In January 2020, I spent 2 days in Sofia, Bulgaria with my mom and my sister. We took the plane from Paris and arrived at Sofia airport. We decided to take the bus to go to our apartment booked on Booking.com... What a bad idea ! ^^' The second bus proposed by Google Maps didn't exist and we were lost in Sofia suburb and unable to read anything. So, for the record, take the metro ;)
The apartment was lovely! Quite big, with a kitchen, 2 rooms, and a big living room with 3 super comfortable seats.
The first night, we ate near our apartment, at Bistrello. It was absolutely delicious! The restaurant is much cosier than it looks in the internet photos. That night we ate soooo much. We were offered an appetizer free of charge before we order (1) chicken on a bed of seeds of pumpkin, (2) fusion dishes with Bulgarian meatballs with indien spices, cucumber and peanut (really fresh), and (3) fusion food with salmon tempura with rice, mushrooms, egg, teriyaki sauce (My fav). For dessert, we ate (1) a violet crème brulée, (2) a chocolate cake with toffee cream and cinnamon ice cream, and (3) a Japanese pancake stuffed with coconut ice cream and orange juice around.
Day 1
The first day we wandered on Sofia's streets until we found the Church of St George, a church enclosed in by the buildings around it. The visual sensation is strange. Just next to it, there are Roman ruins, hence the nearby archaeology museum.
The museum of archaeology is full of Roman pieces of art like statues, pots, mosaics, etc... There is also a room called the treasure room where you can mainly see pieces of jewellery.
We also saw the Palace of Justice, Sofia. I saw an Hessburger! It's a fast-food chain like MacDonalds by created in Finland. I discovered it during my semester in Finland.
For lunch, we ate at Skarabar 2. I was sick so I ordered a soup but I wasn't able to finish it... :/ It was a soup of beans with coriander. If you like spices, come to Bulgaria ! My mom and my sister ate steaks, which is the speciality of the restaurant.
We saw the building of Palace of Justice of Sofia. We visited the Alexander Nevsky cathedral and the museum under it. The area around the cathedral is spacious. There was a flea market in the square.
Then we went to Tsum, a mall. Nearby we saw the mosque Bania Bachi and Serdica metro station where there are Roman ruins. Those ruins have been discovered during the creation of the subway.
From there, we walked on the large pedestrian commercial avenue and found the Rose of Bulgaria shop.
With the cold and the dark coming, we wanted a hot beverage. That's why we ended drinking tea at Villa Rosiché. I ordered a blue matcha tea. It was disgusting haha. I love matcha (I'm kinda crazy about it actually...) and that tea didn't taste like matcha, at all. The place is really cute, warm and cozy. We loved it !
Day 2
On the second day, we had a brunch at Villa Rosiché. We loved it so much that we came back ! The place is close to our apartment and the food is good. Each of us ordered a hot beverage and stuffed croissant. I had the tuna croissant, which was absolutely delicious !
After our brunch, we first went to the Mall of Sofia. We wanted to know which brands were available in Bulgaria, especially Bulgarian brands, and the average style of clothings in the different shops. It was suggested in our travel guide so... The mall looks like a classical mall lol. the brands represented there were the international ones (Zara, H&M, MacDonald, etc.).
After a short break, we visited the Museum of illusion. It was so great! It was our most expensive activity but we had lot of fun (and great pictures haha). It is great and suitable for family with children.
On our way back to our Bulgarian home, we walked past Sofia hotel balkan. It seemed so warm and cozy that we went inside for a drink. The place is well heated, with comfortable sofas and free wifi. We had a good time. It's nice to have a little quiet time in a nice place once in a while. There was even a show with a fire-eater outside. We could see it from our table through the window.
After that we went straight to restaurant for diner. We ate at the Hadjidragana tavern. The restaurant is so cool ! It is a traditional Bulgarian restaurant from the food to the decoration, the waiters outfit and the music. The menu was a discovery one, the goal being to try a piece of all the typical Bulgarian food and drinks. There were also Bulgarian musicians who sang folk Bulgarian songs.
Warning : you have to make a reservation ! The restaurant is always full.
List of the restaurants :
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