Chronicles on the road: Sofia (Day 1)

A few hours of sleep, almost seven hours of driving, two border crossings, and there we were, wander-lusting through the streets of Sofia. We had no specific plan for the day, so we let ourselves be driven by the city, absorbing its vibe. Here are some fresh-out-of-the-oven thoughts on our first day in Sofia:

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Eastern Chronicles

5 min readNov 20, 2015

I must confess that I had mixed feelings about coming to Sofia. I had read everything I could find on the Internet about safety here, and although most of the things I found were actually ok (advice, places to avoid by night, and other similar stuff), I nonetheless arrived with the words of a friend in my mind: “That city felt really sinister to me!”

And now, after spending a day in the streets of Sofia, I’ve come to some conclusions. First, the city is as safe as any other place I’ve visited in the past, as long as I respect minimal safety measures (such as, you know, keeping an eye on my personal things, practicing common sense, not getting into conflicts with locals, etc.). As for “sinister,” I would rather say the city is…interesting. I don’t know yet in which way, but I’ll probably figure it out over the coming days.

Still, I can’t forget a particular moment from today: I stopped in a small square near the Banya Bashi Mosque. Across the street, some guys were playing violins, accompanied by an accordion in the background. I looked around and saw all the people of Sofia passing me by, caught up in their own thoughts and daily routines. All this while the trams were also passing by so frenetically that the ground beneath my feet vibrated. I can’t really explain it, but I felt grateful to be there, witnessing that moment. Thanks, Sofia! — Alexandra Palconi

Our first day in Bulgaria’s capital was…puzzling. Let me explain. After a six-hour drive through Serbia and Bulgaria, we got to what seemed to be a cluttered and messy Sofia. The road to the city center reminded us a lot of Bucharest, and not really in a good way. But we decided to stay positive, checked into our hotel, and went on a long walk through the city’s vast nucleus. Everything was there — from Communist remnants, to Baroque buildings, to deserted ones, to golden cathedrals, to impressive mosques, gigantic universities and, amidst everything, the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, which was surrounded by a peculiar silence.

However, Sofia didn’t give me a ‘fusion’ kind of feeling, but rather something different. I felt like I was roaming around a puzzle board where there were beautiful pieces and…not so beautiful ones, randomly placed next to each other, not necessarily fitting, but all in all forming an interesting symbiosis. Right now I am enjoying a glass of raspberry wine at a place called a:part:mental, while listening to some chill-out music playing in the background. I honestly believe our first evening in Sofia was meant to culminate here. — Alexandra Dragos

Sofia reminds me very much of Bucharest. I may be biased, having seen a lot of Communist reminiscences in this life, but I have to say that Sofia’s downtown is an unpleasant mishmash of new and old buildings, concrete poured all over without sense, glass and metal mixed up with Rococo, brutalist architecture thrown here and there, then muddled with a dash of Renaissance, a bit of Neo-Classicism, and a topping of Baroque.

But I’m not mad about this setup. I’m just feeling shocked by this melange of everything, spread all over only a few square kilometers. And I didn’t even tell you about the multitude of churches and archeological sites and artifacts uncovered or displaced from Sofia’s antique landmarks. This whole cocktail is awesome! — Cristian Sitov