Europe 2019 - Day 37 (Part 6)

12 June 2019, Wednesday

Now for museums. We passed the Sofia History Museum which is located in the building of the former Central Mineral Baths, the National Gallery which is the biggest art museum in Bulgaria and the National Archaeological Museum which used to be a mosque. After the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, many Muslims left Bulgaria so there were many mosques but not enough worshippers, so the government decided to use the buildings as schools, hospitals, and museums, such as this one. 

There are 2 important bridges here. One is the Lions’ Bridge which is a bridge over the Vladaiska river in the heart of Sofia. It was built in 1889-1891. The other is the 

Eagles’ Bridge which is above the Perlovska River. The 4 eagles on each corner of the bridge are meant to be guardians of the bridge. It is the gateway bridge to Sofia. It was built in 1891.

I think I already mentioned that Sofia has an abundance of natural mineral spring water which is supposed to have healing qualities, but apparently tastes a bit sulphuric. The locals here collect water from the springs which are accessible in various areas throughout the city. I tried some - maybe my taste buds are numb from the lack of spices here, but I didn’t taste anything foul. Neither did my creaking right knee ‘un-creak’ so that’s miraculous healing water for you.

In the underground metro station below and around the Roman ruins, there were poems put up on the walls by various European poets. One in particular caught my attention, a poem by P. Saarikoski (1937-1983) entitled “I wander where I wander” written in 1965 and reads as follows:

“I was thinking thoughts that fit me

Walking in the forest, raindrops dropping on me from the trees

I found myself arriving here and there

And always, everywhere, I knew, was the right place for me.”

So there. Sofia in a day. At about 1.30 p.m. we made our way back to the train station to get our luggage, and made our way to the hostel. I was so sleepy that I was falling asleep on the tram. We arrived at our hostel at about 3 p.m. and I took a much needed cold shower and brushed my teeth. I thought of taking a nap but was feeling refreshed after the shower so I blogged instead. 

There was a free walking tour scheduled at 6 p.m. and was highly recommended by the tourist information centre as well as our host in the hostel, so we decided to attend this tour. Turns out our hostel is in the heart of the city with most of the tourist attractions at walking distance. So whatever we didn’t cover this morning we covered during the walking tour.

Then some food and finally back to the hostel. We walked about 15.5 km today! My record is still 18 km in Paris but this is pretty close, plus lack of sleep. Not bad for aunties like us I guess. I was really feeling so tired that sleep was a welcome relief indeed.