Day 217 – EU – Bulgaria [Rest Day in Sofia]

26/09/20

 Rest day in Sofia (Bulgaria, Europe)

Walking around stunning Sofia and sorting out some admin issues

Sofia is a beautiful capital city. I took a long walk yesterday afternoon, around all the landmarks of the city centre. Cathedral St Aleksandar Nevski, the churches, the art gallery, the national gardens and theatre… the wide and pedestrian alleys of the town centre, with Mount Vitosha in the background. Restaurants and cafes with outdoor seating, people everywhere on the streets. Stunning.

It is quite strange to think that I have run 5 days across the country, since the Greek border, and all I saw were small villages and little towns, all rather poor. Visible poverty. From sanitation to the state of the buildings, absence of proper roads, people walking around in old and dirty clothes, donkey and horse carriages, old and un-maintained vehicles on the roads. And suddenly, almost magically, enter Sofia and all is state of the art, modern, clean and cosmopolitan city. There’s something really odd and somewhat shocking about it.

Today I had a bit of a stressful moment as I was going around in the rain, looking for a place to get my PCR Covid19 test done. This is mandatory when entering Serbia from Bulgaria, which is exactly what I’ll be doing in 2 days from now. I had thought about getting tested at a hospital, but none of them would test me on a Saturday. Bummer. I ended up going around a few private clinics until I found one willing to do it on the spot. It was quite an adventure as I don’t speak the language – and doing so in the rain and cold was very unpleasant.

I’ll enjoy some more of Sofia tonight, as it will be a while before I reach another major city.