We boarded the train at Belgrade last evening.
One of our reserved seats was occupied by a burly Serbian, I assume ( I hope I'm not maligning the Serbian nation). The train from Zagreb, which you will recall was in a delapidated state, was Serbian and not Croatian. It's only saving grace had been its dining car. We had reserved seats as we normally had but neither in the previous Serbian train nor on this train were the reservations posted. The wanted us to take other seats (6 seat carriage) but we insisted on our reserved window seats. He moved once we showed him the reservation - the alacrity with which he moved was possibly due to the adjacent carriage being reserved for the police. Though he spoke English, he never spoke to us again and exhibited a surly countenance for the remainder of the journey.
Having sorted out passenger no 1, passenger 2 , a Turk from Istanbul, proffered the fact that he had bought a ticket but had not been assigned a seat. When John told him that we had reserved online some weeks ago, he appeared satisfied and was quite chatty thereafter.
Much to our relief, two, very chatty, German students, entered the carriage advising that next month they were both about to commence studying Psychology at Innsbruck University and were using an Inter Rail pass. They had already travelled most of the Northern part of Eastern Europe and were hoping to make it to Istanbul and back to Innsbruck before their ticket ran out . They told me that they frequently took overnight trips to avoid having to pay for hostels. It reminded me of my student days when two friends and I travelled the perimeter of the US and in our haste to complete the journey in 21 days on our $99 pass , we could only allow ourselves a hotel every three nights - the energy of youth! In spite of the fact that we were awoken 6 times: twice by Serbian immigration officials; once by Customs and thrice by ticket checkers, the boys seemed to immediately settle back to sleep!!
We arrived at 09.15 The approach to Sophia exhibited the same soul destroying numerous muti-storey apartment blocks as on the approach to Belgrade.
We had noticed on crossing the border at Dimitrigrad that though the countryside was visibly poor the homesteads and train stations were better maintained than in Serbia.
However, the train station in Sofia would rival Belgrade in a competition for the worst railway station in Europe. It exhibited the worst features of Stalinist architecture.
Digital displays broken
We alighted the train and as you train anoraks will appreciate, John had to take a photograph of the locomotive, leaving me abandoned on the platform only to be approached by a man, who wanted to know if I spoke Bulgarian. I replied in the negative and he offered to be my guide. I declined and said that I was waiting for my husband. He stayed until John returned to ascertain the veracity of my statement. But he wasn't giving up and asked John if he wanted a guide? Tourists are few and far between - our two German students , another group of young people and ourselves. On quitting the station, we were approached by another guide, whoae services we had to decline.
Within an hour, we had checked into the hotel, had breakfast and took to the bed for 2 hours.
We awoke at midday and set off downtown to an area recommended by the hotel receptionist. She suggested we take the Metro to Serdika and then walk down Tsar Boditeuiel, past the Presidency , the Archaeology Museum, the National Ethnographic Myseum, the Russian Church,Alexander Nevski Cathedtal, the National Assembly to Sophia University. The area is the architectural legacy of the Habsburgs. The railway station is being dismantled and a new station is to be erected courtesy of the EU of which Bulgaria, unlike Serbia, is a member. It occurred to me that if one was to revisit Sohia in 25 years time or possibly less, while the Habsburg architectural legacy will survive, evidence of the dull, mundane Soviet et buildings will be no more.
On our way to the hotel , we came upon an orchestra playing a few concert outside the Conservatoire of Music ( free lunch) playing 1812 overture and other well known pieces.
On leaving the hotel, there were many groups playing chess in the adjacent park.
On our return to the Metro station, the converse of the Central Railway Station - built with EU money,
we had a drink in the oldest hotel: the Grand Hotel Sophia, where we had a drink to celebrate John's birthday.
Tonight, we went native and dined at a restaurant which served authentic Bugarian food. It principal appeal is that it was near our hotel. It wax excellent and we were serenaded by Bulgarian musicans.
Off to Istanbul tomorrow, overnight again, with four changes of train and one bus connection .,,,,,
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