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My first time in Bulgaria.

My experience in Eastern Europe.

By Chelsea MartínezPublished 3 years ago 4 min read
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My first time in Bulgaria.
Photo by Deniz Fuchidzhiev on Unsplash

It's my 5th day in Bulgaria so it is safe to start writing about it already because I am super excited about this place! First eastern Europe country visited, oh yeaaah!

Every time I told someone that I was going to Bulgaria, their response was something like... WHYYY?! Bulgaria REALLY?! Seems like it is not a destination everyone would choose but for me it is not always about the most popular places or the most beautiful cities, as long as I get to see something new and different or experience a different culture I AM GOING! or at least I would wanna go. Let me tell you... I'm actually glad I did!

So I arrived in Sofia, the capital, but I wasn't going to stay there however I had to take some public transportation so I got to see just a little bit. My friends have been asking... "what does it look like over there?". Well to me, it looks a bit like Russia in the movies lol.

Any way, as soon as I arrived at the airport, I had to go straight to the information desk because I had to find my way to my final destination, Veliko Tarnovo, a city around 3 hours away. So I had to take a shuttle to a next terminal, then take a metro, come off at one point to take another train and then walk to the Bus Station to take a bus to my final destination.

Bare in mind these people speak Bulgarian! although yes, some speak English and most signs are also in English. Thank God! Because there is no way you can understand their language as they don't use the regular alphabet that most people use, but some sort of symbol looking things or the letters just sound like something else, I don't know! But any way, between some English and some sign language used, I made it to the final train station stop where I met with 2 of my bulgarian friends who helped me reach the bus station and buy the ticket to Veliko Tarnovo.

First of all, they greeted me with something they drink here called "Rakia" which can be home made as it was this case and a red and white looking bracelet called "martenitsa".

Listen, this bulgarian drink tastes like jamaican white rum with apple cider vinegar! It is well strong! Apparently it is made from fermented grapes, plums, or virtually any fruit with sugars in it. Its alcohol content varies from 40% for the commercially sold liquor to 70-80% of pure firewater for the home-produced one. My goodness! After trying it I kept talking and smelling it and burping it ewwww. Just to find out later in the night when I was at a drink up that they have it with a glass of water or coke on the side. Now I see what I was missing... They also eat a salad on the side, A SALAD! the "bulgarian salad" with tomatoes and cucumbers. WEIIIRDDDD!

On the other hand, "martenitsa", is a small piece of adornment, made of white and red yarn and worn from March 1 until you see the first blooming tree or the first stork. Although realistically most people just wear it for the first 2 weeks or until late March. But after you see the first stork you are supposed to take it off and hang it on a blooming tree.

The white color is a sign of beauty and symbolizes purity, innocence and joy. The red one is the color of vitality, health and love, victory, life and courage, the light of a rising or setting sun.

Big thanks and shout out to Denis and Martin!

Any way, while I waited on my bus to depart I decided to get some food and man was that menu easy to understand! I have never been so confused! I got rice with chicken and mushrooms and it was terrible! But it wasn't just my food that was bad, my friend's food too. Apparently it was bad because it was a cheap "restaurant" at a train station. I still ate it though, because after eating bad for the previous one and a half days that it took me to reach Bulgaria from France I needed my protein and carbohydrates, yup, that's what I kept telling myself to be able to eat that.

But that first day experience didn't end there. I was randomly approached by a man offering me chocolate. This man was walking around with a box of chocolate giving people apparently because he just had a baby. Another Bulgarian tradition! When they are celebrating something, they offer chocolate to people, although it is mostly to relatives or people they know. I truly don't know why this man offered my friends and I, maybe that's why they said no.

It was time for me to leave Sofia...

And now that I have gotten part of the journey out of the way, and I reached Veliko Tarnovo, where my friend picked me up... let's talk about this city!

TO BE CONTINUED... (see My first time in Bulgaria Part 2.)

female travel
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