Dying embers of socialism. Review on Sofia

So European and yet so different, the experience of the past era of socialist regime begins at the airport itself where you must show a plethora of papers and answer several questions at the Passport Control (Immigrations) itself. Then the currency exchange pays you 1.5 Leva for the Dollar but 2.15 the other way around.

Taxis are quite cheap but restaurants cost about the same as west Europe. The west European standard hotels are expensive and the others extremely cheap. I felt as though I was in 2 worlds at the same time, one from the former communist era where the government and their overwhelming rules were present everywhere. The other was the spirit of free economy recently coming in.

With a lot of old architecture and history, Sofia is a nice city for the average tourist. The music festivals and the theatre, the abundance of discotheques and night clubs, the excursions to the mountains near Sofia for skiing, the monasteries, there seem to be activities to suit all tastes. If you like the beach, go to Varna (4 hours by train) for the fantastic black sea experience. Surprisingly most of the people speak English (much better than Spain or Italy or even some parts of Germany) and the weather is great. For a person visiting Europe, I certainly recommend an extension to this 700 year old city and don't forget to buy traditional Bulgarian handicraft and the fantastic rose oil from the valley of roses.