I had low expectations for Sofia. I think my views of the former Soviet Bloc countries are sometimes skewed by my experience serving in the US military during the cold war. I expected a cold, ugly downtown, and Sofia was not that. Ton on the other hand had done research on Sofia and she expected a pretty city center with lots of gardens and flowers. Her expectation was correct and mine was wrong.
Last night was the chilliest night of the trip, so neither one of us was in a big hurry to get out from under the covers in the morning. Eventually we got moving and after some coffee we headed downtown. We took the subway from near our campground and the fare was the equivalent of 80 US cents each.
As the capitol Sofia has its fair share of monumental buildings, and we spent time trying to figure out what they were. We identified the building that the parliament meets in, and the Ministry of Defense. But there were several other important looking buildings that we could not figure out, including the one the two soldiers in the cool uniforms with big feathers were guarding.
After we got all of the big buildings out of the way we headed to the main Cathedral. Along the way we passed thru a series of nice parks that were full of Tulips in full bloom. Ton really enjoyed the gardens and I kept losing her as she would see something and stop for a photo. I finally had to walk behind her so I could keep her in sight.
Tomorrow is St. Georges day which is a national holiday. As we were walking there was suddenly a low pass by about a dozen different aircraft from the Bulgarian Air Force who must have been rehearsing for tomorrows parade. Later in the day they repeated the low pass and flew over us in the campground at about 500 feet.
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral occupied the center of a large square. It is one of the largest Orthodox Cathedrals we have seen. The interior is interesting because a lot of the pictures of the saints are rendered in a more modern, less rigid form than most Orthodox art.
After the Cathedral we headed to the main shopping street with the intent to people watch and find some food. Ton had a traditional tavern in mind she had found on line last night. After walking down the long pedestrian street with the normal mix of high end stores and coffee shops we found our restaurant.
We ordered a meal for two which consisted of a large skewer of kebab, some pork cutlets, chicken and sausage plus coleslaw, potatoes, and to Tons delight grilled peppers. Ton pronounced the meal the best she has had on this trip, as the coleslaw and chicken reminded her of Thai dishes, and the peppers were very tasty, but a little mild.
We enjoyed Sofia it had a nice mix of impressive buildings, nice parks, and a vibrant street scene. After Greece it felt cleaner and there is certainly less graffiti. For Ton it was exactly what she expected, and for me it was not at all what I expected.
