Our driver is right on time at 5:45am and we make the quick drive to the Dalaman airport. Our plane doesn't leave until 8:10, but we weren’t taking any chances in missing it so we had to sit around for almost 2 hours because check-in took all of 5 minutes. This was probably the worst flight of my life! We end up with the loudest talking Turkish couple of all time right behind us. I swear to you, the entire plane heard their entire conversation and they talked the entire flight...who does that? Ever heard of an inside voice? On top of that, the lady keeps bumping Heather’s seat…not once, not twice, not when she gets up to go to the bathroom…no...the entire flight just like a 4 year old was sitting behind her! We’re tired, its early, and we haven’t had our coffee yet lady…finally I lose it and jump up and turn around to let them have a piece of my mind, "lady, quit touching the seat, quit talking so loud…" of course they didn’t understand a word I said, but they got the hint that I was upset, so at least the seat bumping eased up a little, the conversation in their 'my favorite soccer team just won the World Cup in a nail biting 89th minute 2 goal comeback performance in a 100,000 person stadium cheering voice’…no so much... (yea, that loud).

We collect our bags in Istanbul airport to go check into the next flight to Bulgaria, flying the same airline as the one we just took, but this time our bags are 6kg too heavy…how does that happen? I try the “no problem” approach that Turks are so found of with no avail, then I give them a good piece of my mind as I stuff clothes into our carry-ons. 20kgs is the limit, each extra kg costs $5.5 euros! 44 lbs? What happened to 50 lbs? This s*** wouldn’t happen on a Continental flight...Star Alliance. 

Heather and I are taking bets at the boarding gate on who the talkers will be. We pick them right, luckily the flight is probably 20% full and the talkers are 4 rows in front of us so they end up being a faint noise dulled by the engine drone. I thought there was a full time shuttle between the Holiday Inn and the airport in Sofia, but turns out there isn't, so we catch a taxi to the hotel for $10 lev. During check in I ask the front desk chic about a transfer to the airport in the morning and she tells me its not a good deal to take the hotel shuttle, its $12 lev per person, but she can arrange a taxi for us. Wow, we are impressed with the customer service.

5 star hotel, pillow top mattress, working AC, big bathroom, full spa with dry and wet sauna, several bars and restaurants. Heather asks me, “ where has this hotel been the whole trip?” We spent some time in the pool and outside Jacuzzi, but quickly get bored with that so we get dressed and called a taxi to take us to the city. The hotel tells the taxi driver to drop us at the Sheraton Hotel in downtown (I know my way from there) because it turns out the taxi driver doesn’t speak a word of English and drove one of the s***tiest taxis I have ever been in. As we approach the Sheraton I point to the water fountain in front of it and say ‘yes please’, but no, he keeps driving. There goes the Sheraton in the rear window and the driver keeps going to the light…ok, maybe he is taking us to the main entrance on the other side? Nope, he takes a right across the street down another road, I say, “good here, stop” but no, he keeps going, takes a left down another road, now I’m yelling at him and slapping him on the shoulder, “ok, good, stop, yes, stop!” but nope, he slows down to take a right onto another street. Heather is yelling now too, and great minds must think alike because we both throw open our doors at the same time as he makes the right turn. Finally this gets his attention and he stops. WTF? He definitely gets a piece of my mind as I fling the fare back into the cab. What was that all about, kidnapping in Bulgaria was not on my bucket list...

We have to get an ice cream from the street vendor (Bulgaria has the best ice cream we have ever had) to calm our nerves and because its awesome! We came downtown to take some photos of the baby booties we bought off the old women on the streets of Istanbul, so we head to St. George’s Church for some great shots on the 800 year old church’s stones.

Dinner at Happy’s on the main road…prices are soooo much cheaper here than in Turkey. On the way into town we saw a bowling alley…why not? So we get a taxi back out towards the hotel and point to the bowling alley as it comes into view…no bulls*** from this taxi driver, he busts a u-turn and drives us right to the door…guess he deserves a tip after the last guy. Wooden bowling pins, very unlevel lane, and some old school bowling balls, but other than that it was pretty much the same as back home, and a whole lot of fun.

We hike back to the hotel about 2 miles, Heather is skeptical that I know my way, but I got us there is one piece...time to repack and pass out, we have to be up at 4:30 for this flight.