First time in Bulgaria! I am on a mission to see all EU member countries and two were missing on my list. The capital, Sofia, is quite impressive. Very green, with beautiful side streets shadowed by huge old trees and churches and sculptures everywhere. Not so much the spotless gentrified buildings that you find in Berlin, but charming old houses with the occasional balcony that you wouldn’t want to step on. It feels good to walk here.
Not so good are the main arteries, filled with honking masses of cars. There is often no way to cross them, they were designed so that no humans may impede the free flow of traffic jams. Pedestrians must use underpasses that ramge from depressing to collapsing.
The numerous churches are orthodox Christian, with gold everywhere and dark painted domes above. Not many benches but they still do services, with more people in the back taking pictures than people praying. At least nobody smokes there.
