Day 4 - Sofia to Skopje: May 27, 2012

On our last day we visited Sofia's triangle of three religions: Jewish, Islamic, Orthodox Christian.

We went to the Jewish Synagogue that was closed yesterday.  It was also closed today. The Christian guard told us that it was a significant day in the Jewish faith; the reading of the Torah began last night and would continue for 24 hours. The exterior architecture is Moorish style.  Inside there is supposed to be a 2,000 kilo (4,400 lbs) chandelier. The inside can hold 1,300 people making it one of the largest synagogues in Europe.  The structure was completed in 1909.

The Banya Bashi Mosque (1576) is the only Muslim place of worship in Sofia that still serves that purpose.  All the other old mosques now serve as museums or in some other capacity.  The interior is not spectacular but it has been recently renovated with new Turkish tiles.  Behind the mosque is the site of the former mineral baths (banya).  They have been closed since 1986 and undergoing a slow renovation.

The last point of this religious triangle is Church of Sveta Nedelya.  A church has been on this site since at least the 10th century.  The current structure was rebuilt after a bomb blast destroyed most of the building in 1925.

We also happened upon the 13th century Church of Sveti Petka located in an underground shopping mall.  Petka Paraskeva was a 3rd century Christian girl from Asia Minor who was martyred during Emperor Diocletian's reign.  Diocletian created a lot of martyrs.  The entrance is through the tomb.

Monument to Sveta Sofia

The monument to Sveta Sofia (Holy Wisdom) stands on the spot once occupied by the sculpture of Lenin.  St. Sofia was erected in 2000.  She holds a laurel wreath (symbol of blessing) and an owl (representing knowledge) perches on her shoulder.

We had no problems re-entering Macedonia; we arrived in Skopje at 4:00 pm, unpacked, and packed Dan's suitcase to go to Washington DC.  He made a reservation for a taxi to pick him up at 2:45 a.m.  His mission is to pick up his work permit at the Macedonian Embassy in Washington DC.  We'll see.

Day 3 - Sofia: May 26, 2012

More rain but we planned to see some museums today so it didn't really matter what the weather was like.  The art gallery at the National Museum in the former Presidential Palace is closed for renovations.  Our second museum attempt was at the National Gallery of Foreign Art.  We spent quite a bit of time in this museum and enjoyed the collection.  On the second floor we found a group of young children with crayons copying the work of master painters.  One little girl was so immersed in her drawing, that she didn't want to quit when the rest of her group was leaving.  Her drawing was very good and very much like the original.  This is a children's art activity that takes place each Saturday morning.

Back on the street, it was still raining, but the women who sell handicrafts wrapped themselves and their products in plastic and were sticking it out.

The changing of the guard at the Presidential Palace wasn't effected by the weather, either.

Sveti Georgi and 6th century foundations surrounded by the Presidential Palace and the Sheraton Hotel

A well positioned panhandler and his dog

Dress shops in Sofia

Sofia Street Car

For dinner we ate a wonderful dinner at the Brasserie Deja Vu, Ul. Aksakov 15A.  We didn't plan to eat here, but when our first choice was closed, we wandered a little and found this small restaurant.  I had trout with a green cilantro type salsa.  As a starter we shared salad and a sauteed goose liver on apples sprinkled with figs--so good.  The total cost for a small bottle of wine, salad, appetizer, two mains, water was less than $40.

Day 2 - Rila Monastery to Sofia: May 25, 2012

We woke to a drizzle of rain today and wandered downstairs for our breakfast of french toast with strawberry jam, sliced ham, cheeses, orange juice and coffee.  Then, we packed up and returned to Rila Monastery to see the inside of the cathedral and visit the museum.

There were a lot more people present this time.  We were glad that we had taken most of our photographs yesterday.  The interior of the cathedral was every bit as stunning and fresco covered at the outside porches.  Every inch was covered with darkening frescos.  The iconostasis was at least three stories high and made of carved walnut covered with gold leaf.  No photos allowed of the inside.

Since we had seen so much artistry from the Samokov school of icon painters, we decided to take a detour to see the town of Samokov on our way to Sofia.  Our first stop was the Bairakli Mosque.  The building was in the National Revival period style and the entry porch greets visitors with trompe-l'oeil murals.  Sadly the mosque, now a museum, was not open.  Peeking in the windows, we could see that this style of lovely murals covered the interior as well.

The History Museum was open and like last night's dinner, it was also a surprise.  The second floor held a collection of beautiful icons painted by the founding artists of the Samokov School of Icon Painting.

Archangel Michael
by Hristo Dimitrov, 1813

Archangel Michael

John the Baptist by Zachari Zograph, 1852

Back on the road we headed toward Sofia.  Along the way we saw people selling cherries.  My taste test found them not quite ripe, but the farmers were dealing with rainy conditions and probably picked them early.  Samokov was formerly an industrial town.  Now it is the central potato growing region.  Heaping bags of red potatoes and yellow potatoes for sale lined the roadways.  

We arrived in Sofia, finally, and checked into the Grand Hotel Sofia in the center.  We were meeting one of Dan's colleagues for dinner at 7:30 so we had a few hours to walk around and see the nearby sights of Sofia.  

The Neo-Classic National Theater

Russian Church (1914)

Backside of Aleksander Nevsky Memorial Church (built 1882-1924)

Interior of Aleksander Nevsky Church

During our few hours in Sofia, we kept seeing cars decorated with balloons blowing their horns and racing down the streets.  We also saw limos, hummers, a Rolls Royce, hummer limos, tow trucks, exotic sports cars all decorated with balloons and filled with teenagers.

In front of the very somber Aleksander Nevsky church, a party was going on.  Girls were dressed in eye-catchingly fabulous or bizarre outfits.  Roma musicians were drumming and young couples were dancing to the beat of the drums.  

This is high-school graduation--Sofia style.  Girls wear fantastic dresses, paparazzi, us, family members were everywhere taking photos of kids celebrating.  At each large hotel downtown there was a noisy graduation party.  

In front of our hotel, it looked like the academy awards.  Only the red carpet was missing.  Cars pulled up, girls dressed to be noticed stepped out, photographers took photos, friends hugged, and they walked into the hotel party.  

We quickly began getting ready, but just five minutes after we entered our room, Dan's colleague (Temenushka) called and said she and her husband Boyan were downstairs.  We thought she was early, but after dinner and after we had returned to our room, we realized that Bulgaria is an hour later than Macedonia.  We were late-they were on time.

Dinner was at a traditional Bulgarian restaurant called Manastirska Magernitsa.  Our dinner was so good.  I thought the choices would be similar to Macedonia, but the menu listed dishes I've never seen on a Macedonian menu.