Flight from Sofia to Bucharest

Flight from Sofia to Bucharest takes just over an hour. Definitely spent more time driving from hotel to SOF and from OTP to next hotel than I spent in the air. After a mini scramble in the SOF duty free to use up my last BGN Lev notes I stopped for a coffee and breakfast (not pictured) and took pictures of the food trucks (not tested).

My first flight on Tarom airlines, so I got tarmac pics before departure and after arrival.

And then immediately upon arrival I learned that Black Friday is also a thing in Romania.

Scenes from Sofia, Bulgaria - Part 5 (of 5)

After a refresh / rest / quick email check back at the hotel it was time for one last spin through the city to get a sense of the evening vibe - such as it might be on a Monday night in November. Once again I went out and down Vitosha Boulevard. Once again I took zero pictures. Not sure why. Perhaps the thinking was it's easy enough to find a million fotos and videos online. Regardless, the restaurants were open, with their mostly-encolsed little dining annexes lining the pedestrian thoroughfare. Vibe was subdued, but people were out. Lights were lit. Nice walk. But most of my time was spent checking out the east / west streets that extend from the spine of Vitosha. Someone once commented to me that in Manhattan the the places on the east / west streets are always a bit more interesting than the places on the avenues. From my experience that tracks generally, if not absolutely. Maybe Happy Bar & Grill would be the exception.

But as I got into the sidestreets off Vitosha I did see that they had their share of cozy-looking places that seemed worth exploring if I were staying longer.

Scenes from Sofia, Bulgaria - Part 3

After passing by the Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky I continued east, wanting to check out the area around Doctor's Garden. Seemed like a nice little pocket of integrated residential / entertainment that is close to the center but separate enough to feel like you had a buffer between the main busy-ness of the center. Subway stop on the SE corner, tram stop on the NE corner - apparently well-connected to everything by both public transport and by foot.

Scenes from Sofia, Bulgaria - Part 2

After checking out the first batch of central sights I started aiming myself in the general direction of the Cathedral of St. Alexander Nevsky. I took a route through the streets east of the Central Mosque, roughly what you see here:

The area brought to mind my first visit to Buenos Aires in 2005, walking around parts of the Palermo neighborhood. Could be just vague similarities due to seasonality (was there during the fall). But the vibe and streetscape felt similar in some ways, too. Obvious notes of creativity in how the shops and cafes presented themselves. Indie aesthetic. Pockets of under/undeveloped lots. Street art. To me it seemed like it would be a cool and interesting place to live (or at least spend a couple of weeks to fully check it all out).

I grabbed a decent café americano at this place for a reasonable price. Asked the barista if the local neighborhood had a name. Maybe that's my bias as every subsection of Chicago has its local name. And la CDMX has something like 2000 colonias with their individual names (Barrio Santa Catarina, Hipodomo Condesa, Colonia Del Valle Centro, etc., etc.). But the young woman at the coffee shop gave me a blank look and said it's just the center. (Looking it up now and seeing that the coffee shop's name translates to Galleta Bakery and Cafe. Maybe that's what drew me in, as 'galleta' is spanish for cookie.)

I continued strolling around, meandering a bit until I did reach the Cathedral, which does indeed cut an impressive figure up close.

Scenes from Sofia, Bugaria - Part 1

Arriving into Sofia was a bit of a grind. I didn't know what to expect, but the traffic coming in from the east side was heavy. Makes some sense as both the airport and the train station are out there. The seasonal light conditions didn't make things any easier. It was mid November, around midday, and the sun glare was intense. Unfamiliar surroundings in general, unfavorable lighting, and a tram running right down the middle of a snug 5-lane boulevard (Todor Alexandrov, I believe) and it was a little tense trying to figure out where to park as I approached Hotel Central Sofia (okay location for convenience, not much for charm; and my room was stuffy and felt a bit sad overall). The parking options in Sofia seem difficult in general and approaching the hidden garage entrance of Hotel Central Sofia in those traffic conditions was impossible. I made a few turns trying to find a spot by instinct and luck and wound up in the lot of nearby Hotel Anel. A security guard who fortunately spoke english told me the lot was mainly for hotel guests, but I would probably be okay as long as I was fine paying something like $20/hr (!). That seemed aggressive, but I needed to unload and regroup, so I left the car there happy to be done with the driving for a bit.

The reception / lobby area of the hotel was fine. Small, basic, trying a little bit to be friendly. Then I popped up to room 703 and saw that the 1970s brown theme carried through every detail.

Looking at the pictures now the room seems fine. But there was really limited ventilation and the air felt heavy with something. Heat from the sun baking through the window. Maybe the faint feeling that the room had been smoked in heavily for decades, even if it had been smoke-free in recent years. It was like opening up an attic above a mothball factory or something. Takes the energy out of you. Not a huge matter, though, since the idea was to immediately get out and start walking around the city to see the sights and get a lay of the land.

So I started east along Aleksandar Stamboliyski, noting the mix of residential and retail, with some recognizable brands and local shops. Also snapped a shot of a Black Friday sign. Saw more of these than I expected throughout both Bulgaria and Romania.

Once I got to the Happy Bar & Grill it was time to turn north to see some of the ruins of Serdika, the Central Mosque, and the Regional History Museum.

Note the Chupa Chups billboard off in the distance, juxtaposed with the Roman ruins. Also the "Nuts BG" stall.

It was a beautiful fall day and just getting started.