Sofia
Sofia sorted
Mission: Two nights in Sofia with the kids – is there enough to keep all the family happy
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral Vs Sofia Puppet Theatre
Let’s start with a real tester. Churches and kids don’t usually mix but this colossal cathedral, said to be the biggest on the Balkan Peninsula, seems to spark their imagination. Built to honour the Russians who died trying to liberate Bulgaria from Ottoman rule, this multi-domed temple was completed in 1912. Its vast interior, which can house football stadium size crowds, is lit by thousands of flickering candles and while you could say that once you’ve seen one monumental basilica, you’ve seen them all, this one really is a bit special.
The pay-off is a trip to the Sofia Puppet Theatre. I’ve always been a sucker for marionettes, from those first juddering steps of Captain Scarlet, to the more risqué work of Canadian master Ronnie Burkett. The puppets here have been wowing audiences for over 60 years and there’s a strong visual element to most of the shows, making most of them suitable non-Bulgarian speakers too. If you get a chance, take in The Princess and the Pea – it’s been running for over 30 years!
National Art Gallery Vs outdoor swimming pools
We never actually make it inside the National Art Gallery. Both times are turned away as a film crew has taken over the building. Had we got in, I could reveal the kids’ reaction to a host of Bulgarian greats, including Vladimir Dimitrov-Maistora, a self-styled mystic who specialised in colourful portraits of Bulgarian peasants.
So instead we head off early for swimming at one of Sofia’s three outdoor pools. The Mariya Luiza pool is a vast complex from the communist era – a bit like an old British lido, but on a monumental scale – set amid the rambling acres of Boris Park. The upmarket Lyulin Beach has a wave machine and beach bar but in the end we plump for the recently refurbished Diana Complex at 1 Nikola Gabrovski Str in the Dianabad suburbs. The pools are huge and spotlessly clean, while the cafés certainly attract Sofia’s ‘it’ crowd.
Rotunda of St George Vs City Park
What strikes you first about the Rotunda of St George is that it’s actually there at all. Parts of it date back to the fourth century, making it one of Sofia’s oldest buildings, but nowadays this small red brick chapel is swamped by a quadrangle of grey, austere buildings, including the former Communist Party HQ. But step inside and it comes alive, with ornate frescoes filling every space.
Nearby you’ll find the shady City Park, a small green patch among Sofia’s grandest buildings. There’s a rather dilapidated playground and a few fountains but most is taken up with earnest old men playing chess. Crowds gather in silent cogitation – a bit of a let down for the Nintendo generation.
Ivan Vazov Museum Vs Women’s Market
Time to rally the troops. Bulgaria, I explain, loves its heroes and Ivan Vazoz fits the bill perfectly. Having done his bit in the failed uprising of 1876, he sat down and wrote his epic novel about life in the Bulgarian countryside, Under the Yoke. He lived in this modest house, with its vast porcelain radiators, until his death in 1921. But while the finer points of fin-de-siècle décor may have appear lost on the children, they do latch on to Bobi, Vazov’s dog, which was killed by a tram and promptly stuffed for posterity.
As we head towards the Women’s Market, I promise the children an unforgettable experience inside a labyrinth alleyways and ginnels, full of rich and tantalising smells. Sadly, when we get there all we find is a fruit and veg market. Sure, it’s colourful, and we kill half an hour wandering among the stalls but it’s not the Arabic souk-like experience I’d been hoping for.
Thinking on my feet, we flee to Jimmy’s Ice Cream Boutique a few streets away. Within minutes a combination of flavours ranging from the traditional to the absurd have saved the day.
Mission accomplished: ultimately, like any city, visiting Sofia with the kids needn’t mean you enter a cultural void. All it takes is a bit of forward planning, a bit of compromise and lashings of mint choc-chip with banana sauce.
