So, after the latest early midlife crisis ended when I came back to Wales in December 2020, I found myself back in Cardiff for six-months, after deciding to stay at home, to get my two vaccines. Being at home was lovely, and it made sense with the pandemic still raging, but I was eager to get back out there, and I wasted no time after I received the second jab (shout out the Welsh NHS). I had the second jab on a Saturday, a PCR test on the Monday (needed to enter Bulgaria), and flew on the Wednesday (via London to see the other half, and to play bingo). No messing around.
With regards the PCR test, I had to pay to get it done, and get a certificate to fly, and it wasn’t too bad. I gagged a bit during the throat swab, mainly because my best friend was next to me, and I could see him stifling his laughter when I was awkwardly mouthing “Ahhhhhhhhhh”. The nose swab was okay, just a slightly awkward 10 seconds. Why Bulgaria? Good question. I wanted to visit somewhere I haven’t been before, and somewhere that was relatively easy to get into, and Bulgaria seemed to fit the bill.
It’s also dirt cheap, which is of course a bonus. They still use their local currency (the Lev), and 1 lev equals around 44p, which equals, bargains galore! I decided to start my trip in Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital. Going way back to primary school, I remember our teacher asking the class, “What is the capital of Bulgaria?”. No-one answered, so I replied with the right answer, and my teacher didn’t seem that impressed. I thought it was quite decent knowledge for an 11-year-old. My teacher, not so much. I’m not sure if this had an influence on my decision, but Sofia was the first location. I got a lovely apartment, which cost me like £90 for 5 nights. It was a slightly sketch area, and I had a very questionable taxi journey from the airport, but these are stories to come. The airports both ends were easy to manage. The flight over, I managed to have my own row, and got an early look into how mad some Bulgarian’s are. One family tried to monopolise a few rows of seats, seemingly unaware that other people might have to actually sit there, and then proceeded to look shocked when someone did turn up. A few also liked to stand up more or less as soon as the plane landed, which led to the air stewardess screaming for them to sit down, before muttering under her breath, “for fuck’s sake”.
Going through the Bulgarian side was super easy, just had to show them my ‘fit to fly’ certificate, and walk on through. Then came the sketchy taxi ride. Still, after over 6 months at home (shout out my mum for the amazing hospitality), it was exciting to be back out there, and to feel the buzz of travelling once again.
