Varna, Bulgaria

9.14.12
We side tripped to Varna to swim in the Black Sea but we had business to take care of first. We had to go to the bus station to book tickets on the overnight train to Sofia, Bulgaria. Communication in English is almost non existent here so it took some effort to get to the right ticket window. When we first arrived at the station Tom went to wait at a ticket window where the cashier was on the phone. Tom stood respectfully back a few steps while waiting for her to finish her call. A Bulgarian man walked right in front of him to the window. Hmn... When we found the correct window, there was one person in front of Tom so I found a place to sit outside. Suddenly about 8 people headed for the office where Tom was waiting. The way they were herding in I decided to go stand with Tom. Another cashier opened up and the people swarmed past Tom to that line , at the same time some edged their way over trying to hedge their bets on which cashier would be available first. Having just had the experience with the other man, I could see immediately the way things worked here. Why wait your turn when some sucker will let you cut in front of him. I decide to push back and placed myself between the people on my side, and the Asher, encouraging Tom to do the same to block the other side. One lady was particularly aggressive but clearly torn between which line to choose! Finally the cashier in front of us was available and we rushed her. Tom held up the peace sign fingers to indicate that we needed 2 tickets. In Europe that is the number 3 (they start counting with their thumb as 1). The cashier decided we wanted 3 tickets and it got confusing fast from there. Suddenly the highly aggressive lady next to us stepped in with some English to help. We established 2 tickets, 22:00 train, second class. Pay with "kaysh only". Thanks aggressive lady who turned out to be very helpful and polite. Apparently she was just doing what they do here... Refusing to stand in line if you don't have to.

After the station, we need to get some "kaysh". Tom had tried 3 ATMs the night before when we were fresh off the train and all the machines refused his transaction. We called his bank and they said it wasn't a problem on their end. Rather than trying to figure it out in the bank with people who don't speak English, he took a cash advance on his credit card. Ouch, that's gonna hurt.

Business complete we put on bathing suits and headed for the beach. Perfect beach weather... Warm and sunny with a nice breeze. A beach full of naked children, fat men in speedos, topless old women, and sand littered with cigarette butts..... Just another day at the beach in Europe.