Oops, I'm bitten again.Jan 22, 2009
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To Russia with love
Sculpting the finest minds in Bulgaria
| 1/22/09 The architecture of Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, and its surrounding areas remind me of Russia. Huge, ugly, moldy blocks of communist-style apartments rise up amidst beautiful mountains and countryside. The capital sports some magnificent, opulent buildings, such as the university, as well as churches built in the Byzantine style, somewhat reminiscent of St. Basil’s Church in Moscow. One shining example is the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, erected by the Bulgarians in the late 1800’s as a thank-you to Russia for liberating them from 500 years of Ottoman (Turkish) Rule. Despite all of the influence that the Ottomans had on Bulgaria over the years (as seen in the traditional houses of Koprivitshtitsa), they sure were happy to escape their rule and in turn, start trying to conquer parts of former Yugoslavia (as we will discover later on). Our hostel gave us a private hot shower, free wifi, and fed us breakfast and dinner, all for around US$50/night, but also provided some unwanted bedbugs that attacked my neck and face voraciously. I hadn’t had that many nasty bites since Ethiopia. Somehow the bugs didn’t bother with Christopher or Fran at all. The management did switch our rooms and, sleeping fully dressed and heavily bug sprayed, I didn’t incur any more bites. It did put a bit of a damper on our time there, though. Christopher and Fran also attempted skiing at a nearby mountain, Vitosha, but unfortunately the weather was foggy and wet so it was a bit of a bust. They got up to the top of the hill but most runs were closed, so they were forced to go down a very steep slope. Eventually they took their boots off and slid down parts of it, taking over two hours to descend! I was glad I didn’t go and spent the day blogging and getting bitten by bugs instead. Ah, the joys of travel. |
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