How (not) to find an apartment in Sofia

There's nothing positive in my attitude towards apartment-searching. I hate it. Well, hate might be a strong word, but it's definitely close to what I feel when I'm on an apartment-hunt mission – it makes me anxious, nervous, stressed out and it normally includes at least one meltdown. I have never been in a position when I could be very picky when choosing an apartment. It has always been more or less the same situation of having to find an apartment in a few days which has basically forced me to take the first quite nice, kind of well-located and reasonably expensive/cheap (trust me, if the rent is suspiciously low, you have every right to assume there's something seriously wrong) apartment. Now, try to imagine you've just moved to a 1,5 million city (= Sofia), you don't speak the language (= Bulgarian) and you've never lived in such a big city, so you have no real perception of how big the city actually is and what seems close to you, is actually so far away the distance is manageable within a reasonable time frame only by public transport. Yes, that's exactly the shitty situation I was in a few days ago. Considering I am working nine hours a day (including a one-hour lunch break) there's no way I can daily spend more that 30 minutes travelling to work, so there weren't so many available apartments to chose from. I knew from the very beginning I wouldn't be able to find an apartment on my own, so I got myself an English-speaking real-estate agent, who will probably never forget searching an apartment for me. Why? Well, it all started with the first viewing she had arranged. Having sent me the address where we were supposed to meet, I have looked it up on Google Maps, found the location (which was, judging by the map and my real-estate agent's experience, supposed to be 10 minutes from where I work), and left work a few minutes earlier just to be on time. Of course things didn't go as planned. Firstly, Google Maps was completely wrong and gave me the wrong location, then having got lost a few times, I asked a passing-by man for directions. He didn't speak English, but I still managed to ask him for directions, but that didn't really help as he showed me the wrong direction. Then, I got a taxi hoping I would finally end up in the arranged meeting point, but I was wrong again. The taxi brought me to the wrong location, but at least my real-estate agent knew where I was, so after having had waited for more than half an hour at -5°C, we finally met. We showed up at the apartment with a one-hour delay and when I saw the apartment, I was just sad. I don't mind if the apartment is old or if it's furnished in a communist- or socialist-like style, I like it actually, but this apartment was old, dirty and absolutely not ready to be moved into. The only thing on my mind was, oh dear, there's no way I can live here, it'd be impossible to sleep at night and not think what would be creeping up my bed. I was just waiting for a cockroach or something similar to show up. Ah, well, I guess having seen that made me make up my mind really fast when I saw another apartment. Located in the centre, close to the main shopping street, not too big, not too small, within a manageable walking distance to work, clean (it smelled like freshly disinfected, sort of like in a hospital laboratory), and with a wardrobe that reminded me of my grandma the apartment seemed just what I was looking for. When I signed the contract the following day and met the landlady (who is, FYI, one of the kindest, warmest and loveliest people I have ever met) I was incredibly relieved. I slept like a baby that night and the night after and the night after. No more being-homeless nightmares, no more searching, asking, comparing, calculating. I finally have a place called home. 

First impression(s)

Be careful what you wish for as it might come true. A tricky saying that could sum up my life pretty well. For the past few months living in a big city and having a regular full-time job have been on the top of my wish list. Now, having moved to Sofia and starting a new job is pretty much what I've been looking for. Well, I have to admit I have never thought I would live in Sofia and, what is more, Bulgaria has never been on my travel wishlist. Anyway, here I am.

Having arrived to Sofia last weekend one would think I have already done loads of sight-seeing, tried the local cuisine, checked how the public transport works, visited museums ... Not exactly. I have only gone to the centre today, just to see how it is and I have to admit, it's very different from all the places I have ever been. Well, maybe some parts of Sofia reminded me of Tallin or Tartu, but only because of the socialist/communist architecture. Otherwise, I can't compare with anything. The centre of Sofia is a bit special. One street can feel like an immigrants' part of the city, while in the parallel street you can find Versace or Escada stores. The majority of buildings is covered with graffiti and most of the side-walks are paved. Badly paved. I must have nearly sprung my ankles like a hundred times while walking around the city for three hours. I probably would have killed myself within 30 minutes if I had been wearing high heels. The other thing I had noticed when walking the streets of Sofia are dogs. Harmless, abandoned dogs. I have never ever seen so many streets dogs in my life. I would gladly take with me a dog or two, especially when they give me the please take me home, I have no one look, but as I'm staying at a hotel at the moment, that's not really an option. 

However, there is something in Sofia that makes it intriguing. Maybe it's the kindness of the locals or many little shops with colourful windows where I more or less stopped at each and every one of them (I found the most beautiful vintage-clothes shop ever and also a few lovely shops with interior design and I have already imagined how marvellously I could set up my apartment, which I a still looking for, fyi), maybe it's the amount of trees, which I have been imagining all green and blooming in a few months or maybe it's just me, wishing so badly to feel at home in Sofia as soon as possible. I have to admit, it's definitely not easy, well it's basically impossible, just arriving somewhere and feeling at home, if you actually don't have a home yet. This is actually one of the things that is making me anxious. Finding an apartment is never easy, but if you don't know the town, if you don't speak the language and if you're working most of the day, it's impossible to find an apartment on your own. Apartment offers come and go very fast, owners change their minds ever faster and in order to find an apartment that suits you, you have to be the fastest. Well, in my case my real-estate agent has to be the fastest. I have one more week to find an apartment and I have just realized how big Sofia is and how bad the traffic is, so I am quite limited when deciding where to live. 

I guess the real adventure in terms of living in Sofia will only begin once I find my own apartment and settle down, so from next weekend on, expect some secret-revealing posts!