Sofia, Bulgaria was a great way to get back into the flow of travel after the craziness that was Greece. Being able to not only sightsee but also learn more about Bulgaria through their food was a great way to experience the city.
After finally getting everything sorted out in Greece, I booked a Friday morning bus to Sofia, Bulgaria. The bus experience was very pleasant; it was one of the best bus rides I have been on. It started with a very friendly bus driver who didn’t charge €1 to stow my bag under the bus, something that is very common in the Balkans, then I found that there were very few people on the bus, and right before we left the bus driver handed out free water bottles to everyone. After the pleasant start to my bus ride, the rest of the ride went smoothly as well. By the time I got to Sofia and checked into my hostel it was evening, so I headed out to find dinner and wandered around the area where I was staying.
On my first full day in Sofia my first task was to head to the train station to buy a ticket to my next destination. This ended up taking a lot longer than planned. By the time I was done I missed the walking tour I had planned to take. I ended up finding lunch and then aimlessly wandering around the city taking in the different sights for the rest of the day. The next day I went on a free walking tour of Sofia where I was able to learn more about the city's history and see the sights of the city. While in Sofia, most of the days it rained for at least part of the day, so I ended up having a very slow and relaxed time while avoiding the rain.
Even though it was raining for a lot of my time in Sofia, I was able to take advantage of the times when it wasn’t raining. On Monday, the rain held off and I was able to take a free food tour that I found on Guru Walks, a website where you can find free tours in different cities. Food tours are great, however they tend to be quite pricey, so when I found this free tour on Guru Walks it seemed too good to be true, but the reviews were great so I gave it a try. The tour ended up being awesome, I was able to try a bunch of different foods and learn more about Bulgaria through their food and it really was free, at the end you just tip what you feel is appropriate.
The first food I tried was a cold cucumber yogurt soup called Tarator. This soup was made with yogurt that was thinned out to make it more of a liquid, cucumbers, dill, walnuts, garlic, and more. It was quite refreshing and felt very light. It helped that the yogurt was thinned out with water so it was easy to eat and still had a soup consistency. At this stop I was able to learn more about Bulgarian yogurt and how important it is in a Bulgarian’s diet and how garlic is added in almost everything. After the soup, the next stop was a local wine shop that made their wines using Bulgarian grown grapes and then the third stop was at a burger shop that made delicious burgers. The fourth stop was at a pastry shop that makes local desserts. I was able to try Mekitsa, which is a fried dough topped with powdered sugar; it was similar to a beignet from New Orleans. What made this shop special was that even though there are patisseries all over Sofia it is the only patisserie left in the city that makes Mekitsa. On the second to last stop we went to a restaurant that makes healthy, more current style foods and that is only open for limited times during the day. At this stop I was able to try a dish that was made with chickpeas, carrots, leeks, tomatoes, garlic and other spices. It wasn’t a traditional Bulgarian dish but it was still delicious. For the final stop, the tour went to a traditional style Bulgarian restaurant that was decorated to look like what Bulgarian homes and cellars used to look. At this restaurant we tasted three different spreads that were put on bread and were served with a Bulgarian fortified wine. The first of the spreads was a tomato and pepper spread that was smooth and heavier on the tomato. Second was a cheese spread made with buffalo and goat cheese and then topped with sumac, and the final was another tomato and pepper spread but this one was heavier on the peppers and garlic and was chunkier than the first.
Overall the food tour was a lot of fun and I was very impressed by the amount of foods I was able to try on a free walking tour. After the tour I continued to walk around the city and enjoy the beautiful crisp fall weather and I found a park to read in and enjoy the sun. Before I knew it my time in Bulgaria was over. My time here passed by super fast, made faster as I tried to stay dry in the rain. On my final day I wandered around the city one last time before stopping to get groceries for my overnight train.
"I'm never happier than when I'm alone in a foreign city; it is as if I have become invisible."
- Storm Jameson
Is this time of year typically rainy? Or did you just happen to hit rain? What is your next stop?