East meets West

Seems somewhat appropriate that I sit here today, on Bevrijdingsdag (Liberation Day), to write about a country that only 20 years ago became "free" of communist party rule - Bulgaria. After WWII Bulgaria became a communist state and part of the eastern bloc.

We just spent the past long weekend in Sofia, the capital city of Bulgaria. We flew from Dortmund to Sofia Friday afternoon and back again on Monday afternoon. It is still pretty obvious that Sofia was once part of an eastern bloc country - with those typical ugly, run down, grey, concrete apartment buildings; but the inner city is also reasonably modern and boasts all the usual department stores and high street boutique shops you expect in any capital city. Sitting under brilliant sunny skies at one of the many outdoor cafes, watching trams trundling past, I could almost imagine I was in Melbourne!

Sofia is a city of many contrasts. Take a 15 minute tram ride out of the centre of the city and you find yourself in what almost looks like the third world - horse and carts being used as transport vehicles; toothless old ladies speaking no english selling sad handfuls of wilted flowers; filthy squat toilets; and a bus station that would be right at home in India! And yes, all that just 15 minutes out of a city centre filled with boutique shops and young women dressed as Paris Hilton wannabes, complete with oversized Dolce & Gabbana sunglasses and chihuahua under the arm - weird!

The contrast between religion and communism is also palpable in Sofia. It is a city of churches that would put Adelaide to shame! The pride of the city, and one of its foremost tourist attractions, is the Bulgarian orthodox Alexander Nevsky cathedral. Built in the neo Byzantine style it looks like a giant tiered wedding cake, complete with gold icing. Its beautifully domed roof towers above a massive cathedral that can hold up to 5,000 worshippers. Alongside this impressive cathedral can also be found a Russian orthodox church, with its typical onion-shaped domes, a mosque, a synagogue and countless other small but perfectly formed churches scattered throughout the city.

There is also plenty of evidence of Sofia's communist past on show. With that oh so popular symbol of communism - the liberating soldier with child in arms. We paid a vist to Orlov Most (the Eagles' Bridge), the monument to the soviet army, the Vasil Levsky national stadium and the Borisova gardens. Walking through the gardens we both decided that Bulgaria is yet to discover the art of wearing flipflops!! With such beautiful warm, sunny weather Jeroen and I were both wearing our favourite footwear and getting very strange looks from many of the locals! Still not really sure if we had committed some major fashion faux pas, if maybe it was rude to show "naked" feet in Bulgaria, or if everyone there associates flipflops with poverty - guess we will never know!

And as another strange contrast of the weekend we witnessed two distinctly different groups of Bulgarian society "marching" as part of the May Day rally. Black clad skinheads chanting "sieg heil" and giving the nazi salute marched through the city centre under the watchful eye of more than enough police; and then by the Alexander Nevsky cathedral a group of more traditionally clad locals wearing colourful folk costumes (some even dressed as furry looking cows!) and playing musical instruments to welcome in springtime. Was quite disturbing to hear the skinheads chanting something that still has such evil connotations and something which is actually illegal to chant in so many other European countries.

The highlight of the weekend was our visit to the magnificent Rila Monastery. The monastery is the largest and most famous in Bulgaria and lies about 120km south of Sofia in the Rila Mountains. It was founded in the 10th century by the hermit known as St. Ivan of Rila. St. Ivan previously lived in a cave, with no material possessions, not far from the monastery's current location. It really is one of the most beautiful buildings, in one of the most beautiful mountain settings, that I have ever seen. The thousands of frescoes are beautifully preserved and meant that the entire site became UNESCO world heritage back in 1983. Although the monastery lies only 120km away from Sofia, the journey by public transport took us 3 hours to get there! Travelling on a bus with what seemed like a top speed of 60kph, and driven by a chain smoking driver, we at least got to see some of the Bulgarian countryside ;-) And with the mountains still covered in snow, it was a picture perfect view.

And last but not least, a quick mention of Bulgarian cuisine. Bordering Greece and Turkey, Bulgaria also seems to share a similar taste in food. We managed to sample a few different traditional dishes - tarator, a delicious cold cucumber/yoghurt/dill soup; shopska salad, made with tomatoes, cucumber, paprika and white brine cheese; and plenty of tasty grilled meats. Dill definately seems to be the national herb, with the finely chopped green stuff sprinkled on almost every dish! Also managed to sample the local Bulgarian beer and wine :-) And with perfect summer-like weather Sofia was the perfect city for a cheap weekend away to escape the seemingly never ending grey and cool weather here in NL.

Alli xxx