Ivanovo, Bulgaria

Good: Managing to squeeze in a visit to the Ivanovo Rock Monastery despite exercising the option of waking up late, leisurely eating a free breakfast at the hostel, and arriving at Ivanovo about 8 hours later than planned. Although, I don’t think I would have missed much if I hadn’t made it.

Not-so-good: The “my bags and my legs need to take up extra seats despite other people not having seats” syndrome on the train. It’s made worse when those without seats condone it by not asking the culprits to move their bags/legs away and continuing to stand in discomfort. Seems to be quite a ubiquitous occurrence in Bulgaria. Oh well, not my business as long as I have a seat.

Noteworthy food/drink: Romanian ciorba de burta, a warm garlicky and milky tripe soup with a dollop of sour cream, vs Bulgarian tarator, a chilled cucumber and yoghurt soup. I much prefer the former.