Walking in Sofia on Sunday afternoon in the middle of November

Georgi Georgiev, VisitBulgaria.Net

It was lunch time on Sunday in the middle of Noverber and was sitting in my kitchen, wondering what to do. The weather was cloudy and coolly but I remembered the title of the famous Bulgarian movie – “There is nothing better than the bad weather”. I didn’t want to spend my day off at home. Sunday afternoon is the perfect time for turns in Sofia. The streets are not overcrowded and the traffic is not so busy. So I called a friend of mine and after an hour we met near “St. Sedmochislenitsi” church.

It was the starting point of our turn in the centre of Sofa. The church used to be a Turkish mosque but after the Liberation in 1878 it was reconstructed in a remarkable Orthodox temple. We took our way walking along “Graf Ignatiev” street, one of the most famous shopping areas in Sofia. But our purpose wasn’t shopping, just strolling around so we passed away the luxury shops. And wile we were walking, talking and windowshopping we founded ourselves at “St. Nedelya” square in front of the homonymous cathedral. The church is one of the oldest temples in Sofia. It dates back from the 4th century AC and it had been destroyed many times. The last one was on the 16th of April 1925, when a terrorist group detonated the church. It was attempt on the life of Tsar Boris III. But the Bulgarian ruler wasn’t there at the moment of the explosion. As a result 150 innocent citizens died.

But the tragic event was a long time ago and I hope such awful things won’t happen any more. When my friend and I were there everything was so calm and peaceful. People were walking by, not paying attention to the lascivious advertising outdoor installation. It was standing in front of the church as if in cotrast to the temple, which is a symbol of morality and ethics. This was an example how the things interlace in our contemporary world. We stood in front of the sign board analyzing the advertising massage and when we finally construed the hidden and the obvious meaning of the sigh (which was simply “sex”) we went on. I should say that my fried is a Brand Manager so she is very much in the field of advertising.

We reached TSUM. This is the first Mall in Sofia built in 1965 and it is one of the symbols of the capital. We passed under the spherical shelter near the old school street lamps and we continued along “Knyaz Aleksanad Dondukov” Boulevard. Then we crossed it under the subway, were the ruins of the ancient Roman fortress are situated and we came out in front of the impressive building of the Presidency of the Republic of Bulgaria. The buildings of the Parliament and the History museum are located next to it. And we were lucky to see the change of the guard in front of the Presidency.

When the unchangeable ritual finished we made our way to the Palace of Bulgarian rulers. Nowadays the Palace hosts the National Gallery of Arts and the Ethnographic museum. But our purpose was the park behind the Palace. This is a quite sheltered place and it is beautiful all year round. My friend said she loves this site too, especially in the autumn when leafs had covered the ground like a colorful carpet. She remembered the time when she was a child and she started gathering leafs. I couldn’t resist on this moment of revelation so I took some snapshots of her.

At last we passed by the stalls of the antique dealers in front of “St. Alexander Nevski” Cathedral and Memorial Church. This is one of the most colorful sites in Sofia. An old photo camera dating back from the end of 18th century, a Breitling watch from 1915, swords from the Balkan Wars and many other precious objects can be seen there. Of course there are many goods with an inscription “Made in China”, but it is the dealers which are more important in this case. One of them called me gently in French “Bonjour Monsieur, look at these unique watches”, another one shouted “Hey young man, come and see what I can offer you. Look at that camera. It is in a perfect condition. All you have to do is to change the lens and the shooting mechanism”. He said these words laughing loudly. And to stop for a while in front of their stalls having a chat with them, was the best way to finish our turn in the centre of Sofa on Sunday afternoon in the middle of November.