Journal #60 - Bulgaria
Zdrasti (Здрасти) from Bulgaria!
Our time here has been bifurcated between the charmingness of the city streets contrasted against the discomfort we had in our accommodations. We have only nice things to say about our visit to the capital city of Sofia; however, we have less pleasant feedback for the host of our rental unit which did taint our experience more than a little.
Throughout this Odyssey, we have had the opportunity to stay in a vast variety of accommodations. We have used hotels, hostels, boats, camps, and vacation rentals. We have booked directly, through third parties, via email, via text message and more. With that experience, we have developed preferences: where are convenient places for outlets, how early check-in should be, etc. We also have opinions on more specific aspects such as housekeeping ignoring their own Do Not Disturb sign to wake us up (especially frustrating when we work the shifted schedules). The most ruinous thing that we can find at any accommodation though, has to be, bedbugs.
These persistent pests have plagued us before; however, other instances were short-lived experiences. In those encounters, the bugs rattled us and we had to panic-clean everything we brought, but then it was over. This particular rental though, was nothing like we have ever seen. The apartment was infested. We physically saw the bugs on the couch, on the dresser, and in the bed across multiple rooms. We slept half of a night there and were covered from head to toe in bites. We were itchy within twelve hours and things only escalated from there.
So, rather than having time to leisurely walk around Sofia and explore all of the corners of the city, we were instead forced into recovery mode. This meant a day spent arguing with the rental owner about getting out of our agreement, finding new accommodations, and transporting all our now-tainted items. Hours more were lost to cleaning. In an effort to protect our new accommodations, everything we brought was bagged and left only on the hard floor. Then we had to individually open and scour all of the contents in each bag. We washed and vacuumed every article one at a time.
The fabric-based items (clothes, bags, etc.) were all put into the washer/dryer on HIGH heat to roast for hours. Which would kill any bugs, but also destroyed a few of our belongings in the process. Most notably, our camera bag came out of the dryer more closely resembling a melted shrinky-dink in shape. This meant that another day was devoted to replacing the lost or damaged products. Our bodies itched for weeks and it took almost as long to shake the lingering dread of laying down in every new bed that it would all happen again.
We eventually got to go out and see Sofia. The streets were quaint with shopping districts, beautiful mosques, temples, and churches. We were sad to be leaving Sofia, but also incredibly ready when we packed our newly cleaned bags and headed out to our next destination. This next nation is home to the celebration of Sava, a holiday in honor of the nation and the family’s patron saint. Any guesses where we are off to next?
