Europe by train: Another day, another country....

...another language, another currency and another alphabet!

Your guess is as good as ours.

A five-hour coach trip can be fun. Well, if not fun exactly, perhaps entertaining, diverting, or at least interesting. Our five-hour trip started in the diverting mode, with scenery changing as the coach left the industrial/residential outskirts of Thessaloniki and took us into the mountains at the edge of Greece.

Once we were clear of the smog which surrounds the city, the mountains were easier to see and the landscape was easier to appreciate. Although frankly it's not a patch on the greenery you can enjoy in Blighty. The exciting part of the trip was trying to work out how far we were from The Border.

After about two and a half hours, we finally reached The Border. This was good news, not least because the coach had NO TOILET. Once we were through the border controls (which took about an hour) we stopped by a duty free shop cum cafe, just long enough to answer the call of nature and observe that duty free shops are nowhere near as cheap as they should be.

By now it was almost dusk but in the fading light we saw a complete change - the architecture and countryside had a different "feel". We saw several donkeys being used on small farms, and people who were obviously very poor living in ramshackle houses. Later on, the scenery included the more usual mix of good and bad housing. Once the light faded, we were unable to enjoy the scenery and our attention turned to the "in-flight movie" - Fast & Furious, with the sound off. And Bulgarian subtitles.

Around 8pm we approached the outskirts of Sofia. High-rise apartment blocks - could they be part of the communist legacy? - gave way to more conventional houses and shops. Finally the bus pulled into the station and we found ourselves at large in Bulgaria. Fortunately the hotel was a short walk from the bus station - good planning by Philippa - and we were checked in by about 9pm, in good time to explore the local nightlife.

We walked towards the city centre, and the first place we saw was a Happy Grill & Bar. It's something like a Hard Rock Cafe crossed with a sports bar, mixed up with TGI Fridays. Football on three telly screens, guitars on the walls, lots of waitresses in red miniskirts. It's a big place, and it was pretty busy.

We had already eaten (sandwiches on the bus) so we decided to try the local beer. We had three rounds and returned to the hotel 22 levs lighter. There are about 2 lev to a Euro or 2.3 to a pound. So we had spent less than a tenner and had a really fine evening.

Wednesday dawned and we had breakfast in the hotel. Not the best ever, but an adequate start to the day - our only full day in Sofia. The plan was to visit the Women's Market and then take a free walking tour of the city.

The Women's Market is a traditional market selling fruit & veg plus miscellaneous bits and pieces. Prices were absurdly low; it's hard to believe that anyone can make a living selling things so cheaply. The staff and customers are mostly from the older generation and the market is definitely a relic of the country's communist past.

The National Theatre

The walking tour started at the Palace Of Justice, a monumental building near the city centre. There were over thirty of us, so we were split into two parties each with their own guide. Ours was Niki, a student who spoke excellent English and took us on a two-and-a-half hour tour covering all the major points of interest, with a full and fascinating description of each. The tour is free and well worth the time it takes, especially if you won't be in town long.

The homies throw some cool moves

One interesting part of the tour took place outside the Presidential Palace, where sentries in ceremonial dress stand guard. While we were there, a demonstration was in progress - the latest in a daily series which has run all summer, protesting against the government - an unpopular coalition. We felt like joining in!

After the tour ended, it was time for lunch and we tracked down a cafe called Made At Home, which Philippa had found on the web. It's a quirky place with lots of arty touches, and an interesting menu. We chose dishes from the daily specials; two soups and two main courses. The soups were very good, the mains less so. But with two beers the bill came to 25 lev, or not much over £10.

We ended the afternoon by wandering up the main shopping street, Vitosha. Not much different from the fashionable part of any city, with the usual suspects (Bennetton etc) and a few local equivalents. Prices here are more like the rest of Europe, unlike the smaller shops we'd seen elsewhere in the City.

Here are a few more pictures from our tour, showing the beautiful and impressive buildings of this surprising city.