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Sofia

As I was driven into Sofia from the airport in the backseat of a Mercdes Benz, I was wondering what in the world I was doing in this run-down little town of vaguely Stalinist apartment blocks. Turns out my driver took me through the weirdest backstreets to avoid traffic. Since wandering the streets for a couple of days now, I'm really quite enamored of this city. There are a lot of reasons for this, but I think key to my feelings for it are the public statuary, the hip electronic music they play in internet cafes (rather than the garrish classic rock in croatia or the simply unexplainable hodge podge of all kinds of genres in Bosnia), the wide, crumbling streets, lots of well taken care of dogs, and the fact that, after 25 days of cappucinos and espressos, I can finally drink brewed coffee.


Life is good. Sofia is beautiful.

I went in here. Its Orthodox, I know that.
I went in here. Its Orthodox, I know that.		 Skyline, mountains in the back
Skyline, mountains in the back		 The happiest man in Sofia
The happiest man in Sofia		 An overpass in a big, beautiful park, filled with dogs, offered me this view
An overpass in a big, beautiful park, filled with dogs, offered me this view		 That same park
That same park		 Oh, man. This is why you come to E. Europe
Oh, man. This is why you come to E. Europe
As noted above, Sofia has the BEST public sculptures I've seen in any city. And they are all so brooding and dark.
As noted above, Sofia has the BEST public sculptures I've seen in any city. And they are all so brooding and dark.		 Even this seemingly joyous expression has a darkness to it
Even this seemingly joyous expression has a darkness to it		 Saint Aleksis, I think is what this is called
Saint Aleksis, I think is what this is called		 Three Orthodox guys
Three Orthodox guys		 Look at this stuff!
Look at this stuff!		 One of Madonna's backup dancers
One of Madonna's backup dancers
Russian Orthodox cathedral.
Russian Orthodox cathedral.		 Just some random building
Just some random building		 Saint Aleksis
Saint Aleksis		 u32/spoonbender/medium/21050439.P1010331.jpg Brooding. I LOVE the Bulgarians
Brooding. I LOVE the Bulgarians		 A government bldg.
A government bldg.
Blue!
Blue!		 That truck is part of a bar/cafe
That truck is part of a bar/cafe		 National theatre ad.
National theatre ad.		 Lots of heavy metal stuff here
Lots of heavy metal stuff here		 The National Theatre bldg
The National Theatre bldg		 The least brooding piece of public sculpture in the countryand even it's a little creepy
The least brooding piece of public sculpture in the country
and even it's a little creepy
Red!
Red!		 u32/spoonbender/medium/21050517.P1010349.jpg u32/spoonbender/medium/21050518.P1010350.jpg Lots of this kind of thing on the sides of bldgs.
Lots of this kind of thing on the sides of bldgs.		 A cobbled street for trams
A cobbled street for trams		 Nice house
Nice house

comment | share
Sofian 15-Jan-2006 02:09
I hope you come again to our country! :)
It is great to read your commentary on our lifestyle and style of living ;)
Ivo Dimitrov 06-Mar-2004 22:08
hey, just wanted to clarify something. The golden/green leaf dome cathedral is called Saint Alexaneder, after the Russian Saint. Constructed as a memorial of those who died in the Russo-Turkish war. IN fact, many of the things would have seemed much more complex had you read the explanations ;-). Hope you had fun in Bulgaria! Visit my site if you are interested in a bit more:http://www.geocities.com/phantomu4u/Bulgaria.html
Nikola Gruev29-Sep-2003 11:57
Nice job!
http://www.pbase.com/ngruev/bulgaria
On the above address I have published a lot more pictures not only from Sofia, but also the rest of the country. I have shown the best though. If you are interested, please welcome.
Sonia 13-Sep-2003 19:41
Wow,

I haven't back home in almost three years and browsing through those pictures brought so many memories ... :)) ... It's always very amusing for me, how foreigners and especially Americans view my country ... :)=) ... Great job with the pictures and the comments !!!

PS

Next time you wind up in Bulgaria, make sure to visit Varna - the most beautiful city in the country, not nearly as dark as Sofia and washed by the Black Sea /of course I'm from Varna ;))/.
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