The morning of June 7th, 2024, Bill and I got up bright and early and prepared for our short break in Sofia. Bill gathered enough dog food for Noyzi to keep him going for the days we’d be gone. I packed a bag and took care of the usual last minute chores before our 3:00 PM flight, while Bill took Noyzi to the Hundpension.

We decided to take a cab to the Frankfurt Airport, because Bill didn’t want to fool with parking. I can’t blame him for that. It’s expensive, and the airport is so big and sprawling. You have to walk your ass off. There have been a couple of times when Bill has tried to get cabs and no one answers in time. This time, we had no issues. Checking in was quick and easy at the Lufthansa Business Class counter. As we were handing over our documents, I noticed a really cute little white dog sitting in a travel carrier. I couldn’t help mentally comparing the tiny dog to Noyzi, who is probably about twenty times bigger!

I had to take my laptop out of the suitcase. Somehow, I had forgotten that it’s not allowed to check them. After that, we made our way to the Lufthansa lounge, where we waited until it was time to fly. The lounge wasn’t too busy, although I did notice one guy trying to get his wife in when she didn’t have the proper credentials. Both of them were wearing really high-speed face masks that didn’t conceal their annoyance when the gatekeeper turned them away.

Our flight to Sofia was slated to land at about 6:30 PM, as Bulgaria is an hour ahead of Germany. It lasted about two hours and was downright boring. We didn’t have the slightest ripple of turbulence, even though the pilot mentioned having to fly around some rain. I did get some photos…

I entertained myself by taking pictures of the sky…

I immediately noticed how warm it was in Sofia. Germany has been fairly cool recently. Today, for instance, I walked Noyzi in a short sleeved t-shirt and pants. I was actually chilly. In Sofia, it was mid 80s Fahrenheit, and I did a lot of sweating. We made our way to the baggage claim and waited awhile, even though our bags were supposed to come out first. While we were waiting to claim our luggage, I had Bill get me a SIM card for Bulgaria. It was very simple, as the local carrier, Yettel, has a kiosk right there in the baggage area. It’s cheap and easy to change out the card for short trips to Bulgaria and other places Yettel serves.

Once we got the phone and bags sorted, we walked outside and stood in line for a taxi. I looked around, immediately amazed by how different Sofia looked. When I arrived there by bus in 1996, it had seemed much less cosmopolitan. I mean, yes, there are still crumbling Cold War era buildings in Sofia, but there are also a lot of newer, modern buildings. I remember walking from the bus station– a dirt plot, really– into Sofia with my friend, Elaine, in 1996. I can’t imagine doing such a thing today.

Bill handed the cab driver a slip of paper with our hotel’s name printed on it. The cabbie, who spoke perfect English, laughed in astonishment and said, “Where did you get this?”

Bill said he’d made them. I guess he figured the cab driver might not be an English speaker. That was a fair assessment based on both of our previous experiences in Sofia. But this time, I only ran into ONE person who couldn’t converse with me in my native tongue. It was incredible. This is not to say that I think it’s a wonderful thing that English is so prevalent in places where English isn’t the main language. But I have to admit, it does make things more convenient for us less lingually endowed Americans.

I ended up booking us four nights at the Grand Hotel Millennium, which is a HUGE luxury hotel on Vitosha Boulevard. It hadn’t been my first choice. I wanted to stay at a three star B&B near the center of town that got really excellent ratings on TripAdvisor. The guy who runs it gets high marks for being enthusiastic and helping people really experience the local culture. Unfortunately, he didn’t have availability on one of the nights we were in town, so I had to make another choice.

I had struggled over which alternative hotel to choose. Bill had previously stayed at the Grand Hotel Sofia, which is in the center of the city. He had a good experience there. Now that I’ve been to the city again, I might choose the Grand Hotel over the Grand Hotel Millennium, if only because it’s much closer to the center. The Grand Hotel Millennium is a very nice and comfortable hotel with ten restaurants, a spa, and conference facilities. It’s also near a metro and other public transport. But we tend to do a lot of walking when we travel, and such was the case this time. On the other hand, maybe it’s a good thing we were so far out. We probably saw more than we would have otherwise.

The room I booked was a Signature Suite. The lady who checked us in gave us a big smile and said it was “very nice”. She wrote what looked like the number 906 on the key card, although I thought I heard her say 904. Bill took the cards and we went to 906… which was already occupied! Oops! When we went back down to the reception to clarify which room was ours, the man who helped Bill said this happened “all the time”. Oh well…

We went into the room, which was huge, and offered floor to ceiling views of Sofia on two sides. The bathroom was as big as my childhood bedroom was. It had a tub and a huge rainfall shower, as well as a bidet. There was no minibar, but there was a small fridge, handy for storing snacks and drinks purchased at a local shop. And there was also a large, flatscreen TV installed on the wall, which allowed for ordering room service and getting announcements. Below are some photos…

Keep in mind, we were only on the ninth floor. This hotel has thirty floors! And yet, as nice as the room was, it wasn’t particularly luxurious. But then, it’s important to remember that a hotel’s stars aren’t necessarily about true luxury or quality. It’s about what services are offered. Grand Hotel Millennium Sofia certainly offers a LOT of services, and it’s a very pleasant place to stay. Last time I was in Sofia, the best hotel was the Sheraton Balkan Palace. I see now that that hotel definitely has a lot of competition.

By the time we checked in, it was already after 7:00 PM. Bill had been sniffling a lot, complaining about his allergies. I knew he was probably tired, as he tends to be tired as the sun starts to set. We decided to have dinner at one of the hotel’s ten restaurants. It so happens the restaurant that seemed most suitable was the Vienna Restaurant, which was advertised as “casual”. We didn’t bring any fancy clothes with us, and we noticed a number of the eateries had dress codes. Yikes!

So we went to the third floor, where the Vienna Restaurant is. It was practically empty. We were shown to an outside table on a patio, there one other guy was having dinner. I chuckled when I saw the menu, which was very “German”. They had all the stuff we can easily get here at “home”. But they also had Bulgarian beers, and a few dishes that looked interesting. I went with fried perch, while Bill had truffled pulled pork with mashed potatoes. Bill liked his dish. Mine was just okay. The fish was a bit bland, even with the tartar sauce that came with it. But it was not offensive and did the job of filling us up for the night…

We were about to call it a night when another server asked us if we wanted dessert. I realized we had nothing better to do, so we agreed to look at the menu again. After we ordered– Black Forest cake for me and Sachertorte for Bill– there came a sudden huge deluge of rain. We had to move to another table, because the roof was leaking on Bill.

I didn’t really want dessert, but I have to admit, I really enjoyed the Black Forest cake, which wasn’t so much like what we get in Germany. Instead of whipped cream as frosting, the Bulgarians used a cream cheese frosting. It was delicious. It’s been so long since I last had a decent slice of layer cake, even if it’s not something I ought to be eating. Bill liked his Sachertorte, too. I was actually hoping to score another piece of that Black Forest cake, but we didn’t eat in the Vienna Restaurant again. Phooey.

After we ate dinner, we decided to head back to our room and go to bed. I was already surprised by how different our welcome to Sofia was this time.

When I came to Bulgaria in 1996, I had a terrifying experience at the border with Turkey, as the border guards were very aggressive, and spoke no English. This time, we just sailed right through without so much as a nod to customs. And this time, we also didn’t have to worry about registering with the police, as Elaine and I had to when we visited in the 90s. Our Peace Corps Volunteer host was kind enough to help us with that. He saved us fines when we left the country. Of course, even in the 90s, if one stayed in a hotel, the hotel would do the police registration. So, I guess if we had stayed in a commercial place, we would have been spared the police experience. I’m not so sure they still do that, anyway.

In any case, I was eager to get out and see the city on Saturday… and we sure did that. Stay tuned for the next part!