Sophia

Ok, so I know it's way past time that I posted something about my Christmas break trip. Those of you who know me, know that sometimes I can be just a little lazy. However. the time has come, and I have decided to write about each stop separately, so hopefully that will make up for the slowness of it all.

I decided to go to Bulgaria and Turkey over break. I'm not sure exactly why Bulgaria, but I had heard that it was nice, and that it was a hip, cheap place to ski. I had offers to go to places like Thailand, or back home, but I didn't want to go home, and I wanted to go somewhere where it would be cold and that I would see green. I had 2 1/2 weeks, so I decided to fly into Istanbul and take a train or bus up to Sophia. From there I would go to Bansko to ski, down to Plovdiv for a couple of days, and then, finally, back down to Istanbul for another five days or so before flying back home. I flew into Istanbul and started checking the train and bus information. The information they had online was a little thin, so I figured I could take care of it when I got there. Well, long story short, I decided to fly to Sophia instead because it was going to be about a 12 hour wait for either a a bus or a train, and then about a 14-16 hour trip to Sophia. There was no way I was going to be on a bus that long, and the train had a sleeper car, which would have been fine, except that they had no individual cars, only ones for six people, and I wasn't into sharing with five strangers. So plane it was.

I ended up arriving in Sophia a day early, but had no trouble checking into my hotel early. The hotel was nice, but they do this weird thing there, well actually two. The first is that all hotels rooms have the heat cranked up to 80 or so. It was incredibly hot, and I had to turn off the heat and open the windows. The second is that they have double beds (and larger), but the comforter is only a single, which I just don't get. Now, granted, I didn't have a companion to worry about, but it was a pain to have to try to keep yourself covered during the night with some skinny little comforter.

In general, I found Sophia to be nice, if maybe a little bit cold. Not weather wise necessarily, but in terms of openness and friendliness. Sure the weather was on the cooler side - it hovered right around freezing with some snow flurries - but it seemed that it fulfilled the stereotype of what it was like behind the Iron Curtain in the 80's. The people were bundled up as if it were mid winter in Moscow, and nearly everyone wore all black. They just seemed dreary and bleak. The kept their heads down or eyes straight ahead, and talked very little. With the exception of my hotel staff, they seemed particularly unfriendly with few exceptions.

For the most part the weather was great. I got several bright, sunny days to explore. Here is where I found I liked Sophia. The history of the city is amazing and I got to see plenty of museums, churches and mosques. On one day in particular, I visited many of the churches you will see here. I forget all the names of them, but I believe the one above is St. Nikoli. They have the great shiny, Russian orthodox spires. The insides were beautiful, with great woodwork, gilding, and painted frescoes. This one was a big attraction because it has the tomb of some guy inside (a saint? a priest? I'm not sure because we didn't spend much time together). Lore has it that if you write down your wishes and leave it on his tomb, it will be granted. Like I said, popular place.

Another place I found was this huge cathedral. I don't remember it's name either, but I had no idea how huge it was as I approached it. I walked through a park with people selling things and I remember thinking that the statue and domes looked like it'd make a nice picture. The place was massive though. It was built in the late 1800's and had great art. It was truly magnificent. The map I had suggested finding and seeing the catacombs as well. It had church art collected from around Bulgaria from the 2nd century through the mid 1800's. I found it just outside the cathedral, but part of the same building. It was an amazing find. They had rescued and preserved some incredible pieces of art, and I got to walk around all by myself which was great, but always seems like a rarity in a museum.

I was about to walk home when I heard music. I found a park that had a Christmas celebration going on with great music. There were women singing old carols in Bulgarian and German. I discovered the goodness of their hot wine and decided to stay until the singing was done. Let's just say I had a lot of wine.

It turns out Sophia was just ok. I'm glad I went. I saw some great things, but it just wasn't unmissable. On the other hand, maybe if I had gone during another time of year, it would have been better. Maybe that's what I'll do. I'll go back during summer and see if it's better. Maybe. Plus, I was offered hookers multiple times and passed up each opportunity (yes mom, it actually happened). If I go back and get bored, there's always that.

Next up: Bansko.