27th May 2024

We aimed to leave Ritya by midday, and that’s exactly what we did. We rose late, took our showers, and finished tidying the house and garden before David locked everything up and started the car for the three-hour drive to the capital, Sofia.

It promised to be another hot, sunny day. We made a brief stop in Yantra to dispose of two bags of rubbish we’d accumulated over the past few days, and paused again in Sevlievo to pick up a couple of cheesy banitsas for the journey. Traffic was light until we approached Sofia, and even then, it remained manageable.

On the outskirts of the city, we stopped one final time to fill up with petrol before heading to the accommodation I had booked for the night. The ‘Airport Apartment’ was just 1.5 km from the airport, situated on the tenth floor of a modern block overlooking a rather attractive park.

The apartment was small but well-proportioned for a one-night stay, and most importantly, conveniently close to the airport. It had Wi-Fi, two beds, a shower and toilet, and a kitchen equipped with a fridge and a microwave oven, what more could one need?

After dropping off our bags, we took Banjo for a walk around Druzhba Park and its two lakes. A pedestrian walkway circles the entire area, with a bridge linking the two bodies of water. At the far end of the second lake, we stopped at a lakeside café for a simple meal of chicken and potatoes, watching the locals taking their early evening exercise along the park’s perimeter. We then wandered on to see two small churches before heading back to our tower block.

Later, David popped over to the Lidl just across the road to pick up some long-life milk for our late-night coffee.

28th May 2024

It had rained during the night, but by morning the sky was only lightly overcast, with the sun beginning to burn away the thin layer of cloud. After a simple breakfast of coffee and cereal, we took a walk around the smaller of the two lakes in the park so Banjo could do his business. On our return to the apartment, we tidied up, carried our bags down to the car, and drove the ten minutes to Departures at Terminal One of Sofia International Airport.

After saying our goodbyes, I watched David and Banjo drive back to the apartment to wait for Genya’s flight, due to arrive at 11:45 a.m., the same aircraft I would be boarding for my return to the UK at 12:30 p.m.

Passport control and security were negotiated without issue, leaving me with two and a half hours to wait before boarding my EasyJet flight to Manchester. I dozed briefly during the flight, though being in a middle seat made it difficult to stretch out for a proper nap. Even so, the time passed easily enough.

It was raining heavily when we landed, and I was soon aboard the first train of my journey home, eating a Meal Deal I’d picked up at WHSmith as I passed through Arrivals. Three packed trains later, I arrived in Market Harborough at 6:30 p.m., where Sue was waiting outside the station to drive me home to a delicious ham salad supper.

Meanwhile, David had successfully met Genya in Arrivals, and the two of them, along with Banjo, had already made it back to Ritya by the time I landed in Manchester. David and I had spent a couple of weeks making the house and garden presentable again after four years of Covid-enforced neglect. Now it’s up to David and Genya to finish smartening it up in readiness for putting it on the market.