Turkey/Bulgaria 2011: Sofia

Unfortunately for us, the weather in Sofia was not forgiving. It rained the entire time we were there. Surprisingly, we did get to see much of the actual city despite spending only one full day there. We took a local bus to a park and hiked up a mountain. We had difficulty communicating with some of the locals, who didn't speak much English or any of the other languages that any of us were familiar with. Luckily, we took the time to learn the Cyrillic alphabet and by the end of it we had learned a few words, such as thank you.  I must say that the food was incredible. We found a restaurant within the park where I tried a really good soup. The restaurant provided English menus, so I had some idea what I was ordering. 

 After we left the park, we explored the city itself. There were a lot of interesting statues on display and many of the buildings were beautiful. Also, since Christmas was just around the corner, much of Sofia was decorated with lights, a pretty sight to behold as it became dark outside. We went to a small cultural museum nearby and there we learned about traditional Bulgarian dress and learned traditional dances. We also tried some cookies that they made and got to help make them ourselves. I talked to one of the women about knitting and embroidery, both occasional pursuits of mine. I was also intrigued by the dances, which I found to be very similar to traditional Greek dances that I have learned. The next morning we left Sofia and headed for Bansko, a Bulgarian ski town.

Events occurred: December 17-18, 2011