“Drunken people crossing” warning sign near Boyana Church in Sofia. Balkan road safety can be unexpectedly specific.

That road sign near Boyana Church was our introduction to Sofia's practical side: warning triangles, old stone, and a message unusually specific about who might wander into the road. We had arrived the previous evening after driving from Belgrade through Niš and crossing from Serbia into Bulgaria, then climbed Vitosha Mountain for the night.

This episode begins the next morning. We descend from Vitosha into Sofia, spend the day among medieval frescoes, Ottoman and Orthodox monuments, markets and Metro stations, then retrieve Shehzadi and turn east toward Kapitan Andreevo. Kapıkule and Türkiye wait across the frontier; the crossing itself belongs to the next chapter.

Church of Saint Sava, Belgrade, Serbia: Ayasofya-inspired Byzantine architecture and stunning soaring dome

Having driven Shehzadi from Croatia and Bosnia into Serbia the day before, crossing the Una and visiting the Jasenovac Memorial along the way, we slept well in Belgrade at the Hotel Villa Bulevar, not too far from the Embassy of The State of Palestine Serbia.

That rest mattered. Belgrade had earned a morning of its own before we pointed east toward Bulgaria.