the little path beside the lake (behind him and curving around to the left).
Kotor was a nice place, a little more expensive than Bulgaria, however the ABSOLUTE highlight was climbing to the top of Kotor castle the next day (thankfully it was a clear day). It was a huge climb, and Lei and I mourned the loss of the fitness we possessed a few months ago. But GOD the view of Europe's most southern fjord was brilliant. I loved it up there and could have stayed for hours. (Oh and we had the best ommelettes ever in a tiny Noosa-style resort town of Budva.) But of course, this being a LJC tour (just like Contiki) we had to get going, through another border and into Croatia - Dubrovnik. More on Dubrovnik in my next post!
Two beauties and a beautiful view!
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