2007 Sofia, Bulgaria

ROHILAS IN EUROPE-III
September 27-October 14, 2007

October 2

At the end of Communist rule in 1989, the old economy of Bulgaria collapsed and many factories closed. Unemployment and inflation skyrocketed. The country is now struggling hard to improve conditions in a bid to join the European Union.

At the end of Communist rule in 1989, the old economy of Bulgaria collapsed and many factories closed. Unemployment and inflation skyrocketed. The country is now struggling hard to improve conditions in a bid to join the European Union.

Our tour director warned us to expect primitive roadside facilities - sit-down toilets without toilet tissue, and poor quality water and food. Therefore, he advised us to carry our own water bottles, and to take some food from the breakfast table for lunch.

After breakfast, we boarded Insight Vacations bus for 7:30 a.m. departure. From Istanbul we started on 300-mile, 10-hour trip to Bulgaria’s capital, Sofia. It took us more than one hour just to go complete immigration and custom formalities at the Turkish & Bulgarian border posts.

We reached Sofia around 5:30 p.m. Some traffic signals were not functioning. City streets are

crowded with trams, and second-hand cars, which the well-to-do residents had brought from Italy, only an over-night ferry-ride away.

There are many Socialist block-housing style buildings in Sofia. Among them its modern shopping malls appear a little out of place.

We were tired when we reached Hotel Kempinski. But our spirits were lifted by the news that our lost bag had arrived!

With 421 rooms, 3 bars and 5 restaurants, Kempinski is perhaps Bulgaria’s largest hotel. Its rooms are quite spacious and restaurants are reputed to be the country’s most expensive.

October 3

It was a little chilly in the morning, when we went out for a walking tour of the city center. We

passed by the Statue of Sofia, which stands atop a high column. Holding an owl in its hands, this modern symbol of the city replaced the statute of Lenin, which stood in front of the former

Communist Party Headquarters. The Stalinist-style building now houses the administrative offices of the national parliament.

Close by is the St. George’s Rotunda. Originally a 4th-century Roman temple, it has since served as a mosque, as well as a church. It is situated among the ruins of Roman baths.

Outside is the President’s Office. Two soldiers guard it.

Further down the boulevard, past the Archaeological Museum, stands the former Tsar’s Palace. It now houses the National Art Gallery and the National Ethnographic Museum.

A demonstration was going on in one corner of the Central Park located across the Palace. In the same corner was once situated a building where during the Communist era, leaders stood to receive the annual parade’s salute. As a mark of distaste for everything Communist, sometime after the fall of the regime in 1989, the building was turned into a public toilet. Later it was blown up, and made into a part of the park.



By the opposite corner of the Central Park is the National Theater. In the park in front of the Theater is a set of fountains and a statue.

A couple of blocks east of the Tsar’s Palace is the Church of St. Nicholas, which is also known as the Russian Church. With its characteristic golden onion domes, it was built between 1912 and 1914. Some people leave their wishes written on pieces of paper under the church.

A couple of blocks to the northwest of the Russian Church is a flea market. Only a couple of vendors and hardly any customer were there so early on a weekday morning.

Near by was the imposing building of the Alexander Nevski Memorial Church. The most important of Sofia’s monuments, it was built as a memorial to the 200,000 Bulgarian and Russian soldiers who died in the 1877-78 Russo-Turkish War and as a token of their gratitude to their Russian liberators. It seats 5,000 people.

At night we were treated to a traditional dinner at a Bulgarian restaurant located outside the city limits. Dinner was followed by folk dances by a group of young men and women. In one dance, they got me and another gentleman from our group involved.

The evening ended with a fire-walking show, which turned out to be much ado about nothing. We had seen better fare-walking shows in Sri Lanka.

For more pictures, please see my blog at http://pritam-rohila-travels.blogspot.com