Ok, it’s been a long working week since we arrived in Sofia but at least things are starting to look better. Our room isn’t quite as a mess as it was in the past 3-4 days and the most necessary of paperwork is done.

As promised earlier on, here’s the brief story of our trip to Sofia… We left the Netherlands on October 2nd and headed to our friends Ali and Sonja in the Stuttgart area of Germany. We ate lots of big (and quite fat, I must admit) American food (Friday evening), had a good laugh at 10 Drugs You Shouldn’t Use While Driving… took a walk in the area around their home and slept well (!). Saturday was ice cream day – a super treat in itself. All in all – we had a great time in Germany. Thank you Ali and Sonja for having us over! We’re already looking forward to coming ’round again. On Sunday morning we hit the road. Around noon the German traffic police decided we’re an interesting case with out handmade transit license plates, so they pulled us over for the traditional (for me at least) 40min. check. At least this time the car was so packed, they didn’t seem to have any interest in checking our luggage. After that the travel was quite smooth.

For some reason, driving our car at speeds over 120km/h seems to have also saved us fuel – we ended up spending less than on the previous trip. Skipping the boring highways and national roads (passing through lots of villages in Romania!), on Monday morning we were at the Calafat/Vidin ferry crossing. It turns out the ferry only comes and goes when there’s enough cars/trucks/people to fill it up, so we had to wait for~2hrs till we disembark on the Bulgarian shore. From then on we were occupied with making sure the Bulgarian police doesn’t pull us over. Thankfully (and surprisingly, mind you), there were none.

After arriving in Sofia it took us a day and a half to buy a new rear bumper for our car, paint it and mount it. That was an entire ordeal in itself… Bottom line, God privided in His own time and my pastor and dear friend Galin and I put it together. On Wednesday around noon we headed to the main traffic police office to register the car and get the BG license plates. This afternoon will remain as a testimony of God’s faithfulness and provision. We got the car registered in just under 3hrs. Normally it takes around a full day, if not two. On top of that, we didn’t have the proper Bulgarian certification on the LPG system in the car and it was a miracle that they let the car pass. The police guy that checked my car wasn’t even rude (quite unusual for Bulgaria). He just told me I’ll need to get this paperwork done and let me through. Galin and I were looking amazed at how quickly and smoothly everything went, realizing that yet again, our prayers have been heard and answered in ways better than we could have wished for. Even more amazing – in under 30min. after the new license plates were mounted we already had the necessary papers for the LPG system. It simply leaves you in awe and wonder.

Currently, there’s still some paperwork we need to do for insurances, residence registration, social secutiry, etc. but seeing how things went with the most stressful of all (the car) there’s no room for worrying.

And now, before I leave you with the photos from the trip, I would like to thank to all of you for your continuous support, help and encouragement. I know we wouldn’t be where we are if it weren’t for God’s grace and your intercession.

Here come the photos. Click on the thumbnails to see them large and with descriptions (under each enlarged photo). Most of the photos are in chronological order, except for the last ones. The car packing is at the start in Holland, and the nasty lookin’ toilets are at the Calafat/Vidin ferry crossing.

Tags: bulgaria, Family Gallery, photos, update