First Visit to Sofia

Anne and Mark had a long weekend due to the celebration of Unification Day in Bulgaria, which happened to fall on what was Labor Day weekend in the United States, so we decided to travel to Sofia.  Sofia is the capital of Bulgaria and lies not too far north of our home in Blagoevgrad.

One of the first things that we saw was a monument to a Bulgarian leader who met an untimely demise after he had left office.  Our guide did not go into too much detail on exactly what happened to him or why, but it sounded rather unpleasant.  Anne wanted to get a photo, but was afraid that a viewer might not be able to judge the size of the monument without a basis for comparison.  She suggested that I stand next to the monument so that the viewer could see what a normal sized head looked like and could compare it to the monument.  Naturally, I jumped at the chance to be the "normal-sized" head (not an opportunity I often encounter).

Next, we went to an exhibit of sculpture by the famous French impressionist Edgar Degas.  From what we gathered, his work was being exhibited for the first time in Bulgaria.  Additionally, the exhibit itself was unique in its size and scope (the exhibit included 74 bronze sculptures, some of which are rarely exhibited anywhere).  In the photo below is a bronze cast of arguably the most famous of the sculptures, "The Little Dancer, Aged Fourteen."  If you look in the mirror in the photo, you can see Anne Pillard admiring the art.

Later, we went to the public mineral water fountains found near the center of town.  These mineral fountains, and the mineral baths nearby, have been in use at least since the height of the Roman Empire.  The first thing we noticed was that a large number of locals still come to the fountains to get their water supplies.  The next thing we noticed was that the mineral water was very hot.

Hot mineral water from the springs in Sofia

After waiting in line and filling our water bottle with mineral water directly from the spring, we took a minute to admire the art surrounding the fountains.  As you can see, Mark gave the sculpture a "thumb's up," while maintaining the wholesome, family nature of this blog.

After getting ample supplies of art and mineral water, Mark and Anne decided that it was time to enjoy some delicious, authentic Bulgarian cuisine.  We had the best meal we've had since we've been here at a small but well-recommended restaurant near the center of Sofia.  Anne had chicken "Sofia style" (apparently, a rough translation of the Bulgarian name of the dish) with potatoes and Mark had meatballs and mashed potatoes.  Good stuff.  Those of you from Iowa may recognize that the restaurant has adopted an "Amana Colonies" motif.

Cheers!