Chest Hair and Cigarettes - A Full Day of Sofia

I think Sofia's charms have won me over despite the almost complete lack of tourist infrastructure. Of course that is one reason why I chose to come to Sofia in the first place - it is off the beaten tourist track. It is so far off the track that I couldn't even find a postcard. Anywhere. In most cities they are everywhere you look, but Sofia apparently does not get many tourists. The few non-locals I saw were the same young backpackers that are staying at my hostel. (A quick shoutout to Hostel Mostel - by far the best hostel I have ever stayed at. Clean, friendly, fun, free internet and two free meals a day. If you ever find yourself in Sofia . . . ) Also, few people are willing to speak English. I say "willing" because I know they study English in school, but I get the feel that they seldom use it in their day to day life and are apprehensive about speaking to an American. That's OK, I'm good at hand gestures and slaughtering Bulgarian words with my tiny knowledge of the Cyrillic alphabet. Another benefit of have few tourists is that I have not been harassed at all! Usually Americans abroad are automatically assumed to be rich and are hounded by tour guides, taxi drivers and homeless for money. Not so in Sofia, I am left to wander the city at my leisure with little stress.

Sofia is interesting for a lot of reasons, but mainly because it is the gateway between the East and West. The people here do not look "European" (whatever that means) but rather they look Turkish, with dark black hair and a darker than olive complexion. The Soviet influence is also interesting, but does not dominate the landscape or architecture. I am very impressed with how clean the city is; the infrastructure is not in great shape, but there are few pollution or sanitation problems. The city is very pedestrian friendly and it is full of electric buses. Many US cities could learn a thing or two from the Bulgarians, but maybe I just have not been to the rougher parts of town.

If you are wondering about the title to the blog, those are the two things which I first noticed about the city. EVERYONE smokes cigarettes. Constantly. Apparently tobacco is a large cash crop for Bulgaria, so it is almost a national obligation to chain smoke. Little old ladies to 12 year olds in the park - I mean everyone is holding a lit cancer stick. My second observation was that all the men are very clean cut - short hair and clean shaven face - but they invariably have a huge unibrow and two buttons undone to expose their bountiful chest hair. So if I trim the beard and chop off my hair, I'll finally get to be fashionable!

Tomorrow I think I'm off to Rila Monastary to stay the night in a monk's cell! Should be rustic, beautiful and (I hope) memorable.

For the rest of my Sofia pictures, check out my Picasa gallery