Wednesday Sept. 17, I set out on my journey to Sofia. Patty and I had coffee, then at 6:30 a.m., friend Jane picked me up at our condo and drove me to the airport (Jane works at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix). I had an uneventful, on time flight to Houston on United.
For Houston, TX to Frankfurt, Germany, I switched to Lufthansa to fly on an A-380. This plane is massive. Downstairs, there are 420 economy seats in a 3 - 4 - 3 configuration. Upstairs, there are 8 first class seats and 92 business class seats in a 2 - 2 - 2 configuration. Boarding of the nearly 526 people went smoothly, but we were delayed because US Customs denied three passengers; this delayed our flight an hour while they got the six pieces of luggage off the plane, and getting a new place in line for takeoff. The 9+ hours of flight was very nice - great meals and beverages. The business class seat allowed me to stretch out, but it was still a rather hard seat - even for me.
That hour delay meant I had only 25 minutes in Frankfurt to get from the Z gates (gates built especially for the two levels of the A-380s) to the tram, then thru security and to my gate for the Lufthansa flight to Sofia - it took the full 25 minutes, and had the flight not been a few minutes late, I would have missed my connection. Once on board, the flight to Sofia was a quick two hours and ten minutes. Much to my surprise, my luggage made it with me. Immigration and customs took less than 20 minutes. I was then met by Raina from the HFH Bulgaria office and we rode a taxi into town to the Hotel Rodina: http://www.rodina.bg/EN/Home.htm Hotel Rodina was built many years ago as one of the gems of the Soviet system and other than being old, it is a nice hotel.
After getting settled in the Hotel, I went out to explore the neighborhood. I found a different kind of Sesame Street.
The center of the traffic circle outside our hotel has a Soviet monument. And the cars all stop for pedestrians in the crosswalks.
There is a chain of cafes/restaurants and bars called Happy. This is two buildings away from out hotel and directly across from the Soviet monument above.
Like many other hotels, ours now also includes a casino - this one has a Porsche as a top prize.
My room is on the 15th floor and looks out to the north. The curved building with the red roof has the Be Happy sign on, the white building is the D Commerce Bank and just to the upper edge of the bank, you can see the top of the Soviet monument and the traffic circle, as well as the bike path in the lower right hand corner.
After exploration, I ended the day with one of the local Bulgarian beers at the hotel cafe which has a covered veranda (it is one of several eating locations in the hotel).
For Houston, TX to Frankfurt, Germany, I switched to Lufthansa to fly on an A-380. This plane is massive. Downstairs, there are 420 economy seats in a 3 - 4 - 3 configuration. Upstairs, there are 8 first class seats and 92 business class seats in a 2 - 2 - 2 configuration. Boarding of the nearly 526 people went smoothly, but we were delayed because US Customs denied three passengers; this delayed our flight an hour while they got the six pieces of luggage off the plane, and getting a new place in line for takeoff. The 9+ hours of flight was very nice - great meals and beverages. The business class seat allowed me to stretch out, but it was still a rather hard seat - even for me.
That hour delay meant I had only 25 minutes in Frankfurt to get from the Z gates (gates built especially for the two levels of the A-380s) to the tram, then thru security and to my gate for the Lufthansa flight to Sofia - it took the full 25 minutes, and had the flight not been a few minutes late, I would have missed my connection. Once on board, the flight to Sofia was a quick two hours and ten minutes. Much to my surprise, my luggage made it with me. Immigration and customs took less than 20 minutes. I was then met by Raina from the HFH Bulgaria office and we rode a taxi into town to the Hotel Rodina: http://www.rodina.bg/EN/Home.htm Hotel Rodina was built many years ago as one of the gems of the Soviet system and other than being old, it is a nice hotel.
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| At the luggage claim, I was welcomed to Bulgaria by Kobe Bryant |
The center of the traffic circle outside our hotel has a Soviet monument. And the cars all stop for pedestrians in the crosswalks.
Just in front of our hotel, there is a main street with multiple lanes, trolley tracks, a two lane access road and a combined bike path and pedestrian path, as well as sidewalks.
There is a chain of cafes/restaurants and bars called Happy. This is two buildings away from out hotel and directly across from the Soviet monument above.
Like many other hotels, ours now also includes a casino - this one has a Porsche as a top prize.
My room is on the 15th floor and looks out to the north. The curved building with the red roof has the Be Happy sign on, the white building is the D Commerce Bank and just to the upper edge of the bank, you can see the top of the Soviet monument and the traffic circle, as well as the bike path in the lower right hand corner.
After exploration, I ended the day with one of the local Bulgarian beers at the hotel cafe which has a covered veranda (it is one of several eating locations in the hotel).
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