Bill and I slept in a bit on Saturday morning, enjoying the air conditioned hotel room and the fact that Bill didn’t have to go to work. We later made our way down to the third floor, where a huge buffet breakfast is served every day at the The Grand Hotel Millennium. The restaurant has two sides, each of which with its own buffet line, with eggs, sausages, baked beans, mushrooms (yecch), waffles, pancakes, etc. The left side of the restaurant also has a huge table with juices, vegetables, cheeses, pastries, cookies, and even candy. In the foyer, there’s a table with fruits, and another table with doughnuts, toasts, and a chocolate fountain.

There’s something for almost everyone at the breakfast buffet at the Grand Hotel Millennium Sofia. However, to be honest, there were a couple of things about the breakfast service that I didn’t like.

For one thing, the hot items were never hot. The eggs were usually room temperature, as were the sausages and potatoes. Granted, the staff would make fresh omelettes for those who wanted them. It never occurred to me to ask for one until I saw a Bulgarian family of four order a round of them– a man, his wife, and what appeared to be their twin teenaged daughters. Apparently, it was the father’s birthday, and they sang him a song, gave him a card, and even brought a couple of the desserts from the buffet for him.

The other thing I didn’t like was the coffee service, which was all self-serve and done by machine. It would have been nice if we could have just gotten a pot of coffee to share, rather than having to get coffee from a machine.

After we filled up on breakfast, we decided to venture into Sofia’s centrum. To get there, all we had to do was turn right outside of the hotel and start walking. I’d say it takes about a half hour or so to get to the absolute heart of Sofia from the hotel if you’re walking. However, there are also a couple of metro stops nearby and plenty of cabs to be ordered. Sofia even has bike lanes now, which I thought was very progressive. Below are some photos that capture my first impressions. The crumbling buildings are familiar, but the rest of it seems very new…

Bill and I walked awhile before we stopped for a rest and listened to a lovely young woman playing violin like a virtuoso. I love this about Europe, but especially Eastern Europe, where people really value the arts. The buskers are top notch!

We continued down Vitosha Boulevard and passed several very historic and important sites. The city center is home to the Sheraton Balkan Palace, which when I visited in 1996, was Sofia’s best hotel. Nowadays, it’s one of several nice hotels, and doesn’t even get top ratings. I remember going in there to pee once, back in ’96. I noticed around the Balkan Palace, there’s a huge excavation going on. Signs by the site explain what’s been found in Bulgarian and English.

The Balkan Palace looked different than I remember it, but that’s probably because of the huge archaeological dig going on in front of it. I seem to remember in the 90s, there was a square there. It might have been a parking lot, for all I know.

There are also some important, very old religious sites in Sofia’s center. Here are a few photos…

In retrospect, we really should have stopped to tour these places, and the museums we passed. But I had my mind set on visiting the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. I had vivid memories of that special place from my first visit to Sofia, and I wanted to go there first. I even wore pants on the hot day, because I had a feeling it wouldn’t be kosher to wear shorts in such a holy place.

So Bill and I kept walking… and I took more photos of all I saw on our Saturday walk… Notice that English really is everywhere!

It had been so long since I was last in Sofia that I decided maybe it would be a good idea to use the GPS on my phone. So that’s what I did… and it was a mistake that added about two miles to our hike. We ended up in a strange part of town that took us past another cool looking church, the Orthodox Temple of Saint Paraskeva. What initially caught my eye was the playground in the back… but then I noticed the really interesting architecture, and the pleasant shade of the trees. One thing I noticed in Sofia were the fragrant trees. They smelled like lilacs, and maybe that’s what they were, but the floral scent perfumed the air in a very beguiling way. Alas… I didn’t think to take photos of the temple. I was distracted by these sights. Oh well. If we get back to Sofia, the Orthodox Temple of Saint Paraskeva is a place I’d like to visit.

I finally got frustrated with the GPS, which didn’t seem to be leading us in the right direction. I turned to Bill and said, “Screw this. I’m just going to turn off the GPS and wing it.” So that’s what I did, and before I knew it, I was seeing the gold domes of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.

On the far left of the cathedral, there’s a Museum of Christian Art and crypt. A lot of people walked in there and immediately walked out, obviously wanting to venture into the cathedral first. We did the same. I would have probably enjoyed the museum, but by the time we got to the cathedral, I was tired, thirsty, hot, and very cranky. So we went into the cathedral and spent some time admiring the splendor and mystery of the ornate house of God, which opened to the public in 1912.

As I mentioned in a previous post, it is necessary to be covered up when you visit orthodox churches. That means no bare shoulders or legs. I did see this rule enforced at the cathedral, as people who didn’t wear appropriate attire were asked to either cover up or leave. I was glad I wore pants, even though I was pretty hot.

After we walked around the church, we decided to look for lunch. We strolled around where there were artists selling their wares. I knew I wanted to come back to the church later, just so I could pick up some new art. But I didn’t want to do that on Saturday, even though Saturday is probably the best day to be shopping for art. More people come out on Saturdays with their paintings and such, but I didn’t want to have to carry the art around all day.

We wound up having lunch at the Victoria Restaurant, which is very close to the cathedral. I spotted it by the umbrellas with Heineken logos on them, which by then, was kind of like an oasis. Believe me, after our hot, sweaty hike, I was ready for a beer. Bill and I both had Bulgarian beers, shared a bottle of San Pellegrino, and salads. I don’t usually like salads much, but when it’s hot out, I will opt for them. The Victoria Restaurant has a huge menu, though, and offers a lot of different items. If I hadn’t been so hot, I would have been spoiled for choice. I see the Victoria Restaurant is actually a chain, with locations in several Bulgarian cities.

Below are a couple of photos of the cool Turkish barracks located next to the restaurant…

After lunch, we walked around some more, finally making our way to the Ivan Vasov National Theater and the Church of St. Nicholas The Miraclemaker. I remember going to both places in 1996. The church was being renovated when I visited; I distinctly remember that it had scaffolding on it at the time. We had some trouble finding the theater, until Bill remembered that it’s located right next to Grand Hotel Sofia, where he’d stayed in 2008. While we were walking around the park where the theater is, there was a little concert/fest going on, with little kiosks selling Bulgarian food and beverages, and a female singer capably channeling Adele and Amy Winehouse. The weather grew warmer, and we were both pretty tired, so we headed back toward Vitosha Boulevard, where we noticed a place selling craft beer.

Since this post is getting pretty long and we didn’t do much on Sunday, the 9th, I think I’ll end here and continue with Saturday in the next post!