Two of the new teachers at school asked me recently to put together scavenger hunt.
It started off as a joke. And then it wasn’t.
The two of them had decided that they needed to get out in Sofia by themselves with a map, a camera and some leva for coffee (or beer), get themselves lost and then find themselves again in order to really figure out the city.
Mladost Blocks: I want to get the girls out of Mladost & Downtown
Sounds like a great plan to me.
I think that’s really the only way that you get to know a city. That and getting out to explore new things as much as possible. I was lucky to live in the city center when I first moved to Sofia so the exploring was a little different for me but these girls live on campus right behind the school so they need to really work at getting off campus.
So I told the girls I’d send them on a wild goose chase. This pretty quickly turned into me sending them on a scavenger hunt and by the end of our conversation last weekend, I’d promised to make a “sight-seeing scavenger hunt of Sofia” for the two girls wherein they had a check list, a map, a guide book and a camera and had to take pictures at each sight on the list in order to prove that they’d been there. We’d meet-up at some predetermined cafe in the city center a few hours after they’d started and see how they’d done.
Great plan, huna? What could go wrong?
Well, here’s what.
I got really busy at school over the last few days and I haven’t made the scavenger hunt list yet. In fact, I am currently writing a blog post about the sight-seeing scavenger hunt in Sofia which I’ve actually yet to create. Awesome. That’s how I roll.
So, here’s the start of my list and to preface this I put together a few sentences on my current thinking about the game. I think that the way a scavenger hunt works it’s better to have more places to stop off rather than fewer. I think it’s important to have a mix of places seeing as these girls actually live in Sofia rather than just visiting. I think that major sites don’t require a street address but that lesser sites/meeting places/restaurants do require a street address.
A Sight-Seeing Scavenger Hunt in Sofia:
- Alexander Nevski Cathedral
- National Gallery for Foreign Art
- National Assembly
- Monument to Liberators
- Ethnographic Museum/National Art Gallery
- St. Nikolai Russian Church
- Mineral Baths
- Sveta Nedelya Cathedral
- Banya Bashi Mosque
- Sofia Synagogue
- St. Sofia Statue
- Monument to the Soviet Army
- Ivan Vazov National Theater
- NDK (The National Palace of Culture)
- 1300 years monument
- Slaveikov Square (outdoor/open air book market)
- Graf Ignatiev Fruit and Veggie Stalls
- Popa Statue (at the corner of Levski and Graf Ignatiev)
- Any Happy Bar and Grill
- SupaStar on Shishman Street
- The Taqueria also on Shishman Street
- Zona Urbana on Angel Krunchev
- Memento on Vitosha (the Memento on Rakovski has gotten too big)
- Lime on Graf Ignatiev (Gasp, a cafe I’ve been to half a dozen times but have apparently never written about luckily Spotted By Locals has.)
- Any downtown Pizza Ygo
Seeing as I put the above list together in something like 10 minutes, here’s where you come in. What else should be on this list? What should my friends see? What places do they need to know about in order to get around the city? Anything fun that we should add to the list?
Let me know what you think in the comments section, okay?! Thanks.
The Ladies Market. They should be required to buy a few things that are more typically used in Bulgaria than in other places, чубрица perhaps, or maybe the ingredients for a Bulgarian dish.
One of the places on your list is closed for a while, but I won’t say here which one – let them discover it themselves.
I might add Sofia Central Marketplace to buy some olives or sweets, also good for people watching.
@Lauren and @Brian These are both great suggestions. I guess I didn’t manage to think much past Vitosha Street this morning when I was making my list!!
What was the name of that big indoor market that was close to the Women’s Market. It was a great place for a cup of coffee while it poured rain. Is that the Sofia Central Market that Lauren identified.
Why do you call the outdoor one where you bought the dishes the Women’s Market and Brian called it the Ladies Market? Is it just a translation thing?
@MoM Wow. Even after a short trip a few years ago you’re exactly right. The Sofia Central Market is the market we ducked in for a coffee in the pouring rain and the Women’s Market can be translated a few different ways into English from the Bulgarian word: женски.
A bit late but here you are some suggestions:
You can add the St. George church, considered to be the oldest building in Sofia – it is located in the courtyard of the Sheraton Sofia Hotel.
Battenberg Mausoleum (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battenberg_Mausoleum) and the little garden around it is a perfect place to eat a sandwich and drink a fresh from FreshBrake that is nearby (Shisman 12A street – I think you haven’t been there because you haven’t blog about it
) – one of the best places for fresh food in town.
Last thing, you can visit Arena di Serdica hotel (very close to the back of the National Art Gallery, http://www.arenadiserdica.com/en/contact-us/). It is build on top of some excavated ruins from the amphitheater of the Roman city of Serdica and you can drink a coffee there watching the ruins.
For even more inspiration, you can check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourist_attractions_in_Sofia
Enjoy
.
Consider Bankya – there are impressive remnants of former glory as a resort of the Bulgarian Kingdom until 1945 or if you still want the centre of Sofia – try the streets to the north of Dondukov boulevard – this is the oldest part of modern Sofia, not very fashionable, but you can stumble upon pieces of decaying buildings with stunning architecture.
@Комитата What a great suggestion. Thanks so much!!
I must join Комитата there, it’s a great and one of the most authentic parts of town!