It’s nice arriving into a
city and noticing that it’s not laced with tourist trinket shops on each street
corner selling plastic magnets and postcards of monuments and landmarks you
never end up finding.
The only person branding an
umbrella isn’t the leader of the walking tour instead someone who uses it for a
purpose of blocking out the sunshine for a change. Cameras don’t dangle around
people’s necks instead identity cards hang over crisp white shirts.
Finally we are in a city where
we can almost sink into the unknown and play out the role of acting like a
local with ease.
Sofia, Bulgaria certainly
does cater for the tourists, but our past 2 days here have felt the opposite.
We’ve shopped, attempting an unsuccessful haggle at the local market only to
return later to take up on the final price. We’ve visited a beautician who was
adamant that whoever shapes eyebrows in the UK needs to be taught a few
lessons.
Last Friday there was a mass
demonstration running down the main street against the rise in electricity
prices. A peaceful protest, but still we watched form afar with caution. Whistles blown and flags waved, the
media standing by filming every second of it.
Everyone has greeted us in
Bulgarian and we’ve attempted the long winded thank you, failing miserably,
wishing that there might be an abbreviated version. Merci is the alternative,
we’ve been told, but we are in Bulgaria not France.
It’s been nice walking
around a city that isn’t overtly selling itself with the tourist trade. Instead
buzzing away with everyday life and a noticeable influx of sex shops on street
corners. Strange but a nice change from a kebab shop I guess?!
But, at the end of the day I
am here as a tourist, and do need that mandatory postcard. Even if its of a
monument that I’ve never seen.
Toodle pip x
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| Taking advantage of wet cement (there's a first time for everything). |
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| Streets in Sofia en-route to markets. |
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| Flag sellers and whistle blowers. Essential items for any street protest. |
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| Street view. |
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| Public protests. |
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