On August 20 around 2:00 pm, my parents landed in
Sofia. This is most likely a location
that up until a year ago was not on their list of places to see. We hopped in an OK Taxi and headed towards my
house. The meter of the cab was broken,
but luckily, it only cost us 8 lev (which is actually about 1 lev more than it
would have cost with an operation meter, but since we had to agree on a price,
I didn’t want to have to haggle).
The next day, we were off in a taxi to take in the Free Sofia Tour, which leaves every day at
11 am and 6 pm from the Palace of Justice.
The tour is great. You see all
the major sites in Sofia and learn some really interesting history on the way. From the Palace of Justice (which serves
exactly the function the name would imply) we went to Sveta Nedelya Church
where we heard about how the Bulgarian Communist Party blew the roof off the
church during a general’s funeral, killing 150 people in 1925. Our guide said they were trying to kill the
tsar of Bulgaria as well, but he survived because he was late.
Once at the house, we dropped off their luggage and headed
to Luchoni’s for lunch. They tried the
traditional (and somewhat obligatory) Shopska salad and some pizza with corn
and pickles (I know, it sounds weird, but the pickles work). After we got home, they slept for a couple of
hours. When they woke up, they tried Bake Rolls and my favorite ringed cracker thingys that I don't know the name of in English. Carbohydrates for everyone!
The next day, we were off in a taxi to take in the Free Sofia Tour, which leaves every day at
11 am and 6 pm from the Palace of Justice.
The tour is great. You see all
the major sites in Sofia and learn some really interesting history on the way. From the Palace of Justice (which serves
exactly the function the name would imply) we went to Sveta Nedelya Church
where we heard about how the Bulgarian Communist Party blew the roof off the
church during a general’s funeral, killing 150 people in 1925. Our guide said they were trying to kill the
tsar of Bulgaria as well, but he survived because he was late. 
As we passed by the Sofia Statue, we learned that contrary
to popular belief, it is not St. Sofia for two reasons. 1) Her dress is much too sexy for a saint and
the priests in town were horrified at the thought of her still representing the
saint and 2) She has an owl on her arm,
which is a pagan symbol for wisdom. Even
if she’s not St. Sofia, she is still the symbol of the city.
Down the stairs to the underpass that leads to the Serdika
Metro stop, we found the Church of St Petka of the Saddlers. This church was built in the 14th
century and has murals dating from that century inside. The church is “of the Saddlers” because
during Ottoman rule, the funding for churches had to come from private donations
and saddle makers paid for this one.
As we continued walking, we passed by the ruins of the Roman
city Serdika, before stopping at what is known as Tolerance Square. This spot is so named because there is an
Orthodox Church, a Catholic church, a mosque, and a synagogue (the 3rd
largest in Europe) all located within a block of each other.
From there we moved on to the Public Mineral Baths. Sofia sits on natural hot springs and this
bath house was in use until 1986. Unfortunately,
the baths are currently not working (though some outside the city are still
operational), but they are being restored… sort of.
We passed by the president’s office to see the Rotunda of
Saint George, the oldest building in Sofia.
It was built in the 4th century by the Romans and has
paintings inside from the 10th-14th centuries. From there we went passed the Archeological
Museum, National Bank, Ethnographic Museum and National Gallery, to the
National Theatre. We also got to hear
about the Georgi
Dimitrov mausoleum, which was located near the theatre.
Georgi Dimitrov was the first communist leader of Bulgaria
after WWII. He died on a trip to Moscow
(insert conspiracy theory here) and the party leaders back in Sofia decided to
build him a magnificent mausoleum in just 6 days. In 1999, the mausoleum was torn down and
guess how long it took? That’s right, 6
days. Apparently, concrete and marble
takes a while to deconstruct, especially when it’s built to withstand a nuclear
attack.
On to St. Sofia Church and Alexander Nevski Cathedral. St. Sofia (or Hagia Sophia) is from the 6th
century and is located at the highest elevation of the city. According to our guide, it was a major
meeting point for people in the past as it was near a market. The memorial for the unknown soldier is also
located at this church.
Nevski is the 2nd largest Orthodox cathedral in the
Balkans and will hold 10,000 people. It
was finished in 1912 and is actually named after a Russian saint as a thank-you
to the Russians for helping Bulgaria gain independence from Ottoman Rule. It is a huge church and serves as one of my
main navigation points in the city. It’s
hard to miss.
After finishing the walking tour, we grabbed some doners on
Shishman and then walked back to see the inside of Nevski and the Rotunda. Then, we came back home because, it was
hot. We watched the “Fine Living”
channel, which is basically HGTV under a different name- even most of the shows
are the same- before going to bed. The
next day, we woke up to catch our flight to Vienna.
