One of the first Eastern European cities that I visited was Sofia, Bulgaria. This was during my biggest year of travel: 2018, and this was the start of my appreciation for Eastern Europe, as I have since been to Poland, the Baltics, Romania and Russia. I didn't know of anyone who had visited Sofia at the time, but it looked beautiful and I was keen to get out of my comfort zone and explore a region that I didn't know a lot about. My dad was keen for a trip too so off we headed.
I was left in charge of booking the accommodation, and I was keen to change my family's poor view of Airbnb, I booked a stay in the city centre. What I hadn't realised however was that the stay wasn't the entire listing so the bathroom and living room were in fact shared with the host, Gabriela. To this day, Gabriela is still a popular reference in our anecdotes as although she was extremely lovely and barely in the apartment, staying in a shared apartment definitely didn't improve my dad's perception of Airbnb (and I have not since been allowed to book Airbnbs for any family trips). Regardless, Gabriela was very helpful and the apartment was well-located so we could walk everywhere with ease.
Aside from Mostar, Sofia is the most unexpectedly beautiful city I've visited. I went in with very little knowledge about Bulgaria but Sofia was gorgeous, with scenic landscapes and stunning architecture. My favourite building was without a doubt St. Alexander Nevski Cathedral (see the leftmost picture above), which is a Russian Orthodox cathedral (nowadays one of my favourite types of landmark), however I was very impressed by the Church of Saint Nicholas too (see the central picture above), with its golden domes and scenic gardens.
At this point in my life, I had the desire to visit absolutely everything that a city had to offer as soon as possible (when travelling with family) and I remember walking around the whole city one day in order to see all of the main landmarks and attractions, and then (unexpectedly) passing out at 4pm from exhaustion - it was around this time that I learnt that not everything had to be crammed into one day.
Other must-see attractions include the National Palace of Culture for the surrounding fountains and flowers, Vitosha Boulevard, which is the main street boasting various restaurants and cafés with views of mountains in the distance, the gorgeous National Theatre, and Borisova Gradina, a large park in the middle of the city which features a variety of monuments and trails, where locals seemed to relax and have fun during the day.
Something neither my dad nor I had expected was the extent to which we enjoyed the food - neither of us are picky eaters but because we had no notion of what dishes and foods were customary in Bulgaria, we weren't expecting to like it as much as we did. I couldn't tell you what we ate as neither of us read or speak Bulgarian so we'd often just point to dishes and hope for the best (and let it be known that we were very pleased with the food in Sofia).
Although we were only in Sofia for a few days, I regard it highly and recommend visiting for the stunning architecture, the delicious cuisine, and the rich history!
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