Briefly, because we both have better things to do.
Sofia was fun. Depressing because of the architecture and the poverty. Flying in over the top of it is so different to flying in over Vienna. The inner buildings are all grey concrete, bleak and utilitarian, surrounded by more modern orange-roofed residential areas. And in many ways Sofia is full of contrasts. It is here that I had the most trouble making myself understood. Particularly because they reverse the way your head moves - a nod for "no" and a shake for "yes". It feels really wrong, so I got into the habit of saying "da" and shaking my head, which at least felt less weird. Apart from that, very few people speak English. Most places there was at least one basic English-speaker who could communicate with me, but particularly when trying to find vegetarian food things were a bit of a struggle. The Cyrillic alphabet makes everything harder. It means that even though I had a map I got lost extremely often. At one point I asked a polizei how to get home and he sent me in completely the wrong direction (although, to be fair, I couldn't understand a word he was saying).
It was fun doing cultural activities, and particularly since I was by myself I was able to Nerd It Up to an extreme degree. I went to the Natural History Museum. In my opinion it should probably be renamed the Museum of Bad Taxidermy. The grinning ostrich was a particular treat, as was the chimp holding a banana. And they had put the copepods in with the nemerteans! Those poor Bulgarians! I also went to the art gallery and the ethnographic library. I was particularly moved by a painting called "A Dragon Loves Me, Mother".
I was staying at the painfully boho Art Hostel for three nights. On the third day I went to the heavy metal concert and saw Anthrax, Megadeth, Slayer and Metallica. During Megadeth it started to rain, to my great surprise. There must have been a memo sent out, because everyone, at the same time, pulled out their ponchos. I tried to keep warm in the middle of the crowd in my T-shirt, but the freezing rain turned into painful hail prompting a retreat and hurried beer purchase. I sat there freezing for about an hour until the rain stopped and I could go back and mosh for Slayer. Although moshing might be the wrong word. I would call it... a war, where you're fighting everyone else. I've uploaded some videos onto Facebook. I nearly fell over a couple of times and thought I was going to die. By the end of Slayer I got a few rows from the front and got to see Metallica close up. I won't try to describe it, simply that it was awesome. The crowd was much more docile. I met a new bf, Nikolai. His hobbies include: listening to Metallica, going to Metallica shows and getting "Metallica" tattooed all the way across his back. I eventually ditched him when I started to die of thirst.
On the 24th I went to England. I had a lovely time with Aunt Jane and Miss Minim the cat, of whom I took many photos. I watched a lot of Green Wing. Then I also stayed with Uncle Robert and Caroline and saw Anna and Nick, which was really nice. They have some pretty awesome ducks which eat out of your hands! Robert also took me to a safari park after I got back from Morocco. I saw some awesome rhinos and bongos and stuff, and took lots of photos. We had a lunch on 3rd July with Jane, Robert, Anna and Rick. Jane made an amazing meal with a DIY aspect (make-your-own-crepes) and this amazing raspberry meringuey thing which I'm still dreaming about.
Anyway, Morocco was good too. At least, I thought so. There was at least vegetarian food, and I got to practise my French (although mostly it was "700 dirhams? C'est ridicule! Je vous payerai 100 dirhams!"). It was stifling hot, and even the copious amounts of cheap, fresh orange juice didn't really help. I stayed in a room with Elliott, Eamon and Louise and we did a bit of sight-seeing together, despite the fact that Eamon was navigating. We got a bit tired of Marrakech after a couple of days. The constant hassling of the shopkeepers, particularly of Louise and I, got a bit wearing, and the heat was getting to us. Plus we are not used to being woken up at 4:30am by the next-door mosque. And there was hardly any alcohol. We found ourselves wondering why on earth we had come.
So we went to Agadir for a day, which was ok. We went swimming in the ocean at least. But I went out shopping by myself for the first time and had an Incident with a rather friendly shopkeeper, my new bf Hassan. His hobbies include: luring unsuspecting Westerners into his shop, feeling them up, then asking them out. In general, ladies, you should not go out by youself, and if you do, don't talk to anyone too much and don't go into buildings. I felt pretty unsafe the two times I went out by myself.
But I'm glad we went, if only so that we can say we've been there. I wouldn't go alone, but with other people it was pretty fun. And it was certainly a Cultural Experience.
I left England for Ireland on 5th July. I'll write again soon, but now I have to save this story!
