All about Sofia, part I

This is the first post of a series dedicated to Sofia: the way the city looks today, trying to follow the direction it's developing. This is also a series trying to show the impact of this development on its inhabitants: whether it's hidden beauty=demonstrative ugliness, or pure beauty, it will be shown and commented.

In this way I'd like to keep the memory of the way it looked at the time I made every comment and then go back whenever I want to. Time always makes us forget or change our perceptions of one thing or another, and the best way to fight it is to keep the photos and notes.



So, Vitosha blvd. continues to be only pedestrian zone. Trams are the only vehicles allowed. Of course, this isn't always the case: the arrogant unpunished criminals don't obey and pass untroubled.


Now it's much nicer to walk there. In autumn, the old chestnut trees stretching between both ends of the boulevard have their leaves re-painted by the season in all variations of yellow, orange and brown. It gets even funnily dangerous walking under them because all the time chestnuts are smashing on the ground with high speed. :)





The old public bath is still under re-construction. :( It's been ages since the reconstruction has started...probably I wasn't born at that time. In these autumn days the small square in front of it is hosting numerous events. One day there was a fashion-show in open-air. And the day I took the photo there was an exhibition of...honey producers :) Yes, it's still going on. And honey is quite popular thing here in Bulgaria.




In the middle of August street reconstruction began in Sofia. Many of the major boulevards were closed which has caused major traffic jams. Additionally, in the beginning of September Sofians started returning from their summer holidays and the city became blocked... Every day, they get stuck in huge traffic jams at places and times of the day which normally are calm. The photo is showing Opalchenska str. Currently it's closed between Todor Aleksandrov blvd and Aleksandar Stamboliiski blvd and many drivers go crazy because there are traffic jams in the streets and boulevards which are the alternatives of the closed one. Obviously, this driver here couldn't wait and passed through the closed area. I saw many of them passing and just went closer and waited... I knew that sooner or later someone else would get nervous and thus tempted to break the rules...








Wow, the newest shopping centre/mall is opened! It's quite huge and is 5 minutes from my place! :) I was at the Opening and it was rather crowded. The building actually is a very old one: it used to be a deserted construction site, probably of a plant or something like that. But someone wisely decided to use it for a better purpose. Before it was quite scary passing by this place in the evening: homeless dogs, suspicious pedestrians... Now it's not like that. :) And what is more, there's the biggest Fantastiko, store I've ever seen... well, more money will be spent on food... :-D I'm so happy that there's also the Extreme Bowling centre just like in Studentski grad But it's on two levels... and much closer to my place, which is the bigger plus. :)))




Finally, the place I visited several times these days, was the Mall of Sofia. It's a rather expensive place, situated on the corner of Opalchenska str. and Aleksandar Stamboliiski blvd. (the place I took the photo of the street area in reconstruction).
It was opened several months ago: also filling unused space taken by the foundations of an unfinished construction site from communist times.
If you want to have a shopping therapy, better not choose this place. Prices are quite scary. I've thought they're too high even for rich Sofians but obviously that's not the case: people buy, and buy, and buy... I love the Onda coffee shop: you can sit in an armchair with a cup of chocolate or coffee and watch the people in the street pass by you and only a thin glass separates you... :)


So that's all for now... It's good to write about Sofia, it's some kind of relaxing when you need relaxation. I just think of the nice times spent going around the not-always-nice-looking city and I simply...relax :)