Where for art thou statue

Last time I left you I was in Varna, on the Black Sea where you are told not to pee on the sand add you will get slapped around by Mafia, take no plastic (cards) into strip clubs if you go and told you can buy a night with a celebrity for two thousand euro. Sketchy!
The night train leaving Varna was so much nicer then they one i came in. Looked like it was from a time before my birth. After eight hours I arrive in Plovdiv. What a lovely surprise! Was the nicest city I had seen so far on the trip. Beautiful boulevards and exciting, exciting, exciting. ...I saw some ancient ruins ;) nice big amphitheatre and old stadium. So happy. It is also one of the oldest cities in Europe - being dated back 6000 years from the time of the Thracians. Also known as the town of the seven hills as there are (were seven hills in the city).
And the hostel, thecrib was excellent. The guy had travelled around the region to discovery the best place to run a hostel so was full of great advice. Sadly the girl that did the walking tour was a bit rubbish. And would refuse to say that Bulgaria was communist but kept saying socialist. I asked some other locals and they laughed as they said it was clearly communist.
Next up was a travel day. Plovdiv to sofia then sofia to Skopje. Hurray for getting to Macedonia.
I arrive in the evening - check in, and then straight out for dinner, and being a Friday night, put for a dance at the posh night club. Was so much fun, a real good atmosphere and nice people. The walk to the club was great too, as all the buildings on the river were lit up and just made the city look so great.
Today I have been sight seeing around the city. In other blogs, the city has a bad reputation as it is kind of tacky place. This is because all these new buildings that have been built. Absolutely massive in ancient style. Kind of pointless but also impressive and left me with a smile all day. And if the massive buildings aren't overwhelming, then the number of status will. There is probably one statue to every three people. Seriously, so many. And the one in the centre Square is gigantic!
None of it is genuine. All brand new. And in the greater scheme of things, not a great thing for the country in terms of the cost. The massive statue alone cost ten million. If you do your research you will see the country is not actually well off and the money would have been invested in better infrastructure and social care, or improving the standard of living for those outside the city (Massive romani ghetto, possibly the largest in Europe). But overall I like the place, and going to check out some caves tomorrow, followed by a day trip to Kosovo before heading to Lake Ohrid.
Great times! !!!
As Icona Pop says, I love it! !!!!

Joshua

Bringing down the government

The journey from Nis to Sofia passed by smoothly. The Serbian countryside was stunning, as we spent about an hour travelling through a gorge. And after an initial scare, got through boost control with ease. The scare being about five kilometres of trucks waiting to cross the border. Apparently for them out can take up to two days!!!! Or driver just drove around them all the way to the border.
Sofia train station was huge. But maybe the worst place I ever had to travel from. Buying a train ticket was such a mission. Can i get ticket to Varna? Down. Okay,  go downstairs. Up. I go back up. Finally it was established that I went down. At least there was free wifi.
So loathing the city already... thankfully Sofia is actually quite a pretty city and easy enough to navigate. With Trevor and Sam who I caught the bus with, we checked out all the sites we could find without a map. An amphitheatre preserved by being incorporated into a hotel, the large orthodox cathedral - Alexander Nevski and a government protest to point out the highlights.
That's right. A large government protest. They want the newly elected prime minister to resign after only a month for appointing as national security minister a business man linked to Bulgarian Mafia. The minister stepped down but the people want the prime minister to step down too due to links to corruption and organised crime. Fun times :) and relatively peaceful.
After this, I caught my night train to varna. Had a cabin to myself so managed to sleep well. And of course, another run down city, but with some massive exceptions. Being on the Black Sea The whole beach front area is highly developed like a 1970s English resort town. Kinda fun back tacky as well. And heaving  with tourists. There is a fake eiffel Tower,  carnival rides, umbrella and seat hire, beach bars and massage stands. But definitely a cheaper alternative to the other beach stead throughout Europe. And the Black Sea is warm, and totally enjoyable after a year without swimming in the sea.
In the evening we went to a night club where one of Bulgaria's biggest musical starts was performing from 2am. Was really interesting as it was the only place that was packed with only Bulgarian people as it was in the main centre and not in the resort part. Her name is Galena if you want to check her music. A really cool experience. Today was meant to be a boat party on the Black Sea, however after getting everyone excited the hostel forgot to book the tickets and it is sold out. Disappointed and a big black mark for them for that. Had planned to go to Belchik botanical gardens but had changed to do the boat trip and now ain't doing either.
Another night train tonight, this time to Plovdiv and the last stop of Bulgarian leg of the type. Next blog will be from FYROM (Macedonia)

Nazi puppets and skull towers

After getting home late in the morning I choose to skip the free walking tour of the city and sleep until 12. Good thing I checked out all the tourist sites the day before. I eventually get to the Republic square for a different type starting at 3. The walking tour of Zemun.
This was a very worthwhile tour. Zemun is a part of Belgrade now, but originally was it's on town steeped in history that is very different to the main city across the river. It's most important role was the border crossing between the Ottoman Empire and the Austro Hungarian Empire, a place people were quarantined for thirty days before making a successful cross due to the fears of contagious disease.
Secondly, this area avoided Hitlers revenge on Belgrade during WW2 (Yugoslavia originally signed a treaty with the Nazis but reneged after mass protests). The reason this area was spared was due to it becoming part of the independent state of Croatia. A puppet state of Germany that was involved in the mass genocide of Serbs.
The city did not escape communism however as seen by ugly apartment blocks on the outskirts of town and one of the buildings, the airforce command was bombed in 1999.
I quite enjoyed the town,  and the surrounding hills had lovely views of Belgrade and a commemorate Tower which looked lovely in the grey skies. The town isn't well looked after though. All the beautiful buildings of the 18th and 19th centuries are looking run down and the areas has a thug reputation.
The evening consisted of goulash, an obvious influence of the time under Hungarian rule,  and back to the night life. Firstly enjoying a jazz bar a bunch of others from the hostel and some random Swede's (I made friends with them because I like to pretend jag kan pratar liten svenska) in what at first looks like an abandoned house, and then back to the boat clubs.
This morning I arose earlier as I caught a bus at 1pm to the second biggest city of Serbia, Nis. There is obvious roman influence here which I always enjoy. As well as this there is also a concentration camp which sadly isn't open to view while I am here. But I did see the Tower of skulls. This is a Tower build by turks that contained the skulls of the Serbs they killed in battle. The skulls had been skinned, with the heads being stuffed and sent to Constantinople as a gift to the ruler at the time.
It has quite a lot of places of interest, and will be a little sad I can't spend another day exploring, but I have to leave at 10am.
A couple I met at dinner are heading to sofia via a taxi like service and will only cost me 20 euros which is cheap for what it is and faster then the bus. Plus there are very few services each day that leave for sofia and are often booked out, so accepting the piece of luck.

So onto Bulgaria where you will next here from me.

Joshua

Belgrade, Serbia. Day 1

Waking up at 5.30am is never fun. Even if it means the start of a five week journey. It is even worse knowing I am getting on a no leg room airline. Yay Wizz Air. After this journey I think I might start flying 'non budget' airlines.
I digress
Serbia
While reading this, remember this is a city recently bombed in 1999. Destroyed in ww1, bombed on two separate occasions during ww2 and been involved in approximately 149 wars in its history.
If first impressions are important to you, then be prepared for disappointment. The airport is outdated. But hey, no one cares about that. Driving into the city it becomes very obvious it has seen many years of communism. Dilapidated apartment blocks all over the place and a general greyness that I have seen in Budapest, Riga and Bucharest to name a few. Unlike these places, there doesn't seem as though efforts are being made to revitalise the place unless you keep eyes at street level.
After checking in I walk the city and see the main sites in about four hours. First up is Kalemegdan where the Belgrade fortress is located. It surprises me. A beautiful part of the city located on a hill where the Danube and Sava meet. It is a lovely fortress and in decent condition. Impressively, community facilities have been incorporated more recently into the structure.  Looking out over the rivers, all I can see is potential for a beautiful city. And with time this could certainly happen. Stockholms beauty didn't take fifteen years.
From here I move on to the more central sites. The Republic square and the bohemian quartet.... and so we move on.
Wandered to the south of the city to see Cathedral of St Sava. An impressive church on the outside. The inside is barren. Lots of work to be done. Although it is a lovely Church, my feelings were similar to when I visited Gaudis cathedral in Barcelona. A waste of monetary resources when that money could be better spent.
Walking back to the hostel I went via bombed buildings. This is when the reality hit as to how recent everything was. Empty shells that once was offices, work places etc. And as I look around with more intent, there are burnt out lots all over the place. All my reservations about the place dissipated as I thought of the locals who spend everyday passing these buildings and being constantly reminded of the horror of war.
Last act of the day, experiencing Belgrade in the way it is known for. It is meant to have the best nightlife in Europe. Many fellow travelers had stopped here for a night and are still here weeks later due to how much they enjoyed the nightlife. And Belgrade didn't disappoint. In the summer it is all about clubbing on boats,  and most of these boats are packed. Cheap beer, good djs and friendly (surprised me) locals, and when it comes to partying,  they are crazy in a good way. Sadly my early morning caught up with me and headed home at 4am. Fun times though. Slept lots in preparation for night two.

Btw, feel free to offer advice on places as i travel.

Joshua

The night before leaving.....welcome

To those who have the slightest interest in the ramblings of a teacher who is spending yet another holiday traveling, then feel free to follow my blog as I explore Serbia, Bulgaria, Macedonia, Kosovo, Albania, Greece and Cyprus. This will be a 5 week journey sharing all my experiences both good and bad. I have yet to decide if I will comment day by day, or city by city - but once I decide, I will try my best to follow the plan, wifi permitting.
So sit back and enjoy.....and who knows, depending on the quality of the blog, (which I expect to be average), some of you might actually dare to explore some of these countries yourself (not counting Greece as everyone goes there).

Better go to bed now, got to be up about 5.30am.....

Joshua