Sofia
Sofia, Bulgaria. I have to say that I am impressed by this city. The city itself is 6000 years old, and like many of the Balkan areas, has been at the mercy of marauding tribes including the Ottomans. The marauders have left a trail of their different religions and within one city square you can see a mosque, the orthodox church, a little catholic church and a synagogue. The story from the free walking tour that I joined was that the monarch during the second world war, having allied himself with the Germans, managed to stave off sending the Jews to the concentration camps by saying that he needed them here to build factories, and later, to build a bridge - thus saving a large number of lives.
The streets are wide and the buildings have been very elegant - faded elegance now, but still impressive. We sat in a wide walking boulevard with cafe after cafe, jazz music playing in most with people parading up and down, families sitting chatting (and tourists, many tourists now, and the cheap flights with Ryan Air have helped this steady flow). We sat with a drink and a bowl of Tarator soup - cold cucumber soup - delicious!
The tour group itself will be interesting - Americans, Australians and a couple from London. The guide is from Zagreb and loves his job.
I finally got word that my bag was at the airport to be picked up - but no, sorry, they couldn't deliver it to me. I tried to insist as that was what i had been told yesterday, but there was no moving from that position. At 8pm, having just ordered dinner at the restaurant with the group, I had to grab a taxi
and get to the airport - she told me she would only be there until 9 and she was the only one with the authority to give me the bag... so race I did!
This morning we leave for Skopje in Macedonia.
The streets are wide and the buildings have been very elegant - faded elegance now, but still impressive. We sat in a wide walking boulevard with cafe after cafe, jazz music playing in most with people parading up and down, families sitting chatting (and tourists, many tourists now, and the cheap flights with Ryan Air have helped this steady flow). We sat with a drink and a bowl of Tarator soup - cold cucumber soup - delicious!
The tour group itself will be interesting - Americans, Australians and a couple from London. The guide is from Zagreb and loves his job.
I finally got word that my bag was at the airport to be picked up - but no, sorry, they couldn't deliver it to me. I tried to insist as that was what i had been told yesterday, but there was no moving from that position. At 8pm, having just ordered dinner at the restaurant with the group, I had to grab a taxi
and get to the airport - she told me she would only be there until 9 and she was the only one with the authority to give me the bag... so race I did!
This morning we leave for Skopje in Macedonia.
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