Eastern Europe often conjures up a dour and poverty-stricken image, the perception of a distinct lack of art and culture, perhaps on account of it having been of a heavily Communist bent of mind in the past. However, in my opinion, no country that has an understanding and appreciation of beauty and strives to lift itself from the grimness of its past can be poor in culture.
When a good friend of mine heard that I intended to visit Bulgaria, she was rather horrified. “Iss se achi koi jagah nahin mili (Didn’t you find a better place)? Why would you want to waste time and money going to Eastern Europe”? she wanted to know.
Truthfully, we all have certain perceptions/expectations about places we visit, and unfortunately, Eastern Europe does seem to invite that very reaction from most people, perhaps on account of it having been of a heavily Communist bent of mind in the past. However, being in Europe already and having been to several EE countries previously, I was determined to ascertain for myself what it would be like visiting Bulgaria.
I’m one of those odd ones who likes to gauge people/places for myself rather than harbour a pre-conceived notion—and I’m glad I went with an open mind. For instance, Bucharest (Romania) is uninspiring and poor-looking, but the people are ever so friendly! Tirana (Albania) is making efforts to clean up its act; the city square is well-maintained, with no traffic and a joy for children to play in. Prague—ah! The entire capital city of the Czech Republic is like a work of Art, while Krakow (Poland) is the cleanest European city in current times, in my opinion—with pretty good chocolate too, one might add! And, indisputably, no city celebrates the joyous, festive spirit of Christmas quite like Zagreb (Croatia).
Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, actually came as quite a revelation. The city centre with the Vitosha Mountains in the foreground is rather amazing and proves a tough match to any western European city in the form of Vitosha Boulevard, a wide avenue interspersed with plentiful benches and large, colourful Easter eggs. Throughout the day, there were buskers playing on traditional instruments; since it was the Easter break, there were plenty of families and couples milling about enjoying an ice cream or a beer.
In sharp contrast to the Communist days of yore, Bulgarians now are quite religious and follow the Orthodox church. Unlike the Greek Orthodox church, which has stern and unforgiving interiors, the Bulgarian ones are glorious, with rich, glowing murals.
I was extremely blessed to have caught some of the Good Friday Mass at Alexander Nevski Cathedral, where I chanced upon an intriguing custom—after the Mass, people line up to receive a sprig of fern (symbolic of long life and good health due to its evergreen quality) from the priest and then, old and young alike, they crawl under a table in penance for their sins and then rise to kiss the large crucifix.
After Mass here, I also went to the Russian St Nicholas Church, smaller than the former, with plainer interiors, but with the most elegant, exquisite facade.
The cuisine relies heavily on pork and is a mix of Greek, Turkish and Italian influences. Pizza is quite popular (but with a thick base), as is the Greek Gyros. The Shopska salad with tomatoes, cucumber and cheese is worth a try, as is the Tarator—a cold soup with yoghurt and cucumber, perfect for the heat.
Bulgaria has its own version of the Hungarian ‘chimney cake’, while the Banitsa (a pastry filled with the local soft, salty cheese or spinach) is similar to Croatia’s Burek.
I found quite a lot of shops selling Turkish nuts—Bulgaria has its own strain of small red peanut, which is delicious—and varieties of baklava.
Locals like to shop at supermarket chains such as the Austrian Billa or German Lidl. Something that came as a complete, but very welcome surprise, is that the tap water is potable, therefore very safe to drink. This is a tremendous achievement on behalf of the city government and must be lauded.
The people are a mix of dour and friendly. I had largely good experiences, but I did notice that some people could be a little off hand.
Listening to the language was intriguing, because their “no” seems to be the same as the Dutch “neh”.
Also, there’s something that sounds suspiciously like “pehchis”, which means ‘about five minutes’, but in Hindi, it means ‘twenty-five’.
Bulgarians appear to enjoy reading, judging from the many bookstores around Vitosha Boulevard, and yes, there is an English selection available as well. Sadly, most people don’t speak English; well, some shop staff speak broken English, but it can be problematic trying to buy train or bus tickets or get any information on timetables; there’s nothing written in English either!
The bigger issue is that the euro isn’t accepted here, so one has to rely on cards or change some money into the local Bulgarian lev (roughly half the value of the euro).
On this note (sic!) I was most pleasantly taken aback to see how inexpensive everything is! For instance, a bottle of water is only 50cents (25 European cents) and a tram/train ticket is 1.60 lev (approximately 80 European cents) even from the airport to the city centre, which is almost an hour’s journey! The downside to this is, of course, that one can get rather carried away when it comes to splurging on shopping!
Before I made this trip to Sofia, I had no idea that Bulgaria was renowned for its rose variety and for the many beauty products made with the flower. Rose water, oil, face cream and soaps are some of the souvenirs you can buy. Other gift items can include the cross-stitch embroidery blouses or tablewear and the Matrenitsa dolls.
The transportation systems are reasonably well organised; the central bus, train and metro stations are all in proximity, while the city trams run with efficient frequency. There’s phone network on the metro, which isn’t there even on the London Tube! Serdica is the main metro station, from which you can switch lines. It’s more than a little weird hailing a tram though, because it stops in the middle of the road due to the lines being laid thus (clearly, the roads were broadened later at some point). Thankfully, the locals seem largely law-abiding when it comes to traffic; I did notice that most people wait obediently until the signal turns green before they cross the road.
Unfortunately, much like Zagreb during Christmas where the frequency of the transportation systems is affected due to religious holidays, so it is in Sofia. I wanted to visit the Rila Monastery and Bankya (the latter for its natural mineral thermal baths), but there’re no trains to these places and I was warned that bus service was sporadic due to the Easter holidays. I also had half a mind to do a day trip to Skopje in North Macedonia, but there’s no train service between these cities and I was worried that bus service may be similarly affected due to the holiday, so I wisely stayed put in Sofia. Three days is too much to spend in this city, but my options were limited.
As I mentioned before, there are noticeable efforts to beautify the city, which must be lauded. While parts of Sofia are undeniably drab, largely in dull browns and greys, there is much to be inspired by as well.
For instance, although there is a strong smell of urine in the underpass leading to the metro station, and I imagine it isn’t very safe at night, I didn’t, however, see any homeless people sleeping there, and there are efforts to make the place less cheerless by some striking graffiti.
Likewise, although Hristo Boulevard is in a poorer part of town, the park here is surprisingly well-maintained, and one often sees people walking their dogs here.
I found Sofia less clean than Tirana, but more vibrant than Bucharest. There are several interesting sculptures dotted throughout the city, and it’s so unexpected and delightful to find random beds of tulips as one walks through the city—why, even in Amsterdam, where tulips originate from, one’s hard put to find it unless one heads to the Keukenhof!
No country with an understanding and appreciation of beauty, striving to lift itself from the grimness of its past, can be poor in culture. And hence my contention that travelling through Eastern Europe has been much of an eye-opener.
