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February 8, 2017

How to Be a Good Houseguest

Free accommodation is great but it has a price. Make sure you're the best guest possible with these tips.

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  • I spent most of the day inside today but the 30 min walk by the river last night and the commute from my hotel earlier today have given me a little glimpse of this city. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Centuries ago, Belgrade was called Singidunum which is Celtic for white fort or town. Funny enough, the contemporary name of Belgrade derives from the Slavic words "bel", which means white, and "grad", a suffix used for a town or fortress. Serbs write the word Beograd without an "l" because they don't pronounce "l" in the word "bel". They write "beo" exactly like they pronounce it. Pretty helpful for a foreigner in my opinion. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ Apparently lots of cities in this part of the world are called "white city". For example, there is Belgorod in Russia, Bilhorod on Dniester in Ukraine, or Biograd na Moru in Croatia. So here is a photo of the Sava river rather than the white buildings, because apparently that's a little more unique. . . . . . . . #serbia #belgrade #balkans #WCEU #easterneurope #glt #gltlove #girlsthatwander #wearetravelgirls #girlsabroad #womenwhotravel #femmetravel #traveldreamseekers #travelgirlsgo #explorerbabes #shetravels #travelgram #instatravel #exploreeverything #mytravelgram #worldtraveler #igtravel #neverstopexploring #passionpassport #wanderlust #iamatraveler #traveldiaries #digitalnomadgirls
  • Zdravo! I just arrived here in Belgrade, Serbia for WordCamp Europe. We drove from Sofia and to be honest the scenery on my Balkan road trip was not what I expected. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The first part of the 4h45 drive was flat farmland, until we hit the Balkan Mountains. The Balkan range runs 560 km from the Vrashka Chuka Peak on the border between Bulgaria and Serbia eastward through central Bulgaria to Cape Emine on the Black Sea. For over an hour, we drove the winding roads through the lush green mountain range and man-made tunnels. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Now, I'm about to take a power nap before heading out in search of Serbian food and drink. I don't have a local SIM card here, so you might have get updates in batches. Ciao! . . . . . . . #serbia #belgrade #balkans #WCEU #easterneurope #glt #gltlove #girlsthatwander #wearetravelgirls #girlsabroad #womenwhotravel #femmetravel #traveldreamseekers #travelgirlsgo #explorerbabes #shetravels #travelgram #instatravel #exploreeverything #mytravelgram #worldtraveler #igtravel #neverstopexploring #passionpassport #wanderlust #iamatraveler #traveldiaries #digitalnomadgirls
  • Public bathhouses are a vestige of Turkish influence here in Sofia, a city under Ottoman rule for nearly 500 years. Even the wealthy, who might have been able to design a bath in their private residence, preferred to come bathe with locals. It is said that's where the best gossip was heard. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The Central Mineral Bath pictured here was designed in the early 20th century with a mix of Byzantine and Eastern Orthodox styles. It was used as a public bathhouse until 1986 and was very recently turned into the Sofia History Museum. Come for the hot mineral water, stay for the exhibit. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ . . . . . . . #sofia #bulgaria #easterneurope #glt #gltlove #girlsthatwander #wearetravelgirls #girlsabroad #womenwhotravel #femmetravel #traveldreamseekers #travelgirlsgo #explorerbabes #shetravels #travelgram #instatravel #exploreeverything #travelstoke #fromwhereistand #mytravelgram #worldtraveler #instago #igtravel #neverstopexploring #passionpassport #wanderlust #iamatraveler #traveldiaries #digitalnomadgirls
  • I've been wearing a lot of office-appropriate outfits on this trip but it wouldn't be summer if I didn't sport denim shorts at least once. The weekend felt like the most appropriate time to bust them out since arriving here in Sofia. I leaned into my tourist persona and paired them with my super soft sneakers by @allbirds for some sensible sight-seeing comfort. I also wore a denim top so I could proudly represent my country in a Canadian Tuxedo on this morning's walking tour. Stay tuned for a complete blog post on everything I packed on my Eastern Europe adventure. Not visible in this picture: a decent amount of sunscreen. . . . . . . . #sofia #bulgaria #easterneurope #glt #gltlove #girlsthatwander #wearetravelgirls #girlsabroad #womenwhotravel #femmetravel #traveldreamseekers #travelgirlsgo #explorerbabes #shetravels #travelgram #instatravel #exploreeverything #travelstoke #fromwhereistand #mytravelgram #worldtraveler #instago #igtravel #neverstopexploring #passionpassport #wanderlust #iamatraveler #traveldiaries #digitalnomadgirls
  • I highly recommend the Free Walking Tour for anyone visiting Sofia. I've walked by the main attractions almost every evening this week, but there were tons of things I would never have known without my guide Dimitar. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ This is St. Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, named after a Russian prince. The cathedral was created to honour Russian soldiers who died during the Russo-Turkish War, after which Bulgaria was declared independent from Ottoman rule. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Technically, the cathedral is the second largest in the Balkans after Belgrade's Church of Saint Sava. However, Bulgarian's still call St. Alexander Nevsky the largest "completed" church in the area, which is just an example of classic Balkan rivalry. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ . . . . . . . #sofia #bulgaria #easterneurope #glt #gltlove #girlsthatwander #wearetravelgirls #girlsabroad #womenwhotravel #femmetravel #traveldreamseekers #travelgirlsgo #explorerbabes #shetravels #travelgram #instatravel #exploreeverything #travelstoke #fromwhereistand #mytravelgram #worldtraveler #instago #igtravel #neverstopexploring #passionpassport #wanderlust #iamatraveler #traveldiaries #digitalnomadgirls
  • Today has been the hottest day in Sofia so far, which is why I chose to wear this breezy romper dress and the lightest sandals I own. That seemed like a great choice, until I found out what was on the schedule today. Nothing less than a visit to the construction site of SiteGround’s new HQ building in the Sofia Business Park. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Our company is growing quickly and currently the workforce in Sofia is split across two buildings. We also have offices in Plovdiv, Stara Zagora, and Madrid and several remote workers like me. With this new office space, everyone in Sofia will be under the same roof. ⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ Knowing the strict rules on construction sites in Canada, I asked if the foreman would even allow me to tour the worksite in sandals. "Of course," I was told. "This is Eastern Europe." ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ . . . . . . . #sofia #bulgaria #easterneurope #glt #gltlove #girlsthatwander #wearetravelgirls #girlsabroad #womenwhotravel #femmetravel #traveldreamseekers #travelgirlsgo #explorerbabes #shetravels #travelgram #instatravel #exploreeverything #travelstoke #fromwhereistand #mytravelgram #worldtraveler #instago #igtravel #neverstopexploring #passionpassport #wanderlust #iamatraveler #traveldiaries #digitalnomadgirls
  • I'm three days into working out of the SiteGround office here in Sofia, Bulgaria, which includes commuting on the subway every day. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ When travelling, the temptation to take taxis everywhere is pretty high. While driving can allow you to visit more things in one day, it also shelters you from a lot of cool experiences that come from using public transportation. That's why I recommend taking the local transit as much as possible. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ If you're nervous about using the subway in a foreign city, check out my latest blog post. I share a few tips to make it less stressful and hopefully help you avoid getting lost. Link in bio. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ . . . . . . . #sofia #bulgaria #easterneurope #glt #gltlove #girlsthatwander #wearetravelgirls #girlsabroad #womenwhotravel #femmetravel #publictransportation #travelgirlsgo #explorerbabes #shetravels #travelgram #instatravel #exploreeverything #travelstoke #vegetarian #mytravelgram #worldtraveler #instago #igtravel #neverstopexploring #passionpassport #wanderlust #iamatraveler #traveldiaries #digitalnomadgirls
  • I'm scoping out all the tasty vegetarian options in Sofia and it hasn't been that successful so far. I’ve mostly found myself eating too much cheese or a lacklustre veggie version of a meat dish. But that changed when I found this burger. This is the spicy veggie patty from the Street Chefs food truck and it was so good, I'll probably go back again this week. We're talking brioche bread, homemade cauliflower burger, chickpeas, carrot and zucchini, iceberg lettuce, fennel, crispy fried onion, and Miso Mayo sauce. Not vegan but so so so tasty. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ . . . . . . . #sofia #bulgaria #easterneurope #glt #gltlove #girlsthatwander #wearetravelgirls #girlsabroad #womenwhotravel #femmetravel #traveldreamseekers #travelgirlsgo #explorerbabes #shetravels #travelgram #instatravel #exploreeverything #travelstoke #vegetarian #foodiegram #worldtraveler #instago #igtravel #neverstopexploring #passionpassport #wanderlust #iamatraveler #traveldiaries #digitalnomadgirls

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