Day 16 Sunday 19 May - Sofia

Sunday 19 May,    Day 17

We found a bus to town, but couldn't find how to buy a ticket, so went for free.  It appeared that many others were too, not validating any tickets. 

 Peace and quiet on a Sunday morning

So for penance, we found (after some trouble) the Hillsong-style English church which meets in a night club and that took up the morning.

We wandered round the park a bit, then hopped into a coffee shop for early lunch and some wifi, so that I could book up the hard-to-get Ann Frank tickets that are released 2 months exactly before the date. Success!

So we headed into the centre of town, and by chance came across a free walking tour which I figured must have been on only its second stop, so we joined in for the next 2 hours, and learned a lot about ancient Sophia = Serdica in Roman.

 Eavesdropping in the back

 In 2012, when excavating for their second metro line, they found a vast area of Roman city ruins.

 Guarding the president's office, and changing sides on the hour.

 The President's Palace

 St Alexander Nevsky Cathedral

St Sophia's Orthodox church, named for Sophia goddess of wisdom and not St Sophia.  The first was built in about 350AD  just outside the city gate, so it was the first building that anyone who was coming from the south or east saw. It has great archaeology in its crypt.

There were a lot of weddings happening today.  Couples posing for photographers, horns blaring, and crowds at St Sophia's church, some coming and some going.

 Each has a red crown placed by a priest.



We went into the crypt, and could hear the wedding service, and choir, from below.

Last stop before bed was St George's, the oldest building in Sofia.  It was built in C4, and has withstood invasions and changes in faith.  In the communist era it was surrounded by boring soviet buildings in the hope it would be forgotten.  But it wasn't.