Two days based in Sofia.
Yesterday a cycling-free day. It was cold - 5°C - and overcast. In the morning I walked to some Bradt Guide Book recommended sites; the Cathedral of Saint Nedelya (dark inside - with a full congregation singing the responses untunefully), the small Medieval Orthodox Church of St Petka Samardjiyska (regrettably locked up), the Banya Bashi Mosque (plain interior, white walls with only a little painted decoration), Sofia's impressive looking Central Market Hall (closed for renovation), the Central Synagogue (closed) and the Dormition Holy Mother of God Catholic Cathedral (closed) - but felt too chilly to be enthusiastic . . .
The afternoon wentmuch better. A little warmer. First to the University Botanical Garden - small, lovingly-tended and rather charming. Then - almost by chance (the Bradt Guide mentions it only in passing) to the National Gallery. Fabulous. Full of treasures, wonderfully lit and shown, plenty of space, few people - works of many artists (Bulgarian and world over) who looked at the world differently and portrayed it in a fresh way. Renato Guttuso's troubling portrait of a Man with the Newspaper - the paper's pages almost enraged. Ivan Kyosev's brilliant striking illustrations of children's books. Corneliu Baba's sketch The 1907 Uprising leaving so much unsaid and said. Dimitar Boikov's taller than life figure of the Bulgarian artist Dechko Uzunov. And miraculously, Rodin's head of Jean d'Aire one of the Burghers of Calais. I've done justice to none of these in the attached snaps - but they will serve as reminders.
This morning - also 5°C cold - I pedalled slowly out of Sofia up the hills to the south south east to the Boyana Church. A small building, begun in the 10thC with frescoes painted in the 13thC. Possibly the loveliest I have seen. In that close intimate space - in gentle true colours drawn from the earth - figures and scenes of great gentleness and reverence. No photographing allowed (it was almost a blessing to look properly at the walls without a mobile camera in between), but I've attached some photos downloaded from the internet at the end of today's snaps.
Then on about 5km (the last couple uncomfortably cobbled) to the Dragalevtski Monastery. Originally built in the 14thC - one of several monasteries built then around Sofia, known collectively as Little Mount Athos. It sits in high woods. Sunlight filtered through the trees, playing with a tumbling stream. Only a small chapel was open - small and quiet; lined with icons and, on one wall, high frescoes. A painting with temples in flat perspective reminded me of a traditional Indian painting genre.
And this evening, on a whim, to see Tchaikovsky's opera Ace of Spades. I walked by chance past the Opera House, saw it was playing, asked if there were any tickets - and bought one of the few left - in the Upper Upper Upper (really) Circle - for 35 Bulgarian Lev (about £16). A ver.