Alrighty, then. This should be the last Bulgaria post for our most recent trip to the Balkan country on the Black Sea. If you’re a regular reader, you may already know that I almost always cap off my trips with “ten things I learned” lists. Some people seem to like these over the blow by blow chronicles. So here goes.

10. Bulgaria’s time is an hour ahead of Germany’s.
When my friend Elaine and I visited Bulgaria in 1996, we went by bus and traveled from Armenia through Georgia and Turkey to get there. We crossed two time zones, which was kind of bizarre, because in spite of its huge size, all of Turkey was in the same time zone. That meant there was a two hour difference between Georgia’s time and Turkey’s. Now, Georgia, Turkey, and Armenia have stopped changing the clocks in the summer, so the time difference between Turkey and Georgia is only one hour. And Bulgaria is far enough east from Germany that it’s one hour ahead of us. Bulgaria still observes Daylight Savings Time.

9. English is widely used in Sofia.
I don’t know how it is in the smaller cities and towns of Bulgaria, but I was amazed by how many people spoke excellent English in Sofia. That was not the case when Elaine and I visited in 1996. I only encountered one person who wasn’t an English speaker on last week’s trip.

8. McDonald’s are everywhere in Sofia!
When I visited Sofia in 1996, there were only two McDonald’s restaurants in the entire country. The first McDonald’s in Bulgaria was opened in December 1994 in Plovdiv. The second one opened in 1995 in Slaveikov Square. During my visit in 1996, I spent a lot of time loitering near that McDonald’s, because Elaine and I had crashed with a Peace Corps Volunteer, and Elaine had gone to visit a friend of hers. One day, I kind of got lost wandering around Sofia, and ended up taking a taxi. The driver didn’t speak English, so I asked him to take me to McDonald’s. I couldn’t do that trick today, though, because Sofia has McDonald’s all over the place. I understand they’re not so popular anymore, though, because there are many BETTER restaurants in Sofia now!

7. Sofia’s iconic golden bricked road was meant to make the city look more like a “capital”.
Both times I visited Sofia, I wondered about the yellow bricked roads in the center of town. They are very unusual looking, especially compared to other parts of the city, where it’s easy to see shabby buildings from the communist era, crumbling from age. I researched the yellow bricks and learned that they date from the early 1900s, some years after Bulgaria was liberated from the Ottoman Empire and Sofia was named its capital. Sofia was chosen because of its location, and not because of its beauty. In those days, the city didn’t have much decent architecture to speak of. In 1907, Sofia’s mayor, Martin Todorov, decided that the city needed something unique. He decided on the yellow cobblestones, which cost a lot of money, but definitely gave Sofia some sparkle. Nowadays, the yellow bricks are a challenge, because they aren’t so easy to procure when they become damaged and need to be replaced.

6. Sofia is still relatively cheap to visit.
While the city has luxury accommodations and restaurants, they are less expensive than in other cities. Taxis are also easy to use and won’t break the bank. But if you prefer an even cheaper option, you can take Sofia’s metro or one of its many trams. Or, you can do what Bill and I did, and just walk everywhere. Sofia is a pretty walkable city.

5. Sofia is home to religions of all kinds… and they all seem to coexist peacefully.
If you walk through Sofia, you will see many interesting religious buildings. The oldest one dates from the fourth century! But not only will you find churches, but you will also find a synagogue and a mosque, and they all operate near each other, apparently in basic harmony.

4. If you plan to visit Sofia’s famous Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in the summer, be sure to cover your limbs.
This is a basic truth for many religious sites, but I’ve found it to be especially true in orthodox churches. You should not attempt to visit when you’re wearing shorts, skimpy sundresses, or otherwise indiscreet clothing. You may be asked to leave or cover up if you ignore this advice.

3. Be sure to stop by the flea market outside of the cathedral.
In 1996, I bought a small painting at that flea market. I remember paying the Bulgarian lev equivalent of about $6 for it. In retrospect, I wish I’d bought another. The artist had a few similar ones for sale. We went again on Monday and bought two more paintings that I love, although I saw a few on Saturday that I thought were even more interesting. I noticed in Armenia and Bulgaria that Saturdays are the best times to visit markets, if you want to find something cool for your home.

2. Bulgaria is a fascinating mix of different cultures.
The language is Cyrillic and sounds a lot like Russian, but the weather is more like Turkey and Greece. The food is a tantalizing mixture of different cultures, and you can also enjoy excellent beers, wines, and juices. I wish we could have gone outside of Sofia on this trip, as I know firsthand that Bulgaria has a lot to offer beyond the capital city. I want to go back and visit caves and hang out at the beach.

And finally 1. Sofia is a great place to go if you’re not wanting to be overrun by tourists…
I was kind of surprised that there were Americans in Sofia, but there were not nearly as many as there likely are in Dubrovnik right now. We were originally thinking of going to Dubrovnik, since that was the location Bill picked out of the Champagne bucket. I’m glad we went to Sofia, instead. It was fun seeing the city again after so many years… and it’s still a pretty authentic place to go, even though there’s been a lot of business development since 1996. I wish we hadn’t gotten sick, but at least we’re on the mend now. After my upcoming medical journey, we’ll plan our next adventure. At this point, it looks like it’s going to be Iceland…

So stay tuned!