This crazy road trip is definitely taking its toll on me, and we are only on day four. Not anticipating all the passport stamps in this region, my passport is wiped out. My plan to visit the US Embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria, was quickly ruined when we realized today is Columbus Day! Argh!
We managed to do a whirlwind tour of Sofia’s city center – a great place to visit and shop, but a miserable city to drive in so I highly suggest to bring a car shade if you’re planning to visit. I think navigating Paris was easier than this. From lots of unmarked tiny one-lane roads to trams everywhere, I’m definitely walking when I come back.
The countryside of Bulgaria may be one of the prettiest places I’ve visited. Growing up in the urban sprawl of Los Angeles with only one season, seeing hillsides blanketed in trees with changing leaves was something I never experienced growing up.
I think I literally went “ooooohhhh ahhhhhhh” two dozen times while cruising on the backroads. I’m so glad we decided to detour to Macedonia, otherwise we would’ve been on the highway in a completely different direction.
One common theme throughout several of the countries visited thus far was the soviet era buildings and desolate villages with crumbling brick buildings. Along with the deserted railway buildings, they sent a chill up my spine, but were tragically beautiful at the same time.
Off in the distance was a giant flag on the top of the mountain getting closer. As we suspected, that was the Macedonia border crossing. Definitely scenic, and as you cross, there is a spot that’s ideal for getting a photo with the Bulgarian, EU, and Macedonian flags. I’m sure I violated a number of laws, but it was worth the risk.
Our foodie adventures in this part of Europe are a bit more difficult since the food is actually quite similar in some of these countries. To ensure we had a good taste of each country we visited, we made it our mission to seek out the local beverages — beer, wine, spirits, etc.
And, in our quest to track down local beers and wines, we stopped at a Macedonian roadside gas station to ask where we could purchase a local specialty food item. Who knew that stop would define this adventure to date – the gas station attendant was so excited when he learned we wanted to find ajvar, he actually left and ran home to bring his own homemade version! Can’t wait to write that food post!
Ironically, searching for alcohol in Macedonia was much harder than Kosovo, which seems to be a predominantly Muslim country. Tonight’s dinner was traditional Kosovan cuisine with a theme – we spotted an interesting restaurant along one of the mountain passes and had to turn back.
I was surprised by Kosovo as I didn’t know quite what to expect – what I got to see definitely makes me want to come back. I wish we had been able to drive the Kosovo and Albanian routes during the day as the mountain passes likely rival the scenery in Bulgaria.
Today’s Stats: 514 km driven, 6 beers, 4 countries, 3 bottles of wine, 3 times pulled over, 1 wrong one-way street, and no feral dog chases! Sounds like the Our Tasty Travels version of 12 days of Christmas here!
Note: Day 4 post delayed and Day 5 on the way due to no wifi for last two days while traveling. Onboard cruise ship now so likely offline for next 3 days but look for any iphone social media updates utilizing hashtag #kvarnerfood and #tastyrt13.
5 comments
Awesome adventure!…I’d love to check out Bulgaria. Loved Croatia and had a couple interesting days in Belgrade a couple years ago. Serbians insisted they had the best Chevapi. That’s huge bragging rights in that whole region 🙂
We had some Chevapi in our mixed grills in Serbia and Kosovo. In both cases, we just asked for enough food for two people. Apparently people in the region must eat a lot, because we couldn’t come close to finishing! Bulgaria had some beautiful scenery, and a very cool border crossing with Macedonia!
Great write up! Bulgaria is high on my never ending list. Love the look of that beer too.
It was rather tasty. I just had to let Erin drink most of it since I still had a lot of driving to do that evening 🙂
Never been to Bulgaria but Eastern Europe is so intriguing to me!I loved Slovakia, Lithuania was interesting. I look forward to your next posts. And BTW, I grew up to Los Angeles too. Well, the suburbs.