Stray Dogs & Kebabs

Recently I woke up in Bulgaria with absolutely no recollection of the previous month. The only clues I have as to my whereabouts since my last blog post are the following stamps on my passport, in chronological order: Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Bulgaria again, Slovenia, Germany. So for the few people actually reading this, excuse the lack of posts.

Is a small castle, home to a fictional character, a valid reason to take a 12 hr train ride into the middle of romania? Yes. Romania can't afford to fix the bullet holes in the sides of their government buildings, so they obviously don't have much money for skate parks. But they do have Dracula's castle, which counts for something.

Istanbul is rugs, mosques and kebab shops, and turkish men yelling at you to eat in their shop. The bazarre is the biggest concentration of useless crap I have ever seen. I bought a knife, which I'm sure I will use all the time, and was not a impulse purchase in the least. Muslims don't drink much, especially during Ramadan, thus we didn't have much in common with the Turkish people.

Bulgaria has the best beaches and cheapest beer I have seen thus far. One thing I don't recommend is leaving your pants unattended while swimming in the Black Sea. The pockets will be emptied by the pocket patrol. I contributed some cash and a digital camera. I would've liked to stay longer but Dave had to meet an ex-colleague (from the cushy government job he quit 3 months ago) on a midlife crisis trip in Slovenia. I assisted him in burning all bridges to a return to that job.

For the few people still reading this, I would like you to meet my new fiance. We will marry after Oktoberfest.