 |
 |
From that church we walked towards the
Russian-style Aleksander Nevski Church. It was in our sight when
a flea market slowed us down and we did some window shopping,
noticing the postwar brass and 1936 Olympic souvenirs, old coins
and stamps along with "normal" flea market finds. The Aleksander
Nevski Patriarchal Cathedral is a memorial church built through
the efforts of the whole Bulgarian people in memory of the
thousands of Russian, Bulgarian, Ukranian, Moldavian, Finnish
and Romanian soldiers who, from 1877 to 1878, laid down their
lives for the liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire.
|
|
On every tour list in every country ...
in every country ... are the buildings of worship. They were
the
centre, and in most cases still, the social centre, centre of
local faith as well as holders of historical artefacts and the
community’s artistic wealth, therefore, there is a great deal of
pride in showing them to visitors. Difficulties arise when a
traveller is on the road for a long period of time, visiting
many cities and villages – it can be a little overwhelming. But
today we would take in one more, the Basilica of Hagia Sofia.
It is Saturday, and clearly the day of
choice to be married. We watched as the bride and groom stood
arm in arm in the doorway, they looked comfortable (after the
groom repositioned his stocking garter) and ready to step
forward into holy matrimony. The groom, a Scot in his
mid-fifties was dressed in Scottish garb complete with kilt and
the bride, a little younger, was dressed in full length white
gown with two preschool and one teenage girl carrying the train.
As with the other couple we saw wed, they carried two candles
joined by a ribbon and walked to the centre of the church where
their family and friends stood.
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
Leaving the churches behind us, we
ventured further and passed the massive "Party House", a
building which had been headquarters for the communist
bureaucrats. Across the street beside a fountain, some people
were setting up for a photo shoot. We stopped to watch as an
actor in red serge was being prepared with touches to makeup and
hair, on top of which they plopped a tall beaver hat and then
sprayed his face to simulate perspiration. The commercial was
for Schweppes which he was to find cool and refreshing. From the
sidelines he was being encouraged with lines like, "make love to
the bottle" and "lift your eyebrow like you did in auditions".
It will be interesting to see if we every see the ads.
|
|
We passed the President’s Building with its
four guards standing duty. We would come back for the changing
of the guards in a half hour. Meantime a walk through the arched
tunnel would bring us to the little round church of St. Georgi
(George).
St. Georgi Rotunda Church is the oldest
architectural monument in the city of Sofia in good repair,
intact to the roof. Dated as far back as the Roman Empire, in
the 4th century, it was always a religious building.
It underwent numerous reconstructions during the middle ages
(9th-14th). In the 16th century it was transformed
into a mosque by the Turks. Archeologists have found five layers
of frescoes (wall paintings), – the earliest being from the 6th
century when the Rotunda was Christian. Although the building
was stricken by time, neglect and WWII, it survived and now
stands as a model of ancient construction and Christian fine
art.
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
Emerging back through the tunnel we met an
Orthodox priest, dressed in the usual long black robes, and his
family. He was showing his youngest son the guards standing at
the door. In the Orthodox church priests must marry in order to
fully understand the daily emotions and struggles experienced by
their parishioners.
|
|
They left before the changing of the guards,
but we stuck around and were soon viewing the high stepping
spectacle.
No pom-pom shoes here. These guards wore
calf-high black boots (the lead fellow even had spurs) over
black riding pants with a white stripe down each side. The white
jackets were belted in red with a red tassel hanging from the
buckle, while the rest of the jacket was decorated with lots of
red braid - front and back. The hat, a wide band of white
(appeared to be fur) with the skull portion filled in by red
material with a white cross, supported a very tall black and
white feather secured near the front. Their high steps (much
higher than picture shows) did not seem to attract much
attention. Perhaps it was the time of day.
Heading back towards our hotel along one of
the busier streets, we found the little church of St. Petka
Samardjiska caught in traffic. It dates back to the 4th
century and now can be seen rising out amidst the traffic-filled
avenues which pass by just below roof line. To see its well
preserved frescos, one has to venture down and through a tunnel.
|
 |
|
Our next fascinating find was where the locals
fill their bottles with spring water. There are about 500
mineral water deposits in Bulgaria with more than 1600 springs.
These are mostly located in the foothills of mountains and are
the mainstay of spa resorts. This one in the heart of Sofia is a
busy place. From 1.5 metre high walls spigots continually pour
out spring water into numerous sinks and at every unplugged sink
people were either rinsing out their bottles or filling them up.
We were very thirsty from our walk around and looked forward to
cool refreshing slurps. We were not carrying bottles so we used
our hands. When the water fell into our cupped hands we were
very surprised to find it quite hot. The water has a clean,
clear, soft taste and we drank our fill.
|
 |
 |
|
We had seen a line-up at a little
bread stand near our hotel as we left and on our return,
we could see he was still doing a steady business. We
brought two bagel sized rings. The crusts were very hard
and the insides tough, two aspects which the locals must
like in their bread.
|
|
Our room was ready, we got settled in
and took advantage of the little shaded balcony with its
table and chairs and WiFi connection.
Around dinner time we ventured out in
search of food. We passed by McDonald’s with their
horizontal sign spelt the familiar way and a vertical
sign spelt "Makgohangc".
|
 |
|
|
After some searching along heaved
tiled sidewalks we found the recommended "Divaka"
restaurant. The place was busy. They showed us to a
non-smoking section. It had a number of tables ... all
empty. Not wanting to be isolated from people watching
we asked for a table in smoking. Terry had the
traditional stew, while Sherrie opted for grilled trout
with salad. Both were very good.
|
|
On our way back to the hotel we found
one of the major streets blocked off from traffic
(except for trolley cars) and being used by the locals
for walking and eating as cafe’s stretched their seating
out onto the street.. The skies were clear, all but for
a few clouds, which were busy catching purple and peach
sunset rays. A lone fellow blew on a bugle and filled
the warm air with music. We joined the locals for a
stroll.
|
|
 |
|
 |
On the corner where we turned from the square onto our
hotel’s street stands an impressive building. We hadn’t realized that it
was a big indoor market. We decided to head there for breakfast in the
morning.
May 13
Inside, the market building was much more modern than
we had expected.
|
In the centre was a place to sit and have a
drink or small snack. We wandered around looking at the
different booths on the main floor and upstairs (which had fast
food outlets). We sat at a table in the middle and ordered
orange juice and coffee, then went to one of the many bakeries
and brought back our purchases to enjoy with our drinks (like
others were doing). For our train trip, we purchased some fruit
and water then caught the bus to the station and boarded the
train to Plovdiv. The locals call it "The Plov".
|
 |
 |
|
