Going to the Eurovision in Belgrade was tempting for several reasons.
Not just because I hadn't been to one for a few years; not just because Dorothy wanted to go to one; not just because I had been to Belgrade before and had loved the place, but also because it served as a springboard to a week of travel through countries I had never been to.
Macedonia, brand new Kosovo and then Bulgaria all got a dam good ticking right off my list as a result of Maria Serifovic's Eurovision win for Serbia.
I wasn't sure what to expect of Sofia. Bulgaria had just joined the EU so at least I had an expectation of the rule of law and aspirations for integration into the European economy. I also knew however that Romania and Bulgaria were the two poorest former communist countries to emerge from behind the Iron Curtain.
The drive into central Sofia from Skopje was like a timeline of Bulgaria's recent history.
A couple of hours driving through pleasant rural countryside gave way to the citys industrial hinterland. Once we were past a number of very heavy polluting power stations, and the coach passed through some very run down neighbourhoods. Concrete towers sat cheek by jowl with ramshackle wooden properties. Perhaps these had been part of villages that had been surrounded as Sofia grew.
And then we were arriving at the bus and railway station, on the edge of the heart of Sofia, which has been totally spruced up in a very snazzy Euro-Capital, weekend city break enticing, easyjet have just started flying here kind of a way.
And with a centre dominated by broad leafy boulevards and grand 19th Century architecture, I found it quite reminiscent of Vienna. Only friendlier.
Not just because I hadn't been to one for a few years; not just because Dorothy wanted to go to one; not just because I had been to Belgrade before and had loved the place, but also because it served as a springboard to a week of travel through countries I had never been to.
Macedonia, brand new Kosovo and then Bulgaria all got a dam good ticking right off my list as a result of Maria Serifovic's Eurovision win for Serbia.
I wasn't sure what to expect of Sofia. Bulgaria had just joined the EU so at least I had an expectation of the rule of law and aspirations for integration into the European economy. I also knew however that Romania and Bulgaria were the two poorest former communist countries to emerge from behind the Iron Curtain.
The drive into central Sofia from Skopje was like a timeline of Bulgaria's recent history.
A couple of hours driving through pleasant rural countryside gave way to the citys industrial hinterland. Once we were past a number of very heavy polluting power stations, and the coach passed through some very run down neighbourhoods. Concrete towers sat cheek by jowl with ramshackle wooden properties. Perhaps these had been part of villages that had been surrounded as Sofia grew.
And then we were arriving at the bus and railway station, on the edge of the heart of Sofia, which has been totally spruced up in a very snazzy Euro-Capital, weekend city break enticing, easyjet have just started flying here kind of a way.
And with a centre dominated by broad leafy boulevards and grand 19th Century architecture, I found it quite reminiscent of Vienna. Only friendlier.
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