One sign, I suppose, that we’re in a traveller’s frame of mind was that I looked forward to 8 hours on a Bulgarian state rail train without a hint of trepidation. Similar to any other long haul, the not-so-secret strategy of survival is simply ‘being’ in the present and, to the greatest extent possible focus on the good parts of it as opposed to impatiently fretting that we’re not there yet. This strategy of the mind needs some backup and assistance on the corporeal level, however. For this, we have thus far on this trip been able to rely on obtaining baked goods of near-infinite variety out of small hole-in-the-wall bakery outlets found just about everywhere we have been in urban eastern Europe. It was only natural therefore that I approached the pursuit of sustenance for our extended train trip with an attitude so cavalier that the uninformed might have mistaken it for justified confidence. 

The reality could not have been any farther from that had I tried. Having grunted and pointed at a number of freshly baked goods whose only possible flaw at that time might have been that too much butter was used during baking, I got enough that surely would be enough for two rail riders like ourselves. The slight wrinkle in my otherwise perfect plan for portable nourishment was that I brought back to the train what basically amounted to foot-long cheese pastries. If there ever was a time those marriage vows started to look as though they might have some give in them, it probably would have been during that particular reveal to my lactose-intolerant spouse. Waste not, want not, however so I now feel have sufficiently experienced these salty pastry concoctions that it might be a while before I have another one if I have any say in the matter.

When taking the train from Varna to Sofia, one has the choice between the northern and the southern routes. The southern route that goes by the beautiful city of Plovdiv takes an hour longer so instead we went north. Instead of fairy tale buildings in Plovdiv (which we likely would not have been able to spot from the train anyway), we passed through the increasingly hilly landscape. The rugged beauty brought out the inner hiker in me and made me ponder a return to Bulgaria with the intent on really exploring the back country. Additionally, as this grand display of nature isn’t confined to the Bulgarian border, I suspect a future trip will have to include at least some of the Balkan countries on the itinerary.

As a final point of this train trip it should be noted that any stereotypical misconceptions about train travel in Bulgaria may be grievously misplaced; Not only did we leave Varna precisely on schedule, we arrived – without a word of exaggeration – to the minute on time in Sofia. Not a bad feat for a 7 hour 45 minute haul and one that I personally have not experienced anywhere else.