EUROPEAN VACATION PART 7 – BULGARIA

This is the seventh in a series of posts.  See previous HERE.

After departing a spectacular stay in Romania — a special country with great people, food, sights, landscape, and history — our next stop is Sofia, Bulgaria.  I cannot emphasize enough how we enjoyed Romania.  And soooo easy on the wallet, especially meals.

I called another audible and changed our flights (always booking “refundable”).  Why? Leaving the Cluj-Napoca airport in the north of Romania initially was via Luftansa through Munich, then on to Sofia.  On second thought, how about Turkish Airlines via Istanbul in Business Class for about half the cost.  I do not know why that wasn’t the original plan, but I’m glad for the change! Sometimes flying Business on shorter flights (each segment was roughly 90 minutes) seems a bit of an extravagance.  BUT, when one factors in extra luggage allowance, the lack of lines, lounge access, and additional service, for us it is the better choice. And the lounge in Istabul? Among the best ever! In fact the entire airport is sensational.

Below, view from our room at the Intercontinental Sofia

Below, Bulgaria is nearly as well known for its roses as Ecuador. That is saying something. The climate and soil are ideal, and roses were a welcome common sight.

For our two days in Sofia, we opted not to hire a guide even though we had an excellent referral. When traveling so “aggressively” — meaning constantly on the move, I find it is perfectly acceptable to spend a day without structure. We walked a great deal, first to the historic Central Synagogue of Sofia.  We engaged two other travelers there and neither of them were Jewish.  That is something, but then again we visit a great many churches so why would it not be the same for others?  The Synagogue dates back to 1909 and is the third largest in Europe and is one of two active synagogues in Bulgaria.

The generosity of Ronald Lauder, one of Estee Lauder’s two sons, is found worldwide in support of Jewish causes.  He helped rebuild the Sofia synagogue as noted on the plaque.  How fortunate to have such benefactors use their wealth in countless ways.

We were “2 for 2” in terms of terrific dinners in Sofia.  The first was walking distrance from our hotel (Intercontinental Sofia) called La Capannina, and the second a bit further away called Chef’s.  The former offered Mediterranean-ish dishes and totally fit our desires that evening.

Below, simple and delicious grilled steak, vegetables and citrus cheesecake.  All excellent!

Chef’s was a treat, well worth the 15-minute cab drive in a part of the city we otherwise would never have seen.  The menu is eclectic, to say the least.  We had asian salad with spring rolls followed by pad thai, while others were eating hunks of lamb shank.  For dessert, one of the best of the trip — Millefeuille with vanilla cream and strawberries.  See below.  Outstanding!  Plus, the proprietor was a fountain of information about Bulgaria and Macedonia, our next stop.

Bulgaria is not nearly as advanced as the neighboring Balkan countries.  One restauranteur used the word “primitive” in describing much of the country.  English is spoken but not nearly as well nor as widely.  The two million residents in Sofia are advanced in many ways, but the other four million outside the capital? Not so much.  Yet, we enjoyed our somewhat brief time here.

Below, the same view as above, but later at night.

For the last country on this trip (for the hubby as I am going on to Italy), we drive to North Macedonia.  Stay tuned.