Sunday 14th September. Day 10.

Day 10 and our last day in Sofia before leaving home.

Most of us wandered down into the city centre for Brunch to avoid the hotel breakfast.

Unfortunately Alex and John had to go out to retrieve various personal items from their vehicle which has broken down and we have just found out can’t be fixed until the necessary part arrives from Austria. The part leaves tomorrow so is unlikely to be here before Wednesday. If the vehicle is fixed by lunchtime they may have an outside chance of making the ferry with the rest of us on Saturday night as they don’t have a speed limiter fixed but they will still have to drive until well into the evenings to catch us up.

After brunch in town some of us took a cab out to a huge market on the outskirts of town by the very run down football stadium. Then after a final stroll round town it was time to finish packing and get ready for the Ambassadors reception.

The organisers and staff from one life Bulgaria joined us at our hotel and we all walked down to the Ambassadors residence. Even those who were a bit unsure about the function enjoyed it. The Ambassador was very welcoming and the residence most impressive. He gave a short but very sincere and touching speech about the work of the CWUHA and the impact the aid convoy will have and we know that he is talking from experience as his wife Fiona visits the baby hospital with the One Life Bulgaria people every month.

James from Glasgow wore his kilt and looked splendid. Does a Scotsman wear nothing under the Kilt - I need to speak to James before I reveal the answer to that question.

Anyway after the reception we walked back towards our hotel and had our final meal in Sofia before starting the journey home. I had Kangaroo with Risotto from the Australian menu which was very nice. Alexis if you are reading this say hello to Skippys folks and give them my apologies for eating him.

Tomorrow we leave the hotel at 8.00am when we will be transported out to the secure compound where the lorries are parked. We have planned a different route back through Romania which will hopefully avoid the difficult roads we encountered here although the route is a bit longer. We have one day less to make the trip back so hopefully the new route will be quicker !

To find out if it is come back tomorrow !

Peter.