The best is yet to come, I promise. I’m taking another bookend approach to lead up to the climax of my trip to Bulgaria last week. Only the first and last day were spent in the capital, Sofia.

Neither my other half nor I had been to any part of Eastern Europe before, so this was an adventure for which we felt less prepared than usual. I did manage to learn all the capital letters of the Cyrillic alphabet so that I could at least read transliterations from English or Romance-language words. However, I struggled to memorize even basic words in Bulgarian beyond “hello,” “thank you,” “please,” “do you speak English?,” and “I don’t speak Bulgarian.”

Having been spoiled by app-based rideshares for years, the part I was most nervous about was having to take a taxi from the airport to our hotel. (There is an app called TaxiMe that was highly recommended, which I downloaded, but something went wrong with my account verification that I couldn’t figure out, so I went ahead the old-fashioned way.) It was fine. I will note, however, that both times I took a taxi in Sofia, the car smelled of stale cigarette smoke. It didn’t really bother me, though, as this was typical when I was growing up in Taiwan, so it felt more like going back in time.

In fact, most sensorial experiences in Bulgaria felt like traveling back in time. More laid-back, relaxed. More human.

I had looked up some niche perfumeries, but we did not end up visiting any as time was limited and we preferred walking around, ducking into interesting shops, and meeting up with people (on the last day). I don’t feel that I missed out, because the listed brands were the same as those I can find in the United States. Perfumes could be found in unusual arrangements, though.

Some olfactory impressions that stood out:

• Cigarette smoking is still very prevalent, although vaping is common too
• People generally wear strong perfumes, but not very sweet ones—those I smelled were mostly dry woody ambers
• Some restaurants are also infused with a dry woody-amber scent (when I mentioned and asked about it, the server replied, “Thanks, I guess…”)
• Many stores use a plug-in electronic scent diffuser to fill the space with fragrance, although it is not a signature fragrance for the store

Other random observations:

• I did not encounter a single mosquito in Bulgaria, and I am a mosquito magnet. Gnats and flies aplenty, but no mosquitoes—delightful!
• Owls hoot in a more urgent tone and rhythm than the ones on the East Coast of the United States

We learned that prom is a very big deal in Bulgaria. Everywhere, we saw teenagers and their parents dressed up, although the teens wore sensible shoes while walking on the many cobblestone roads.

I was particularly attracted to a shop called Outlet 55th with two storefronts a few steps from each other on Vitosha Boulevard, the main shopping street in Sofia. The windows were dressed with bright and edgy clothes and I wanted one of those dresses with all the colors and faces on the front and back. They were all one size (and therefore too bulky), so I settled for a top with some of the colors.

As we were leaving for the airport, Sofia had one more surprise in store for us—a horse was trotting along the road on its own, following traffic rules and keeping pace with cars! Our taxi driver didn’t even bat an eyelid.

I hope we get to go back one day and see and smell more of the city. It’s been a memorable first experience scratching the surface as a tourist.