[Belarus1212]

Rainy, why are you making that stupid assumption about me? Because I say that going up to a really beautiful girl I'm talking more than 8 and telling her lamely she is beautiful in a weird accent will work? If she is lower value it will, because she will give you higher value for being a foreigner. But if she is a high value local girl, she won't care for a tourist telling her she's beautiful in a weird accent, she'll even find it lame, specially in the balkans where social circle is very strong and hot girls have lots of local options. But obviously, what matters is what follows. But hey, you can keep on hitting your 6s with ty si krasiva, or maybe you are 6 feet 2 with male model looks in which case you can basically say anything as long as you are not acting like a retard

[Dragan]

(04-22-2018 06:57 PM)Rossi Wrote:  

And Bulgaria is not in Schengen right? If I fly there from Bulgaria, do they check passports at the entry and exit? Did you guys get a stamp if you have EU passport?

I'm pretty sure it's in Schengen man.

edit: appear it's aiming to join but hasn't joined yet: http://www.dw.com/en/bulgaria-and-romani...a-42665840

[Dragan]

(04-22-2018 06:30 PM)Leads Wrote:  

Always take 2 to 3 months before forming an opinion about a place. Slow the fuck down. Bulgaria decimates every single state in the west. Get better at determining what is internal/external. The fast lane mentality has to be dissolved slowly. My Airbnb host ended up supplying with so many girls. Either commit to 2 months MINIMUM or expect continual dissatisfaction

You're right. I have this bad habit of blitzing places, scortched earth style, but every time I've really liked a place here in the balkans has been because I took things at a slower pace. I guess the ironic thing is that by taking the balkans slower, and trying to be leisurely about things, is you start having cultural doors open, and you come to like the place, like you would say the cafe culture in france, or the food culture in italy.

Honestly though I did not like Sofia, and it was too touristy for me. When a place is too touristy you jeopardize having unique experiences. If i go back to Bulgaria it will be Varna or somewhere in the mountains, I think it will yield a completely different experience.

[Rossi]

(04-23-2018 04:45 AM)Dragan Wrote:  

(04-22-2018 06:57 PM)Rossi Wrote:  

And Bulgaria is not in Schengen right? If I fly there from Bulgaria, do they check passports at the entry and exit? Did you guys get a stamp if you have EU passport?

I'm pretty sure it's in Schengen man.

edit: appear it's aiming to join but hasn't joined yet: http://www.dw.com/en/bulgaria-and-romani...a-42665840

I don't think so. For example, if I go to France or Spain from Italy, nobody even checks my passport. There's no custom check.

If I go to Romania though, they do stamp on my passport. I think Bulgaria is same too. Romania and Bulgaria are member of EU but not part of Schengen, as far as I remember.

[Wander]

(04-23-2018 04:51 AM)Dragan Wrote:  

(04-22-2018 06:30 PM)Leads Wrote:  

Always take 2 to 3 months before forming an opinion about a place. Slow the fuck down. Bulgaria decimates every single state in the west. Get better at determining what is internal/external. The fast lane mentality has to be dissolved slowly. My Airbnb host ended up supplying with so many girls. Either commit to 2 months MINIMUM or expect continual dissatisfaction

You're right. I have this bad habit of blitzing places, scortched earth style, but every time I've really liked a place here in the balkans has been because I took things at a slower pace. I guess the ironic thing is that by taking the balkans slower, and trying to be leisurely about things, is you start having cultural doors open, and you come to like the place, like you would say the cafe culture in france, or the food culture in italy.

Honestly though I did not like Sofia, and it was too touristy for me. When a place is too touristy you jeopardize having unique experiences. If i go back to Bulgaria it will be Varna or somewhere in the mountains, I think it will yield a completely different experience.

Why is arguably the EU's most terrible capital too touristy? I can only imagine because people are going to do something in nature or at the beach and are flying in and out of the city, and some spending a day or two

The only tourists who would go about spending a few days or more there are the riff raff cheapo beer swilling tourists and skankpackers I imagine, no offense.

[Dragan]

I don't have enough for a datasheet, but here's some info I have:

Living arrangements: Stay in the city center. Within 10 minutes or so of the exact city center which is Serdika Metro station for reference. Get an AirBnb, they can be like 30 to 40USD a night, not bad at all.

Food: Bulgarian food is a lot like other Balkan cuisines. I don't know enough to tell you much about it. A lot of places for Döner, which surprised me. Nice food will be on Vitosha Boulevard but the street is a bit touristy, so they are other options that may be cheaper a few minutes away by walk.

Parks: Worthy enough to be noted, Sofia is a great place for hanging out in parks-- there is a bunch of greenspace, perhaps more than I have seen in many other similar size cities. City Garden park in the center is an awesome place to pre-game in the evening and is a favorite for Bulgarian youth to do this. very beautiful and centrally located.

Bars: As I already noted Vitosha is the main drag in Sofia so you have a lot of options here. And it is really scenic as well. Hookah is a big thing here, so a chill hookah bar is not a bad choice at all. Mixed drinks aren't bad at all in price maybe like 3 or 4 bucks. I tried "Apartment Bar" but it was already closed by 1:45 AM, i think a lot of bars close at 2. I hit Hambara, also called candlebar, which is a famous place that is basically a speakeasy/old school intelligentsia hangout during the soviet times. It's only lit by candles and an awesome place. It is hidden in a ramshackle building drenched in cigarette smoke. I went to a few other places, but nothing notable. Advise would be to predrink in the park, get dinner drinks on Vitosha or at some Bulgarian joint in the center, hit up a bar or two, and close out with Hambara after 2 (they are open late) and maybe try your luck at the club.

Women: were nice and helpful with directions and stuff like that. All basically with black hair, and skin looks darker than western balkans women. Conservative culture what more can I say.

Other: try some Menta or Rakia. Menta is a mint liquor that is a bulgarian specialty. I drank the stuff with some sprite, but it might cause you a hangover. Most Bulgarian beer is nothing special.

[Bikal]

(04-21-2018 07:56 AM)Dragan Wrote:  

1) Brits, this is a big issue, and no offense to Brit forum members, but you guys are generally horrible tourists. I nearly fought a pack of Brits, and they adhered to the stereotypes, loudly asking me where the strip club was! They wanted to fight me because I used a colloquial American term of endearment to refer to several of them. This is some of the most gay behavior I've seen from tourists in my life... Meanwhile they were making fun of me because I'm from Texas. There are too many Brits here in Sofia.

Let me guess, this term of endearment was related to homosexuality? Is it any wonder that they'd want to fight you, British tourists can be arseholes however unless provoked, we don't go into fights with any Tom, Dick & Harry.

Out of curiosity, do you make the same kind of comments to men of other nationalities or do you just dislike the British? I guarantee that they wouldn't get in your way with the ladies, they'll be too drunk to care in Sofia, Prague, Baltics etc, if they're in a group, leave them be and do what you do best, it's highly unlikely they'll bother you in a negative way.

[gowest]

Go to Bulgaria, only if you have been everywhere else in Europe and did not get laid

[Dragan]

(04-25-2018 05:38 PM)Bikal Wrote:  

(04-21-2018 07:56 AM)Dragan Wrote:  

1) Brits, this is a big issue, and no offense to Brit forum members, but you guys are generally horrible tourists. I nearly fought a pack of Brits, and they adhered to the stereotypes, loudly asking me where the strip club was! They wanted to fight me because I used a colloquial American term of endearment to refer to several of them. This is some of the most gay behavior I've seen from tourists in my life... Meanwhile they were making fun of me because I'm from Texas. There are too many Brits here in Sofia.

Let me guess, this term of endearment was related to homosexuality? Is it any wonder that they'd want to fight you, British tourists can be arseholes however unless provoked, we don't go into fights with any Tom, Dick & Harry.

Out of curiosity, do you make the same kind of comments to men of other nationalities or do you just dislike the British? I guarantee that they wouldn't get in your way with the ladies, they'll be too drunk to care in Sofia, Prague, Baltics etc, if they're in a group, leave them be and do what you do best, it's highly unlikely they'll bother you in a negative way.

At this point, I wish I could delete the thread. I had a bad time in Bulgaria, but it was because of my mindset and I was jetlagged.

If there is any value to be gotten out of what I said, look at my above post where I gave a few recommendations on things to do. Apart from that, everything else at this point is water under the bridge.

I would visit sofia again, to try to do a better job as a tourist the second time around.

[TigerMandingo]

I recently watched a documentary on Sofia Central Prison. What a brutal place. I can only imagine how tough Bulgarians are.

[Buffas]

Anyone in Sofia up for a quick meet and exchange of stories? Only here for a few days and got some hours to kill now in the centre. Drinks on me