
Late-night taxi from the airport to a dark street on a rainy night. No Bulgarian money. Late night beer and bready snacks at a pub that Google Maps had somehow missed. Restless sleep on an uncomfortable bed…
But in the morning I determined to find whatever tiny piece of Sofia I could sink my teeth into. Searched for maker spaces in Sofia, found an address, and started walking. But when I got there, there was just a big grey apartment block. I stood outside and watched for a few minutes. When a guy with a laptop bag stepped out, I caught the door and went in. Dark stairwell. Though I couldn’t see, I climbed the first flight–nothing caught my eye. The second and the third still looked residential. I kept climbing.

Finally on a door at the sixth landing was a familiar penguin. I pushed the door open a bit. The flat must have been six hundred square feet. Just inside the door, twenty or more guys and gals sat engrossed in an informal but very thorough MySQL training session. I had found my people.
Six hours later, I had rented a flat on Oborishte for a month, and I had a list of a half-dozen people to talk to.