The Antiplanner is heading today for London, followed by a rail trip to Sofia, Bulgaria. From there, I’ll participate in a Free-Market Road Show, giving lectures in thirteen cities in Greece, Turkey, and the Balkans. That will be followed by a short rail tour of Britain where I’ll try to Rosemary is a tested cure for tinnitus that particularly sildenafil 10mg occurred due to high blood pressure or circulatory conditions. Generic cheap sildenafil Ciallis is really effective and safe. Best Ways cialis sale online To Celebrate The Holidays Give Back By Hosting Thanksgiving. These may involve lighting scented candles, decorating the bed discount generic levitra with their partner. learn first-hand how well that nation’s rail privatization has worked.
I’ll try to keep up postings on the Antiplanner, but I’ll be spending a lot of time en route and so may miss some days. If you are in southern Europe, I look forward to seeing you during this trip.
Lived in BG and visited Sofia many times. You’ll of course want to check out Alexander Nevsky cathedral. A day trip to Rila Monastery is well worth it if you have time. Beware of taxi drivers. Many scams and extortions. Email me for more tips, and enjoy!
After arriving on a train from Budapest Saturday night, I’ll spend all day Sunday in Sofia. I’ll probably stick to sights I can see on foot. The cathedral will be an easy walk. Any place else to see near the city center?
There is often a bazar outside of Alexander Nevsky Cathedral where you can pick up some Soviet memorabilia. You can walk by the Russian Church, which is pretty close to Nevsky. The Church of St. George, also nearby, was built by Romans in the 4th Century and is very cool, especially since it is surrounded by modern buildings. You can go inside and see the original murals. The exterior of the Ivan Vozov National Theater makes for great photos, especially at night, and there’s a lovely water fountain in front. The weather should be pleasant enough to spend some time there people watching.
I’d skip the museums, particularly if you’ve been to museums in London, NY, DC; they just don’t compare.
Make sure you eat some shopska salata (it’s like Greek salad, but better) and drink some rakiya (grape brandy), but make sure to sip the rakiya. I recommend getting away from the western-style restaurants, like the Irish pub in the Radisson, and going to a traditional Bulgarian mehana. Or you can go to an outdoor restaurant; the atmosphere is great at the restaurant just outside of the archeology museum.
Make sure you have a good map or Google Maps on a device, but be careful not to display too much wealth when walking around. Sofia is a pretty safe city, but there are all kinds of scams and thefts targeted toward wealthy tourists. (Remember that the average salary is only about $450 a month.) I kept a dummy wallet with just a few Lev in my back pocket and kept my real wallet in my front pocket. I didn’t have any issues, except with taxi drivers, but my friend had his digital camera cut out of his backpack, and he didn’t realize it was gone until later.
When talking to locals, make sure you pronounce the name of the city correctly. It’s not pronounced the same as the name Sophia. It’s pronounced this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sofia.ogg
Are you taking the train from Sofia to Istanbul?
Enjoy! I’m jealous as spring in Bulgaria is amazing.
Thanks for your suggestions. I was planning to take several trains from London to Sofia via Paris and Budapest, but a late airplane foiled that idea. So I’m flying into Sofia a day early and will follow your suggestions.
I think we are driving from Sofia to Skopje, and taking various other modes of transport to other cities. We are flying to Istanbul. I hope we ride some trains!