Exploring Sofia, Bulgaria

Sofia was a nice, peaceful place. Very Soviet and a lot of eastern orthodox elements there. Compared to Istanbul, Sofia seemed nearly deserted as the population of Istanbul rivals places like Delhi, India or some big cities in China. Lots of people there, so Sofia was very laid back, chill and relaxed. It was a breath of fresh air :)

I took an overnight train/bus from Istanbul (bus to the Bulgarian border then train to Sofia) and I didn’t get much sleep at all because I was talking with the other passengers. We had some really interesting guys from Sweden, Denmark, Finland, a guy from Romania, and some others. It was just us and at like 2am we were all sitting in one train car right after we crossed the border. The lights were on and the train wasn’t moving. Maybe the conductor was still sleeping or something because we had just gone through the checkpoint, climbed on the train and kind of just sat and waited. So we started talking about travels and adventures :)

This older guy from Sweden had so many experiences in Africa. I think he was pretty much a nomad traveling about for decades. He knew the language called Esperanto which he told us is a modern language, invented recently to be a universal language. But he had a lot of stories to tell, so it was fun to learn from someone who had a lifetime of experience traveling. Amazing.

Bulgarian kids were outside playing in a park…I was wondering, aren’t they supposed to be in school today? It wasn’t the weekend…must’ve been a holiday :)

They dry clothes the same way we do in South Ameria :)

This was the main square. There was like a museum here with what looked like Roman ruins. Also nearby is the metro station, which I took from the bus/train station.

Look at how empty the streets are! So peaceful, coming from Istanbul where there are people everywhere, literally everywhere at every time of the day.

This was the bus station. Thankfully there was wifi here so I could check email and try to find a hostel. I only stayed a day in Sofia. But look at that soviet style statue. Cool no? I think the architecture is actually called ‘Brutalistic’ but I could be wrong.

A street in downtown Sofia! They have very Soviet style trams and I rode that was nice and rustic. Great experience.

Hey, I can finally read cyrillic! I kind of understand what this says :) (Bus station Iztok Red or Square Polyana) Something like that!

This was a cool synagogue. If I wasn’t so tired, I’d remembered more of the history!

This was a nice little cafe area where I ate lunch. I was so tired, having not slept at all the night before.

Yummy Bulgarian food :)

I had a nice time here. A bit brief, but saw most of the major sights I think. The shocking thing was just how deserted the capital seemed compared to Istanbul. But interesting to note, I think a lot former Soviet states are like this. They do a really good job of keeping everything clean and tidy though. Interesting!

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South Bend Notre Dame Wedding Photographer Josef Samuel

About Josef Samuel

I’m a professional wedding, portrait & event photographer and website designer based in South Bend & Notre Dame Indiana. I also love to travel and have visited numerous countries around the world. I am very passionate about what I do and would love to talk to you about photographing your wedding or event. Looking forward to working with you!