Take a Walk

After my return from the Crimea, I had a few days on my own in Kalotina before my old college friend Peter arrived.

Lenin's replacement

One of the best things to do in Sofia is to take the FREE guided walking tour. In fact, I have often seen groups of tourists with their guides wandering around the streets, so I thought that it was high time that I joined one of these groups and did the full, two-hour tour. As my friend Peter really does not know Sofia, we joined one of these walking tours. They have become very popular and in fact there were so many of gathering outside the Palace of Justice that we had to be spilt into four separate groups.

Dessi in action. Nice legs too.

Our guide was a fast-talking and pretty young Sofiot called Dessi. Although she said that she was an economist, she really did know her history. 

First we stopped at the big church (no, I cannot remember the name), the one opposite The Happy Grill and where Maria Louisa Boulevard becomes Vitosha. Here Dessi told us about the ghastly terrorist attack on the Bulgarian Tsar, in which more than 200 people were killed and 500 injured. The Tsar survived the attack because he was not even there when it happened. He was meant to be there but guess what? This is Bulgaria, so he turned up late. Dessi explained that this is probably the reason why so many Bulgarians keep up this royal tradition of being late for things. (The Nissan garage in Sofia has now been repairing my car for two months.)

I have seen the Roman remains of Serdica before, but Dessi had a knack for making dull, urban things come alive and injecting some humour into what could be a rather tedious, fact-laden monologue. And yes, I did win a sweet for guessing the right answer.

A stripy bath house becomes a stripy museum 

We went next to the mineral water baths, now a museum about the history of Sofia. It is built in the exuberant Bulgaran National Revival style and it has been magnificently restored. Then we continued on to sample some of the hot water that still comes out of a natural spring.

You just MUST do the Sofia walking tour!

Next on the tour was the famous statue of Sofia, near the Serdica MTR station. The statue of Sofia is quite a recent addition and it was put there to replace one of Lenin! Historical purists will, of courser, take exception to this statue. If this is a statue of Saint Sofia, a Christian saint, then why is she wearing a crown and holding a laurel wreath? And why does she have an owl perched on her shoulder, as an owl is associated with the Greek (and pagan) goddess Athena? Last but not least, if she is meant to be a Christian saint, why is she not wearing a bra? 

Soldiers doing silly things

According to Dessi, some tourists get upset when they are told that Lenin's statue was removed, as they think that it was a statue of John Lennon! Comrade Vladimir’s effigy was at one end of the square, with the government buildings on the other three sides. Lenin's statue seemed to be keeping an eye on the Bulgarian Communist party, in their headquarters at the other side of the square. 

We were not in time to see the changing of the guard at the president’s office. The guards do a good imitation of John Cleese and the Ministry of Silly Walks. I am including a photo I took on another occasion, just to give you the idea. It is great to see this silly spectacle if you like kitsch uniforms and a military cancan (or maybe a sort of speeded up tai chi).  

Next we wandered through the park and finished up at the huge, white marble and golden-domed Alexander Nevski Cathedral, built to honour the Russian soldiers who died in the liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottomans. (Somehow I do not think that anyone in Vietnam is going to build a cathedral to honour any American soldiers and the dead British squaddies will not be getting a mosque or two in Iraq.)

About a week after my tour with Dessi and Peter, I took my friend John on the same walking tour, this time with Boyan as our guide. He was also very good.

After our tour was over, we wandered down Ulitsa Angel Kanchev to Made in Home, a restaurant that has rave reviews. (Claire Ruston is also a fan and she wrote about it in her excellent blog, “Auntie Bulgaria”.) Yummy spinach soup and lamb kebabs with couscous. But what is the plural of couscous? Couscouscous? Couscouses? Couscousi? 

Made in Home has an artsy, eccentric feel to the place, but the food is unusual, fresh and delicious. The bill, however, came to 77 leva. That was not quite so delicious. (When John and I went there, we did not bother with the soup.)

Lunch in "Made in Home"