On the road…again!!!
Essays, Stories, Adventures, Dreams
Chronicles of a Footloose Forester
By Dick Pellek
Bulgarian Adventures
Tcveti, the receptionist, bartender, waitress, and Jill of all trades at the Hotel Galant SE of Sofia, Bulgaria served the Footloose Forester his morning bottle of beer. Бурдаско is a local Bulgarian beer that he ordered up, not because he shows signs of being an alcoholic, but because the half-cup of coffee served at breakfast was not nearly enough to whet his whistle. Here is that frosty bottle of Burgasko.
The Hotel Galant is family friendly and demonstrated it at every turn. My sister Mary Grover and the Footloose Forester were treated with friendly attention whenever we requested something, even a cold bottle of beer in mid-morning. Of course, the Footloose Forester was a-hankerin for another cultural and taste experience by ordering a local brew.
A satellite photo, thanks Google Earth, identified the hotel and even our Citroën C-3 auto, rented the day before. It was a manual transmission (stick shift) model, again chosen for the challenge and cultural experience of driving a French car. And it was the first time for Footloose Forester driving a Citroën, and many years since Footloose Forester had driven a stick shift.
Driving in the countryside was the objective of renting a car, in lieu of seeing the sights from other forms of transportation. By the way, the week-long car rental in Budapest, Hungary during the previous week was a wholly satisfying experience. The itinerary was a 2,200 km loop, starting in Budapest and returning there. Budapest > Slovakia > Poland > Czechia (the Czech Republic) > Austria > Slovenia > Croatia > Bosnia/Herzegovina > Budapest was a pure joy. People were friendly everywhere and very often helpful, especially when we went looking for a hotel at the end of the day.
The subsequent leg of Budapest > Bucharest, Romania > Sofia, Bulgaria, was by electrified train, also part of the bucket list of cultural experiences. Sadly, the vast agricultural lands and steppes of the region exhibited many clues of somewhat low production and limited land-use potential. Very large and individually sectioned fields suggested an ownership pattern that may have been communal ownership. Machine planting and harvesting operations are state-of-the-art and take place at appropriate times and in season, but we did not witness any active harvesting in mid-September.
On the long train ride through Romania, the Footloose Forester was fortunate enough to see several of the outlying oil fields and dormant oil pump jacks (nodding donkeys) of the Ploiesti Oil Fields, which were important targets of Allied bombers and ground forces during World War II.