“Brush up on your Cyrillic beforehand, because Sofia tends to charm its visitors into lingering here indefinitely” – Stephanie Craig

Situated on 2 famous trade routes, the Silk route from Istanbul to Austria and a route into the Balkans from the Mediterranean region, Sofia is the proud capital of modern Bulgaria. A city of 2million, Sofia reminds us of its royal, communist, roman and Christian histories all at once. 

We walked around the main city square, past the Ivan Vasovtheatre, the beautiful and petite St Nicholas church, past the giant statue of the liberator of Bulgaria from the Ottoman’s, Czar Alexander Romanov to the impressive Alexander Nevsky cathedral. I’ve walked the Alexander Nevskyboulevard in St. Petersburg, but the full impact of his story only hit me as Maria our guide explained how he became the patron saint of the Romanov family. Alexander Nevsky fought the Christian invaders from Germany and Sweden, made peace with the Mongols, all to protect Russia and never let it fall to foreign invaders. He was declared a saint for his duty to the Russian church. A bone from his body rests in this Cathedral, making it a popular pilgrimage site within Orthodox Christianity.

Maria our local guide explained, how Bulgaria, considered an ally of the Nazi’s, delayed sending the Jew’s to concentration camps as ordered by Hitler, thus becoming the second countryafter Denmark, to save some of their Jewish peoples. The sad history of WW II remains present in the history of these remarkable former USSR capital cities. Modern architecture rising from the debris of allied bombings, mixed with pre WW II architecture makes Sofia a uniquely charming city.

We dined at the gorgeous Shastliveca on Vitosha Boulevard. Built over 2 floors with a central light well and covered with paintings of Bulgarian landscapes, flowers, women or simply black and white sketches of everyday things such as shoes, feathers etc, this restaurant is a absolute must during a visit to Sofia. Impeccable service, extensive menu including an excellent vegan selection we ordered delicious beetroot and lentil kebabs, Patatki – a local smashed dill and potato dish, Beef Carpaccio and local minced and herby meat balls for the non-vegetarians in our group.

 

We walked around the main streets in the evening savouring the slow pace of this eastern European city, heading to the hotel by 11pm, readying ourselves for another border crossing into Serbia the next day.