Week 12: Soaking in Sofia
Work, Life & Black Sea Swimming Balance
For the second full week in Sofia, a few of us decided to rent a car and head to the Black Sea to explore more of Bulgaria. We still had to keep U.S. work hours so the plan was to sightsee in the morning and burn the midnight oil to keep up. That meant cranking out a ton of work before and after the trip to not fall behind, but with awesome adventures in between.
Monday & Tuesday, October 17 & 18: #FreelanceLife
Wednesday-Friday: Road Trip to the Black Sea!
Veliko Tarnovo, the former Bulgarian capital was the first stop on our road trip and even in gloominess it was magnificent. From the Tsarevets Fortress & Holy Forty Martyrs Church to the old trading street of Ulitsa Gurko and the current souvenir strip of Samovodska Charshiya, we crammed in a lot of sites in a short period of time. We even took time to recreate the scene from Sparta on an area of the fortress known as Execution Rock and stop for delicious lunch (and wifi for email checking purposes) at The Green Restaurant.
Sozopol: By Night
It was off season and it was late by the time we arrived to the Black Sea so we picked the first restaurant we saw in town. We were the only patrons so had the full attention of the staff and ordered way too much food and ouzo. Lucy wanted to try some more unique dishes so I agreed to eat chicken hearts and tongue (of some sort) but in the end Bulgarian cheese was of course still my favorite. We laughed so hard that it’s up there on my top nights of Remote Year!
Sozopol: By Day
After working late we impressively all got up to watch sunrise over the Black Sea. While it was a bit cloudy, it was really powerful to watch the sun slowly reveal more and more of the Black Sea, letting us see it for the first time in daylight. More and more of the surrounding Old Town of Sozopol was also exposed and it was clear we were truly in an ancient seaside world. We then set out for breakfast, walked along the Southern Walls of Sozopol and I braved a dip in the Black Sea!
Plovdiv
The last stop on the trip was Plovdiv and knowing it was one of the oldest towns in the world, I had big expectations. With ancient Roman ruins from its days as Philippopolis, medieval accents and eclectic cafes lining the streets, it did not disappoint. The favorites were coffee at Monkey House, sitting in the Ancient Theatre, walking the artist district of Kapana and stumbling upon an unexpectedly clever and high quality leather shop called MBG Atelier. By the end we all agreed we could’ve been happy living there for a month too!
Sofia
Once back in Sofia, we met up with about 30 remotes at the National Palace of Culture to see Fire of Anatolia’s Troy. While there was never actually a Trojan horse, the performers were fabulous dancers and the crowd loved it. We ended up at Sugar after and I was pleasantly surprised by the DJ’s choice of hip hop jams.
Saturday & Sunday, October 22 & 23: #FreelanceLife
With freelance life comes phasing clients in and out so after road tripping for the week, I spent the weekend putting together proposals for new clients. This meant a lot more thinking and a lot less writing…
