A Queer Trip to Sofia and Hotel California

Recently I drove a colleague (aka CQ) to Sofia, Bulgaria to visit an embassy there as part of her visa process. Here are some of the highlights with pics:

• Getting up at "O-Dark-Thirty" aka 4:30am to hit the road to make it for 10am office hours at the embassy.... I was so tired I walked out the door forgetting my mug of fresh coffee on the counter!
• Having CQ recite a story a friend told her of how she dreamed that she (CQ) had died.... oh, and she tells me this while I'm negotiating some twisty sharp turns through the mountains and trying to pass trucks along the way... no pressure or anything!
• Getting into Bulgaria only to find we had to drive 20MPH! forEVER... on country roads that would be set at at least 50MPH in California
• Taking 4 hours to drive just 150 miles
• Checking in to "Hotel California" while the Gypsy King verion of the song echos in the lobby
• The "parking garage" advertised on the internet by the hotel that turned out to be a two-car shack with a master-lock... it worked well, though!
• Waiting in the stairwell outside the apartment that was the embassy for just "15 minutes" (aka 1-1/2hours)
• Having the embassy door shut in my face as CQ was ushered in to take a phone call from the hotel... that I had to move my car.
• The visit to the embassy yeilded no visa, no stamp in the passport and no charge.... just a photo copy of a fax that was filled in with the date and her passport info...
• The mime (?) in yellow... holding his pose in freezing temps
• Having Subway sandwiches for lunch and Dunkin Donuts and coffee for dessert!
• Seeing the "Black Mosque" now an Orthodox church... amazing architecture


• Having a lady scold us for taking pictures of a "communist" monument... she educated us for 15-minutes or so about how the monument doesn't represent true Bulgaria and that we instead should visit the museums and such...



• Adventuring around downtown Sofia, discovering many fun nooks and crannies, all while FREEZING in the sub-zero wind-chill! brrr My legs felt like ice and that any step would shatter them!
• Fun shops with fun displays and amazing old and colorful buildings and architecture
• Catching the march of the Presidential Guard outside the President's office
• Enjoying "Moroccon Cigars" at an amazing Morroccon restaurant (the cigars were similar to taquitos... to be eaten, not smoked)...
• Getting out of the cold and thawing out with hot chai (aka tea, not the milky tea you get in the US that's called chai tea... lol... it's like saying "tea tea")
• Stumbling across the Bulgarian Olympic Committee building


• Having breakfast at the hotel in a room full of intimidating guys... either Olympic athletes or mafia... after seeing a couple of them later in Bulgarian team jackets we're leaning towards the first assumption. Oh yes, and their plates of heapped eggwhites gave that impression as well.


• Going to KFC in the mall and at our shocked expressions to the fact they didn't have chicken breasts the gal said (with perfectly timed irony), "Welcome to Bulgaria!"
• Inadvertantly asking a security guard to hail us a taxi! (We'd asked where we could find one... and he left his post and went outside to the road and got us one!)
• "George" the go-to guy at the hotel... he was so helpful!
• Checking out of Hotel California... and being able to leave too!
• Pulling the car out of the shack... all safe and sound. :)
• Getting KFC and Dunkin Donuts for the road (and for the freezer to enjoy for weeks to come)
• The wild weather coming home, sun and puffy clouds on the left and wind, rain and dark, foreboding clouds on the right.
• Curling up in a warm blanket and enjoying a donut and KFC while watching an old movie when I got home.

This short trip to Sofia was a lot of fun and full of odd, interesting and queer moments. I highly recommend visiting, though, when it's not so cold! Be prepared to leave your car and use the wonderful public transportation.

Also, it's highly recommended to staying at Hotel California. I've never in my life wanted to tip at a hotel... until this trip. The rooms were decent and comfortable, but it's the customer service that puts them over the top. All the employees there were so kind and friendly, but George, the go-to-guy, was the best. OK, this sounds like an advertisement, but seriously, it was a great experience and one I'd recommend. :)

Check out Hotel California.... it's such a lovely place.