Well, back to the city of Sofia to be exact… After my third (and final) love/hate relationship with Belgrade which has subjected me to visits to health care professionals, garnered a wealth of new friends, a bruised heart and a partridge in a pear tree, I find myself on an emotional stumble to the train station, …

Alright, this is getting ridiculous.  A few weeks ago I had arrived back in Belgrade to spend a weekend seeing friends and getting up to mischief with (a) hot Serbian woma(e)n.  I’ll only stay a couple of days thought I, adamant that a return to Sofia would be imminent and I would be into Turkey before …

I’m sitting nervously on a bone shaking tram for ten stops before I realise I’m going in the wrong direction and I’ve forgotten my kilt knife.  Serbians glower strange looks as they see a bag laden angry dude curse his way back into town.  I hate losing time on hitch days, and especially missing the …

Belgrade is ruining me.  I’ve forgotten what sunlight looks like, my bed sheets need industrial fumigation and I’m a beer pong champion.  I’m on first name terms with a load of night-club bouncers, and my daily food intake consists of four boiled eggs  and/or a hamburger.  My head, heart and emotional well-being are all crying …

I can’t honestly remember the last time I had a decent New Years Eve.  The onus and pressure we put on ourselves to find the best situation possible for ten seconds is astounding.  I think it’s getting worse as we get older, and much like Christmas, it’s really one for the kids.  It was more …

I’m lying in a bed that hasn’t been made.  Literally there isn’t a sheet on it.  (It’s probably my fault).  Someone has just dropped a foul stench from the tiny bathroom which is opposite my head.  Extremely loud Balkan-folk/rock music is blaring in the bar below, so much so if you want a conversation in …

Good heavens above it’s Christmas Eve!  How on Earth did that happen?!  Where have I been?!  Oh yes – in a Christian Orthodox country that doesn’t celebrate anything until January 7th.  So this is a little weird.  Consequently I’ve not heard one carol, not one rendition of Fairy Tale in New York and I’ve not …

I’m awake and up at 5am.  I can’t actually remember the last time I stood at the side of a road and stuck my thumb out; and it’s terrifying me.  I feel I’ve regressed.  A summer of debauchery has fattened my lethargy.  It’s almost like I’m back to square one and I’ve no idea how …