At one point I got up to use the bathroom and was a little surprised to see that when looking down the toilet, I could see the train tracks. Apparently they did not have a very sophisticated commode. I went back to my seat and Brock got up to use the bathroom. I figured I'd let him see for himself and he came back with the same perplexed and disgusted look I must have had.
Sofia was a fun city to explore. There are impressive Orthodox churches, museums, parks everywhere, an extensive tram system, and a lot of cobbled streets. We visited the Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky, one of the largest in the world. It was dark inside and while beautiful, it was hard to see all of the orthodox paintings which are usually so vibrant.
As soon as we boarded our France Air flight, I was thrilled to hear French again. Bulgarian is a beautiful language, but I really missed hearing and speaking French.
We didn't stay long in Paris. Our train to the Netherlands was departing from Gare du Nord. It was a hot and balmy day when we hauled our luggage through this high traffic station to catch our train. I was standing in a pedestrian area arranging our luggage when I felt myself being pushed forward and realized the back of a bus had bumped me while turning. Thankfully I had on a backpack, but sheesh!
The train to Liege, Belgium was the nicest train I've ever ridden. I let Majerle have his own seat this time so he could spread out. He had just chipped his tooth and I was feeling sorry for him for dragging him around Europe.
This is Majerle excited about his first ever train ride to Sofia:
This is him after a few days of travel with a freshly chipped tooth, poor guy.
Riding through Northeastern France into Belgium was beyond pleasant and picturesque. We arrived in Liege with a half hour before our final short train to Maastricht. While waiting on the platform which was partially enclosed by an impressive structure, we heard horns honking and vuvuzelas from the streets below. I figured the World Cup semi-finals between Germany and Spain had just ended and by the sound of things, Germany must have won. I mean we were in Belgium so they must have been rooting for Germany, but our cab driver told us Spain actually won. I was really hoping for a German/Dutch rivalry in the finals.
After a few days of traveling, I was relieved to finally be in the Netherlands. We are staying in a village called Voerendaal near the city of Heerlen. This area is rural but with large cities nearby and is close to the Belgian and German borders. It is splendid here!! Everyone rides bikes and the bike lanes are better than most streets. It takes us about ten minutes to ride bike into Heerlen which we have been doing a couple of times each day. There are horses across the street and just down the street is a farmer who has a store front where we can get our eggs and produce. The air is fresh, the villages are quaint and charming, the people are some of the friendliest I have ever met. Six months living in European cities has made me very ready for this slower pace, but I'm thankful a city is also nearby so we have the best of both worlds. I am looking forward to travels around this area and to Belgium and Germany, but I am also looking forward to lots of days spent simply reading, riding bike, cooking, and walking my dog. The simple things! And I'd say this was a pretty good place to see the Netherlands play in the World Cup finals last night.
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