Sofia; Friday, 20 October, 2023

I was awake just before my alarm went off which was about the only blessing for being up at this time of the morning. After a quick shower I checked out of the hotel and headed over to Hatton Cross station to catch the Piccadilly line the one stop to Heathrow central and then walk over to Terminal 3 to checkin and drop off my luggage.

I had a smooth journey through the airport, including a pleasant breakfast in the lounge, with the plane all closed up and ready to go a few minutes early, but due to the storms that were hitting many parts of Europe this morning we had a bit of an air-traffic delay so we ended up having to wait on stand for about 10 minutes before going for a long taxi round the airport to the end of the far runway.

The storms and heavy weather across most of Western and Central Europe made for a pretty bumpy flight, but with the cloud finally lifting as we crossed into Serbian airspace and then into the warm autumn sun of Bulgaria for an arrival only 5 minutes behind schedule.

I had a quick journey through the airport and onto the Metro into town and then a short walk to the hotel. After checking in and dropping off my luggage in my room I headed out of the hotel for a wander around the city.

The hotel was located close to the National Palace of Culture and it’s gardens, so I wandered over the Lovers Bridge to the grounds and had a wander through them before reaching the end of the main pedestrianised street of the city centre – Vitosha Boulevard. I walked down the length of the road reaching the St. Kyriaki Cathedral Church at the end of the road before descending down into the subway under the main road that houses the archaeological remains of the old city of Serdica.

I had a bit of a wander around the ruins before heading up to the Saint Aleksandar Nevski Cathedral, the iconic church of the city – having a wander round the outside before heading inside for a quick look around as it was due to close pretty soon.

From the church I wandered back in towards the centre of town and went in search of dinner, which at 7pm on a Friday evening was, unsurprisingly, difficult to find a restaurant that wasn’t fully reserved – I ended up walking back up the Vitosha Boulevard about 2/3 to the hotel before I found somewhere that was open and had space.

After a pleasant if not stunning dinner I had a bit more of a wander around the city centre before heading back past the National Palace of Culture to the hotel and a well earned nightcap and then early bed time.