Thurs. Sept 18.
Leaving London early today, we ran into difficulty at the security check. We have more than the allowed liquids and we misplaced the proof that they were prescription meds. First time we’d been asked.
We have come to Sofia a day before the tour begins. After settling into the Park Central Hotel, we had a couple of hours to take in a site. We chose the City Art Gallery which, according to the blurb on the map, has over 3000 Bulgarian paintings. It turned out to be a small gallery, taken up with an exhibit of Bulgarian artists with a connection to the theater, from 1904 to 2014. Turns out Bulgarians saw a lot a Shakespeare; there were photos and drawings depicting scenery, costumes and performances.
The non-theater paintings were competent, but not what we think of as museum quality.
We ordered a glass of wine at a cafe on Vitosha Blvd, the main shopping street. It was awful.
We had dinner in the hotel lobby. A meat and cheese starter platter, wine, fresh rolls. Good choice.
***
Friday, Sept 19. [Scotland voted yesterday to remain part of the UK].
Today’s touring was a bit disappointing. The Ethnographic Museum and the Art Museum were both devoted to temporary exhibits (turn of the century Bulgaria, Michelangelo sketches,modern photos). Those were sparse and of little interest. The antique market had some (fake?) Soviet memorabilia of sale, but no antiques.
The Natural History Museum is not on the handout map nor otherwise publicized. We came upon it by chance. The ground floor was devoted to minerals and it was a treat. The specimens came from 90 countries, but former Soviet sphere countries dominated and many of those were new to us.
Salt crystals from Poland:
Graphic granite from Bulgaria:
Astrophyllite from Russia:
The rest of the museum was stuffed animals.
We had an unremarkable lunch at a Spanish-style tapas restaurant.
At 5, we met our tour group for the orientation. Seems like a pretty nice group. There are 20 of us. A majority of the participants are regular Road Scholar customers, many of long standing. Dinner at the hotel was very bland salad, pork, veggies. Good cappuccino.
View from our hotel window:
In fairness, I zoomed in for that shot.
Unexpected toiletry item:
***
Friday, Sept 20
Here is a crude history of Bulgaria. The area was inhabited at least from the Neolithic. It was known as Thrace when mentioned by Homer in the Iliad as an ally of Troy. In the 7th century BCE, there was Greek colonization. Philip of Macedon failed but Thrace was conquered by Alexander the Great around 355 BCE. In 45 CE, it became a Roman province. The Bulgarians converted to Christianity in 865, with the Bulgarian Orthodox Church established in 870. From 893-927 was the First Bulgarian Kingdom. From 927 to 1018, Bulgaria was under Byzantine rule. In 1155, the Second Bulgarian Kingdom was established. It came under Ottoman rule in 1393. The treaty of San Stefano in 1878 reestablished the Bulgarian State, which involved many many different governments. There were two Balkan wars in 1912 and 1913 ( the first national catastrophe): Balkans against the Ottomans won by the Balkans and Bulgaria against the rest of the Balkans won by the rest of the Balkans. Bulgaria was allied with Germany in the First and Second World War (the former is the second national catastrophe). In 1946, the Communists came into power. In 1953, the Bulgarian Church was restored as a Patriarchy. 1989 saw the fall of the Soviet Union and the communist regime and the beginning of the current politically chaotic country.
City tour. Our first use of the bluetooth hearing devices. We liked them.
Bulgarian honor guard at the President’s residence.
Mosque:
Our local guide was in bad shape and he panted through blurbs that could have been better prepared. His field is medieval history he was ok on that subject. He did not seem adequately prepared for the rest.
There were many extraordinary items in the Archaeology Museum:
Handle of an urn:
cup:
Rhyton and detail:
The Museum is housed in re-purposed, 16th Century mosque:
The mosque decorations were painted over after the Turks were pushed out. Peeling paint revealed the art work. Sections have been opened while they powers decide what to do:
Aleksandar Stamboliyski was the Prime Minister during the reign of Boris III. He was a great reformer, but he grew impatient with parliamentary processes. He abolished the political parties and became quite autocratic. In 1923, he was assassinated. Hence the slash to his sculpture.
We a very bland lunch (veal and steamed veggies). We may ask about the future fare.
The St. Alexander Nevsky cathedral was built in the early 20th century. Nevsky is revered as the leader who defeated the armies of the Latin Kingdom Crusaders in 1205.
Finally, we were taken to the Boyana Church, about 6 miles outside of town and a bit up in the hills. The Church is very small. Access is limited to 8 visitors at a time for 10 minutes.
The church is famed for its 13th cty frescoes. Sample from the ‘net:
A lovely wooded park was established around the church in 1907. Several redwoods were planted. They have grown:
Dinner was at Mr. Pizza. It turned out to be pretty good. Greek salad, stuffed pepper, stuffed chicken breast, choc mousse.
*****
Sun 21 Sept.
2 hours on the bus to the Rila Monastery. There has been a monastery on this site since the 11th Century. The present building went up in the 19th century, after the Ottoman rule was overthrown. The brick church in the courtyard goes back to the 16th or 17th Century.
There was much colorful painting on the exterior of the church. This scene shows the hazards of fortune-telling. The devils are celebrating with a Bulgarian ring dance.
This illustrates the forty days after death while the fate of your soul is weighed. Two days per panel: Each person is represented by a guardian angel with a devil presenting its case. It is necessary to get through all stages to reach paradise.
Courtyard from the entrance:
Ioan Rilski, or John of Rila, is the patron saint of Bulgaria. He was a hermit whose followers or students established the monastery. He died in 946. He performed miracles while alive and continued after death. Also, he wrote a testament of moral instructio to the Bulgarians. His body was dug up uncorrupted and sweet smelling, typical of saints. His relics traveled Bulgaria and Hungary for 500 years until he was settled at the monastery.
We had greasy bean soup, fresh trout, fresh yogurt and jam, and rose petal liqueur.
Two more hours of driving to Samakov, a small town (30,000) that used to have a metals industry.and now provides services for a nearby ski resort. Like all town of any size here, it has a House of Culture:
It also has a mosque. They used the same design the used for churches, with a minerat added.
Two more hours and we are in Plovdiv, Bulgaria’s second largest city (330,000). We are settled into the Ramada Princess. We face a crisis as they want $8 to wash a pair of underpants.
Dinner in the hotel restaurant. Salad with feta, beef Stroganoff, apple pie. We bought a bottle of wine, about $12. We’ve had worse.
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