GregWeckenbrock-Europe: Belgrade- Sofia- Bucharest

So we made it out of Bosnia, finally, after staying longer than we'd intended, and going "farther out there" than we had before, and indeed than we would the rest of the trip. We hopped another overnight train to Belgrade. I picked up some kind of stomach sickness, though I actually escaped from having to go number twosy on the train. Lucky... lucky.
Anyhow, we made it to the house of my friend Jack's parents, John and Nancy Sasser, who work for the Peace Corps in Sofia. As soon as we arrived, we took immediate showers, shaved, and began to relax. It's only in clean surroundings that I begin to realize just how dirty I am after a few days on the road... how dirty we are... how smelly we are. In fact, that's what John and Nancy affectionately took to calling us; the Stinky Boys. Well, stinky boys or not, they really made us feel at home. Literally, their house was our house, and it was probably the most relaxing, most recharging part of our trip. They treated us like family and we were grateful. I even was touched enough to be a bit homesick. John and Nancy have a lot in common with my own parents. And in an unexpected way, I'll admit, it did feel good to have a taste of America for a short while. A taste of home. Check it out:

Vitosha, Sofia, our awesome pursuit of the summit.

Vitosha, Sofia, still pushing for summit...

Fitzy risking it all for a photo in Sofia, no small feat.

After our stay with the Sassers, we pushed still east, where we were to meet with peace corps volunteers who put us up along the way. Each was a unique experience that exceeded our expectations in many ways, especially, their generosity. Each PCV, Matt, Lindsey and Casey, and Melanie, were as open as we could ever ask; taking in three dirty, smelly strangers, just passing through town, sharing their time and homes for the chance to what? Swap stories with some fellow passerbies also out there? I guess so... or perhaps simply kindness. Either way, their openness matched any we'd seen the entire trip. Again, we were grateful.

We crossed the Danube for the third, and this perhaps the most dramatic. We were about 100k from it's mouth, so it was quite large. And the bridge we crossed is the only bridge between Bulgaria and Romania... and it's only two lanes... lots of trucks... just pedal, just keep on pedallin!!! go go go... oh shit!

Fitzy and Joel tired on a train out of Sofia, into the mountains

Joel ambitiously predicts he can eat an 800g calzone.

Joel realizes too late, he can't finish it it all. Foolish foolish Joel, smallest stomach in the world. He later did the right thing, and gave the 500g he couldn't finish to a homeless man.