Sophie À La Carte!

I mentioned several posts ago that I decided to become a vegetarian. While most of my posts have focused on my itinerary, where I went, what I did, etc.; I've decided to be a little more focused in this post and talk about the adventures of being meatless on the road. Furthermore, I won't be incorporating pictures into this post- earlier this week in Ohrid, Macedonia I somehow managed to crack my laptop screen, rendering my Chromebook invalid. We arrived in Albania a few days ago, so here's hoping I can find a place to get it fixed in a short period of time. My Chromebook was only about $180, so I'm not wedded to it, and if it weren't for my blog or for my new freelance travel writing gig I could probably eschew a laptop entirely - you can do almost anything on a smartphone these days. Another small update, if you're wondering who’s this “we” I'm referring to. For the next leg of my trip, at least through the western Balkans, I'll have a travel buddy.

My last morning in Plovdiv I woke up early and took a taxi to the train station. Taxis in Bulgaria are unbelievably cheap compared to the United States; I’ve never paid more than $3 USD for a ride. This time, it cost about 2.5 lev ($1.38). My train was at 8am, and I got there about 10 minutes early. I thought about grabbing a coffee from one of the stands or automatic machines (price for an espresso ranges from .40 lev to 1 lev- 22 to 55 cents), but decided to hold off until my connection. Maybe I would doze off for a bit for the first hour, and I would want to be awake for the second leg of the trip. I took a train to Septemvri, where the narrow-gauge rail line starts and where I’d be taking a 4 hour train ride through the mountains to Bansko. Early on in my research I came across a list of scenic train rides in the Balkans and Central/Eastern Europe. I like traveling by train; it’s more comfortable than a bus and easier to take in the scenery. Whenever I can combine transporta

Hey friends, I jumped back on the road last week after an early goodbye to Rodo. I took a minibus to Veliko Turnovo, then boarded a slightly bigger bus en route to Plovdiv. The bus ride was long- about four and a half hours, but bearable. For some reason I was craving a Snickers bar before I got on the bus. I stopped by a snack window, looked at my options, and decided to go for something more local- a MOPEHU bar, which had the necessary peanut and chocolate requirement. So that was my breakfast. Quick stop on the way to Stara Zagora Halfway to Plovdiv I struck up a conversation with the guy next to me (neither of us spoke Bulgarian and had no idea if we were supposed to stay on the bus during a stop in Stara Zagora). He spoke okay English, but was from Venezuela, so I attempted to dust off my high school Spanish to converse with him. Turns out he’s an acrobat and illusionist working for a Bulgarian circus, and has been working at circuses across Europe for 10 years. He spent

“Here,” he said, handing me a pair of latex gloves. “You might need these.” It’s my first night on the organic farm in Hotnitsa, Bulgaria , and my host Rodo is warning me of the spiciness of the chili peppers he gave me. “Seriously, don’t touch your eyes or nose after you handle them. They’re dangerous.” Part of the farm on a foggy morning Earlier that day, Rodo gave me a tour of the farm, stopping ever so often to pile more veggies into my arms. Green beans, zucchini, tomatoes, cabbage, onions, and the aforementioned chilies , Rodo’s specialty. Rodo, originally from France, has been in Hotnitsa since about 2008. A former investment banker, he gave up consulting and bought a homestead in a small village outside of Veliko Tarnovo. He grows strictly organic, sells his produce in markets, and does his best to give back to the land. Average day on the farm I met Rodo online through Workaway , an organization that connections volunteers with hosts worldwide. In exchan