When I told friends that Marc and I flew from one country to another in the Balkans, one friend was surprised considering that the distances from one capital to another weren't really that far. I knew for a fact that from Sofia to Skopje, there were buses that made the five hour trek plus the immigration stops. There is a train from Bucharest to Sofia and the trip lasts 11 hours with stops. From Skopje to Belgrade there are buses that take 8 hours plus stops. We decided to fly for comfort and convenience. Given that we traveled during the summer time, we heard of long lines at borders in the horrible summer heat. Plus, the absence of bathrooms on board buses was another reason we decided to fly. Perhaps if I traveled back when I was much younger, I could bear holding my piss if needed. Nowadays though, I just can't. If I have to go, I have to go.

After the Netherlands and the UK, we spent a long time in Sofia. We were there almost a full week. We initially planned on splitting our time equally between Bucharest and Sofia. But, when Turkish Airlines informed us while we were still back in the US that they were canceling our onward flight to Sofia from Bucharest, we had to rebook our flight and it forced us to leave Romania a day early.

On our last day in Bucharest, we left our hotel very early in the morning and headed to Piata Unirii to catch the first shuttle bus, Bus 100, out to the airport. It was 6 am. We had an early flight and we figured it wise to get to Otopeni Airport for good measure. The walk from the Mercure Hotel to the bus stop was quiet and safe. Being from the States, we are always on guard for our safety but Bucharest turned out to be a wonderful place to be. Much to our surprise, the bus was already nearly full with other tourists. Marc sat in the front while I had to get a seat in the back where my large suitcase was not going to be in the way.

It felt really nice to sit next to a fellow Filipino who turned out to be a Bucharest resident. When the bus seemed to take forever to get to Otopeni, she confirmed that I indeed took the right bus since she herself worked in the airport.

Once we arrived, we saw a very long line of passengers waiting to check in. We thought we had to join the line too. The departures board wasn't very clear as to where we were supposed to go. Turns out, the line was for people traveling on a European budget airline and the Turkish Airlines counters hadn't been assigned yet. Anyway, when they did, our check in was quick and easy. As is customary for United Gold passengers, we had our separate line. We were given our boarding and lounge passes. We had breakfast in the lounge inside Otopeni but the entire area was small and had only a few tables. Food selection was extremely limited.

For the second leg of our travels within the Balkans, that is, for our trip from Bucharest to Sofia, we flew Turkish Airlines. Thus, we flew out of Bucharest, had a layover in Istanbul, then went on to Sofia. We had a couple of hours in Istanbul and it was nice to see the humongous Ataturk once again. We also spent most of our layover at the Turkish Airlines Miles and Smiles lounge.

Speaking of the Turkish Airlines lounge, I was rather disappointed to see the small variety of food available. It was so unlike the first times I visited when food was plentiful and delicious.

Unlike uber modern Ataturk, Sofia's airport was small and ordinary. After we deboarded our plane, a bus waited to take us to the main airport building where immigration and customs were. Once cleared to enter the country, we collected our suitcases, and took the Metro train to our hotel in Sofia's city center. Luckily for us, we could use our credit cards once again and just tap them on the turnstiles to enter. We took the Obelya Line and got out of Serdika Station.