Sofia, Bulgaria
Sunday, September 24 – Sundays are rest days, so no workouts. Got up for breakfast then headed out for Mass. Turns out the Cathedral is built over some recently excavated Roman ruins which was kind of cool. Also, service was in Polish which was new to me. Still, after this many years, it’s not as though I get lost.
Afterwards, Dan and I wandered the city center, seeing some sights, including the very cool Church of Sveta Sofia “Holy Wisdom” under which layers of older churches and crypts dating back to the 3rd Century AD have been excavated and preserved. Unexpected interesting discovery for us!
Had a light lunch in the shadow of the statue of Sveta Sofia marking the center of the city. We then wandered around a bit more before we had to get back to the hotel to meet our tour guide and group for our initial orientation meeting.
Seems like a good group, after the leader outlined the tour, everyone introduced themselves–we have folks from Alaska to New England (oh, that would be us). No one further south than Virginia.
Our guide took us on a short neighborhood walk, then we had a fine dinner which definitely helped break the ice–that and our introduction to Rakia–a strong alcohol distilled from fruit…reminded me of that Hungarian palinka. Guess Bulgarian families take pride in distilling their own home brews. Got to know our tourmates better and enjoyed some traditional foods. Never a bad way to get to know people.
Tomorrow a more in depth look at Sofia.
16,509 steps, 7.6 miles
Arte Hotel Sofia:
Church:
Cathedral of St Joseph, Sofia:
front-ang
Modern church constructed after original destroyed in WWII. Nice stained glass, Roman ruins situated right behind it.
St Sophia (Sofia) Church/Necropolis:
https://www.pravmladeji.org/svsofia/index.html
Home
Oldest church in Sofia, built on several former churches and once a mosque for 3 centuries. Archaeologists discovered the remains of an ancient necropolis underneath the church which the public can now explore for a small fee.
Did a lot of wandering around the city in anticipation of our formal tour starting later in the day.
By good fortune, Dan met a fellow tour member at breakfast while I was at Mass and she tipped us off to the Church of St Sophia. From the outside, you would never imagine the labyrinth or tombs, frescoes and mosaics that lie below. Well worth a visit!
After the formal meeting of our guide and tour members, we got an orientation walk around the neighborhood, followed by a very convivial group dinner a few blocks from the hotel.
Breakfast:
Hotel offered a pretty good selection, though the area was a bit small and the traffic pattern congested — coffee machine created a major roadblock in the flow!
Coffee Break:
La Catterdrale:
https://www.lacattedrale.bg/en
Outdoor cafe in a nice garden area just beyond the Alexander Nevski Cathedral. Not the friendliest service, but efficient.
Lunch:
A small outdoor cafe in the center of Sofia overlooking the big monument to St Sofia
Dinner:
Staria Chinar:
Начало
Group dinner with many selections and a bread that had to contain crack!
St Sophia Map
Our guide welcome note — these are posted at reception daily
Our group — strangers today, but we will get to know all of them
Dinner — Staria Chinar in Cyrillic
First day of the tour. Always a bit of trepidation entering into the first meeting — what’s the tenor of the group, will they have a sense of humor, is that grumpy or annoying person lurking among the tables? So far, everyone seems friendly and interested in learning about Bulgaria, exactly what we want!
Really fortuitous that Dan met our tourmate Kay at breakfast — she gave us the tip about the church and we kept encountering her as we criss-crossed the city. She has had a very interesting life, is well read and traveled and has clearly done her research on Bulgaria. Made me feel like a slacker!