Find a stinky, pick it up...

When I told my friends I was going to Bulgaria for the weekend, the reaction was usually the same - laughter. I guess it's not the most traditional choice for a winter vacation spot...

I went anyway. My dear friend Harry McPhee Winters is attending med school in Sofia, which if you didn't know (and you probably didn't) is the capital of Bulgaria. It's a pretty cool city, but I'm not sure I'd live there for 6 years. When I asked what Harry and his friends do to entertain themselves, they said that they drink until they forget that they're in Bulgaria. They were mostly kidding... it's hard to forget that you're in Bulgaria. Ha!

Although Bulgaria became a part of the European Union in 2007, they are still transitioning in many ways. For example, they still haven't switched to the Euro from the Bulgarian Lev. The Bulgarian cent is called a "statinki" which, needless to say, was incredibly entertaining. (The Americans call it a "stinky" for short.) I just wanted to say "statinki" all day long...

"Do you have any statinkis on you?"
"I certainly hope not."

"Find a statinki, pick it up, all day long you'll have... a statinki."

When I recovered from the fit of statinki-inspired laughter, I managed to find some time to explore Sofia. My favorite sight was the Alexander Nevsky cathedral. Alexander Nevsky was the Grand Prince of Vladimir and ruled over all of Russia in the 1200's. The cathedral is definitely a testament to his importance - it's one of the most impressive churches I've seen. It was built in the early 1900's which makes it a baby compared to most of the other European churches I've seen - construction of Bologna's San Petronio began in 1390 - but I was still awestruck by the beauty of it. The design is different than the design of any church I've seen, a "cross dome" design consisting of several domes and half domes which give it a really interesting shape.

Here's a photo, because I know I couldn't do it justice with words. I mean, I guess I could say "bulbous" or something, but it seems like an insult... (Courtesy of Google Images - my photos of the church came out neon green for some reason.)

As I was walking past the cathedral with Harry's roommate Richard (who was kind enough to show me around while Harry was studying), I heard singing coming from inside. We went in to check it out, and walked into an evening mass. The priest was wearing ornate robes, chanting and holding up a huge golden bible. Everyone was bowing before him, there was a choir singing the mass, and the entire cathedral was illuminated by candles. It was beautiful. One of those moments where taking a photo would have been completely unacceptable, so I'll just have to rely on the memory.

My other favorite sight in Sofia was the National Theater, which is the oldest theater in Bulgaria. We happened to walk by during the intermission of a play, so we decided to follow the crowd and sneak into the second half of the show. We found balcony seats and watched the second half of what appeared to be a play about a group of people trapped on some kind of crazy demon bus. Only in Bulgaria.



As it turns out, the play was actually a political satire. Not sure what a demon bus is supposed to satirize, but whatever, I'm sure the Bulgarians understand.

Of the many, many oddities of Bulgarian culture, the food is by far the most strange. Harry and I ordered a salad during my first evening in Sofia, and this is what we were presented with:
Potatoes, eggs, pickles, and a yogurt sauce. I forgot that Bulgarian salads don't include lettuce, or for that matter, vegetables. No, pickles don't count. This actually leads me to another interesting fact about Bulgarian cuisine: Bulgarians love pickles. Pickles on pizza, pickles stuffed in pastries, pickles in "salad", pickles pickles pickles. I would often catch a whiff of pickles as I was walking down the street. Only in Bulgaria.

On my last day In Sofia, I went to a bookstore and spent my few remaining statinkis on a very worthwhile souvenier: Малкият принц in cyrillic, "Malkiyat Prints" in the latin alphabet, or "The Little Prince" in English. Along with the copy of "El Principito" that Ryan brought me from Chile, my little travel companion now speaks 5 languages. I've decided that if I can't learn every language in the world, which sounds awfully time-consuming, maybe he can.... Next on the list is Dutch - I'm off to Holland in a few weeks!