A glossy guidebook, made by a big company, purchased in 2008, ought to be a reliable thing. In our quest to get to the American Embassy Barbecue / Bulgarian Art Fair today, we followed "guiding" instructions straight to a large building in the city center - which was under construction. Where were the fluttering stars and stripes? Why didn't we smell any sausages and apple crisp? Aaah, because the embassy picked up and moved to the outskirts of Sofia, and apparently no one told the writers secluded on their Lonely Planet. Brett disappeared into the on-site construction shack for directions; he was gone just long enough for me to wonder if it was a secret Mafia house and he had been kidnapped.
As I prepared to go for the police, he reappeared with instructions to take Tram 10 five stops to some kind of restaurant, then walk five minutes to the right. It was like searching for hidden treasure at a child's birthday party, except with infrastructure. After almost getting on the tram going in the wrong direction, we managed to board on the correct side and ride through Sofia's secret forest, the somewordIdon'tremember Gradina, until arriving at our stop fifteen minutes later, glad we didn't decide to walk. A five minute stroll brought us to the gates of... THE EMBASSY. I immediately took out my camera to take a photo as a large guard walked toward me with the information that no photos were allowed. We paid our three leva entrance fee and... our adventures in Sofia had kept us away for too long; the grills were now toasting only pitiful-looking bread - no meat was left - and if there had ever been apple crisp it was long gone. A smattering of small tables made up the "Art Fair" portion of the event, so we bought some pottery and called it a day. Two hours worth of transit for fifteen minutes worth of not eating, not drinking, and not catching up with anyone else we knew, since no other ACS-ers seemed to be there anymore. As small children everywhere say while sliding down hills, "weee!"
For this reason, and because I am very tired and feeling sort of sick, this was not my best day ever (and for those of you who don't speak Norwegian understatement, I had a bad day). In search of a youtube video of someone else's bad day to make me feel better, I discovered the following music video. I like the song, and I like the story in the video even more. So, whether you are having a bad day or not, consider checking out the following link if you have a few minutes free...
"Had a Bad Day" music video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kBziW9qQvsc
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