Sofia

Have been to Sofia for visiting a friend this summer in 2008 and it was Very nice and very different to what I have seen before. Apart from the nice museums, galleries and the very different style of a capital city (in other countries I didn’t spot so much differences).
Amazing is the big contrast of oldschool and hi-tech being very close to each other, e.g. the buildings in one street or the new subway station in contrast to the tram. The trams however are cool, I liked their sound when the doors opens and closes =)

They also got a huge cinema building and the picture quality blew me away.

So far everybody there has been pretty nice to me, cannot complain to that either =)

All in all it was a very nice stay, especially interesting because things work but they are very different but interesting.

Even the airport in Sofia (the new part) is a small sensation of its own.

Oh and not to forget the food, very hot and spicy, absolutely my taste and delicious plus also been very different to what I a used to have tasted. And many people seem to make it even more devil like by putting extra salt on it afterwards because of claiming it was “too light” in its taste.

Also watch out for the buttons which you can find in the old subways: In contrast to other countries those aren’t the stop buttons but the “Panic” aka “Emergency Break” buttons!!

The first (and last) time I went to this place I saw the airport, the hotel and the office where I was working and that was it. I really want to go back and see more of the city!

For years I had seen Bulgaria on the map and dreamed of visiting. Then the day came on which I was actually there… and everything was shut down because Colin Powell, who at the time was the U.S. Secretary of State, was there for a state visit! It was the first time an American “leader” (even a relatively low-grade one like C. Powell) had visited Bulgaria in a long time and downtown Sofia was decked out with red/white/blue bunting hung next to red/white/green bunting. I was once in line behind C. Powell at an office supply store in Arlington, Virginia (he is SHORT!) and so I was a little irked that I was missing out on all sorts of fabulous museums, etc. for a U.S. cabinet minister whom I’d already practically MET.

I was walking through the central square in front of the big beautiful ethnographical museum when the two military bands started tuning up. The American military band played the Bulgarian national anthem and the people around me sang along in the same kind of obligatory, desultory fashion as Americans usually whimper their way through “The Star-Spangled Banner” at baseball games. Then the Bulgarian military band played “TS-SB” and I found myself actually singing along! I’m not especially patriotic, or an especially good singer, but it makes me feel good to sing, and that day in Sofia it was just the right temperature outside to be walking around and bursting into song in public places. A couple of little Bulgarian kids who were there with their dad were standing next to me and they looked up at me and watched me sing, so I directed my “performance” to them, and when it was over, they smiled and laughed, and their dad said something to me in Bulgarian that I took to be kind, and I waved at the kids and went off somewhere for a cappuccino.

Was in the summer.The problem is there is too much traffic but you can meet good friends there.My mother and sister live there and I’m going to live in Sofia next year.

Went to Sofia with group of other military members….Only from USA. For this and other reasons I had a great time. Culture, food, people, markets, and sights were all surpurb! Bulgaria and specifically Sofia is awesome!