This winter I missed the window to post about our Christmas travels (I figure it is like the decorations, they just feel wrong if they are up too long). Then I came up with the idea for posting in July ala Christmas in July craziness. Then July became August and well anyway here it is, the extended 3 part version of the Leonard Christmas Vacation 2011!
The first installment of our tale begins with waking up to a snow storm in progress on the day we are to leave. The picture above is the light beginning of what became a code yellow storm across our region of Bulgaria. The 12 or so inches of snow on the gutter outside the window caused a bit of panic, but we set off for the bus station determined to make it to Sofia for our flight. For some insane reason, I thought we should walk the 30 minutes in the driving snow rather than get a cab to the bus station. This happens some times when I get into trip mode. I had planned for us to walk and so we would walk.
We arrived to the bus station on time, but we were very cold and tired. Never will I do that again (I hope!). We had taken the bus between Blagoevgrad and Sofia before and so we were not worried about it today. Unfortunately, we had the time wrong for the large bus and so the only bus there was the mini-bus that travels between the ski regions here (Sofia-Bansko). The mini-bus is essentially a 15 person passenger van and not the most comfortable ride, but we were worried about waiting for the next big bus.
The trip was a bit harrowing with the blowing snow and icy roads, but the mini-bus made pretty good time. About 20 km outside of Sofia the driver received a phone call and then we pulled off the road into a gas station. We sat there for a few minutes trying to figure out what was going on. The road was still open and filled with cars. The bus driver spoke no English and we only had our Bulgarian phrasebook and weren't sure we would understand the answer even if we could ask "Why have we stopped." We got a bit more nervous when one of the passengers and his small daughter got out of the mini-bus and went to the road to hitchhike into Sofia. Another English speaking passenger asked us if we knew what was going on. We had no idea, but decided to try to work it out the three of us. About 15 minutes passed and it was cold in the mini-bus so we (the English speakers) followed the bus driver and the other Bulgarian passenger inside the gas station.
After a few minutes of WTF, we decided to see if anyone spoke English in the gas station and could find out what was going on. We found someone to ask and he approached the driver, spoke to him for a moment, and then walked off. Apparently we needed to be more specific in our request and make it clear that not only did we want him to talk to the bus driver and find out what was going on but to then TELL US what he learned. I really had to work hard not to laugh at this point. I was also getting worried that we would miss our flight to Austria. Finally I had the brainstorm of calling our landlady and getting her boyfriend (who was fluent in Bulgarian and English) to do some translating for us.
The strange miming that Mark had to do to get the bus driver to talk on the phone was rather hilarious, but at this point I think a mild panic might have set in and I was a bit unhinged. We finally found out that the bus company pulled him off the road because the bus depot in Sofia was packed and the roads were very busy. We were waiting for a phone call allowing him to get back on the road. At this point, there was no way we could make it to the bus station and then to the airport to make our flight. A plan was hatched to get us to a different point and then our landlady would drive us to the airport.
Talk about trains, planes, and automobiles. We were dropped off at the Metro Underground train station with our English speaking tag-along all trying to make our flights. We took the Metro to a stop closer to the airport, but found out that our landlady's car was snowed in. They said to grab a cab and if we had troubles they would come help us out. Our tag-along had to be at the other terminal for an earlier flight, so we gave the first cab to him. Never found out if he made it, but I would like to think someone did. We couldn't find an unoccupied cab until our landlady and her boyfriend found us and helped us on our way. They were really sweet and brought us some Christmas goodies to take on our trip.
The cab sped away to the airport, but traffic was horrible. We had 40 minutes until our flight was due to leave and on a good day that would have been more than enough. As soon as we got to the airport, we ran to the check-in desk hoping to still make the flight. They looked up our information, made a phone call, looked at our information again, and asked if I was the only one flying. I seriously considered it for a moment, and then said no, it was both of us. At this point, they looked genuinely sad to tell us that we missed the flight and would have to go to the sales desk to reschedule a later flight. I am not proud to say that I had a bit of a flip out when I was told how much it would cost to reschedule. So much for the supersaver tickets I scored online. Rather than rescheduling immediately, we went to the cafe for me to calm down and get some information.
For those of you who know me, you know I love having as much information as possible when we change plans and I wanted to make sure we would make the next leg of our journey if we rescheduled for that day or if we needed to just book for the next day. I didn't want to get out of Sofia and then be stranded in Austria for a night. This is where Mark came to the rescue. Well Mark and wifi. We found out that the bus to Bratislava ran quite late in the evening and we should have no trouble on that end. Calmed down with some hot tea and good information, we rescheduled our flights and settled in for a 5 hour wait for the next flight. It took me actually getting on the bus to Bratislava to calm down and believe that our travel adventure was successful.
Looking back, it is easy to say "well this is Bulgaria," but that is too simplistic. After traveling extensively and reliably through Bulgaria on the bus and train systems this year, I believe the problem began in part with my stubbornness to save a few dollars and take the bus when we had a scheduled flight AND with the mini-bus company. We have heard many stories about their incompetence and plan never to use them again. Now we either schedule a private car or head out the night before when flying. The first part of our trip resulted in a valuable learning experience and a rather funny story!
Come back for Part 2: Beautiful Bratislava!
