Sofia - Unexpectedly beautiful.

This morning I started out early, I wanted to have a full day in Sofia, Bulgaria's capital, knowing I only had a 2 hour drive, which was not particularly interesting, except when approaching the city, and the mountains made picturesque backdrop, albeit very hazily.

Finding my hotel was no problem at all. It's a pleasant inn, in the city center. In order to park the car there, I had to drive it into a minute elevator, where it barely fit, as the parking spot was underground and there is no ramp to it.

I immediately set out to check out the sights. This city is a true surprise. Reviewing the pictures I can only say that they do no justice to the place at all. Sofia has wide boulevards, pedestrian malls, an untold number of monuments, splendid parks, incredible architecture and churches galore. Once again, I neared 20,000 steps today. I will save the sightseeing photos, several of them, till the end of this day's blog.

At the start of my solo tour, I nearly got into a fist fight. I spotted this poor soul surrounded by pigeons, and I stopped to take a picture of him, when the man walking behind me got very frustrated and swore to me angrily in Italian, to which I replied in kind, in the same language and even in a louder tone of voice. He then looked like he wanted to take a swing at me, and I told him that, if he dared, I'd break his face with my camera. He toned down considerably. He was obviously having a bad day. We resolved our issues and actually started chatting about Italy and Bulgaria; we left amiably, and he even patted me on the back.

I had lunch at this delightful restaurant specializing in Bulgarian dishes. It was the highlight of my day. I had roasted pork shank with stewed potatoes, which was absolutely mouthwatering, and I let the owner know how much I enjoyed it.

I then continued my pedestrian marathon, checking out as many sights as I could, until exhaustion did me in. Took a short, but much needed nap at the hotel, and went out for a pizza dinner. Bulgaria will not break your bank. A pizza, a beer, a tequila and a cup of espresso came to a whopping $12! At the restaurant I also watched the entire Champions League game between Inter of Milan and Ukraine's Shaktar Donetsk.

I had booked a day-tour to Nis, Serbia for tomorrow, but I have been notified that, on account of the pandemic it has been cancelled. I'll have to save Serbia for another trip. In the meantime, I am making the most of Romania and Bulgaria.

Arrisentirci domani! Buona Notte.