Research had shown that there wasn't a great deal to see or do in Sofia and after a quick cuppa we set out to see what there was.
First stop was the Alexander Neveski Cathedral, just up the hill from us. I realised at this point that I should have bought a wide angle lens with me - blast!
Similar in style to some of the churches in StP, inside however was completely different. Very dark and oppressive and not something I would have bothered to photograph, even if I'd been allowed to.
Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Christianity is very popular with all ages and religious icons are for sale everywhere.
Bulgarian Eastern Orthodox Christianity is very popular with all ages and religious icons are for sale everywhere.
Once again, you had to watch where you were walking as the pavements were death traps.
The Russian Church and it's little image in the garden.
I rather liked this traffic box, no one on duty though. Sofians (made that word up) are very obedient when crossing the road and wait patiently for the lights to change. However, where there are no lights, just a pedestrian crossing, they have right of way and therefore just step out without even looking - and the cars screech to a halt.
A few photos from our street wanderings.
Guards on duty outside the Presidential Palace, a rather modern office type building.
St George Rotunda, the city's oldest building (and once again very dark and plain inside)
This statue of St Sophia was erected in 2000 and stands on a spot once occupied by a statue of Lenin.
St Nedelya Church
More of the remains with the Banya Bashi Mosque behind.
Although we took off our shoes and ventured into the mosque, there were several men at their devotions so I didn't like to take photos. From there we headed over the road to the Jewish Synagogue, thinking we could cover quite a few religions in the space of an hour, but it was closed!
This shop front was full of small compartments of nuts and sweets with just a small opening for the money/goods to be exchanged.
Not sure what the protest was about but this LOL (little old lady) just ignored it and carried on trying to sell her very small stock of flowers.
As with most European cities, the tram network was quite extensive but we didn't get the opportunity to ride on one this time.
I'm quite used to seeing roasted chestnuts (note the lack of Cyrillic lettering! on the poster) but roasted pumpkin from a street vendor was a new one - they did look quite delicious.
By now it was getting late in the afternoon and our early morning was catching up on us. We headed to Vitosha Boulevard which is a pedestrianised road lined with shops and restaurants, most of which have outdoor booths.
We picked one and sat down to enjoy a glass of wine.
What we hadn't expected was 90% of the people around us were smoking and as the sides were up there was nowhere for the smoke to escape (although the weather was still hot for us 25°C, clearly the locals felt it to be chilly). Our particular restaurant turned out to be a Hookah lounge too!
I had to take the shot twice as the young lady on the left insisted I retake as she didn't like her expression in the first one.
It seems most people in Bulgaria smoke and although it is banned in certain places, it's allowed in restaurants, parks and on the street so we found it very, very unpleasant.
Tapas style is quite popular and so we ordered a plate of a soft cheese covered in cornflakes or something and then fried. Served with cherry marmalade, it was delicious.
Suitably fortified we headed back to our hotel with the intention of trying their Italian Restaurant and thus an early night. However when we went in, it was absolutely deserted and totally lacking any atmosphere. We left, but changed our minds as we were very tired and decided to give it a go. As usual we looked at the wine list before committing to the food and despite an extensive array of wines, neither of the two (Chilean ones) we chose were available. Whereupon the waiter suggested an alternative at 3 x the price and when we said we didn't wish to pay that much, he told us we were tourist and should pay the high price ......................... needless to say, we got up and left.
Two points here: 1) no one tells us what we should be prepared to pay and 2) the wine list was a printed list housed in a fancy booklet so, if you haven't got the wine - reprint the list. Simples!!!
We thought we'd be able to find a local restaurant but in fact ended up back on Vitosha Boulevard (20 mins walk away) where I had a lovely Caesar Salad and Ian pasta.
The streets feel very safe and there is quite a party feel to the main boulevard.
The streets feel very safe and there is quite a party feel to the main boulevard.
I only took this because someone in front of me was.
After dinner we headed back to the hotel via Lidl (wine for Ian) and the juxtaposition of these items at the cash desk really made me smile.
A couple of statues, haven't a clue who but I loved the eyes on this first one.
And the cathedral, taken on my phone so the blobs are the screen protector.
