18 May - Full Day Sofia

The day started with us trying to understand the system at the Train Central Station.  And since we were there, we might as well get something traditional to eat.  A feta filled filo pastry filled and an espresso set us back 2.7 LEV (AUD 2.2).  That made us think that may be back in the days when we were poor students we should have traveled Eastern Europe instead of Western Europe.

A day transport pass cost us 4 LEV (AUD 3.2).  We considered taking the tram but none of the ones from Central Station go directly to the heart of the city.  So we took the metro to University of Sofia station.   We got out there and headed for Alex Nev church.  On the way, we spotted this incredly large memorial to the Red Army (of USSR) on our left.  The Red Army liberated Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire. Labour Day in Bulgaria is 9^th May and not the usual 1st May.  On this day, flowers were offered to the Red Army in memory of their contribution to the liberation of Bulgaria.  We learned all that from an Italian who was visiting Sofia and had spoken with a local.  The park attached to the memorial was rather pretty.  The memorial reminds us of a park in Oslo where we had been the year before.

Our next stop was Alex Nev Church.  We went in search of the meeting place for the next morning trip to Rila Monastry.  After identifying it, we then walked all around Alex Nev church.  We found a heavy door at the bottom of a flight of stairs that was slightly ajar so decided to go have a look.  It turned out that this was the museum of icons.  It has the most impressive collection of some of the Orthodox Church's oldest and most significant icons.  One of the curators was most kind to let us know that we can do photography as long as flash was not used.  She also personally showed us the newest additions to the exhibits as well.  

She explained the icons of the 40 martyrs.  We originally wanted to show her that men throughout time were so obsessed with 6 packs torsos that they even painted these on the piece about the 40 martyrs but we stopped short when she told a devotional story about that icon.  

This museum was not well publicized. We found it only because we had stumbled upon it.  The kindly lady also advised us to take note of a pair of deer horns at the entrance to Rila Monastry.  These serve as a reminder to leave one's pride behind as one enters the compound of the monastery.

In Alex Nevski church, we paid LEV 10 for the photography rights and it was well worth it.  Security stopped photographers without the ticket.  By the time we finished our exploration of Alex Nevski church, we were too late for the 11 am Free Sophia tour that started at the Palace of Justice which we would like to have taken.

We decided to explore the surrounding area.  Mistaking the next building as the synagogue rather than an Orthodox church, we was prevented from entering by the police who were stationed there to take care of protesters, the same ones we bumped into earlier on the way to Alex Nevski Church.  We could not quite understand the reason for the protest.

We then took a walk around the market next to the church and marveled at the collection of antique cameras that a young man had but he had a terrible attitude.  A nice lady sold us an hand made cloth embroidered Christmas tree ornament that is typically Bulgarian.  From there, we walked towards the Central Business District of Bulgaria.  We then walked towards a policeman to ask for directions for an ATM as well as St George Rotunda Church which we had wanted to visit.  The policeman pointed us to a Municipal Bank and told us about where he though St George Rotunda could be.  He was not too sure about the latter.

On the way, we found Hagia Sofia and the underground crypt.  Too bad there was a funeral in progress in Hagia Sofia so photography was restricted.  The crypt there contained the necropolis that dated back to the Roman days.  A labyrinth under the church itself, it was impressive.  Entry was 6 LEV with 15 LEV for photography rights.  We were running out of LEV, so we opted against photography.  The curator of that museum was this lady that told us that Sofia is actually the logos – Holy Wisdom – reference to the wisdom of God.  And that is who the city is named for. 

From there it was to the Municipal Bank on Kniaz Alex Dondukov to get some LEV.  Unlike Dubai, it is not always possible to use your credit card here for small transactions, especially at market stalls.  It turned out our prepaid VISA did not work there.  Nor did it work at the Soc Gen bank ATM.  The officer there was kind enough to point out another ATM.   It was Firbank.  ATMs must have Cirrus ability for prepared international visa cards to work in Bulgaria.  Having replenished our funds and feeling secure again, we went in search of St George Rotunda. 

We walked towards St Petka, quaint little church hiding half buried in the entrance to Sedica metro station.  We actually ran across the street in front of a couple of policemen who just smiled and gave us directions to St Petka.  We were half expecting to get a fine for jay walking. People here do not appear to know much about St George Rotunda.  The Sedica complex was wonderful though complete with Roman aquaducts, mosaic and ruins.  The Roman Emperor, Constantine, once considered making Sofia his capital but was advised that Istanbul was better placed at the crossroads of trade between Europe and Asia.  Wandering among the ruins led us to a Mosque, which was apparently constructed by the same architect of the largest mosque in Istanbul.  It was unfortunately closed for renovation so we were unable to verify for ourselves whether the architecture were similar.  The building next to the mosque was the old bath house that has now been transformed to the Sofia Museum.  It was a refreshingly different museum, with a little bits of history as well as a peek into daily lives in history.  To capture a single photograph would set us back 15 LEV, which we declined.  Photography rights can be really expensive.  Fair enough that they would rather one purchase a souvenir booklet but as we were starting a long journey, we were reluctant to become heavier from our souvenir collection just yet.  Finishing there, we went to the fountain outside with its mineral waters and took a good refreshing drink.

We then went in search for the Sheraton and ended up at Central Dept Store.  No one has heard of this elusive but very ancient church which was supposed to be somewhere nearby.  Still lost, we went back past St Petka and the lady curator who earlier advised that St Petka was closed for maintenance walked us to none other than the church itself.  At the entrance we bumped into a Kiwi man with his Bulgarian friend and together we walked inside.  The ladies selling icon were busy with others so his friend advised us to photograph before she stop us.  Wickedly, we did although we felt a little guilty about not paying our dues in a country that was obviously doing it tough.  He explained the round holes in the ceiling were designed to increase acoustics in that church.  We were wandering around outside when low and behold the same English couple that we had crossed path with back in the crypt of Hagia Sofia spotted us.  They had stumbled on the church.  We stopped to chat about Roman ruins.  We advised that they see the inside the church before we go to lunch.  They had invited us to join them for lunch.   Their names were Colin and Mary.  So we end up eating lunch in a local eatery opposite the market and the mosque.  We spent the next 2.5 hours having a leisurely lunch and exchanging travel tales.

We then went to check out the stalls in the Market.  Like the Pasar Malam in Kuala Lumpur, this one housed all kind of stalls – bakeries, olive sellers, convenience stores, beauty products, meat, nuts sellers, snack sellers … it was quite a hosh-posh.  Since it was only 5.30pm, we thought it would be really fun to go do the Free Walking Tour that we missed in the morning.  A nice lady gave us the directions to the Palace of Justice, which is where the tour would start from.  We arrived there 30 minutes early so we decided to walk down the street next to it that appear to be a pedestrian mall.  It turned out that we have stumbled on the famous Vitrosho – we walked to the end and then turned back to find quite a crowd gathered for the Sophia Free Tour.

Our guide, Nikolai, was quite amusing.  We met a gentleman from the Czech Republic who was there on business and he became our walking companion.  It was a good walking tour.  From the Palace of Justice, we walked first to Sveta Nedelya, where we learnt how procrastination was used by the king to avoid Hiltler’s plot and saved all the Jews in Bulgaria – the king procrastinated sending the Jews to the internment camp until it was no longer relevant on the excuse that he needed them for a short periods for specific projects he was undertaking.  He saved 50,000 souls.  We then walked to St Petka’s Church, the Sedica ruins including East Gate, the mosque, the synagogue, the museum and then to the collection of fountains where local were collecting the naturally mineral laden spring water in all kind of vessels.  Along the way we learnt all the history related to the places which we had visited earlier during the day.

We went to the President’s Office and to St George Rotunda which sits right behind the President’s office.  We had not realised that it was behind the President's office.  It did not matter as searching for the church took us to quite a few unique places that we might not otherwise have included in our list of things to see that day.  We walked to the National Theatre and then to the Old Palace where our guide has us enacting the history of Bulgaria through the lives of famous historical figures – starting with a German prince who was ousted, followed by an Austrian that they did not like to a Bulgarian who was driven out by Russian but later worked with the Russian.  After that enactment, we went back to Alex Nevski church.  It was a great walk and we learnt a lot.  There is a stretch of yellow brick roads that made Sofia famous.  It also turned out to be an overkill and not so nice as the bricks are ultra slippery when it rained.  These bricks were imported from Germany at great costs of a loan by the king – the Austrian who also loved nature and green parks.  That is the reason why there are so many parks in Sofia.  The tour was fantastic.  At the end, the Czech walked back with us to Sedica.  There we parted ways.  We got on the metro homeward bound in time to pick up some snacks at the convenient store next to the hotel.   It was a exhausting and packed day but a great one because we learnt so much.