Bulgaria: Sofia
8:22 PM
Going to Bulgaria was probably one of the more adventurous trips that I've made since I came here. I tried reading up on it before I went, but nothing could really prepare me for when I landed into Sofia, the capital. It's definitely a country that not many people put on their travel list. But as we know, eastern europe is still relatively unknown to most of the world. The good thing about travelling to eastern european countries is that things are still relatively cheaper and less invaded by tourists. But of course, the bad thing is that it's not as developed and not as tourist friendly as popular european destinations can be. Flying in (and out) of Sofia was an experience in itself. I'm willing to bet that most Bulgarian immigration officers have never seen a Singaporean passport before because the immigration officer actually had to ask me whether I flew in without a visa or not. Furthermore, his supervisor also came into the booth and asked in a very serious manner, "What's the problem?" Like.. wow ok... welcome to Bulgaria.
The thing that intimidated me about Sofia the most was the Cyllic alphabet mainly. The whole "not speaking the language" and the way "Bulgarians shake their head for yes and nod for no" was fine actually. But the alphabet...It was so hard reading a map since their alphabet looked like mush to me, and basically, I walked around the city by feel. Thank god the city wasn't so big and the hostel was pretty centrally located so it was all right, but it was definitely a bit disconcerting at first. As usual, pictures and comments below:
The hostel that I stayed at was pretty helpful. They provided a map with the latin names of the main streets and attractions and provided a guide for a walking tour around the city.
Below: Russian church. Orthodox churches are the norm here, which was a change from all the Christian churches I've been seeing around Europe. The candles they light here are different too, thin yellow candles as opposed to the flat white circular ones we see in christian churches.
The city's main attraction: Alexandra Nevsky cathedral which according to the sign in front, is a memorial church built with the efforts of the whole Bulgarian people in memory of the thousands Russian, Bulgarian, Ukranian, Moldavian, Finnish and Romanian soldiers who from 1877-1878 laid their lives for the liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman empire.
Cathedral crypt. To be honest, nothing much, just a small museum showing religious paintings/sculptures of orthodox style. 6 Lev for an adult, but 3 lev if you show your student card.
Archangel Michael carries away the soul of the rich man. I find the style of the Orthodox paintings rather different. Like you know who they're trying to paint. I didn't have to look at the title to know that that was Archangel Michael... but it still looked different...
St John of Rila
Painting of the Virgin Mary. I dn't whether it's because the painting was dirty or something... but it was interesting to see that the Virgin Mary was painted as a black person.
This caption read: St George of Yanina. Note again the unique aspects of the painting as this saint seems to be in Turkish dress of some sort.
Archbishop's throne, 18th-19th Century.
Bulgarian style kacang putih seller on the streets.
Monument of Tsar Osvoboditel
National Assembly building
One thing about Bulgarian roads, they have no lanes... it's just one big road so you find cars zooming in an out of other cars and despite painting a pedestrian line, it's no point as there were two instances I had to get out of the way of a zooming car who decided to just cross over to the pedestrian zone so that he could short cut his way through the other cars...
The gallery called this the egg of happiness... To touch and make a wish :)
Monument of Unknown Soldier
St Sophia Church. It's a very ordinary building from the outside so it was very easy to miss unless you noticed the cross on top. Insider is very nice, but unfortunately they don't afford pictures. The ceiling has unfortunately been blackened by all the candle smoke, so not been well kept at all.
The thing that intimidated me about Sofia the most was the Cyllic alphabet mainly. The whole "not speaking the language" and the way "Bulgarians shake their head for yes and nod for no" was fine actually. But the alphabet...It was so hard reading a map since their alphabet looked like mush to me, and basically, I walked around the city by feel. Thank god the city wasn't so big and the hostel was pretty centrally located so it was all right, but it was definitely a bit disconcerting at first. As usual, pictures and comments below:
The hostel that I stayed at was pretty helpful. They provided a map with the latin names of the main streets and attractions and provided a guide for a walking tour around the city.
Below: Russian church. Orthodox churches are the norm here, which was a change from all the Christian churches I've been seeing around Europe. The candles they light here are different too, thin yellow candles as opposed to the flat white circular ones we see in christian churches.
The city's main attraction: Alexandra Nevsky cathedral which according to the sign in front, is a memorial church built with the efforts of the whole Bulgarian people in memory of the thousands Russian, Bulgarian, Ukranian, Moldavian, Finnish and Romanian soldiers who from 1877-1878 laid their lives for the liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman empire.
Cathedral crypt. To be honest, nothing much, just a small museum showing religious paintings/sculptures of orthodox style. 6 Lev for an adult, but 3 lev if you show your student card.
Archangel Michael carries away the soul of the rich man. I find the style of the Orthodox paintings rather different. Like you know who they're trying to paint. I didn't have to look at the title to know that that was Archangel Michael... but it still looked different...
St John of Rila
Painting of the Virgin Mary. I dn't whether it's because the painting was dirty or something... but it was interesting to see that the Virgin Mary was painted as a black person.
This caption read: St George of Yanina. Note again the unique aspects of the painting as this saint seems to be in Turkish dress of some sort.
Archbishop's throne, 18th-19th Century.
Bulgarian style kacang putih seller on the streets.
Monument of Tsar Osvoboditel
National Assembly building
One thing about Bulgarian roads, they have no lanes... it's just one big road so you find cars zooming in an out of other cars and despite painting a pedestrian line, it's no point as there were two instances I had to get out of the way of a zooming car who decided to just cross over to the pedestrian zone so that he could short cut his way through the other cars...
The gallery called this the egg of happiness... To touch and make a wish :)
Monument of Unknown Soldier
St Sophia Church. It's a very ordinary building from the outside so it was very easy to miss unless you noticed the cross on top. Insider is very nice, but unfortunately they don't afford pictures. The ceiling has unfortunately been blackened by all the candle smoke, so not been well kept at all.
