After taking the day flight to London yesterday, I took a flight from Heathrow to Sofia today. I picked up a rental bike in Sofia. The bike shop did not have any bungees to attach my backpack to the rack so the guy at the bike shop jury-rigged a bungee with a broken tire tube. I rode around for a few miles to be sure everything worked well.
Thankfully, when my backpack fell off the rack, the car riding behind me stopped and some friendly people picked up the bag and brought it to me. I was able to find a shop selling bungees by pointing at the rack, miming pulling my hands apart and making a sproing noise, which did the trick (1).
I rode over to Sofia Central Station and grabbed the train to Plovdiv. The protocol is to secure the bike on the rearmost platform of the train. I sat a few compartments away, but I knew the bike was still there because people seemed to enjoy ringing the bell periodically as they got on or off the train.
The second floor of the Plovdiv train station has recently been converted into a hostel, so I grabbed a room with a view of the tracks.
(1) I'm glad I found the bungees. They proved quite useful throughout the trip securing the bike on trains and ferries.
Mt Vitosha (south of Sofia) from the plane
Nevski Cathedral, Sofia
Livov Most (Lion Bridge), Sofia
On the train to Plovdiv
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