Sofia bulgaria | Aussie in France

Having walked our feet off exploring Sofia in the morning, we’ve come home to recuperate. After a couple of hours, I notice a leaflet on the dining table of our home exchange hosts advertising free English-speaking tours of Sofia every day starting at 11 am and 6 pm and lasting around 2 hours. It’s 5 pm, so I suggest we join a tour since we don’t have to reserve in advance. I can translate for Jean Michel if necessary.

Martin at the start of the tour, greeting each person as they arrive

When we arrive at 5.50 pm there are three other people waiting. Martin Zachev, a gregarious and larger-than-life Bulgarian from Free Sophia Tour, arrives and introduces himself. By the time he has finished his little speech, there are over 40 of us from an impressive number of countries, including Latvia, the Netherlands and Spain, each of whom he has greeted personally.

The lion with the wrong legs — The lion with the non-physiological legs

The first point of interest is a statue of a lion just above our meeting place at the corner of the Law Courts. Offering a traditional Bulgarian sweet as an incentive, Martin asks what’s wrong with the lion. It turns out that its legs, which should be diagonally in sync, are not, and he demonstrates what would happen if it tried to walk! He also reminds us that the lion is the symbol of Bulgaria.

Even the bikes stop for pedestrians in Sofia

When we cross the road, we learn that drivers can lose their licence for six months if they hit a pedestrian. We have noticed how Bulgarian drivers stop for us even when we aren’t on a pedestrian crossing. Now we know why!

We stop in front of the coat of arms of Sofia in front of the Sheraton Hotel, a shield divided into four. On the upper right quarter is the church of St Sofia which gave its name to the city (sofia in Greek means wisdom), on upper left is a humanised picture of the ancient town of Serdica (Sofia’s Roman name), on the lower right is a golden canopy and a statue of Apollo Medicus representing the mineral springs found around the city while Vitosha, the mountain just behind Sofia, is on the bottom left. In the middle is a smaller shield with a rampant lion. The motto is “Расте, но не старее” – “Ever Growing, Never Aging”, though I’m not sure how appropriate that is!

Martin then points out the recent statue of Sofia we have already seen before and explains that the people who erected the statue actually made a mistake. They didn’t realise that the town is called after the church of Hagia Sofia (Holy Wisdom) and not the saint called Sophia. Many churches in Eastern Europe are called St Sofia, but in fact, they are all Holy Wisdom.

The Roman ruins and Via Romana — The Eastern Gate of the city of Serdica and old Via Romana

He then takes us down a staircase and we find ourselves on the old Via Romana with its large flat stones that have come through the ages much better than the modern footpaths. We’re at the former eastern gate of the city of Serdica.

The budding tree with its martensiti (the photo was taken next day when there was more light)

A little late, bending down under a tree, he shows us that it is covered with red and white braided bracelets. On 1st March, it is the tradition to give people martensita, in honour of the end of winter and coming spring. You wear the bracelet until you see the first budding tree and hang it there to bring luck and a productive spring and summer. There are several regional variations that you can read more about on the Study English Today website.

Demonstrating the rise and fall of modern Bulgaria in front of the former Tzar's Palace — Demonstrating the changing face of modern Bulgaria in front of the former Tzar’s Palace

We all sit down on the grass opposite the Tzar’s Palace and Martin asks for six volunteers – an Austrian prince, a German prince, an Italian princess, a Bulgarian, a communist and another Bulgarian. He then very cleverly demonstrates the recent history of Bulgaria showing how various people have been thrown out and reinstated up until the present day.

The tree bell — The church bell in the tree opposite Hagia Sofia

Our last stop is the church of St Sofia which stands on a mound that people could see from afar. As they approached the city of Serdica, they would say There’s Sofia, which is how the name of Sofia came to be used instead of Serdica. In those days there were no bell-towers so the bell was erected in a tree opposite the church. Well, that’s what I understood anyway.

The soldier's flame — The eternal flame at the Monument to the Unknown Soldier

We finish the tour in front of the Monument of the Unknown Soldier to commemorate the hundreds of thousands of Bulgarian soldiers who died in wars defending their homeland, and more lions symbolising Sofia. We feel that Martin’s tour has rounded off our visit of the city well and are ready for Rila Monastery next day.

N.B. These are not all the places that Martin took us to, but I have already described the others in previous posts.

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The starting point for our third walking tour of Sofia is the Archeology Museum opposite the Presidential Palace and the changing of the guard which I described in my Second Impressions of Sofia. The oldest museum in Bulgaria (formerly the Big Mosque) has been in its present location since 1899. The building itself dates back to the 15th century and has been recently restored and the museum has an excellent reputation. We will no doubt go back another day.

Next on the list is Alexander Battenberg Square, once the site of the mausoleum of Georgi Dimitrov, Bulgaria’s first Communist leader, now completely reduced to rubble. The former Tzar’s Palace, built in 1873, stands on the other side and is now an art gallery and ethnographic museum that we’ll visit another day when my foot is not as painful.

The former tzar's palace, now the National Art Gallery — The former tzar’s palace, now the National Art Gallery

Just next door we see a beautiful building with five gold bulbs, the very ornate Russian Church built from 1912 to 1914 apparently to appease a Russian diplomat who was afraid to worship in Bulgarian churches! But maybe that is just heresay. The bulbs were recently re-guilded with gold leaf donated by the Patriarchate of Moscow.

A beautiful Renaissance-style building on the other side of Rakovski Street turns out to be the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.

Parliament on the right and the Military Club on the left — Parliament on the right and the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences on the left with some sort of sit-in in the middle of the square

As it’s starting to spit, we head for the area in which the Routard gives the most addresses. On the way, we go past a statue of a dancer in front of a series of fountains with the Ivan Vasov National Theatre in the background. We’re definitely in a different neighbourhood. The footpaths are still full of holes, but most of the buildings are new and the people are dressed differently.

We see a couple of tables set up for chess and two men are playing behind a large statue with two figures. There is a lot of modern sculpture in Sofia.

Statues in the park with chess players in the background

Our restaurant is the Warsteiner, which is described as having a pork knuckle, stuffed capsicum and sausage ambiance with an eclectic clientele. It has a covered veranda which sounds like a good idea.

At another table, the locals are eating a copious vegetable dish served on a hot grill so I ask for one of those. We choose pork spare ribs, which turn out to be cold and lamb shank, which is luke warm. We have a local red. I have to go closer to the main dining room to get the wifi to work. Overall, not a very good address although cheap at 40 leva (about 20 euro). We later learn that it is part of a chain. We much preferred our meal last night at the local Dom Doman recommended by our hosts even though half the dishes were off the menu.

I get up and my foot screams out in pain. We head for the tourist office at Sofia University underground station to get some brochures for our travel diary and ask for a pharmacy. We follow instructions but have trouble finding it. I whip out my Bulgarian app for help. I find “Where is a pharmacy” with a recording in Bulgarian. I stop a lady in the street but she shakes her head and looks afraid.

I stop another woman and she says, “Oh, a pharmacy. You speak English?” and directs us to one near the Radisson Hotel. I can’t see any sign of an apoteka so ask reception. She sends us back in the other direction and we find one with Pharmacie on the window in addition to apoteka. I ask the lady behind the counter if she speaks English or French. “Ne”, she says. So I ask if anyone else does. She calls over a colleague who admits to speaking a little bit of English.

Radisson Hotel, one of Sofia's landmarks opposite the Parliament building — Radisson Hotel, one of Sofia’s landmarks opposite the Parliament building

She gives me some Nurofen, but no instructions on how to take it. It turns out that the leaflet is written in Bulgarian. Thank god for the Internet! At the end of the conversation, she asks where we come from. I indicate Jean Michel – French – and say I’m Australian. A large smile lights up her face. “Ah”, she says, “You’re not French. French people don’t speak English. Why don’t French people speak English?” “Bad teachers”, I answer. “Yes”, she agrees. “French people are lovely people. France is a lovely place. But no English!” Which is exactly what we were told in Ljubliana in Slovenia.

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