I have never been a great planner. If the main details are taken care of, I'm sure the little ones will all fall into place.
Our flight was booked to Sofia, Bulgaria, and we just presumed that upon arrival, we would take a cab into town to the train station and easily catch the final overnight train of the evening where we would have our own personal cabin to sleep in privacy with a locked door until we reached Varna seven hours later. But of course, this was one of those small details we were wrong about.
I spoke too soon, because I didn't realize until later that they neglected to send all of my luggage. So there went our brilliant plan. We missed the final overnight train while filling out paperwork for my lost luggage. We exited the baggage claim area and were greeted by a mob of taxi drivers, some relatively legitimate, others not. "Where you want to go?" "I take you; very cheap!" One driver let us use his phone so we called all over town trying to find a hotel that would allow dogs to no avail. This guy offered us a ride all the way to Varna (550 km) for 284 Euros. Yeah right.
As the hotel calls went on and my poor drug-induced dog's whimpering began, an expensive 7 hour cab ride to our new front door sounded better and better. Especially considering it was nearing midnight and we were standing in a nearly empty airport the furthest from home we have ever been.
Then we were offered a ride for 108 Euros by someone with a "private" company. While Brock questioned his legitimacy, I had visions of an 'E' special I saw investigating women sold into sex slavery. In my best slurred English that only an American could possibly understand, I said there's no way in hell I'm getting into an unmarked van with this guy. But we used his 108 Euro offer to talk the other guy down to 250.
As he loaded our luggage into his car, the remaining taxi drivers (being the only ones left at the airport) evacuated the building and even as our last piece of luggage entered the car we were still getting better offers. Someone handed our driver some cash as we were getting in the car, so Brock asked what that was all about. "For gas, of course." I was suspicious. We drove off and the guy in the van was following us. I was sure that eventually all the cars were going to surround us and I was wishing my butcher's knife was in my hand instead of in Brock's suitcase. The guy in the van pulled up next to us, both he and our driver rolled down their windows and called out some stuff we didn't understand, and Brock asked if he was hassling us for not going with him. Our driver just said no, but never told us what was said. Maybe they were all in on something together...
As soon as we got in the car, I let Majerle out of his crate. There was barely enough room in the back seat for his kennel and me, so he flew out of the crate and into my lap where he curled up and slept the entire trip. With a squirmy drugged up pup in my lap, I attempted to sleep since there was nothing to see in the dark.
Our driver ended up being very kind and curteous. He taught us a few Bulgarian words, including "bless you", and told us a bit about Bulgaria. He smoked roughly every 20 minutes, but was nice enough to offer us cigarettes. So in friendly American custom, Brock offered him his first chew. He didn't have the technique down completely and made some strange hacking noises every so often, but must have liked it since he asked if his tip could be a can of it. We arrived in Varna just as the sun was coming up, so our first views of Bulgaria were the outskirts of the town we would be living in and the Black Sea.
Then we were offered a ride for 108 Euros by someone with a "private" company. While Brock questioned his legitimacy, I had visions of an 'E' special I saw investigating women sold into sex slavery. In my best slurred English that only an American could possibly understand, I said there's no way in hell I'm getting into an unmarked van with this guy. But we used his 108 Euro offer to talk the other guy down to 250.
As he loaded our luggage into his car, the remaining taxi drivers (being the only ones left at the airport) evacuated the building and even as our last piece of luggage entered the car we were still getting better offers. Someone handed our driver some cash as we were getting in the car, so Brock asked what that was all about. "For gas, of course." I was suspicious. We drove off and the guy in the van was following us. I was sure that eventually all the cars were going to surround us and I was wishing my butcher's knife was in my hand instead of in Brock's suitcase. The guy in the van pulled up next to us, both he and our driver rolled down their windows and called out some stuff we didn't understand, and Brock asked if he was hassling us for not going with him. Our driver just said no, but never told us what was said. Maybe they were all in on something together...
As soon as we got in the car, I let Majerle out of his crate. There was barely enough room in the back seat for his kennel and me, so he flew out of the crate and into my lap where he curled up and slept the entire trip. With a squirmy drugged up pup in my lap, I attempted to sleep since there was nothing to see in the dark.
Our driver ended up being very kind and curteous. He taught us a few Bulgarian words, including "bless you", and told us a bit about Bulgaria. He smoked roughly every 20 minutes, but was nice enough to offer us cigarettes. So in friendly American custom, Brock offered him his first chew. He didn't have the technique down completely and made some strange hacking noises every so often, but must have liked it since he asked if his tip could be a can of it. We arrived in Varna just as the sun was coming up, so our first views of Bulgaria were the outskirts of the town we would be living in and the Black Sea.
He took us to our apartment where we had to wait in the cold for our landlord to arrive and give us the keys. I couldn't believe the size of the apartment. After living in a 200 square foot studio for 3 months, this place seemed gigantic, at least 3-4 times the size of our Paris apartment, with 2 bedrooms and 2 balconies, one obstructed sea-side and one facing downtown. We again have just 2 burners and no oven, but there happen to be an additional 2 burners on top of a toaster oven on one of our patios. Why not, eh?
Our bathroom is the only part of the apartment I have mixed feelings about so far. It's sizeable, but there is no shower area, just a shower head on one side of the bathroom and a drain on the other side. I learned the hard way that it's best to remove the toilet paper and any clothing items from the bathroom while showering.
I tried to get some sleep since I didn't get much on the ride here, but it wasn't happening so I took a walk to the beach which is about 5 minutes from our place. There is a large park called "Sea Gardens" that spans the length of much of the town along the beach and harbor and between the park and the beach are nothing but bars and restaurants. There are produce and flower markets everywhere, beautiful orthodox churches, and many streets and squares off limits to cars. This is a lovely, lively, and colorful town. In the words of Annie, "I think I'm gonna like it here!"
I'm glad it's funny, that means the many possible nightmares throughout the traveling didn't happen. I'm glad you got there safe and are finding it a lovely place to visit. If you're looking for your next adventure, you should try Bismarck. A crazy town! Full of beauty and interesting characters. Two of them live in my house! :-)
ReplyDeleteGlad to hear you guys made it to Bulgaria! What a sketchy cab situation, I think you made the right move. The other offer sounded too good to be true.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, now I see the way you spell "Majerle." Is that Marjerle, as in Dan Marjele, my childhood favorite 3-point shooter? I hope so, that would be cool!
Don't forget, in Bulgaria, if you nod your head up and down that means "no," and left to right means "yes." :)