Tuesday, February 6
The first order of business was lunch. The area around the Banya Bashi Mosque / Sofia Synagogue has a lot of ethic restaurants so we returned there in search of a highly recommended Turkish restaurant.
As usual the restaurant displayed their food buffet style. One waitress, who spoke rudimentary English, tried to explain what the items were. We wound up choosing a couple of things that looked good. We each chose a different rice to accompany our choice.
Both dishes were a cacophony of meat and vegetables in a thin gravy. Mine was lamb; Deborah’s was beef. They were simply ok. Deborah’s rice turned out to be some sort of grain, similar to couscous, that was heavily seasoned. It was very good. My rice appeared to be regular short grain white rice. It had several seasonings. One was a purple looking spice we later learned was sumac. It was the best dish we’ve eaten since we’ve been here. We’ll definitely go back for another serving before we leave.
After lunch we visited the oldest building in Sofia dating back to the fourth century: The Church of Saint George Rotunda. The building was constructed by the Romans during the time when Emperor Constantine often visited the city. The small church is round and has a dome that is covered in several layers of frescos dating from the tenth through 14th centuries. Several layers can still be seen today. The church was also a common meeting place during the Serdika Ecumenical Council, which was a follow up to the Council of Trent. No photography was permitted.
It can be hard to find the church. During the Soviet era religion was outlawed and many places of worship were repurposed or destroyed. They were, however, reluctant to destroy an ancient artifact of such historic and religious significance fearing a reaction from the populace so they hid it by surrounding it on four sides with large, administrative buildings. Inside the horseshoe shaped interior of the complex you the church and the ruins of Roman buildings dating from the third century.
(The Church of Saint George Rotunda surrounded by Government Buildings)
The next stop was Saint Sveta Petka of the Saddlers. This is a very small, ancient church that is below present day street level. The first level dates from the fourth century and the second level dates from the 11th century. Adjacent to the church you can find ruins dating from the time of Emperor Constantine.
(Saint Sveta Petra of the Saddlers Main Alter)
Afterwards we visited the Russian Church “Sveti Nikolay Mirlikiiski”. The church was built on the site of a Mosque after the liberation from the Ottoman Empire and is the official church of the Russian Embassy. It’s a very pretty church painted a beautiful green with several golden onion domes. The interior of this church was well preserved. It had some of the best frescos we’ve seen since we’ve been here. No photography was permitted.
(Russian Church Sveti Nikolay Mirlikiiski)
On our way home we found a lovely long pedestrian way lined with upscale shops and nice restaurants. We stopped and had cappuccino and dessert in one of the cafes. We’re planning to go back and explore this area in detail on another day.
Distance walked: 6.8 miles
Wednesday, February 7
Today we visited the National Art Gallery. The Gallery is housed in a large building that used to serve as the palace of the king. Only the work of Bulgarian artists is on display.
Much of the work on the first floor is avant garde. A few pieces were performance art that was captured on film. The second floor contained pieces primarily from the early to mid 20th century as well as a small, seasonal exhibit of landscapes. Many of the pieces honored Ivan Vazov, who is considered the father of Bulgarian literature. There was also a large collection of graphic art from children’s storybooks.
(“Old Man” by Ivan Mrkvicha. A gift for Ivan Vazov’s First Jubilee.)
The gift shop, in addition to the usual types of items, contained a number of Bulgarian made confections, clothing and food stuffs. We purchased some “Turkish Delight” (wonderful firm, chewy cubes of sugar and corn starch flavored with nuts and rose water), some white and brown chocolates flavored with rose water, some honey and a jar of exotic spices. We can’t quite figure out exactly what is in the spice mixture but it is smells and tastes wonderful. We’ve been putting it on everything.
Nearby there was a Starbucks. We checked out the local prices and sampled the coffee of the month. Generally coffee was about half the price found in New York City.
Next we wended our way to a store called, “Gifted Urban Culture Hub”. It’s a studio for local artists and a gallery of their work. All items are for sale. They also have lockers where you can store your luggage for the day.
On the way home we walked through the upscale shopping district once again. We found a shop selling nuts and dried fruits. These shops can be found all over the city; they are very popular.
When you walk into the shop the smell of roasting nuts was overwhelming. We never wanted to leave. We finally settled on some roasted walnuts and roasted pecans. We also purchased some dried figs. All were fabulously delicious.
Distance walked: 5.2 miles
Thursday, February 8
I played tennis! I went back to the club I had found and hit with one of their pros for an hour. I was terrible. My timing was way off. While collecting some balls at the net I made the comment that my footwork was poor and the coach replied, “Yes, you need more feet”. I couldn’t agree more.
I know from previous experience that a layoff of just two weeks really affected my game. I have’t played in over four months. I plan to go back a few times and see if I can get back up to speed. Besides, it’s still a lot of fun and great exercise.
The club is about 2.5 miles walking distance from the apartment so I decided to try the subway system. There is a metro station within a five minute walk of the apartment. Three stops later, and another five minute walk, I was at the club. The cost was about $1.00 each way; for the equivalent of $2.50 you can ride all day. The entire system is fairly new and seems clean and efficient. Currently Sofia has two subway lines. Because the city is growing so fast they are planning on building two more.
Distance walked: 3.2 miles
Friday, February 9
For just the third time Sofia hosted an annual ATP 250 level tennis tournament called the “Sofia Open”. Today was the quarterfinals and we had tickets. The schedule called for four singles matches and one doubles match. Since there were no metro stations near the venue we left at 10:00 am. The first match was scheduled for noon and we didn’t want to be late. The walking distance was a little over two miles.
Grigor Dmitrov, who is from Bulgaria and is currently ranked number three in the world, usually plays in the tournament. He is a local celebrity. He was scheduled to play but pulled out because of injury. Since it’s customary to have at least one big name player in these smaller tournaments the organizers coaxed Stan Wawrinka to play. Stan is returning to the tour after a half year layoff due to knee surgery. He is normally ranked in the top five but because of his time off he is currently ranked 15.
We arrived at the stadium around 11:30 am. There was very little activity. We weren’t even sure it was open. Inside, with only 30 minutes until the first match, nothing was in readiness. There were no food stands open, no clothing for sale, no vendors selling tennis paraphernalia – nothing except a few popcorn stands. We sat in our assigned seats and watched a few of the players warming up. At 11:45 am they left the court and at noon the first match began. We saw Giles Muller, a perennial star currently ranked 28, play Marius Copil. The 93rd ranked player won.
It was time for lunch. We figured that everything would be setup by now. We were right and we were wrong! Everything was setup – the problem was that there was not much of anything. The only food available were some pre-made sandwiches. They also had drinks, candy bars and energy bars. There were no clothing vendors and no one was selling Sofia Open branded items. They did have small booths that were selling cups of steamed corn kernels, which seemed very popular. We split a sandwich and tried the corn. It was not very satisfying.
(Waiting for Stan)
Then we saw Marcos Baghdatis, a perennial star currently ranked 123, play Jozef Kovalik. The 187th ranked player won. The second seeded doubles team then played the third seeded team. The second seeded team won in a blowout. We had to wait about an hour before the main attraction: Stan Wawrinka vs. 67th ranked Victor Troiki.
While waiting we went in search of some decent food. There was none to be found. We ate some power bars and killed time by walking around the venue a few times. Stan was going to be worth waiting for. Many people brought their own food. Obviously they knew something we didn’t.
Stan Wawrinka didn’t disappoint. Victor Troiki has been having a very good year but Stan was in a different class. He won the first set 6-1. The second set was more of a contest but Stan won in a tie-breaker.
At the end of the match we had been in the stadium for over seven hours and \ still had a long walk home so we decided to skip the last match. We’d never heard of the last two players and didn’t think we’d miss much.
Distance walked: 8.8 miles
Saturday, February 10
The forecast was for freezing rain and snow all weekend so we decided to hit the grocery store early in anticipation of spending the weekend indoors. The deli counter has some wonderful prepared foods that we’ve been enjoying. This time we bought roast chicken parts, a warm potato concoction made with cheese, sour yogurt and pork and some sausages.
The rain started late in the afternoon and the snow started in the evening. So far, there have been no significant accumulations. We’re keeping our fingers crossed. We really don’t have winter weather clothing.
We’ll be eating junk food and watching the Olympics this weekend. PyeongChang is only seven hours ahead of us. We can watch in realtime.
Distance walked: 1.4 miles