Sofia, Bulgaria

It all started at 00:45, when I was late for my overnight bus and accidentally got on a packed and smelly bus that was destined for Skopje, not Sofia. After a rickety ride over dirt roads I had to change buses at 4 a.m. and spend 2 hours in customs to roll into Bulgaria by 10

Then, during the 1.5 hours I spent wandering the city following false Lonely Planet directions to my hostel, I managed to both roll my ankle and twist my knee on this city's crappy sidewalks (Running in Sofia - Watch out for . . . )

They had lost my reservation.

And in the process of withdrawing cash from the ATM machine, I learned that my ATM card expired. Yesterday. At least I am my father's daughter, and always travel with enough backup sources of finance to see me through.

I was lucky enough to find two great places to run in this city. Right before the sky opened up and it dumped rain the way Noah's used to.

Despite the troubles on this part of the trip, I really do like this city. But not enough to be able to shake the feeling that it doesn't really like me. So it's on the road again today, a bit sooner than I planned.