Sofia, Bulgaria

Sofia. Wow. It's been a whirlwind couple of days. Left home Monday morning 9:30am heading to Newark airport. Flew to Washington DC, then overnight to Paris and on to Sofia. Grabbed a cab from the airport and made it to Hostel Mostel around 3pm local time on Tuesday. (7 hrs timezone ahead) Still bleary eyed from traveling and barely checked in, I met Mark from somewhere in England and we headed out to grab a few beers. I was worried about being lonely on the trip... definitely not a problem. (there's still no substitute for friends and loved ones though). Went out for a late night bite to an awesome outdoor cafe with 10 of my new friends... 6 Americans, 2 Germans and a Brit. Everyone is saying how odd it is that there are so many Americans lately all over Bulgaria. Anyway had a great time and went with another group this morning to the Rila Monastery in the Rila Mountains about 2 hrs south of Sofia. Shared a cab with Jens from Cologne, Matteo from Milan and some guy from Hong Kong who's name I will never be able to pronounce. What an amazing place... 1000 years old, beatiful setting in the mountains. I could have easily spent a couple days there. Had some delicious grilled trout right out of the stream that runs past the monastery. That's all for now... heading out to dinner. Tomorrow I'm doing a walking tour of Sofia and begin planning my exit to the ancient city of Plovdiv.