Historic Sofia

We took not one, but two fantastic, free walking tours in Sofia today. The first took us by many of the important buildings of the city, and we learned much of the city's fascinating and rich history, from its prominent place in the Roman and Byzantine Empires, to its floundering years under a communist regime, to some of its more recent history. After that tour, we stopped for lunch and a little park play time, before connecting with the Communist Tour in the afternoon, which took us deeper into what life was like in Bulgaria behind the Iron Curtain. The weather was perfect, the city beautiful, and the education priceless. These are definitely not the kinds of things you learn in a classroom! We are off to Greece tomorrow, but Bulgaria has been such a wonderful surprise for us. We would definitely love to come back to this country and spend a lot more time here.

Tours begin at the Palace of Justice

A case of mistaken identity
Some people mistakenly believed the city was named for Saint Sofia,
and so erected a statue to honor her. This infuriated many people, and there
was a great deal of controversy over it, but they ultimately decided to just leave it in place.

The former seat of the communist government

Filling water bottles with heated natural mineral water
from a public fountain outside of a former Turkish Bath House

The President's Office
(They are VERY serious about staying off they step where the guards stand!)

When the city was ready to put in a subway system, they found that the city was built in layers--
the bottom layer dating back to the Roman and Byzantine Empires.
Fortunately, many of the uncovered ruins were preserved.
This is one of the original gates of the city, with walls two meters thick
(or four Watts children, depending on how you measure).

Rotunda of St. George--the only Roman ruin preserved with its roof intact

Weston playing the role of King Boris of Bulgaria
in a little hands-on history lesson.

Clay playing the role of the child-king of Bulgaria.

Ivan Vazov National Theatre

There is graffiti all over the city, but this was quite a surprise!

The lion is the symbol of Bulgaria, so we saw lots of lion statues,
which made someone very happy!

The (other) Hagia Sofia, for which the town was actually named.
The city was originally called Serdica. This basilica was built on a hill and visible from miles away.
People would either come to town to go to the market or the church.
They started saying, "I've been to Sofia," and the name eventually stuck.

St. Alexander Nevesky Cathedral
There is one bell in the bell tower that weighs 12 tons all by itself.
All the bells together weigh 23 tons, and our guide speculated that
if all were rung at the same time, the windows in all the nearby buildings would shatter.

So many statues!

Our soup man was willing to order the traditionally popular tripe soup for lunch.
In case you're wondering, he really did enjoy it.

Behind door number one
Behind this door, there used to be a vast dungeon,
where the communist regime carried out beatings and torture sessions
on anyone speaking out against or not strictly adhering to communist policies.

I was so proud of the boys for volunteering when volunteers were required.
Here they are playing the roles of the various countries involved with Bulgaria during
WWII. Weston is Bulgaria, Max is the U.S. and Clay is the U.K.
(The man in the blue shirt is Germany and the woman in dark gray is U.S.S.R)

Sofia

We wished for more time in Veliko Tarnovo, especially since it was raining too hard this morning for us to explore the fort. We did get some drive-by pictures before we left town, but we would have loved to walk around and really take it in. But, aside from that, we just really loved the city and would have enjoyed being there longer. If we are ever back this way, we will make it a priority to visit again.

After a nice drive, with a pretty interesting lunch stop, in which our order was conveyed entirely by pointing and nodding, we arrived in Sofia, which is a large capital city, but nice. Our penthouse apartment is overwhelmingly purple and teal and a little on the gaudy side for me (with its various mirrored and brass surfaces), but it's certainly not lacking in character, and it does have a lovely view of the city and Vitosha Mountain. We walked down to a nice shopping area for dinner, and, though the sidewalk cafe where we ate wasn't fancy, our entire dinner for the six of us was less than US$20.

Tsarevets--The Place of Tsars

The wall of the fort, even in its ruinous state, is truly impressive

The patio reading nook, which the little boys absolutely loved.
They picked up every Bulgarian book from the outdoor bookshelf and "read" them all.

The master bedroom in our purple palace

bedroom patio doors

This is the view from the patio.
I love how the mountain is ringed in clouds,
as the rain moved out and the sun started to shine.

A public service announcement at a nearby hotel

Sidewalk cafes are so cool!

Nothing makes this guy happier than statues!

Taking a break from our walk to play

Happily Sidetracked

This morning, we fully intended to go exploring in Veliko Tarnovo. Specifically, we planned to see the ruins of the castle/fort that was in place when this city was the capital of the Medieval Bulgarian kingdom, between the 12th and 14th centuries. But first, we decided to stop by the playground to work out some energy. The next thing we knew, it was lunch time, so we decided to have lunch at a wonderful little place across the street from our apartment, with a fantastic patio and spectacular play area. We lingered there, enjoying the day, until much of the day was behind us. Then, we decided we would prefer a nap to a hike, so back to the apartment we went. This evening, we spontaneously decided to eat out again, because eating out is cheap here, the food is delicious, and we simply can't get enough of this city. We regret nothing. Plans are great, but sometimes the best days are the ones that don't follow the plan. Perhaps, we'll see the ruins tomorrow...or, perhaps not.

Big enough to pump himself
(But small enough to still want to be pushed!)

The whole city goes downhill
(Or uphill, depending on where you are!)

Lunch

Any restaurant with a bouncy house is a friend of ours

Oh, happy day!

Bianco Cafe, as seen from our balcony

We just cannot get enough of this beautiful city!

Fun night at the Lino Bar and Grill

Clay found a friend when we left the restaurant

Veliko Tarnovo--A Pleasant Surprise

We left Romania after breakfast this morning and proceeded with something like the opposite of haste to cross the border into Bulgaria. First, we missed an important turn for a toll bridge, which put us right smack dab in the truck-only area. This was seriously frowned on by the truckers, and the next thing we knew, there was a man at our window, yelling at us in a language we couldn't even begin to understand, and indicating that we needed to move ourselves with all speed to the car area. This we accomplished, along with several others who had made the same mistake, by driving backwards about 200 feet, through heavy stand-still truck traffic, until we could exit into the car area. Finally, we made it to the toll booth and paid our fee, before continuing at a snail's pace to cross the bridge, which spanned the Danube River. Once on the bridge, we realized one lane was closed for construction and the two-way traffic was taking turns using the one lane in a somewhat unorganized fashion. It may have just been the heat or the fact that we were all hungry for lunch, but it honestly wasn't the most relaxing time we've ever had.

Once across the bridge, it was time to hand over the passports and figure out if we needed to purchase a vignette (a country-specific toll tag). The sign at the border crossing said you only needed one if you were a commercial vehicle moving agricultural goods, but just past the passport control offices, we saw plenty of vignette venders, as we have seen in other countries where we did need one. This made us feel a little unsure, so we stopped and bought one, just in case. The thing cost 6 Euros, and Jeff had two 5 Euro bills in his pocket. However, when he pulled out the second one, it tore, and the clerk would not take it. He came back to the car, frustrated, but we fortunately had a few Euros in the cup holder, left over from a previous bathroom stop, and we were able to get the tag and move on.

Starting to relax a bit after all the adventures of the morning, we started to look for a place to get some cash and grab a bite to eat. Our car has a built-in GPS, which we rely on for everything, but it couldn't come up with any choices for banks or ATMs within 300 kilometers. We were in a decent sized town, so we knew there must be something, and relying on our own wits and powers of observation, we did find one within just a few minutes. Lunch was not so easy to come by. The GPS was no help there either, so we just drove along in the direction we needed to go, passing closed restaurants or unsavory looking ones, until we finally found a friendly looking little dive that was actually open. There was a serious language barrier, but through pointing and gestures, we were able to order some food, which was actually quite good. While we were eating, a man suddenly starting washing our car, without so much as a word to us. We were unsure whether he wanted to be paid or if this was part of the service of the place, and we had no way to find out. So, after we finished eating and the brave souls amongst us used the hole-in-the-floor, which passed for a toilet, we tipped the man and went on our way.

Our destination for the night would have been a welcome sight, no matter what, after all the previous events of the day, but it is a lovely city, built in layers upon a hill, truly a pleasant surprise. Honestly, Bulgaria was never even on my radar of places to visit, and I may not have even been really sure where it was located before we started planning this trip. And, even then, we really only thought of it as a means to an end, a place to stop enroute to Greece. But, Veliko Tarnovo is beautiful and full of history, and we had the best meal we've had on our whole trip at a restaurant  overlooking the Yantra River. What a pleasant surprise and a happy turn of fate that we ended up here!

Our apartment is at the top of the city.
This is the view from the balcony.

Shortly after we arrived, this rainbow appeared in the sky.
It seemed like a good sign.

We walked the hundreds of steps down from our apartment to the city center.
(And, then we walked back up again after diner, while a light rain fell.)

The amazing view from the restaurant, overlooking the Yantra River

There will be lounging at the dinner table when one side of seats is a sofa.

"Biscuit Cake" for dessert. Oh my!