Photo: Photo: Sofia Mineral Baths
My apartment was near downtown, next to a mineral water spring, across from the old mineral baths, and close to the muslim mosque. It was a very nice apartment on the top floor and included a washer/dryer that fit under the kitchen sink and was one unit. BG Plan told me that it was owned by two of the BG Plan agents and I know that Nikolai had used it on occasion. Regarding the owners and the apartment, it was another example of how I always got the feeling that I wasn't getting the whole story,..... and I probably didn't want to hear it.
Photo: People in line for mineral water
Sometimes I would jog in the morning and try to jog through some of the parks. If it was time to buy more bread, I would go to one of the nearby bakeries before work. The bakeries had the wonderful smell of freshly baked warm bread. A 2 lb loaf of bread was about 25 cents, about twice the cost of my morning espresso.
Photo: Sofia Mineral Baths
Every day hundreds of people would line up at the mineral water taps to fill their jugs with the warm tasty water. From my apartment balcony overlooking the taps, sometimes I would see 20 or more people in each line. Most people carried by hand the large plastic jugs back to their homes. At night homeless gypsy boys would sleep on the large pipes heated by the mineral water flow.
I would walk to and from work, usually buying what things I needed from the vendors on the street. In crowded areas I would watch the gypsy kids closely because many of them did pick pockets. There were also beggars that I would see every day.
However, not too long after that, the car was stolen outside of Susan's apartment during the night. It was never seen again.
Map of downtown Sofia
