Only the second American tourist ever

I don't know whether to be excited, or scared.  On a train from Sofia to Gorna Orjahovica I was speaking with a Bulgarian girl who spoke excellent English (her mom teaches it), she told me that I was only the second American tourist she had ever met in Bulgaria.  She was a bit surprised that I would choose to travel in Bulgaria instead of another country, such as the U.S.  I guess I need something a bit more exotic, and that's just what I got.

In Bulgaria the train station signs are almost hidden, if non-existent, and those that are visible are in Cyrillic.  It was a full minute before I realized that I was at my stop.  Then came the search for a minibus to take me to Veliko Turnovo.  No one spoke English at this stop, and my Berlitz phrase book is useless for anything more than "Hello, I would like some vegetables. "  One guy, speaking entirely in Bulgarian, and understanding almost no English, motioned me to follow him down the road.  The first thing I thought, I had to admit, was that I was being led to some quiet spot to be mugged.  It turned out that he was bringing me to the bus stop, where I picked up a bus to my destination.  I felt pretty lousy for thinking that about him, when I realized that he was going out of his way to help, but I'd rather have those thoughts than be lying in a gutter somewhere.  The ride itself was pretty cool, in a old beat-up bus, and the countryside was covered with sunflowers, which I assume are farmed out here.

Once I arrived in town, and walked to the Hiker's Hostel, I grabbed a beer and joined in a card game with two Aussies and a Brit.  The Aussies, two blondes girls from Melbourne, showed me once again that Aussies bring the good times, and it's often accompanied by alcohol--lots of it.  We played a few rounds of Trumps, watched a nightly light show that highlights the Tsarevets, a fortress complex that is the town's main draw, and headed into town to Pepy's Bar.  A couple blue drinks, brown drinks, and "African Blowjob" shots later we were at the Barcardi Club for a little dancing.  These girls were wild, loud, and heavy drinkers, kind of like female versions of the typical Aussie male tourist.  Even so, they were really fun, and the night ended with us at our hostel, playing music at a table on the deck.