Project 4Fifteen

Just back from a super quick trip to Bulgaria. It is amazing to see what a difference a new airport makes. The new airport has now been open a few months and seem rather nice and shiny. The old airport was just absolutely a terrible place. The hotels in the city were all fully booked, so we stayed in the Hotel Vega and it was really nice. It is new and very stylishly decorated.
Everything I did, seemed to have been a bit of a blur as I had a lot of things on my agenda to get ticked off. Several small trips to the city center was well uhm uneventful. They seem to be digging up many roads just like the rest of Europe. Driving seems to be a national combat sport.. Parking and driving through the narrow streets was a nightmare. I fail to see why anyone would want to hire a car to be in Sofia. It will be madness. Taxis are an option, but my experience is that very very few speak any English, so be sure to write down any addresses you are going to. Also let the hotel staff translate it in Cyrillic for you. It will make it a lot easier.
The weather was great, but already people are complaining about the poor winter and high temperatures in April. Flying back to Edinburgh was uneventful and it was great setting foot back home again.

I was rather fortunate enough to be able to visit Serbia, which at first glance was I was a bit apprehensive. With all the goings on in there from about a decade ago, I was not quite sure what to expect. Well what a surprise! I found the Belgrade, well not too different from other Eastern European countries, but what really got me was the pride of the people. This sure made an impression. They obviously had their issues with politics etc, but it is a marvelous place to go see. And very cheap too! By cheap I do not mean nasty cheap, I mean really good value for money. The buildings in Belgrade are marvelous and the new section of the city is pretty impressive. A total contrast to places like Singapore, but you can see it is a proud place. They are very tourist driven now. Serbia is in a dispute about land, with them seeking to break away from Montenegro. Montenegro is one of those undiscovered places. I would love to make my next holiday one of these places to explore it better! Montenegro is a day trip away from Italy and Greece.
There are more pictures of the trip here

Well, I have reorganised and upgraded my gallery software. While going through it all, I noticed that I had some good photos. I selected the ones I had and made this new section in my gallery. You can see them at the gallery link. Feel free to score which ones you like more!

What an interesting day. I had a meeting with some more government officials. One of them was the Chief of Police, who had already been briefed about the Friday/Saturday ‘adventure’. He apologised for what had happened and vowed that something will be done. In my experience promises are usually empty promises, but he seemed genuine about it.

One last trip round to Legends for a burger and some beer. I really should stop drinking so much beer… Maybe next time!
Tomorrow morning will be an early trip to the airport for my flight back to Frankfurt.

Update: Now several months later, what a transformation. The police have done a marvelous job in ensuring the safety of tourists and locals. Well done!

Very big meeting today. This was the mother of them all. It went absolutely fabulous. I am really chuffed with myself in having pulled this one off. I think it is time to celebrate. Well, since the Football World Cup is starting today and of course it is coinciding with the grand opening of Legends Sports bar This is a fab place with screens everywhere. You will not miss any of the action. For any reason. So.. I am off to see the first game.

Update:
I got mugged outside my hotel. Well, walking from the pub to the hotel. Uhm, it was not even a real mugging, but I had my watch and money stolen. The police did not have a option for it, the closest was mugging, so I chose that one. Several things went through my mind when I got nailed. I grabbed the culprit and demanded my money and watch back. Not it was the money but it was the principle. Things started to go through my head. I must not get involved in any fight with locals. Heck knows who/what is waiting in the bushes. I decided to let it go since I was clearly starting to endanger myself. Oh well. Such is life.
It took absolutely hours to file a report with the police, mainly because their system is so hard to use. I managed to catch the entire Polish game as well before I finished my report.

Update II:
I had to go back again to give a photo id of the guy. Sheesh. Is there no limit to what these guys will go to? It was only money (not even a lot) and my watch, which I later came to regret wearing as it was a special watch to me. Another trip to the sports bar and I found out I was not the only one being robbed the night before. Several other patrons had suffered the same fate.