Leaving All Behind - Backpacking Around🌏🎒- Sofia | Bulgaria 🇧🇬 (Day 7)

After visiting the Dracula's Tomb hidden in a small monastery on an islet in the middle of a lake in the Day 6 of this Leaving All Behind series, I left the beautiful Romania to head to Sofia, the city capital of Bulgaria full of history and contrasts.

Stepping on Bulgaria

On this occasion I traveled by train, arriving Sofia at night (one hour past midnight or so) packed with my 30 kilograms heavy bags and having to walk around 3 kilometers to reach the downtown hostel because the shortest routes (Lion's Bridge and Mother's Home/d'Algeo Gardens) were unadvised by the hostel's owner due to delinquency that late at night.

Possible routes on foot from the railway station to the hostel where I spent the nights.

*Anecdote (1): My train to Sofia was supposed to arrive the said capital city before 22:00, however we got delayed due to various checks at the border by the Bulgarian Police, both for documentation and luggage.

When I arrived near the hostel the owner was waiting for me in the balcony to indicate me the right door to go and proceed for the check in since he was aware of the whole border situation. I got my room, shared with four more people and went straight to bed without unpacking anything.

*Tip (1): If you arrive late at night to a shared hostel room for whatever reasons noone cares about and is there already people sleeping, don't start unpacking your stuff, unleashing nightmare there and waking up people: respect the rest of others.

First thing I did next morning was looking for a currency exchange office and exploring the city!

20 Bulgarian Lev banknote (1 EUR - 2 BGN).

Sofia Sephardic Synagogue - The Sephardic were the Jews expelled from Spain by the Catholic Kings in 1492, their descendants and those who, regardless of having resided in the Iberian Peninsula, remain linked to Hispanic culture.

St Joseph Roman Catholic Parish of The Order of Friars Minor Capuchin - It's the co-cathedral of the Diocese of Sofia and Plovdiv and was inaugurated in its original settlement (again) in 2016, after being destroyed by Allied bombing raids during World War II.

Statue of Sveta Sofia - Perceived as the town's symbol, patron, and guardian of the state it depicts a young woman with a crown of a fortress wall, who holds in her right hand a laurel wreath, and on her left an owl (a symbol of wisdom) - The statue, erected in 2000, stands in a spot once occupied by a statue of Lenin.

Sveta Nedelja Cathedral - Is one of the cathedrals of the Bulgarian Orthodox Church whose beginnings possibly date from the 10th century, having been destroyed on several occasions to be rebuilt again later - In 1925 the cathedral was devastated by a bomb attack intended to end the life of King Boris III, resulting in 128 civilian deaths.

YouTube Short walking along the Street Market of Sofia:

National Assembly of Bulgaria - Is the unicameral parliament and legislative body of the Republic of Bulgaria.

The Russian Church - Founded in 1907, "the Russian Church", as the inhabitants of the Bulgarian capital have called it ever since, was assigned to the diplomatic mission of the Russian state in Bulgaria. Today it's a living bond of friendship between the local Russian and Bulgarian Churches.

Knyaginya Maria Luiza Boulevard - Sveta Petka Samardzhiiska church (front), Ancient Serdica Roman ruins (center) and Banya Bashi mosque (background).

Lions' Bridge - Is a stone bridge from the late 19th century over the Vladaya River, in the centre of Sofia, and its name comes from the four bronze sculptures of lions, being its most recognizable feature.

After all this walking around the city I was tired and thirsty so I decided to stop for lunch and have a cold beer.

Pint of Bulgarian beer (4 BGN - 2 EUR).

100% Bulgarian beef patty, Gorgonzola cheese cream, bacon and arugula sided with fries and paprika mayonnaise (16 BGN - 8 EUR) (2).

100% Bulgarian beef patty, Gorgonzola cheese cream, bacon and arugula sided with fries and paprika mayonnaise (16 BGN - 8 EUR) (1).

One of the things that called my attention when in Bulgaria was their bathrooms, the same all around:

Bulgarian bathroom.

*Anecdote (2): I firstly thought that this arrangement of tha bathroom it was just a thing of my hostel but then I realized it was the same all around. When I had my first shower I was really worried about where was the drain and then I realized that it was that thin rectangular metal plate that they place in the doors, after that black tile.

In the next article I'm visiting a UNESCO World Heritage Site at 120 kilometers from Sofia, located deep in the Bulgarian mountains.

Leaving All Behind series: Day 1, Day 2 (Part 1), Day 2 (Part 2), Day 3, Day 4, Day 5 (Part 1), Day 5 (Part 2), Day 6.

All photographs were taken with my Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G camera.

YouTube Short recorded with my Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G camera.

Image of the routes from train station to hostel is a screenshot from Google Maps.

Sources on which I relied to give some accurate info about the monuments of Sofia: (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9).

Sofia Municipality Tourism Website.