SoSofia.com

Urban bar is a new place for meetings, dates and hanging out. It is actually more than a bar but rather a conceptual zone for new things to happen. I’m talking about art, music and film events as well as debates.

Attention – they already do run there – by visiting Urban’s fan page, one could track out the activities organized – future and past. This is what we call a promising start and another evidence I can provide is that the people behind the idea are thinking big, so big that it won’t be a surprise if their next step is setting up an institute for urban inhabitants to thrive. I had the chance to meet them and my impressions are quite positive the reason being that I got infected by their enthusiasm. I could see their energy and plans materialized in this place, which turns out to be the basis for more developments to come.

One thing is sure – the bar’s crew are by no means constrained by their own mind-set. On the contrary, the place is designed to be the link between various aspects of the city environment, thus revealing their assets and particularities and contributing to your point of view. This is how you learn to live and get the best from the city. Practice is the essence.

The address is: 3 Moskovska str.

Working hours: Monday to Fiday – 8:00 – 2:30

Saturday: 14:00 – 2:30

The Box Club is like a breath of fresh air for the alternative music lovers. It is also a place where the alternative music doers thrive – just check the club’s schedule and there’s no doubt – the events are planned for months in a row. Apart from foreign guests, their stage holds solid Bulgarian presence, not to mention the crowd – always dedicated and supportive.

The music style really matters, otherwise why would we go? To get drunk? No. To socialize? Of course not! To find a girlfriend? wtf?

See, the music really matters and some of the most general suggestions I can give you are hardcore, metal, Gothic, d’n'b, underground hip-hop and … many more because my fantasy cannot give definitions for everything. You just have to feel it even if you don’t understand it. If it happens so, you should be glad that you are participating at a music event you can’t really interpret properly. Lucky you.

The Box Club is on 41 Alexander Stamboliiski blvd.
Working time: 7 PM – 4 AM

This museum is not an independent one but part of the Ethnographic Institute of the Bulgarian Academy of Sciences and it is the only one in Sofia of this kind. The entrance of the museum is at the back of the National Art Gallery, thus easily accessible.

Despite the central location of the museum, it is not really popular and known. I myself found it completely by chance – I had to visit the Institute to have classes there – only two students and a lecturer. On my first visit  I was struck by the beauty of the place – you know that the building is the former Royal palace of Knyaz Alexander Battemberg and all the walls, all the colours and furniture is the same. You move freely from one room into the other, notice every detail and dream of a masquerade with lots of dances and mysterious visitors. Even the servants’ rooms seem quite luxurious. Of course, now they are filled with desks for the employees but those people are lucky to work in such an aristocratic place.

On the other hand, however, the air smelled of ghosts. All the glamor of the place had seen better days and for visitors after closing hours, the loneliness of the place is oppressing, as if we were the first ones to come after so many years. The only thing that reminded us that we were not alone was presence of the porter downstairs. Classic.

On my second visit I managed to see the museum itself. We arranged the classes so that we squeeze within the work hours. I still kept the idyllic memories from the previous time and was not trying to get culturally shocked.

In reality, however, the collection was anything but rich. Practically there were two rooms and a corridor displaying items from the past. There was a third hall which was completely empty – only a huge marvel fireplace at its end. I instantly thought that this was going to be my room one day. It had a beautiful balcony facing the boulevard and one could secretly observe the passers-by.

This picture is from the back of the palace, revealing how Toba&Co Bar glows warmly in the winter.

The little exhibition prevented us from staying there longer, otherwise we risked getting frozen because the temperature was the same as outside – minus degrees. I could see the air that I was exhaling and at the end of the second hall, I could barely feel my feet but I believe that all was a consequence of the two hours we spend listening to the lecturer. The whole building was scarcely heated.

I cannot explain my fascination by the whole setting and maybe it’s a kind of magic in which the building reveals its story to every visitor in private and in person.

Address: 6A Moskovska str.

Work Hours: Tuesday to Sunday – 10:30 – 17:00

The smell of kebapche and the high concentration of people in one place speak of a huge celebration. Last month, in the city of Pernik, everyone gathered to see the Kukeri – the Bulgarian carnival figures presented mainly by men dressed as beasts or as other typical for the Bulgarian tradition personages like the king, the clown, the devil, the bride or the mother-in-law. What is characteristic is that they always wear masks, trying to send away the evil ghosts and bring a fruitful year.

It was my first time that I visit this kind of show and apart from not seeing almost anything because of the crowd, I got my feet wet and my hands cold. But people seemed to enjoy the gathering a lot and no wonder why – it continued for 3 days and everyone seemed drunk and happy. The climax of the events was in Saturday when the two stages were filled with Bulgarian Kukeri and with guests from abroad, even from China (if memory serves me right but they were from Asia for sure), prepared to show what they know about traditions.

Pernik city is about 25 km away from Sofia and is famous for its mine industries that were flourishing in the past. It also has an ancient fortress – the one of Krakra Pernishki who resists invaders’ attacks in the 10th century.

Hello,

We moved SoSofia.com to a new hosting provider.

While everything seems to be OK, please do inform us if you have any problems.

Cheers!

Sofia Live Club is a sparkling place to be – the one that Sofia needed badly because of the live music performances and the type of events as a whole.

Inside, there are a lot of things you can look at and be impressed with. The main entrance and the following corridor create a visual illusion, making one think that the ceiling is exceptionally high while the corridor – abnormally long. Then the toilets and the wardrobe area merge – they are like an open space which allows for unrestricted movements while you prepare to enter into the main hall. Next, however, the restrictions come with the two doors – you are either a VIP or not.

Irrespective of your status, the stage is huge. If I were a musician, I would feel very happy on it and when a video wall with the size of the stage rises behind me, I would not want to get off it and would sing until the last muscle of my body sores or the security guys come. Then exhausted but forced by the crowd, I would sing my last encore and go home.

Sofia Live Club is literary under the National Palace of Culture (NDK) – you have to go down into the underpass and look for the fountains in the shape of metal balls or the red carpet which leads to the main entrance.

I came across easyHotel Sofia completely by chance but I instantly thought that it would be useful for those of you who do not know where to stay for cheap. The hotel is brand new, purpose built, clean and funky. You cannot miss it because of the distinctive orange colour that is present inside and outside the building.

As it is situated on the corner of the Aldomirovska str. and the main Todor Alexandrov blvd (map), the hotel is very close to the very center of the city and the big shopping areas like TZUM or Mall of Sofia. The metro is near by as well, so apart from the center, you can see the two ends of Sofia (and get culture shock). And then, at the end of the day, you safely return to your cosy room and revise all the events from the day, planning what to do for tomorrow.

For more information, check Easy Hotel’s website and the phone number is 00359 (0)2 920 1654.

Darkness has rooted in Gaba bar, for a long, long time, turning into a permanent characteristic feature. Right from the very entrance, faces become blurred and I concentrate on finding my friends. The place looks bigger than it actually is but this is because of the shadows and shades. I hear voices, see murky silhouettes and finally here they are – my friends. They discuss keenly the political situation, so I take the advantage and observe the place. Darkness now combines with smoke – it seems that everyone present is holding a reeking cigarette. I disapprove and ask the boy next to me whether he would smoke until the rest of his life. He doesn’t really know but admits his addiction. Anyways, we say “nazdrave” (cheers) and change the topic.

I come to think that Gaba Bar has an audience of its own. Such a place would not have survived otherwise through the years and that should be my main point. It fosters people with alternative music tastes and more importantly, it offers conceptual music, the one that is out of the mainstream. Thus, the whole night turns out to be conceptual, not always though. For example, we listened to Beirut which glued us to our seats in expectation for the next songs. Yes, it was nice and it was getting late but the forthcoming tracks were important. Still, we would listen and talk, talk, talk… and occasionally hum with the songs.

Gaba Bar is on 44 “6-ti Septemvri” street, just after Downtown Hotel if you are coming from Vasil Levski blvd. It is a big metal door that would lead you in downstairs.

Yes, it is 14th of January, still it is not too late to wish you Happy New Year!

Let the new year brings you new friends, tons of love, lots of travels and prosperity.

Thanks to Vladimir Georgiev who provided us with this photo of Sofia’s first minutes of 2010!

On my first dinner in Moskva Restaurant I had quite a good time because of the whole setting and the people I was with who I did not know much but eventually started to dance and sing. It was a gradual process that left me thinking over the particularities of the Russian traditions when it comes to celebrating around tables. They certainly aren’t few and Moskva restaurant proves it with balance between style and taste.

Within the exuberant setting, the menu list is undoubtedly intended to be the center of attention. The meals’ title are both familiar and new to me since this is the first time I officially go to a Russian restaurant. The rest I know from the pictures in the Russian traditional cuisine cookbooks that always seem to reveal a whole tale. That is exactly what happened then – at first, the setting provided an air of formality and expectations what might happen next (I had already that feeling that something unpredicted would happen). And then the food was served, in beautiful plates, looking and tasting great, instantly turning into a recurring theme for conversations. Of course, it was garnished with vodka and sentimental memories about life in Russia (for those who had them). That certainly warmed up the atmosphere and when the live performance of two musicians started, all barriers fell and the people I was with but did not know much eventually started to dance and sing. We were like a family, a Russian one.

Moskva Restaurant is open everyday between 11:00-24:00.

Address:  2 Lege str.