Walking Tour of Sofia’s Old City Center in Bulgaria

On February 9, 2024February 9, 2024 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Bulgaria4 Comments

One of the things that we did during our visit to Sofia in Bulgaria was to take a walking tour of the old city center, which included a traditional breakfast. We truly enjoy walking through the old city centers of historic towns and often do a self-guided tour, but in this particular case we chose to use a local guide to ensure that we learned as much of the history as we could. The history of Sofia stretches back thousands of years and like many Eastern European cities it has been transformed and conquered many times throughout the centuries. From the Trojans, Romans, Ottoman Empire, and Communist regime, it has seen a wide variety of cultural and architectural influences.

Inside of the Serdica Ancient Cultural and Communicative Complex

There are many fascinating sites all throughout the old city center, starting with the Saint Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. In addition to the cathedral, the walking tour will also take you to the Saint Sofia Basilica, Banya Bashi Mosque, Church of St Petka of the Saddlers, and Saint Nedelya Church. You will also enjoy seeing many historical and cultural buildings such as the Ivan Vazov National Theater, Regional History Museum of Sofia, Sofia City Court, and the National Palace of Culture. As with any city center, you will also see many statues and monuments including several interesting ones such as the Tsar Samvel Monument, Monument to Tsar Liberator, and the Monument to Stefan Stambolov.

Inside of the Saint Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

One of the most interesting sites along the tour is the archeological excavations at the Serdica Ancient Cultural and Communicative Complex. It will provide some insight into the period when the Romans controlled the city and used it as a stronghold in the region. Walking through the various zones, both inside and outside, at the complex is quite fascinating and was definitely one of the highlights of the walking tour. In the middle of the tour, we stopped for a quick breakfast that included Baklava, Banitsa, and Ayran, which is yogurt mixed with water and salt. The Banitsa is another layered pastry made with filo dough and cheese.

We were fortunate to have wonderful weather on the day that we did our walking tour, which certainly added to our enjoyment. We walked through several parks with beautiful greenery in the heart of the city. Another interesting thing were the cobblestone, brick roads that were painted yellow to resemble gold in an attempt to demonstrate the wealth of the city and its leaders. The entire tour took a little less than three hours and if you decide to do the tour on your own and go inside more of the museums than we did, you can make it a full-day activity. It is certainly a must-do when visiting Sofia in Bulgaria.

More from the Saint Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

Medieval Orthodox Temple of Petka Samardjiyska

Another Statue Celebrating a Political Figure

Historic Trinity Church on the Corner of Broadway and Wall Street in New York City

On June 20, 2022June 20, 2022 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn New YorkLeave a comment

We decided to spend time in Lower Manhattan during our recent visit to New York City. One of the places that enjoyed seeing was Trinity Church, which is located at Broadway and Wall Street and is surrounded by towering skyscrapers. The fact that the church is located in the heart of the city does not diminish the beauty of the church, but it is different that a lot of cathedrals and churches in Europe where the church dominates the skyline. The church is an active church that received its first charter from King William III in 1697 when the America’s were in their infancy.

The first thing that strikes out to you as you visit Trinity Church is the historic cemetery with its oldest headstone dating back to 1861. The headstone is for Richard Churcher, the 5-year-old son of William Churcher. The cemetery is also the gravesite of Alexander Hamilton and there are also many different monuments in the graveyard. It is a peaceful spot in an otherwise very busy part of the city.

Steeple with Skyscrapers in the Background

The facade of the building is quite stunning with its huge steeple reaching toward the sky. Within the steeple are 12 change-ringing bells that rotate 360 degrees making a rich and complex sound. It is the only set of these types of bells in the United States. We did not enter the church during our visit, but just walking around the grounds was quite interesting. With such an amazing history and architecture, Trinity Church is quite fascinating, especially considering the juxtaposition between the church and the surrounding modern buildings.

The Beautiful Greenery of the Elevated Acre in Lower Manhattan

On June 16, 2022June 16, 2022 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn New York5 Comments

We spent the past weekend exploring some different parts of Manhattan in New York City. We have visited New York previously and did most of the traditional tourist items like going Rockefeller Plaza, the Top of the Rock, Empire State Building, and seeing a play on Broadway, so this trip we wanted to do some different things. It was quite hot over the weekend, so one thing that we certainly appreciated along with the people who live in New York is taking advantage of whatever green spaces there are in the city. One of the places we went to see was the Elevated Acre, which is located at 55 Water Street.

The Elevated Acre is an outdoor park with flowers, benches, and views of the river, making it a great spot to relax on a summer afternoon. There is also an area of artificial grass where people can rest or play. Part of the appeal is the fact that it is somewhat elevated, which provides for a slight breeze as well as the interesting views. There were several tourists boats out on the river as well as a helicopter pad nearby where we saw a few different helicopters landing and taking off.

We went to a few different parks during our weekend trip, including returning to Central Park for further exploring, but we certainly enjoyed going to the Elevated Acre. We could certainly see it being a place where local businesspeople could go for a relaxing lunch break and almost forget about the fact that they were in the midst of the big city. There was a groundskeeper in the plaza while we were there and clearly, they take good care of the plants and green spaces.