Amalia and Matt's blog

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We officially have a “Sofia system”, meaning, we know where and how to have the most amount of fun in Bulgaria’s capital in the shortest amount of time. First, we try and arrive late in the afternoon on a Friday to pay the least amount of parking at our special secure spot (it costs a bank breaking $4 a day to park here, a travesty) close to everything (weekends are free). Our parking spot is close to the outdoor market, next to a metro station, near two supermarkets, easily walkable to the center and right in front of the world’s best pizza by the slice hut. After a few sips of champagne and one or two slices of heavenly pizza we grab our camera and head towards the action.

The outdoor market gets really busy on the weekends, locals come and buy fresh produce in preparation for their end of week parties with family and friends. Below is a long line up for a potato vendor. Though all the stalls sell potatoes, this one was especially popular this day.

Not everyone likes getting their picture taken at work.

Typical fall vegetables. I love the green tomatoes, people pickle them in vinegar and serve them with homemade booze called rakia (rakia is the national drink and tastes like jet fuel, we avoid it at all cost).

At the end of the outdoor market a lady sells the most succulent French fries. The potatoes are sweet, almost vanilla flavored and I’m pretty sure they are fried in goose fat. OMG! Seriously, these are the best fries in the world.

Next, I like shopping in the only Chinese store (that I know of) in Bulgaria. This trip I picked up a tub of Chinese style miso, spicy dried chilies with toasted sesame, a plum sauce and shrimp crackers. It’s really a challenge buying strange ingredients when the labels are written in Chinese and Bulgarian but I don’t mind coming home with a few surprises.  

A young Bulgarian girl who really wanted us to take her picture.

Sofia is a strange place, such beauty mixed in with sadness. You can see impressively ornate Austro-Hungarian buildings and parliaments beside derelict abandoned homes, brand new flagship Mercedes zooming by old men begging for change, 6 foot tall supermodels dripping in jewelry walking past  children with no shoes. None of it makes sense. 

Another house used to live here.

Next on our tour, sushi and drunken walking…

Matt and I hate appointments, the responsibly of being at a certain place at a certain time is far too taxing on us, we like to live minute by minute when we travel. One of our favorite things to do in Sofia is pig out on sushi and rose wine and we discovered that by reserving online we can get 20% off the entire bill! So it was set in stone, 6pm at Happy Sushi, we had to be there rain or shine (how could we handle all this stress!).

We stopped at a cool underground pub along the way and chatted with a group of Austrian men who vacation together in a new country every year to drink beer and get away from their wives (I hear the wives have their own outings). I just love Europe and how easy it is to travel around here.

I’m telling a fascinating story here…I’m pretty sure I’m drunk.

Yup, drunk.

5:55pm, yay we made it!

I don’t have any sushi photos but believe me it was delicious!

We stopped at the indoor market before it closed and stocked up on snacking sausages. Smokey, ooey gooey homemade sausages, drool!

We slowly made our way back to the camper and drank some more wine, ate snacks and watched a few episodes of Anthony Bourdain before falling asleep.

Another thing we like to do in Sofia is explore the residential areas (Matt calls them ‘suburbia’). Mazes of communist era block buildings with courtyards and playgrounds with old men playing cards and drinking coffee and rakia. 

Once in a while you can find little cafes, Bulgarians are crazy about cafes. 

All streets lead to Vitosha street, the main pedestrian road lined with shops and cafes.

Next post will be about our magical train ride. Many pictures to come….