Another grey day in Stansted
Vitosha Boulevard
The main pedestrian / vehicle free thoroughfare
First things first
Negroni time at The Cocktail Bar
EuroVision 2024
The white wine on draught was a bit flowery, but watching EuroVision in this place was a hoot.
Sofia City Art Gallery
A typical municipale building
The Patriararchal Cathedral “Saint Alexander Nevsky”
This late 19th century building does a pretty good job of seeming a lot older
A view towards the mountains
In front of the Cathedral
Back downdown
The trams in Sofia range from clunky communist age lumps of metal to ultra-modern shiny things with rounded corners
The president’s guards
Apparently the office of president is mainly ceremonial, with power residing in the adjacent buildings – home to the Prime Minister and the Parliament
Monument to Stefan Stambolov
Prime minister of Bulgaria in the late 1800s.
Out on the town
Things starting to get blurry
Fragments of the Roman walls
Uncovered when excavating for the Metro in 2014
A Roman building / church
Excavations show the street level from 2000 years ago with parts of the under floor heating system
An Ottoman mosque
In amongst more Roman remnants
Sofia Balkan Palace
A grand hotel built in 1956
Central Baths / Sofia Historical Museum
Like a lot of Sofia, the building is 20th Century
Dangerous looking booze
Not sure what these are, but I’d bet good money they’re a tad rough