To me, Skopje, Macedonia has a much better feel than the Greek cities I visited. It looks cleaner and the buildings are more attractive. The joke in Greece was that the only things in worse shape than the ancient Greek buildings are the new Greek buildings. There is a substantial truthful basis for this joke. I was happy to jump a bus to Bulgaria.
Bulgaria is known for its countryside and natural splendor. Not anything over the top, must-see, only very lush green mountains and valleys. I was told by some people that the Black sea coast is nice to see, but then they found out that I went to the coast of Italy and Greece, and then they said that maybe I could skip it. From what I saw of the countryside from the bus, it looks like life is still very close to the land in most areas. It certainly is very green here, with dense forests covering the mountains and hills.
Who else is visiting Sofia, Bulgaria these days? The guy I can’t seem to get away from, George Bush. His European tour is coinciding a little too much with mine. I hear that they loved him in Albania. Bulgaria greeted him more like every other country has, with protests. I guess we have not given Bulgaria as much money as Albania.
On a whim I went and saw Spiderman 3 at the mall here. It was one of the nicest theaters I have ever been in. It even had assigned seats; I got to choose from a computer display when I bought the ticket. The mall could have been in any rich country, you would never guess that it is in a country as poor as Bulgaria. The movie was okay, predictable, and trite with good action.
