The city of Sofia lies at the foot of Mount Vitosha, which not only provides a scenic backdrop to the bustling city below, but also provides an easily accessible way to escape the urban environment and retreat into nature. And after two days battling extremely itchy bug bites and staring wistfully out of hostel room window, we were pretty anxious to get out of the room and finally see Sofia from a different angle.
Long-term travelers tend to be fairly cool-headed folks. From missing a flight to falling prey to pick-pockets, most have had to deal with a fair share of stress while on the road. Even so, nothing can set off a panic attack in the mind of a traveler like the word bed bugs.
The overnight bus is the cheapest and easiest way to travel overland between Budapest, Hungary and Sofia, Bulgaria. So, despite our better judgement (and our general desire to avoid all overnight travel), we took that bus. Two border crossings (the bus traveled through Serbia) meant that sleeping on the bus wasn’t any more successful than sleeping on the train. So basically, nope, we didn’t get much sleep that night.
From building an eco-village to managing a hostel, the range of opportunities available to volunteers on sites like HelpX, Workaway, and WWOOF are practically endless. I felt like I was living in a choose your own adventure book when reading the different host profiles. However, this wide gamut of possibility also means that there is an element of risk and surprise when arriving at a new host location. More often than not, the place is wonderful. Unfortunately, though you may find that a particular location, for whatever reason, is just not a good fit. And that’s okay.
One of the things that we get asked the most about is food. But it is just really hard to pick a favorite food experience. So, we will be sharing our favorite foods from the road in this new series, Street Food Souvenirs. We will also try to recreate these tasty treats at home and we’ll see how the homemade version stacks up against the original street food version. Today we are trying lángos (pronounced lang-osh), a tasty fried dough snack from Budapest.
It may sound lazy, but relaxing is one of my top five favorite pastimes. So, I really was looking forward to visiting Budapest, even months before we arrived.