Sofia was cold (in the 50's) and rainy.
Anyway, I started the day by another walking tour. First I bought a leather jacket at a thrift shop for around $12.00, and then I continued on to the tour. (It wasn't raining too bad in the morning).
This tour was a "culture tour"-which focused on the culture in Bulgaria. We saw traditional Bulgarian dress. (pictures of) which featured colorful costumes (for both men and women). We also ate some traditional Bulgarian food, mainly a traditional pastry with cheese inside eaten for breakfast called a banitza. We also drank a yogurt that is made for breakfast, and another very sweet drink. We then practiced a Bulgarian dance called the hora which has the same name as the Jewish dance, and is very similar. We listened to a very slow depressing Bulgarian song, which was actually played in a NASA spacecraft in the 70's exploring the edge of the solar system. It was quite an interesting tour.
in the afternoon,around 3:00 after the tour, I bought a replacement cheap used smartphone for around $35.00, and went back to the common area of the hostel to hang out and read for a while. There we're a lot of people hanging out here, including lots of Americans who it seems all had the same job-teaching English in Istanbul. Turns out there is some type of holiday in Istanbul where everyone is here. One of these guys is someone who is garrulous and talkative and makes friends with everyone and that drives me nuts because I was never that way.
I had dinner at the hostel of rice and beans(the hostel makes a cheap dinner-$3.50 per day buys both breakfast and dinner) at 7:00, and walked out in the rain to a nearby shopping mall, where I might be able to find parts for my camera. The big electronic store had no parts. At this point, I was debating on weather to see a movie or go to the pub crawl starting at 10:00. I decided on seeing the movie Vacation-the modern answer to National Lampoon's Family Vacation. The movie started at 8:20-A horrible film-I left after 1/2 an hour. The one take-a-way is the new family truckster is called a Tartan Prancer, which is the Honda of Albania. I was in Albania two to three weeks ago, and people only started driving there since the late 90's-so I knew there was no auto industry in Albania.
Anyway, I went back to the hostel in the rain, and decided on the pub crawl. The crawl actually consisted of just two bars (before I went back), which we're in other hostels. At the second hostel, I played some table hockey-had a few drinks, and shots with friends from France. I got tired after a while, and went back to the hostel the pouring rain.
