The day began with an attempt to attend an "American BBQ" at the American Embassy. We were excited to eat some good ol' home cookin' and get to shop for local Bulgarian crafts. Unfortunately, even though the event was scheduled to run from 11-3, when we arrived at 1 (after a 40 minute bus ride followed by a 30 minute hike - the embassy is NOT centrally located) there was no food left! We were starving, exhausted, and more than a little disappointed. Even the building, which does not appear here because photography was not permitted, was not as impressive or grand as many of the downtown embassies. The neighborhood in which it is located, however, was really upscale. We were surprised by how nice it was, as we had come to believe all of Sofia was ugly. Turns out, just our neighborhood, which although safe and full of yuppies and pensioners, is pretty ghetto looking. (And don't you love that the apartment building under construction on the embassy block is called "The White House"?)
After hiking down and finally catching a cab, we headed for our tour, which began at Jovan the Dutch Bakery. We knew the name of the street, but not the address, and had been told Jovan had a green door. For those who saw last week's episode of HIMYM, you can imagine the humor as we searched for the green door and the sign that says "Jovan's." Incidentally, this green door was not his, but was a false alarm, two blocks up on the same street.
Now Jovan sure isn't John the Baker, but this was by far the best bakery we have found. (I hear rumor of pumpkin banitsa, a local pastry, which sounds amazing, but I haven't found it yet...) After our debacle with poor timing at the embassy, we were thrilled to find our luck had changed when Jovan was taking Easter bread fresh out of the oven and selling it still hot. After buying so many bags of goodies that our gluttony was visible to all passersby, we headed out to Onda, our closest shop to Starbucks for some coffee to wash down our treats. Spoiled as we are, we were a bit surprised at how much money we spent on coffee, since the Onda on campus sells at a discount. (One of the many perks of working at ACS!)
We walked around the central part of downtown checking out some lovely churches, some Roman ruins, and the Presidency. Our timing was perfect as we happened upon a wedding party who made for some spectacular pictures.
From there, we headed to a part of Sofia that was new for us. We saw the only mosque in the city, the Turkish baths, and the Synagogue.
We visited Halite, the food market, and found the only pedestrian street in the city.
Our tour ended at the Women's Market, which was a bizarre bazaar. Greg wouldn't let me photograph everything (like the surgical instruments for sale set up on a card table), but I was able to capture some images of the gorgeous fruits and veggies, as well as some other random available items like homemade Rakia (a brandy typically made from grapes that I hear is a lot like moonshine and supposedly cures all ills - clearly, I haven't tried such a beverage.)
Our evening ended after our first ride on the trolley public transportation, previously we had only experienced the busses. We found our way back to our starting point near the bakery to eat dinner at a Moroccan restaurant. (Where the food was so good, we ordered take out again last night.) So, the list of yummy places grows, and we have learned that to eat well, we need to eat downtown or order delivery (which usually takes 2 hours, so I have to learn to plan in advance.) We're getting good at navigating though, and we can communicate on a really basic level, so we will be great tour guides when you guys get here! We even had a really nice conversation with our taxi driver in Spangarski, as he is a student of Spanish and nostotros estudiamos Bulgarski.
On that note, manana is quite a busy day for me, so I'm going to sign off now. Hope all is well and please keep the pictures, care packages, and comments coming... My "People I love and places they've been..." wall is a work in progress and waiting for your additions!
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