Adventure of the month

Monday, after hitting all the highlights in Sofia, I found myself with some more free time, so I decided to book a tour to the Rila Monastery. I did not know much about the Monastery’s history or its significance, but I had seen enough eye-catching postcard pictures of it to convince me that it was somewhere I wanted to go. Now having returned from my tour, not much has changed. I can definitely vouch for the very picturesque nature of the Monastery and I still have no earthly clue what its story may be. The chief problem was that our very affable guide spoke very limited English, and what he did speak was enough to convey that he knew even less about Rila Monastery. When asked how old the building was, he shrugged and said “Old, very old.” While inside the church, one of the monks signaled for me to come up to the altar where he removed a white sheet from a coffin-like box. Inside the box, there was something that looked like a small piece of brown slate co...

The Alexander Nevsky Cathedral: the city's most photographed building It was built between 1904 and 1912.... and can hold up to 7,000 worshippers. Souvenir shopping with the city's namesake, the St. Sofia church in the background . The Russian Church of St. Nicholas Formerly the Royal Palace, now the Ethnographic Museum The perilous changing of the guards. The 4th century St. George church in the courtyard of the slightly newer Sheraton Hotel. St. Ndelya Church: the exterior St Ndelya Church: the interior A particularly saucy personification of the city of Sofia. The Sofia Synagogue This weekend, after a short flight on Bulgarian Air, home of the narrowest seat pitch imaginable ©, I had a chance to visit Sofia, Bulgaria’s capital city. It is not a place that immediately comes to mind when looking for travel destinations, but since I was already there for work, the weather was mild and I had the afternoon all to myself...