This ought to be a short post, as it’s just going to be about our trip back to Frankfurt. It was a fairly uneventful journey.
On our last morning in Sofia, Bill and I had our breakfast, then packed up all our stuff. I was kind of glad to be going, because I wanted to go home and recover from this cold, that is still lingering a bit today. I was also a bit apprehensive, because on Thursday of this week, I had my very first doctor’s appointment since 2010. Naturally, this means it was also my first visit to a German physician. I left that appointment with two more appointments, which means that regular readers can soon expect a few posts about German style healthcare. Whoopie!
I have already written a post about our visit to the hospital on Thursday. It’s on my main blog, and not as detailed as I would normally write it. I will write about it here, too, because this blog is about travel and the “German lifestyle” as lived by Americans. I did notice some differences. But I’ll get to that later. For now, the order of business is our flight back to Germany.
We liked our housekeeper so much at the Grand Hotel Millennium that Bill left her a note and a tip on the bed. Hopefully, she got it. We did see her on that last morning, just before we went to breakfast. I wish Bill had slipped her the tip then. She really was very kind.
After we checked out of the hotel, we got into the taxi that was arranged by the hotel receptionist and made our way to the airport. Once again, I was amazed by how different Sofia seemed in so many ways since 1996. And since this is destined to be a short post, I’ll share a few comparison photos. Below are pictures I took in 2024…
And below are photos from 1996.
Bulgaria was going through an economic crisis with massive inflation in 1996,Alexander Nevsky Cathedraland the art flea market. I bought a painting then, too.National TheaterParliament buildingSex shopSadly, dancing bears were a thing in 1996. I didn’t see any in 2024, as now it’s considered cruel. Thank God.
When we got to the airport, it was a breeze to drop off our bags. Security was also easy, as I didn’t wear any metal at all. We went to the lounge, which was sort of a generic affair that served all the airlines. I was pleased that there was a lot of comfortable seating. We didn’t try any of the food, because we were still full from breakfast. But they had a nice selection of treats, as well as an open bar.
The lounge in Sofia. It was pretty nice.
Soon enough, it was time to depart. Our noon flight was slightly delayed, but I smiled when I saw the plane we got. Lufthansa repainted one of their planes in a gay pride theme. It’s gay pride month, so it seemed all the more appropriate that we’d be on the Lovehansa flight. I think this was originally meant to be a thing for six months in 2022, but it’s still going, as you can see…
The inside of the plane has rainbow colored headrests, too.
The flight itself was mainly a piece of cake, with the exception of some turbulence we experienced early on. I entertained myself by taking more photos of the sky and finishing my latest book. There were a couple of guys who spent the whole two hours drinking wine. It was a very nice flight, and not completely full.
I think this was chilled chicken. It wasn’t bad.
When we got to Frankfurt, we walked for about fifteen or twenty minutes to get to baggage reclaim. But, happily, our bags were the first ones off the plane! We quickly found a cabbie to take us home. He didn’t know where Breckenheim is. Now he knows, and he said he liked the neighborhood. Unlike the Bulgarian driver, who seemed to favor Eurotrash dance music, the German cabbie played classical music. I preferred his taste.
Noyzi was delighted to come home, too. I think it’s possible the next time he goes to the Hundepension, he’ll have a new doggie brother with him. Charlie, another Kosovar street dog, is slated to join us around July 4th… two days after I get scoped from both ends by my new German doctor. All I can say is, I hope the drugs are good.
I woke up feeling significantly better on Monday, June 10th. Bill and I decided to walk back down to the centrum and pick up some new art and souvenirs for his grandchildren. But first, we needed breakfast. So down we went to the big restaurant on the third floor of Grand Hotel Millennium, where we had our usual room temperature repast.
While we were having breakfast, I couldn’t help but overhear two American men talking. I mean, everybody in the vicinity who didn’t have hearing problems could hear these guys… One of them was talking about his diabetes and how he takes Ozempic to control his blood sugar. The other guy was talking about similarly personal stuff. It always amazes me how completely unaware some people are when they’re in public. I see it most often with my fellow Americans, who speak loudly enough for everyone to hear what they say. It’s kind of obnoxious behavior… and trust me, I know all about being obnoxious.
After breakfast, we went to the room to prepare for the day. We ran into our very nice housekeeper, who asked us if we were checking out the next morning. We said we were, and gave her the approximate time we thought we’d be leaving. She said if she didn’t see us, that we had safe and pleasant travels. I was very impressed by how kind she was during our stay.
I put on a pair of shorts so I wouldn’t get so hot and sweaty during the day’s walk. Then we got going, and made our way to the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, where I knew we could find art for the house. We made one stop at a Coffee Brothers for some fresh orange juice and a potty break. While we were there, we saw two more Bulgarian women passing us who were having very loud conversations, seemingly on the phone as they charged down Vitosha Boulevard at top speed. The women weren’t with each other. They were going in different directions, several minutes apart. One of them carried a ladle as she screamed into her cellphone and walked very fast down the crowded shopping district. I’m not sure what was going on with them.
An old style barber.Borzois?What a keeper!This used to be Sofia’s best hotel.
We also saw the lovely violinist again. The same young woman who played so beautifully on Saturday came back on Monday to busk. I definitely liked her music better than the saxophonist who kept playing the same thing over and over again while we were at the Vitosha Street Bar & Dinner on Saturday afternoon. I love listening to talented musicians play music on the street. It adds so much character to European cities. I especially like buying their CDs. Unfortunately, the violinist didn’t seem to have any for sale.
Because we were going to buy some art, Bill decided to stop at an ATM. We went back the Ivan Vazov National Theater again, and I got a few more photos of the iconic building. This time, no one was playing basketball in front of it. There is a handy cash machine in the park like area around the theater.
Old Parliament HouseIvan Vazov National TheaterI thought this was kind of cool… A place for your bottles.Another shot of the St. Nicholas the Miraclemaker Church
We finally made it to the cathedral, where I noticed there weren’t as many people selling art as there had been on Saturday. We went to one stand when I noticed art that caught my eye. The colorful paintings were mostly of florals, but I noticed a couple of landscape paintings that reminded me of Sozopol, a Black Sea beach town Elaine and I visited in 1996. As soon as we approached the art, an elderly gentleman came around to speak to us. He spoke some English, although not as well as the much younger man who was with him.
It turned out the paintings that had caught my attention were of a different Black Sea town called Nesebar, which isn’t far from Sozopol. I’ve never been to Nesebar, but like Sozopol, it’s near Burgas and Varna, and is now a major resort town. The younger man told us that the paintings we were interested in were done by an artist named Violeta Stanoeva. She is an accomplished Bulgarian artist who has shown her work in France. Here is a link to her Instagram.
Bill had to go get some Bulgarian lev, so I stayed and talked to the younger guy, who kept singing the praises of the artist and the Black Sea coast. I was struck by how friendly he was, and I didn’t get the sense it was just because we were buying two paintings. I promised him that we would give a good home to Violeta’s paintings. Now that they’re hanging in my dining room, I kind of wish I’d bought another one. I really like her use of colors. I saw a few paintings on her Web site that I think are magical.
This one wasn’t done by Violeta. I spotted it in a gift shop and decided I needed it.
After we bought the paintings, we decided to have lunch. I noticed there was an Armenian restaurant called Egur Egur, very close to the cathedral. It’s not very often that I get to have Armenian food anymore, so we decided to go there for lunch. The restaurant is located in what used to be a music conservatory. There is even framed sheet music by the front door.
When we approached, a rather unfriendly waitress who didn’t seem to speak English pointed to a table. I would have tried Armenian with her, but she appeared to be a local, and I think she was the only one we encountered who didn’t speak English to us. I actually found it kind of refreshing… at least until she started yelling at one of the other servers, a very thin, Slavic looking young woman who managed to stay stoic. I’m not sure what the yelling was about, but it definitely changed the ambiance a bit.
I was excited to see that they offered khorovatz (Armenian kebab-shashlik-barbecue). Bill tried it for the first time in November, when we visited Armenia. It’s a very simple dish, but delicious if it’s prepared properly. So we ordered that, along with a couple of Czech beers and San Pellegrino. Bill had chicken and I had pork, and I actually asked for it by its Armenian name, which the waiter then translated for us. I don’t think he was an Armenian speaker, although he definitely looked like he could have been. Lunch was delicious, but more than we could eat! We probably should have just picked one and split it.
My only complaint about our experience at Egur Egur is that the chairs were uncomfortable for those of us wearing shorts. The hard wood dug into the backs of my thighs. A cushion would have been welcome. Otherwise, it was a very nice lunch. The waiter packed up our leftovers, although we ended up discarding them, because we couldn’t get them to refrigeration quickly enough. What you see in the last picture cost about $48.
We went into a gift shop on Vitosha Boulevard and found some magnets, a mug, and a few little trinkets for the kids. That’s also where I found the wood carving pictured with the art by Violeta Stanoeva. I was lucky to spot it, as it was kind of tucked in a corner in the upstairs of the shop.
After our shopping was done, I was kind of wanting to take a cab back to the hotel, but we ended up walking… All told, it was about five miles. That’s not bad for someone with a cold and a pretty slack fitness routine. Below are a few more photos. I wish we could have seen more during our brief trip, but we have reason to go back. It better be sooner than 28 years, though, because in 28 years, I’ll be 80 years old!
These fragrant trees were all over Sofia. They smelled heavenly!
One place I wish we had visited is the TSUM (Central Department Store), which was a government store that used to be THE place for Bulgarians to buy stuff. The outside of the store has an impressive facade that looks like it came straight from the fanciest communist architect, ever. I went there in 1996, when it was still operating more or less the way it did in communist times. Since then, it was renovated and turned into a mall, and right now, the mall is pretty empty. People just go there to use the clean and free bathroom facilities now. But I do remember going there and buying stuff in the 90s… and thinking it was the picture of a communist era shopping mecca.
Armenia had a similar place called GUM, where I bought some things when I lived there. Now, what was once GUM is a regular store where one can buy rugs. There is also a GUM shuka in Yerevan, Armenia that sells fresh food. It’s not the same thing as the GUM store, though. I’m writing of a Soviet era department store.
I read that the architect of the TSUM was Kosta Nikolov, and his son was murdered by the Gestapo in Germany in the 1940s. Nikolov managed to get ahold of his son’s remains and properly bury them. He kept locks of his son’s hair and a finger as keepsakes. Then, as the TSUM building was being constructed, the architect embedded a box with his son’s remains in it within the building. Nikolov was following a Bulgarian folklore tradition that embedding a living person or a shadow of a living person in a building makes it stronger. Many people thought this was an urban legend until 2001, when workers doing the renovation actually discovered the remains. They decided to leave them embedded there.
Anyway… it sounds like TSUM eventually became something that was no longer a store for the people, but rather for people with the most money. That’s too bad. Especially now that it’s basically an empty shell of what it was… and is now owned by investors. At least I got to see it, though… even if it was years ago.
Handy room service ordering system.
We decided to have room service on Monday night. The hotel makes it easy, by allowing people to order food through the TV. I had a salmon filet with asparagus and salad, while Bill had a club sandwich. We split a bottle of Bulgarian Chardonnay, sparkling water, and a piece of pretzel cheesecake. I think the cheesecake, like the other desserts we had, was the highlight.
Bulgarian wineThe last supper
One more post ought to do it for this series, then I will write my usual “ten things I learned” post. Stay tuned!
When yesterday’s post left off, Bill and I were headed to a restaurant/bar that advertised craft beers. I was getting really crabby, because I was hot, sweaty, and a bit parched. I didn’t know that I was already infected with a cold virus, and that might have been affecting my mood at that point. But we headed toward the place with the deceptive “Free Beer” sign, and when I noticed all the smokers sitting outside, asked if we could sit inside. That was okay, so I clambered up on a bench that overlooked the bar and checked out the menu. Looking it up now, I see that we visited the Vitosha Street Bar & Dinner.
A waitress came by and said we might be more comfortable outside, since the restaurant didn’t have air conditioning. I said that was okay, since sitting outside would mean being surrounded by smokers. Actually, once I’d been sitting for a few minutes and had some beer and San Pellegrino, I cooled off. We had a couple of rounds. Bill was intrigued by a guy he’d already noticed earlier in the day. He was then on the other side of the street, seemingly having an animated conversation with himself. The guy was pacing and gesticulating wildly. But he stopped when the police came near him. Bill chuckled when the guy picked up his stuff and hastily beat it. This was the first of several “interesting” people we saw, haunting Vitosha Boulevard.
One of the waiters at the Vitosha Street Bar needed a reminder of what we ordered. He was very obviously gay, and I cringed when he called me “sweetheart” or something like that. My cringing had nothing to do with his rather flamboyant style, and everything to do with the fact that I don’t like it when people call me pet names, especially if they’re total strangers. Well… I don’t mind it when Bill does that, but he’s my husband and has seen me in all stages. If that guy actually knew me, he’d never call me “sweetheart”. I’m more bitter. 😉
After we finished our second round, we decided to go back to the hotel. I was dying to take a shower. I think it was about at that time that I started feeling like maybe I was about to be under the weather. My throat was a little scratchy. I wanted to stay in the room when it came time for dinner, but Bill wanted to try the Ozone Sky Bar, a venue on the 29th floor of the Grand Hotel Millennium Sofia. So I reluctantly got dressed, and we got on the elevator, which only took us to the 28th floor.
I heard music, and realized it was coming from another one of the hotel’s restaurants. A woman in a cocktail dress came out and asked if we’d like to go in and have dinner in The Gallery. She said the restaurant served Asian Fusion cuisine, and pointed to a menu. Bill smiled bashfully and said, “But are we dressed appropriately?” We had noticed the management at the venue had requested “elegant” attire. Bill was wearing jeans, and I had on my usual knits and no makeup.
The woman gave us a sweeping glance and said, “We’ll accept it.”
I was immediately put off by that, since it wasn’t like we were asking her for a table. She was trying to generate business, but did so in a rather unwelcoming way. “Don’t do us any favors…” I thought to myself as I looked at the complicated menu. Plus, I just wasn’t in the mood for fancy food, as I was feeling tired and icky and just wanted to eat and go to bed.
So, we got in another elevator that took us to the 29th floor, where we got some pretty amazing views of Sofia. A hostess asked us if we wanted to sit in the smoking or non-smoking section. We said non-smoking, so she led us to the other side of the bar. It was a pretty cool looking venue, although they cranked up some loud dance music. We were probably older than the targeted group.
A very nice server came over to take our order. Bill got us a bottle of Bulgarian Sauvignon Blanc, and we ordered three appetizers to share. Of all of the food experiences we had at our hotel, I think the Ozone Bar was the best. Not only was the service friendly and competent, but the food was the best of what we had there. I was a little surprised when a bunch of small children showed up with their parents, even as the mood became distinctly nightclub-like.
As the sun was setting, a guy who worked at the bar started raising the shades to show off the lights of Sofia. The sun immediately hit me in the face and I said, “Oh man!” The guy immediately lowered the shade a bit so I wouldn’t be blinded. I appreciated that.
Views from the Sky Bar…Obviously, it’s better when you’re there.We enjoyed the Bulgarian wine.Tempura fried prawns, salmon with miso, and chicken skewers with spicy sauce.
But after listening to loud dance music, we decided we’d had enough nightlife for one evening. We went back to the elevator and requested the ninth floor, where our room was. It took us to the lobby, instead. I noticed there was a large bouncer by the elevator, complete with velvet ropes. Was he there to keep out the “riff-raff”? Perhaps… but he was guarding the elevator. I was kind of surprised to see it, given that there had been kids in the bar.
Anyway, the speedy regular elevators got us back to our room in a jiffy. We went to bed, and a few hours later, I woke up officially sick with a cold. Things kicked off with an especially auspicious vomiting session. Why do I always seem to get colds in June?
I very quickly realized that trying to repeat Saturday’s marathon walking was going to be out of the question on Sunday. The cold was coming on fast! After breakfast, we went back to the room. The very nice housekeeper was providing service, so we sat in the foyer and waited for her to finish. Then, after she’d completed her task, I said, “Bill, I’m going to put on my nightgown and go back to bed.”
Bill, who was also dealing with a cold, nodded his approval. It sucked to be in bed while we were on a “short break” in Sofia, but honestly, I think doing that saved Monday for us. If I hadn’t spent most of Sunday resting, I probably would have been sicker. At one point, Bill went out to find us some sparkling water while I took a nap. I took a few naps, interspersed with reading about Michael McDonald’s life, as written by Paul Reiser. At least it was a good book!
We did manage to leave the room for a very late lunch– say 4:00 PM. Franco’s Pizza— which turns out to be another Bulgarian chain– was located somewhat close to the hotel. So we walked there and sat outside in uncomfortable chairs, as we enjoyed more Bulgarian beer and sparkling water. I usually order pasta at European pizza places, but I was in the mood for pizza. I ordered a Bufalina, which was supposed to be made with buffalo mozzarella. I think I got a Margarita pizza, instead. Oh well. Bill got ravioli with pork cheeks and pecorino cheese. I probably would have liked his dish, except I don’t like pecorino cheese. It’s too strong for me. Anyway, the service was kind, and the food was decent. It hit the spot. I also liked the treelined location, even if the chair was kind of painful to sit on for long.
Ravioli for BillPizza for me
After our late lunch, we went back to the hotel room and slept some more. Sigh…
But Monday, I did feel a lot better. Stay tuned for the next post.
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.
Chilling in the Frankfurt Lufthansa Lounge…It wasn’t too busy.
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…
Some kind of cold meat with vegetables. Dessert was the best part.
I entertained myself by taking pictures of the sky…
WOW! English is EVERYWHERE!
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.
The official taxi service in Sofia…
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…
BathroomViews from our roomAnother sideI got to know the bed too well.
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!
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