Day 16: Sofia, Silence, and the Knob

Day 16: Sofia, Silence, and the Knob That Must Not Be Touched Sofia | Rest Day

A proper rest day. It started with a proper breakfast, followed by a speedrun through Sofia, which turned out to be well worth the effort. Roman ruins, grand squares, beautiful orthodox churches, a city that has a lot more to offer than we had expected. Tick. ✅

At breakfast, however, something became clear. After 16 days on the road together, you reach a point where words are not always necessary. Which sounds poetic, until you realise what it actually looks like: two men sitting at a lovely café, surrounded by people chatting and laughing with each other, both completely silent and entirely absorbed in their own phones. We were not ignoring each other. We were catching up with the people at home we have been missing for over two weeks. Still, it must have been quite a sight for the other guests. 📱📱

Sixteen days together also means that when tiredness sets in, the stubbornness gets worse. Navigating through Sofia we each independently decided on our own route, and then, without either of us acknowledging it, quietly raced to see who would arrive at the hotel first. Neither of us mentioned how hard we had pedalled. Neither of us needed to. We both knew. 🚴‍♂️💨

Back at the hotel it was heads down into the work backlog, emails, documents and all the things that had been patiently waiting. In between: laundry. Wet clothes from last night's washing round were hanging across every available surface. Adem has developed a remarkable talent for finding creative drying spots in any hotel room. Today he asked the cleaning lady for extra hangers. She brought fifteen. The room looked like a very small and very determined laundromat. 🧺

And then there was the knob.

Next to PJ's bed: a small knob that, when accidentally nudged, turns off every single light in the entire room. All of them. Instantly. In the dark. This knob was accidentally nudged multiple times throughout the day. Each time, Adem made his way around the room turning everything back on. Each time, PJ was very sorry. Each time, the knob waited patiently for its next opportunity. 🔦😅

Rested, mostly dry, and ready for what comes next. Less than 700 km to go. We are getting close.

Sleep well. 🚴‍♂️🚴‍♂️Read more