Rise up, slaves of labor

The Bulgarians are different—different from the Greeks. When it comes to social interactions, Bulgaria feels like a much tougher place.

Society

They just have a rough charm. Not that there’s anything wrong with Bulgarians. Honestly, I think the problem is with the Greeks: how can anyone be so chill and easygoing? 😂 In Bulgaria, you’ll get called out if you do something wrong—and sometimes even if you don’t. Totally normal, really, and if you hadn’t just spent a month in Greece, you probably wouldn’t even notice.

Sofia

Our first stop is Sofia. There’s not a ton to report about Sofia, but here’s a great little story: We pop into Decathlon, where we meet Anna. She has an apricot-colored toy poodle and hair just as red as Alex’s, so naturally, we get chatting. Later that evening, we’re wandering through a completely different neighborhood in Sofia—and who do we bump into again? Anna. So yeah, Sofia is kind of like a small town. Honestly, pretty charming.

What’s great about Sofia is all the green space. You can hop from park to park and dodge the traffic that way. In the evenings, the parks are packed with people, there are concerts everywhere, and the vibe is fantastic. Also cool: the countless tiny shops, workshops, and cafés where young nerds are trying to turn their hobbies into a career. It’s a really interesting mix of young, creative energy, plus loads of history and tradition.

Economy

Here’s how I’d put it: Bulgaria has a massive maintenance backlog. People seem to be doing well, but the infrastructure and a lot of the buildings are seriously falling apart. The old Soviet-era trams regularly clog up the entire tram network because they keep breaking down and have to be pushed aside by newer models. I just don’t get it—the fall of communism was more than a generation ago, and building infrastructure and houses is usually good business. It can’t really be about the money either: with public debt at just 22% of GDP, Bulgaria has the second-lowest debt in the EU. On January 1st, Bulgaria adopted the euro, and not long ago, they finally kicked out the old corrupt oligarch government. Maybe things will start moving now?

Countryside

From Sofia, we head to Plovdiv and then on to Tryavna, always making our way toward Bucharest, where we’ll arrive on the 16th. The landscape is a bit like home—very green and super fertile.

There’s one spot I absolutely have to see—one of my “once-in-a-lifetime” markers: the Buzludzha Monument. Soviet brutalism at its finest. Sadly, you’re not allowed inside anymore because it’s at risk of collapsing. I really hope the Bulgarians manage to save this beauty.

*This blog post has been automatically translated by a Large Language Model.