Storyline: Bulgaria with Alex
It is 39°C in the mountains and hotter in the city. Some occasional clouds ease our hike and make it tolerable.
We stand atop of Cherni Vrah (Black Peak) 2290 m (7513 feet), the summit of Vitosha mountains that forms one of the biggest protected reserves in Bulgaria – Vitosha National Park. The high mountain peat bog to the south is a protected water supply zone and entering it is prohibited. (In my twenties I once got lost and almost got shot, so you’d better follow the signs). The city of Sofia depends for much of its water supply on the sources originating from Vitosha National Park.
It is the end of June 2016 and we are spending longer than usual in Sofia, chasing my employment records. At last we have a weekend here and were finally able to take the cable car to Aleko Chalet then hike up here. Vitosha, an integral part of my adult life in Bulgaria, hasn’t been easily accessible during our previous visits on weekdays.
Our previous attempt to reach the peaks was in 2015, when a bus driver told us that the Dragalevtsi’s lift works.
We took the bus and then hiked to the lift to discover that all was in vain. Our time was spent visiting the Dragalevtsi Monastery, set in beautiful lush gardens, and then had a late al fresco lunch in the nearby restaurant.
That was the first time we had watermelon juice, and we loved it.
In my previous life, we’d hike it almost every weekend, gathering mushrooms, blueberries, blackberries and many other edibles in the summer and fall and enjoying the sun and the fresh snow during the winter. It was then, and is now, a popular ski destination, just about an hour from every quarter of Sofia. Nowadays though, after ski season the cable car, chair lift and buses work only on the weekends. Of course, one could hike all the way up to 2290m and back as many locals, including my friend Milan, do (the city is at the foothills of Vitosha at about 600m). But it is a steep uphill, we would have needed a full long day for it, and we are no longer used to full-day mountain hikes.
We reached the peak in a couple of hours and it is a lovely break away from the summer heat. The meteorological station that one sees from every corner of the city below, built 1935 and still functioning, is behind the mountain hut.
I take a photo of Alex with Sofia down the valley in the background.
Last time I took a photo at this spot was in January 1992, just before we left for Belgium. Never been back here ‘til now.
Sofia is where I spent the adult years of my life before moving to Belgium. The foot of Vitosha, being only about 10 km from the centre, is part of the city and is the pride of every citizen living there. We lived in a house, a 10 min walk to my work in the centre and 10 min to the central train station in the opposite direction.
Living in a house then was a curse, not a blessing. The apartment buildings around the city and in the suburbs had central heating and central hot water provided by heat and power plants. The old house built at the beginning of 20th century was cold, with leaky windows and doors. We moved through all heating technology available at the time: from wood and coal, to naphtha, to propane heaters and finally to specially designed electrical heaters that had bricks accumulating the heat during the night, when electricity was cheaper and a fan that would release it during the day.
The house was in dire condition during communist times since repair was unknown and there were no available materials. It had a small balcony facing Vitosha mountains and a big terrace on the attic level, where my laundry used to dry under the roof we built (and which is now falling apart).
We shared a chain link fence with a kindergarten, convenient for my kids, who would often just jump over the fence and play on its grounds. It was allowed.
For my travels with Alex, Sofia airport has been the entry and/or exit point. Thus, we spend at least a few days in Sofia every year when we visit Bulgaria. My friends, or what’s left of them, live here too. It is part of our ritual to get together and catch up with the year(s) past.
Due to many changes to the cityscape I remember, I’d always look for a street that doesn’t exist any more or a street with an old name changed after the iron curtain fell. Yes, the new government did the same as the old ones – renamed streets, took down monuments and communist relics as though one could delete history. Alex doesn’t have the baggage of the past. He knows the current city better than me (Just don’t ask me for street names – I still have difficulty retaining the words that are unusual to my ears – A). He’d take the lead to his favorite spots, parks and restaurants. Even criss-crossing the city for my employment records he’d know better the shortcuts, the name of the streets (Hah! Fooled you – A), the major landmarks.
The many layers of Sofia’s history are displayed in the centre. Just above Serdica metro station are the remains of the eponymous Roman city, which were unearthed and preserved during the metro’s construction. We observed the archeological work and photo-documented the process during our summer visits.
An abundance of archeological sites is scattered around the centre of the Bulgarian capital. The heart of ancient Serdica is the St. George Rotunda, situated a few meters below the current street level in the courtyard between the Sofia Hotel Balkan (formerly Sheraton) and the Presidency.
In the main square, now referred to as the square of religious tolerance, (which wasn’t the case in the past – the tolerance that is) next to the Roman ruins and a few steps above them but still below street level, the 11th century orthodox church St. Petka of the Saddlers hosts the oldest preserved frescos, some of which date back to the 14th century.
The large building to the north of St. Petka’s church is the old communist Central Department Store Tzum (from Tsentralen universalen magazine), the only clothing store in the city. This once-bustling three-storey building now struggles as a place for high-end boutiques with many empty storefronts and prices that only foreigners and the Bulgarian rich are likely to afford.
Further along Blvd. Maria Luisa, just across from the Roman ruins, is the Banya Bashi Mosque. Behind it is a small garden where men of all religions still gather to play chess and discuss politics.
At the end of the gardens are the hot mineral fountains that attract the locals from all over the city, filling their demijohns as in the past. The spring’s minerals are believed to have healing properties.
Beyond the spring lie the old Turkish baths, now the Sofia History Museum. The spring water was used in the baths and I remember the swimming pool I regularly used in my student years.
Across the boulevard is the old building of Central Market Hall which we know as Tsentralni hali. It’s where the old-style butchers plied their trade. Today it has a variety of stalls that sell almost everything, from fish and meat to bread, wine rakia, fresh produce and souvenirs. It also has a few cafes and fast food booths.
Behind the Hali is the third-largest Synagogue in Europe. An interesting fact from WWII history is that none of Sofia’s approximately 49 000 Jewish residents were deported to concentration camps due to overwhelming public opposition led by the justice minister of the time.
Going back to the central square, across from the Sofia Hotel Balkan is the orthodox church Sveta Nedelia (St. Sunday).
Since I drifted away describing the history and churches, a must visit in Sofia is the famous St. Alexander Nevski Cathedral. It is the biggest cathedral on the Balkans. Built in 1880s in memory of the Russian soldiers who lost their lives during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878 that lead to Bulgaria’s liberation from the Ottomans.
Alex and I have witnessed the renewal of Sofia. While in 2004 it was quite run down, later the old facades were cleaned and repainted, new buildings appeared throughout the city,
the old stalls and booths of the market were rebuilt into a new and covered market. This was where I’d walk back from work (10 min to home) and do my shopping for the day. So dinner was always made from fresh produce and meat.
The open stalls with the fruits and vegetables were seasonal and closed during the winter. The booths that would sell meat, dairy, bread and non-perishable products worked in winter months though.
These days the renovated and rebuilt market is called Women’s Market. In addition to the local produce, it is full of imported goods like anywhere else.
Exploring the city is easy. It is pleasantly walkable with many parks and gardens full of cafes and restaurants. One can venture further using the extensive public transport system.
When we first visited in 2004 there was one metro (subway) line with about 10 stops. In 2015 we were able to take the metro from the airport to the city centre in less 20 min and at a cost of about 0.50 euro. The metro now has about three lines serving 69 stations over its 75 km, and covers 5,723 km² (2,210 mi²) of urban area.
We last visited the city in 2018 which is subject of the next post. We think our next visit to be in 2022 when the pandemic is hopefully over, or there are reliable vaccines. Time will tell.
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