Sofia

From May 15th to May 17th, 2023

Day 1

• Flew in from Warsaw on LOT Airlines

• Rented Kia Sorrento SUV from Eurocar and drove ~45 minutes to Sofia from the airport

• Checked into Intercontinental hotel in Sofia and walked around the city and toured ourselves around. We got to the main The Patriarchal Cathedral Saint Alexander Nevsky and saw a group of kids in the church parking lot honking their horns, singing, blowing blowhards, blowing whistles, and dragging their cars around the church to celebrate their high school graduation. Every day we were there there was a different high school celebration. 

• Went for Pizza at Franco’s Pizza

• Walked through South Park watched people playing with their dogs, kids running around, musicians playing music

Day 2

• Walked around the city and had a burger at Honest Burger Skapto

• Knowing we’d be on the road for about 5 weeks, we stopped into a music store and bought Max a guitar.

• Walked around to Russian Church of Nicolay Chudotvorets which was open to public 

• Walked to the ruins Ancient Serdica Archeological Complex, which although the ruins themselves aren’t necessarily spectacular, the way the construction around the ruins were done is extremely unique and thoughtful. In a subway station, you can head underground to see the ruins and the skylight that lets the light in above. 

• We had booked tickets to head up into The Red Flat, which was a communist era preserved flat in the middle of Sofia that was preserved for people to go and learn more about what life was like under the communist regimes. We spent about 30 minutes in this tiny apartment with headpieces on listening to an audioguide explaining all aspects of life. All the furniture, kitchen and kids room remained still in time and you could see and feel the age of the apartment. 

• For dinner we headed back to the Main Street called Sofia Center (reminded us of the 3rd street promenade in Santa Monica) and went to one of the higher rated restaurants in town for local Bulgarian food at Shtastliveca Vitoshka or Ресторант Щастливеца Витошка. You must have a reservation to sit inside, and yes you want to sit inside for the full atmosphere. We drank great Bulgarian wine, had an incredible cucumber and tomato and Bulgarian cow cheese salad, ate ‘pastry’ with hummus, lamb kafta, and an extremely flavorful tiramisu. 

Day 3

• Left hotel to drive to Skopje, Macedonia and crossed the border at Delchevo and it took about 30 minutes.