Stress in Beauvais
It was as smooth as it could be getting from Anna's to La Gare du Nord and onto the train. All was going well until we approached the town of Beauvais and I began to realise that the train was going to take me to the town center and not the airport directly. Oops! When I did a Google Maps Search from Gare du Nord to the Airport it indicated I'd get off the train and walk 300m to the airport. Something wrong there.
Anyway, the train arrived in Beauvais at 7:20 and the plane was due to leave at 8:40. I'd already done a web check-in and had no baggage so, according to the documentation that would be enough time, assuming it was a 300 meter walk.
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| Not a 300m walk... |
So, now I had to get a bus. Fair enough. I looked at the map and it wasn't far. Ten minutes max. Should be ok. Unfortunately, it soon became clear that the bus started heading in the opposite direction and was stopping every few hundred meters to pick up more passengers, each of which had to shuffle through their pockets to get the right change to pay the fare! Eek! Eventually the bus did change direction and start to head towards the airport, albeit in a meandering path.
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| Waiting at the bus stop to go to the airport |
I was pulling my hair out, so much that not even one selfie was taken at this point! I seriously considered jumping off the bus and trying to hail a taxi. The bus finally arrived at the terminal at 8:03! I jumped off and headed straight inside. Luckily I saw the Sofia check in desk was almost queue-free and although it said "Closed 8:00am" the girl was still dealing with someone, so when she finished with him, she seemed happy to deal with me. There was no shocked/worried look on her face. She took my passport and gave me a boarding pass straight away. The line to go through security was huge so I asked a member of staff if I could get through quicker "Sofia?" she asked, and approved and pointed me to a much shorter queue.
Anyway, amazingly, I boarded an international flight that almost left on time having just arrived at the airport 37 minutes earlier!
On the flight I sat next to a French woman and, I presume, her grandson. Perhaps it was nerves but she never stopped talking to him once in the two and a half hour flight. Poor boy!
Goof Ups in Sofia
This trip's all gone pretty smoothly so far but I made two pretty significant mistake here. I was expecting to change terminals and fly straight off to Vienna and then Bangkok and then Perth but when I got my flight times sheet out of my bag I spotted the the flight to Vienna's not until tomorrow night. Damn! I'm not sure how that hapenned but I vaguely remember that I had originally intended to stay in Paris one more night after the final and catch the plane on Tuesday morning, except that Wizzair didn't do a Tuesday flight from Paris to Sofia. Anyway, I'd certainly not checked my itinerary for weeks and it was a surprise.
So I have to stay another night here in a very hot and sunny Sofia. Things could be worse, I suppose. I tried to get another AirBnB place as they have been better and cheaper, on the whole, but that also went pear shaped. First of all the taxi driver couldn't find the street. SatNav? What's that? It was quite comical. He'd drive a few hundred meters and then stop and ask someone and then drive a bit more repeatedly. Eventually we arrived at the street and it looked like a building site which puts me off straight away. When I looked for the No 7 promised, there was only a block of apartments. I wasn't told that, or the number of the apartment to ring. I tried a few but none replied. So I gave up and walked in the hot sun into the city to find a hotel which is where I now am.
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| Taxi Driver Leaves car running and legs it to find out where the street he is supposed to be taking me to is |
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| Sofia taxi drivers can be frustrating |
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| When we find it, it's not exactly what it said on the tin |
After a nice shower and a change of clothes I wandered around the streets of Sofia reminiscing on where I met dear Jeffrey when the trip began at the start of June.
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| Back to Vitosha, where it all started with Jeffrey and Tony |
Bulgarian Wines are Fabulous
Later, thanks to a recommendation of Malgorzata Danicka, the Polish lady who translated Elaine Morgan's books, I decided to try to sample some Bulgarian wines, which are the best in the world according to her.
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| Grape Central |
Drawing on Professor Google I found a place called "Grape Central" which is right in the city center. As usual, it was a good decision. The co-owner of the bar, Jana, was fantastic and took me through a special selection of local wines (and a lovely beer). She is a wine journalist and has studied the subject in France and Austria. It was an education listening to her as her enthusiasm and knowledge for the subject shone through her eloquent English.
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| Jana knows her stuff |
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| The guys at the end of the bar were sampling some whites and cheeses |
I had three whites and three reds, a nice IPA and some lovely cheeses.
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| The first two whites |
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| Onto the reds |
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| Lovely Bulgarian IPA |
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| This blend (including Melnik) was particularly nice |
Later, I ended up sharing some very nice cheeses with the guys at the end of the bar who, it turns out, were all quite famous in Bulgaria. The guy on the right is a member of parliament, for example.
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| Fresh local cheeses |
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| Hob-knobbing with Bulgarians |
So, my night in Sofia was really pleasurable in the end.
Aljice
Sofia
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