Holiday in Bulgaria 3/6 - Sofia

This morning we take the 3 hours bus back to Sofia. After a leisurely lunch and a rest we started wandering the nearby sites.

First is the Women’s Market, established over a hundred years ago. Basically a large area with fresh veg, meaty, fish and dried ingredients. Very nice to see local produce, a lot of fresh and dried herbs spice, nuts, beans and rose petals.

Then walked along Vitosha Boulevard, the main shopping street. First impression of Sofia is that it is a bit run down. A few grand buildings among many not well maintained concrete modern blocks.

However, walking around in just a small area we are able to visit a few beautiful monuments. 100 year old Central market in neo classical style, now with a supermarket inside. A small church of St Peter with fine stone and brick work.

Next is cathedral of St Nedelya, eye catching big green dome and simplistic linear structure around. An Orthodox Church built in the 10C, with impressive high ceilings and huge volume inside. The walls are covered with frescoes from later renovations.

Last one visited is Rotunda church of St George, very small but well proportioned, from the 4th C. Really amazing to see that small diameter yet high ceiling dome. One of the best preserved Roman era building, built using fired bricks, an innovative material of that era, and not using stone.

 

 Dinner at Manastirska Magernitsa Restaurant, in an old historical house that belonged to the first Bulgarian literary critic, Professor Krastyo Krastev. Ordered local cheese and cured meat platter and stewed beef ribs. 

乘三小時巴士從Veliko Tarnovo 回到首都 Sofia，沿途青山綠草，終於遇到些能說英語的侍應、服務人員，比過去三天容易些。但車站路牌站名，都只有保加利亞文字，完全看不懂的Cyrillic字母，有點意外。

首都有地鐵，不用買票，用信用卡拍一拍就成，異常方便，巴士、電車亦如是，且每天的花費上限是二歐羅，民生德政也。

走在大道上，路闊，有些十九世紀房子夾雜在近代建築中，有些少名店，沒有繁榮富裕的感覺。

附近有個百多年歷史的市場 Women’s Market ，地方大，已經很少在首都中心位置見到日日開工的大型市集，賣蔬菜水果菜苗，附近商店也以賣食物為主，各類乾果、果仁、豆、香料、乾香草花瓣等，選擇好多。

然而，賣即煮小食、零食、糕餅雪糕店其少，感覺上不似個好吃的民族。