A wise man once said: “be careful what you wish for ‘cause you just might get”. Even though it’s a Pussycat Dolls lyric and not a famous quote that doesn’t make it any less true. I wished for a two-day road trip with four perfectly sane friends and what I got was a migraine, some dancing skills and too much coffee. And no moussaka.

Transportation. The road from Bucharest to Sofia stretches across approx. 390 km from the Danubian plain and into the Balkans. It’s basically a 5-6 hours drive, unless it’s a national holiday and you’re stuck at border control with 73% of the population that leaves the country. The scenery is a bit boring for the first 300 km but once you enter the Balkans and start sipping some “afinată” the scenery (and everything) gets better. Bulgaria’s landscape is varied, from boring plains to ups-and-downs, tunnels into the Balkans and motocross valleys, and a road trip by car lets you enjoy all of it.

Local cuisine. Or bars, because the cuisine was closed. Our attempt to eat moussaka failed gracefully because we got lost, Siri lost her voice because of the low battery, the restaurants in the city center were all sushi based and the traditional restaurant we did find on the map was not yet open. Our meal plan included the holy sandwiches, coffee from gas stations, some veal/duck meat with colored sauce and drinks to keep us hydrated. Interesting enough was that pubs and bars open late in the night, after 11-12 pm it’s when people start showing up.

Top attractions. Well, Aleksander Nevsky cathedral – the massive symbol of Sofia, and Bulgaria, is hard to miss, Saint Sofia statue standing on a column in the middle of the road replacing Mr. Lenin since 2000, the mineral baths (closed, unfortunately), Sveta Nedelya cathedral – a pretty domed church near the city center, Banya Bashi mosque and plenty of other churches, parks and nice boulevards. You can find free walking tours, food tours, pub crawls, sushi bars.

The city itself is amazing, it’s a combination of Balkan energy and western mystery, both peaceful and busy at the same time. It’s the orthodox crossroads of the Balkan peninsula.

P.S. just listen to this madness.