Gandalf spotted in Sofia
An early start and the journey to Sofia was long but some of the scenery was stunning or so I am told. Unfortunately, I missed most of it, as I was tired and tried to sleep on the bus for the first time. Not very successfully.
We are all impressed when we eventually pull into the Hotek Moskva. No 200m trek with back packs, and a large car park and entrance ramp to the reception. Rooms are allocated and, as we step into the lift, the carpet tells us it is Tuesday today. Everyone's buzzing. Tonight we will only have to share with one other person. And we have an ensuite bathroom and toilet. Pure luxury. One lucky person will not have to share at all.
For most people, this is enough, but, as Laura and I enter our room, my heart falls. It is typical of so many other grotty, dingy, unrenovated hotels I have had to suffer in my years of business travel. Hot and stuffy, with curtains hanging off the rail, barely recognisable carpet and beds dating back to the 1960s. There are the remnants of an old radio, intercom, broadcast system, typical of many old East European hotels. Gingerly, I enter the bathroom. A bath! Whoopee!! For a brief moment, my spirit lifts at the thought of a long soak, even as I look at the paint peeling off the inside of the bath and the mould around it. Soon to crash, when I realise that our room, at least, has no hot water for the bath or shower. We go from room to room, comparing notes. Some score bonus points for coolness. Some have hot water. Some have spectacular views over the city. Ours has a mirror.
Craving our daily exercise, Amanda & I decide to go for a jog round the park (she jogs, I walk but I don't mind having to stop and wait for her). Now, if park conjures up cropped lawns, colourful flower beds and children on swings for you, we need to get realigned. This 'park' is just trees, trees and more trees with no real paths and no particular structure. It would be easy to get lost Somewhere in the deep interior, we discover a clearing with benches around the outside and a man practising tai chi. Eventually we make our way back to the hotel and Debbie and Lisa donate their bathroom so I can have my longed for bath. How I wish I'd found a little space for some bubble bath to complete the feeling of luxury.
We dress for dinner and decide to hang the expense and treat ourselves to the Panoramic restaurant on the top floor. As we enter the empty restaurant and request a table by the window we are informed they are all reserved. After a little gentle persuasion, it is agreed we can have a window table but not on the corners with the best views. As we eat and drank and chat the night away, no new diners appear to join us.
Next morning, we are up early for the guided tour of the sights of Sofia. The lift mat tells us today is Wednesday. We trickle in ones and twos into the dining room and eye up the lavish breakfast buffet on the side. As we approach it, the waitress hurries over and points towards the long table already set out with plates. Each has butter, jam, a slice of ham and a minute muffin on it. Along the table are plates of dried out white bread. A couple of us try a dawn raid on the buffet but are quickly admonished and return empty handed, dejected.. Becky takes a muffin from a neighbouring empty plate, but as she places it on the table, it is immediately whisked away and returned to its own plate. Muffins get passed round from person to person and in the confusion, Frankie makes one last try and scores a final muffin in her bag making a total of 4 and she wins the day!
We traipse in the morning sun from statue to university to statue to church to statue to cathedral to statue to basilica to statue to government building to statue, each more lavish and amazing than the last, our young guide regurgitating the text he has learned by heart in English at each location. The audacity of the wealth of the church and government versus the poverty of the people never ceases to astound and confound me wherever I go . Nonetheless Sofia has its own charm.
We are all impressed when we eventually pull into the Hotek Moskva. No 200m trek with back packs, and a large car park and entrance ramp to the reception. Rooms are allocated and, as we step into the lift, the carpet tells us it is Tuesday today. Everyone's buzzing. Tonight we will only have to share with one other person. And we have an ensuite bathroom and toilet. Pure luxury. One lucky person will not have to share at all.
For most people, this is enough, but, as Laura and I enter our room, my heart falls. It is typical of so many other grotty, dingy, unrenovated hotels I have had to suffer in my years of business travel. Hot and stuffy, with curtains hanging off the rail, barely recognisable carpet and beds dating back to the 1960s. There are the remnants of an old radio, intercom, broadcast system, typical of many old East European hotels. Gingerly, I enter the bathroom. A bath! Whoopee!! For a brief moment, my spirit lifts at the thought of a long soak, even as I look at the paint peeling off the inside of the bath and the mould around it. Soon to crash, when I realise that our room, at least, has no hot water for the bath or shower. We go from room to room, comparing notes. Some score bonus points for coolness. Some have hot water. Some have spectacular views over the city. Ours has a mirror.
Craving our daily exercise, Amanda & I decide to go for a jog round the park (she jogs, I walk but I don't mind having to stop and wait for her). Now, if park conjures up cropped lawns, colourful flower beds and children on swings for you, we need to get realigned. This 'park' is just trees, trees and more trees with no real paths and no particular structure. It would be easy to get lost Somewhere in the deep interior, we discover a clearing with benches around the outside and a man practising tai chi. Eventually we make our way back to the hotel and Debbie and Lisa donate their bathroom so I can have my longed for bath. How I wish I'd found a little space for some bubble bath to complete the feeling of luxury.
We dress for dinner and decide to hang the expense and treat ourselves to the Panoramic restaurant on the top floor. As we enter the empty restaurant and request a table by the window we are informed they are all reserved. After a little gentle persuasion, it is agreed we can have a window table but not on the corners with the best views. As we eat and drank and chat the night away, no new diners appear to join us.
Next morning, we are up early for the guided tour of the sights of Sofia. The lift mat tells us today is Wednesday. We trickle in ones and twos into the dining room and eye up the lavish breakfast buffet on the side. As we approach it, the waitress hurries over and points towards the long table already set out with plates. Each has butter, jam, a slice of ham and a minute muffin on it. Along the table are plates of dried out white bread. A couple of us try a dawn raid on the buffet but are quickly admonished and return empty handed, dejected.. Becky takes a muffin from a neighbouring empty plate, but as she places it on the table, it is immediately whisked away and returned to its own plate. Muffins get passed round from person to person and in the confusion, Frankie makes one last try and scores a final muffin in her bag making a total of 4 and she wins the day!
We traipse in the morning sun from statue to university to statue to church to statue to cathedral to statue to basilica to statue to government building to statue, each more lavish and amazing than the last, our young guide regurgitating the text he has learned by heart in English at each location. The audacity of the wealth of the church and government versus the poverty of the people never ceases to astound and confound me wherever I go . Nonetheless Sofia has its own charm.
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