After a lovely breakfast at the Do & Co restaurant in Vienna, then a stroll around the streets, it’s time to pack it in the van and head to the airport. Next destination: Sofia, Bulgaria. I admit I know nothing about Bulgaria. Not sure if it was part of the Soviet bloc, not sure about their customs. Heck, I’m not even sure where it is! But I hope to learn more, and I will. Here are a few last scenes from Vienna, including my omelette, which was delicious. There is an exterior shot of our hotel, and then a lot more of St. Stephan's, with which I am entranced. Again, click on the right hand side of the image to scroll through.

We go to the Austria Airlines lounge until the gate opens, then we head towards the gate. Except we go down the stairs, onto the tarmac and board a bus to the plane. Whatever. The guys take my bags so I am feeling pretty taken care of! We board the plane and take off. 1.5 hours later, we are in Sofia.

We disembark the plane in the same fashion - down the stairs, onto the bus, into the terminal. There is a large sign on one of the jetways that says “Welcome to Happy Bulgaria!” How friendly! I then see the next sign, “Happy Bar and Grill, 22 Locations in Bulgaria!”. It’s an ad. Oh well. For one brief shining moment I felt more welcome here than anywhere else in my life.

Passport control take no time all, and our bags are first off the belt. We walk through customs and voila! We are in Sofia!! All we need is our car! Hmmm… where is that car? Our car is not here, but the call center the guys are visiting tomorrow sent us a van. Sweet! We’re outta here!

I’m not sure what I expected, but Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, is fairly built up with lots of tech companies, other business. We drive 30 minutes or so to our hotel, the Arena di Sardeca. When they began building this hotel, they unearthed Roman ruins below. An arena. So the hotel was built over it, and from the lobby you look down at the well-lit amphitheater below. It’s pretty cool. And not only can you look down, but you can walk through it.

Dean says "It ain't no Colliseum, but it's pretty cool!". High praise from an American of Roman descent. The rest of the hotel, though, it pretty tired at best. We are staying here for less than 24 hours so we don’t really care. It is 10 minutes from the call center so tomorrow morning will be easy. We have an hour’s down time before the call center folks pick us up for dinner. They have promised us a traditional yet modern Bulgarian experience.

We arrive at the restaurant Moma at 8:30pm. It is beautiful from the outside. We are seated at a round table under a very ornate light fixture. All the rooms are decorated differently. As soon as we settle in, the music starts.

Traditional Bulgarian music begins, and it is lively! There are dancers! People are clapping, stomping, whistling! I am waiting for the plates to start smashing on the ground, but that does not happen. For the next number, a woman sings a beautiful Bulgarian folk song. There is more dancing. It is all up-tempo. And loud. I wonder if this goes on all night. It does not. 20 minutes and done. But it certainly sets the mood.

Business chit-chat commences and I turn to the menu. It looks fabulous! Lots of fresh salads, Bulgarian BBQ, duck, veal, lamb, pork, etc. Not a lot of fish. We are inland, after all.

A little on where Bulgaria is. I assumed I was headed east towards Eastern Europe, but we went south. Bulgaria sits atop Greece and borders the Black Sea, as well as Turkey, to the east, Romania to the north, and Serbia and Macedonia to the west. Its culture is a mix of all of these while being distinctively its own. The Romans spent a bit of time here and ruins are everywhere, including the lobby of our hotel. It was a communist country for a spell while never part of the Soviet bloc, but adopted a democratic constitution in 1991. Bulgaria is currently a member of the European Union.

History class is now over, back to that menu. Two more of the folks from the call center arrive and we start a conversation. We’ve decided to let our host Christina handle the food orders and the beverage situation. Christina orders Rakia, which she calls Bulgarian schnapps, but this is much more like grappa. You could set a house on fire with this stuff. I take a small sip of Bob’s. Wowza. I’ll have the wine, thanks. She orders Bulgarian wine, one red and one white. It is very good.

Once that’s all settled the appetizers begin. First out is bread with salam, a spice mixture that is salty and gently spicy and flavorful. It is accompanied by a salad plate with a variety of dips — eggplant, roasted pepper, cheese and herb, plus actual roasted peppers both red and green, sheep’s milk cheese and a super-fresh tomato and cucumber salad with grated mozzarella (I think) on the top. I take a piece of bread, sprinkle the salam on it, and then add a slice of sheep’s milk cheese and a roasted pepper. Yummy. Next comes a tray of cured meats — 4 different kinds, sliced thinly and all delicious. We talk and eat. I could call it a night right here, but I know there is more food coming.

The lights dim and I wonder if the band is coming back. No, it is our flaming shish-ka-bob, accompanied by a platter of sausage, pork meatballs, lamb meatballs, and other meats. It is the Bulgarian BBQ, and it is tasty. Some potatoes, fries and Bulgarian beans bring up the rear. The table is full of salads, salumi, meat, beans and potatoes. Dean is Italian and he feels right at home. The only thing missing is the pasta! We all start reaching and sampling everything on the table. I feel like we barely made a dent in it and we are all full. It was delicious, and a great way to experience the culture.

Over dinner there is some business talk as well as questions about life in Bulgaria, raising children, the past and the future. The waiter asks if we want dessert and we say no, we are too full! Dessert arrives 10 minutes later. Mostly Bulgarian specialties of which I forget the names. There is a tiramisu type number with a pumpkin filling, something resembling cheesecake, a raisin cake with vanilla ice cream and “chocolate salami” - a chocolate roll with nuts, etc. that looks like, well, chocolate salami. I try everything and it is all good but I am really full!!!

The dinner ends three hours after it began, filled with Bulgarian atmosphere, music, dance, food and hospitality. Great night. Tomorrow we leave for the airport at noon, as soon as business wraps up. No dust on us.

The next morning Bob and Dean head to the call center. I go to the hotel restaurant and have a European breakfast of bread, cheese, fresh fruit, salami, cured salmon, a juice and a latte. I write up my notes from the previous evening during breakfast, return my computer to the room and head out. The woman at the front desk supplies me with a map that provides plenty of things to see that should take a half hour or so. As long as I don’t get lost. These things never end well with me, but I take the map and head out, map in one hand and camera around my neck. I am screaming “tourist” right now. I don’t care, I am a tourist! I head down the street and take a left per instructions. Within 4 minutes I am in a square facing the Parliament Building where the national electorate convenes and there is a really cool statue of a lady with a hawk. Some kind of bird. She looks bad-ass, I like her. I turn back per the map past the President's office and head towards the Russian Cathedral. Not sure which one it is, there are a lot of structures with golden domes and crosses on them. This one is cute, could it be the one? Finally I see it. It is huge. And impressive.

I move on according to the map. There is statuary, some of it obviously from the communist era, an outdoor art market, more architecture that I don’t know what it is, and ultimately I get lost. Off the guided route. I am looking for Moscovska Street. I was just on it but now I am not. Eventually I ask a Bulgarian gentleman in a coffee shop if he spoke English. He responded in a perfect British accent and gave me impeccable directions back to Moscovska Street. Take a right at the restaurant and go down the stairs to the hotel. Back on course!!

I travel down Moscovska Street and enjoy the surroundings. There are school kids on field trips and locals going about their business. And the cars stop for pedestrians without fail. I like that. Keeps me alive. I finally see a restaurant and take a right. No steps. I turned too early. Oh well, a left at the end of the street should get me where I need to go. I do that and within a block I see a familiar building I believe was at the end of the street where the hotel is. I am correct. I am finally back at the Arena do Sardica. Time to pack up and head out. To the airport and off to Frankfurt for a weekend of rest.