Sofia, Bulgaria

Sofia guy here, what are your interests, senpai, where you from, etc.

There's buildings from very different eras that contrast each other, predominantly Ottoman, Soviet/Stalinist, Tzarist and contemporary stuff.

Check out http://www.freesofiatour.com/
It's tl;dr Sofia in ez mode.

similar food tour:
http://www.balkanbites.bg/

I see the tour doesn't include the National Palace of Culture (HДК, NDK) which is a nice this time of the year with fountains and stuff.

Lemme know if you have more questions.

>>1146009
Rent a car and go hiking around the seven Rila lakes

>>1146040
We're there for four days. I'm interested in architecture myself -- if you know any interesting/impressive spots, I'd be much obliged.

Also, what's Sofia like for drinks? Are there breweries, microbreweries? Is there a speciality liquor? What's a good place to spend an evening drinking and sampling?

>>1146052
If we were there longer we would

>>1146383

Actually, if we could daytrip the lakes that would be lovely.

>>1146040
Are taxis reliable?

File: 20160624_203102.jpg (903KB, 3264x1836px) Image search: [Google]

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>>1146383
You're in amazing luck, my friend. Bulgaria has amazing amounts of architecture and alcohol to offer to anyone. I'll spare you the wiki details, for a brief glance just check out:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sofia#Cityscape
You can see all the styles I'm talking about.

The city is ringed and tree-like, meaning it's oldest at the center and expanding outward.

>St Alexander Nevsky in your first picture is the 2nd biggest, but most beautiful Orthodox cathedral on the Balkans
>St George Rotunda
>Sveta Paraskeva chuch is often overlooked, but definitely worth checking out
>Sveti Sedmochislenitsi is overlooked, too. Bulgarian Romanticism is fairly underused style, so worth seeing

Alcohol
>http://www.kanaal.bg/
Craft beer
>http://100beers.bg/by-country/bulgaria
Meme beers store, has English version in Language drop-down menu top right, it's in center of Sofia
>http://sofia.alehouse.bg/en/contacts/
Pretty alright place

National alcoholic beverage is Rakia (people relate it to brandy), see picture, people prefer it home made, but you can get decent bottles from the store. Cheap, strong and tasty. You can also try Mastika, Ouzo. Wine making is also big

>>1146387
Day trips recommendations:

Plovdiv (absolute must, busses and trains available, 3+hrs train, 2hrs bus)
Rila Monastery (must, again, possible with car only afaik, busses must exist but dont know details)

>Are taxis reliable?
For a local completely. They are metered and everything. The rates are displayed on the window. If rates are starting with anything other than a 0, it means it's a ripoff, but government has been cracking down on them. I was an issue 8 or so years ago. As a foreigner, I don't think you'll have trouble. The communication may be difficult, but you should be good. "OK TAXI" are completely above board and I'd recommend them.