On my flight from Sofia back to London, I am writing this article with the intention of reminding myself of the wonderful three days I spent in the Bulgarian capital. I chose Sofia for my three-day vacation because it is the hometown of my friend Dr Anna Yankova, with whom I have previously done an interview on this blog. I went on the trip with my Sara, who, like me, was very much looking forward to our holidays in that, until recently, unknown city.
Considering that Anna is also currently in Sofia, we met her on the first day. Despite the difficulties in movement, because Anna is in a wheelchair, she took us through part of her city and showed us beautiful buildings such as the Palace – National Art Gallery, Ivan Vazov National Theatre, the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, and also her primary and secondary school. After the walk, we sat down in a wonderful restaurant near the National Art Gallery. Lunch was spent in friendly conversation, which, as always with Anna, was full of laughter. My Sara told me later, "Anna is easy to talk to." After lunch, Anna took us on another wonderful walk to a pastry shop where we ate cakes and drank coffee. The meeting ended with a lot of warm emotions, and I know that all three of us will remember that meeting.
The second day Sara and I decided to see the Amadis Galski opera in the Opera and Ballet Sofia, another wonderfully memorable experience.
Sofia is full of excellent restaurants with delightful food. Considering that I am Croatian, I was surprised to find that I thought some Bulgarian food, such as for example their tasty salads, were even better than Croatian salads. Meat, especially beef, is exceptionally prepared, and I don't remember ever eating more deliciously prepared beef. In Sofia, you can find many pastry shops, to the delight of Sara and myself as we both have a sweet tooth.
Sofia has one long street in the very centre, which is a pedestrian zone and is full of cafes and restaurants. It is wonderful to walk along, sit and enjoy coffee or hot chocolate. The vast majority of young Bulgarian people speak English fluently. My wish was for us to communicate in Croatian and Bulgarian, but many people, although not all, switch to English as soon as they hear that you don't speak Bulgarian. The architecture in Sofia city centre is like that in Zagreb, with the exception of the church buildings, which is not surprising since they are Orthodox churches. The churches are wonderful, mystical both outside and inside, and they are decorated with frescoes on the walls, without the sculptures and statues characteristic of Catholic churches.
Sofia is a very beautiful and pleasant city, and I would recommend a visit to this city to all my dear friends, readers of this blog.
Kristina
Saturday, October 21st, 2023
Sa svojom kćeri u šetnji Sofijom
Na svom letu iz Sofje za London pišem ovaj članak sa namjerom da se podsjetim na prekrasna tri dana koja sam provela u bugarskom glavnom gradu. Motivaciju za izbor Sofije za trodnevni odmor našla sam u tome što je to rodni grad moje prijateljice Dr Anne Yankove sa kojom sam već napravila interviju na ovom blogu. Na put sam išla sa mojom Sarom koja se kao i ja jako veselila našim praznicima u tom za nas do nedavno nepoznatom gradu.
Obzirom da je i Anna trenutno u Sofiji odmah prvi dan smo se našle sa njom. Usprkos teškoćama u kretanju, jer Anna je u invalidskim kolicima, provela nas je dijelom svojeg grada i pokazala nam prekrasne građevine kao što su Nacionalna Galerija, Naradno kazalište Ivan Vazov, katedrala Alexander Nevsky, a i svoju osnovnu školu i gimnaziju. Nakon šetnje sjele smo u jedan krasan restoran u blizini Nacionalne galerije. Ručak je protekao u prijateljskom razgovoru koji je kao uvijek sa Annom pun smijeha. Moja je Sara rekla “Lako je sa Annom razgovarati.” Anna nas je nakon ručka vodila još jednom krasnom šetnjom do slastičarne u kojoj smo jele kolače i popile kavu. Sastanak je završio sa puno toplih emocija i ja znam da ćemo sve tri taj susret pamtiti.
Drugi dan Sara i ja smo odlučile otići u kazalište i pogledati operu Amadis Galski u Opera i balet – Sofia, još jedan doživljaj za pamćenje iz Sofije.
Inače Sofija obiluje odličnim restoranima sa izvrsnom hranom. Obzirom da sam ja Hrvatica iznenadilo me da je neka bugarska hrana, kao što su na primjer salate, bolja od hrvatske. Meso, posebno govedina, su izvaredno ukusno pripremljeni i ne sjećam se da sam ikada jela ukusnije pripremljeno goveđe meso. U Sofiji se mogu naći i brojne slastičarne na veselje i mene i moje Sare jer smo obije sladokusci.
Sofija ima jednu dugu ulicu u samom centru koja je pješačka zona i sva je puna kafića i restorana. Divno je po njoj šetati, sjediti i uživati u kavi ili toploj čokoladi. Bugari su nama bili ljubazni i velika većina mladih ljudi tečno priča engleski. Moja je želja bila da se sporazumijevamo na hrvatskom i bugarskom, ali mnogi ljudi, iako ne svi, čim čuju da ne pričate bugarski pređu na engleski. Arhitektura je u samom centru Sofije slična onoj u Zagrebu, sa iznimkom crkvenih građevina što ne iznenađuje jer se radi o pravoslavnim crkvama. Crkve su divne, mistične i izvana i iznutra, a ukrašene su freskama na zidovima, bez skulputra i kipova karakterističnih za katoličke crkve.
Sofija je jako lijep i ugodan grad i posjet tom gradu bi preporučila svim dragim prijateljima, čitaocima ovog bloga.
Kristina
Subota, 21. listopada 2023.
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