When we arrived in Sofia it was late in the day, we had a bit of jet lag from the overnight flight and it was raining. We took the subway to the main stop in City Centre a few blocks from our hotel. As soon as you emerge from underground you are immediately transported to another time. Not just one time... layers and layers of different points in history!
The first thing to greet you as you're exiting the subway is the medieval Church of St. Petka surrounded by ruins from the Roman city of Serdica. As you step up to street level you realize you're surrounded by a massive group of buildings. These buildings—known as the Largo—previously housed the headquarters of the Bulgarian Communist Party. The center building used to have a large red star on the top which you can now find in the Museum of Socialist Art in south Sofia.
We headed past the Largo buildings and checked into our hotel, the stunning Arena di Serdica. The hotel incorporates ruins of an early amphitheatre (3rd-4th century A.D.) built on top of an even earlier amphitheatre (2nd-3rd century A.D.) It's open to the public so you don't need to be a guest of the hotel to see them.
After a break in the rain we went out for a quick stroll down the famous pedestrian street Vitosha Boulevard, named after Vitosha mountain which you can see far off in the background. Due to the rain this was the only time the boulevard was not packed with people shopping and dining. Later visits were like finding your way through a maze of people. This time allowed for me to get a good shot of the yellow bricks seen throughout the historic centre.
Although the jet lag was really starting to hit us by this point, when we reached the end of the boulevard and saw what was a little further on, we had to check it out! The massive Socialist-era building at the other end of the park is the National Palace of Culture. Most of the building looked empty from the outside but there were a few cafes, including a literary-themed one. The steps going up to it are decorated with book spines from Bulgarian editions. See if you can spot Jane Austen and Charlotte Bronte.
Heading back towards the hotel we stopped in a small craft beer joint listed on the In Your Pocket app and tried some local mint-flavoured brews. This was one of the few places in Bulgaria we found selling craft beer. It must not be a big thing there.
And then...sleep.
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