Blogs from Sofia, Sofia City , Bulgaria, Europe - page 2

HE SAID... Today we were travelling north from Gorno Draglishte to Sofia (via Rila Monastery). We woke reasonably late following the feast and free flowing wine the night before. After gathering ourselves and our packs, we headed down to our homestay family’s small dining room for breakfast, where we enjoyed scrambled eggs, toast, mekitsi (fried dough), local jam and peppermint tea. After bidding farewell to our incredibly affable hosts, we left the homestay and headed northwards with Boris the bus driver at the wheel. We were making our way to the Rila Mountains, where we were visiting the Rila Monastery. The monastery is located in a forested valley deep within the Rila mountain range, and when we arrived mid-morning, the air was brisk and mist shrouded the surrounding hills. While the building and surrounding structures were ... read more

My hubby could have been a Palace Guard in Bulgaria once upon a time. Out of a whole group of tourists from UK, Canada, USA, Chile, South Korea, Russia, Australia and Spain, he was the only one who fitted the criteria to get this once well paid and illustrious job. All he had to do was catch an eagle and pluck a tail feather to wear in his hat and the job would have been his. What is this illusive criteria you ask? You just have to be blonde, blue-eyed and over 185 cms in height. However these days those rules are relaxed as there's not many blue-eyed blonde tall Bulgarians to choose from. Plus there's an eagle at the local zoo that supplies the feathers and the job is less prestigious with less pay. We ... read more

Sofia, capitala Bulgariei O destinatie perfecta pentru o escapada din Bucuresti fara aglomeratie, nervi pe drumuri si vreme adecvata. Am gasit hotelul Bon Bon Central chiar in centru, cu parcare, camera aranjata frumos cu prosopele in forme de scoica, cu tv, wifi. Locatia lui este perfecta pt explorarea orasului, vizite in muzee si mall-uri si iesiri la terase tarzii in noapte. Statiile de metrou sunt adevarate santiere arheologice in aer liber protejate. Am stat 2 nopti=110 euro... read more

Marching on Together. In the days of old when a team in white were worrying Europe's elite and winning more than just the highest "away" crowd average award at each venue they visited, Sofia welcomed their presence. A snow covered Moscow was deemed too cold for UEFA Cup football by the mandarins in Switzerland. On 2 December 1999, the bandwagon rolled into town. Programme Man's finest hour had arrived. He organised Marching on Together playing out of the tannoy at the Stadium. The team couldn't reward the support and were rolled over by Spartak's Brazialian forwards. For the first time on the trip, the sun was shining when we ventured out of the hotel. The city was waking up and the stalls for a book fair were setting up further along Vitosha Boulevard. The dome of ... read more

The Man in the Middle surveyed the departure board at Luton Airport. A board of outbound flights showed all on time with the exception of the 1420 hours to Sofia. Disappointing – we had an appointment to keep on arrival. Disappointment turned to despair on the discovery that the bar had one option of alcohol on offer – lukewarm bottles of Heineken at a ridiculous price. There should be a law against it. As the fantasy of a quiet couple of pints before take-off evaporated, we were pleased to see that the delay was only half an hour. It was football derby weekend across Europe. Inter v Milan, Red Star v Partizan – not for us this time – we were headed for the original Sofia derby, Slavia v Levski. After a further delay on the ... read more