I took a 2 week vacation in Bulgaria in October 2006. Here are my impressions of specific aspects of my trip.Entry status: not proof read
CORRECTION: Vitosha is not part of the Balkan mountain range, which is further north of Sofia.
Sofia (София) Bulgaria is an ancient and active city of 1.2 million eastern Europeans, living at the foot of the mountain Vitosha from the Balkan mountain range.
Infrastructure
The streets are narrow (very tight by US standards) and radiate out from the city center. Most cars are small and it appears to be a generally accepted concept that people driving larger vehicles are merely flaunting wealth and tend to drive with a sense of roving-street-ownership. There were some suggestive gestures to compliment this opinion.
Fuel is measured in liters and cost much more than fuel in the US. In Sofia, parking is the number one problem, followed closely by traffic in general.
Traffic congestion is impacted by the radial nature of the city streets. From my experience there were only two freeway systems in the city and neither goes downtown (might be more but I don't recall utilizing them.) There are main roads but they have traffic signals and other obstacles mentioned later.
Parking is impacted by the nature of the city. In a word, Sofia is decentralized with a very high population density in all areas of the city.
While larger US cities have a distinct business and government areas and shopping areas, most old neighborhoods in Sofia have all the necessities with walking distance: drug store, liquor store, free foods, grocery, restaurants, bakeries, travel agencies, resell shops, gambling venues, electronics, cafes and coffee shops. All these were present with 60 seconds walking distance from the flat were I stayed. I noted this same arrangement at other districts, neighborhoods and alcoves.
High population density is maintained by large numbers of tall apartment buildings, large concrete honeycombs of apartments (aka flats). Unlike US housing where even apartment buildings are limited to three stories (at least in central Texas) , the larger apartment buildings pack (guessing) hundreds of people in the space that might hold as few as 40 people in the US (again, in central Texas.)
With this higher density, there is a parking problem. The city does not have more than a handful of public automobile parking areas and those are generally pay parking using pre-purchased coupons. With narrow streets, parking on the street is more than ill advised, its very bad form. As a result, parking is accomplished by using side walks. While that solves the immediate problem, the side walks were not built to support the weight of cars and so they buckle. Needless to say, sidewalks are for cars, not pedestrians with few exceptions.
Narrow streets, high density and a developing wealth so that more people can afford automobiles - what's the solution? Yes, its Europe so the solution is mass transit. Mass transit comes in the form of buses and double-length buses, an electric city-wide tram systems, an under-expansion subway (aka metro). All these transportation systems are packed full. Bus stops packed with people seem to often spilling over in to the streets. I would guess that more than half the city moves daily over the public mass transportation systems. A side effect of the trams of course is pervasive over head cabling through out the city, connecting poles to buildings to tram cars. The sky is only seen through this mesh of wires and narrow street ways.
There are taxis and, from my reading and brief discussions with citizens, taxis are less suspicious than in years past but I would still view them with some caution. I did witness some very "impolite" driving tactics from taxis drivers as well.
To explain what I mean by "impolite" driving tactics, I have to first explain the "base line" of driving behavior. Three lanes turning left, a car on either side of the single official left turn lane invokes some gestures but nothing usually too vocal. Its frequency of occurrence is common place. Forced lane merges create more vocal and gesturing offense. I have also witnessed driving completely into oncoming traffic for more than half a mile to turn left. In the US, painted lanes are treated almost like walled canals and offense can be given by even vering too close to the painted boundaries of a lane. In Sofia, lanes are treated as paint on the street - just suggestions and not much more. As a passenger, I experienced driving a car in Sofia and Bulgaria in general as a very organic experience. Taxi drivers are ten times more active as "impolite" drivers.
Adding an interesting twist to the driving experience, you would have to be completely committed to suicide to run red traffic lights in Sofia. Most intersections have a count-down time for green and red lights. Everyone knows then the light will be green. This takes out 3/4 to a full second of reaction time from the driving experience. As a result, when the light is green, traffic is already moving.
Sofia also has a few traffic circles when I do not like much at all. But at least they run counter-clock wise.
Because Bulgaria was preparing to join the EU during my visit, major roadway projects were underway, complicating the traffic situations. The existing Sofia metro is being expanded into new neighborhoods, further blocking lanes of traffic. Notification of these construction locations is usually about ten feet before hand, creating the need for more forced merges. Additionally, the amount of construction puts a large amount of smoke and dirt into the air. Add the mountains and you've a mostly persistent haze over the city, until it rains.
Adding to the presentation of the city is the legacy of local government corruption, involving garbage collection. As reported to me, this contractual pillaging of city funds has left the city with over full trash barrels through out the city and other neglected elements.
Despite these elements, Sofia is a modern European city and thus is pedestrian friendly. By this I mean you get to most any thing you need by walking or public transportation. I do not recommend stepping into the street anywhere in Bulgaria without looking (same was true of Copenhagen, Denmark although there you would mostly likely be hit by a speeding bicyclist than cars.)
In the center of the city is a non-automobile district with a higher shopping density. Other than trams, its only shopping, coffee drinking, socializing people moving about. Its a very nice district filled with very stylishly dressed people.
Architecture
Sofia is an ancient city with a rich and deep history. Populated, conquered and named may times over the millennia, Sofia's architecture reflects its history with the Turkish mosques and bath houses, the public hot springs in the center of town, the following influences of orthodox Christianity in the form of churches and monasteries. In specific contrast to modern, functional and utilitarian US architecture, the buildings show an amazing amount of history, ornamentation, style and general building care.
The exceptions to this grand architecture are the very drab apartment buildings. While they create density, that are often gray, show some external distress in the form of concrete patches of large cracks. Additionally, building construction varies greatly. I saw many paint jobs on the gray buildings to both apply color and seal in more heat.
Likewise, as a visitor to Bulgaria, I had to register at a local police station. At the police station, the rough and broken stone steps outside, old concrete walls inside, narrow hallways, iron grating blocking entries, electrical and networking cables running outside the walls over head, reminded me of old US produced "cold war" movies. I was glad to leave there.
Like my experience in Denmark, Sofia has many public sculptures on sidewalks, in parks and city areas. At least in my experience, these are strangely absent in local parks and city areas.
Climate
Because Sofia is at the base mountain range, its weather is dynamic but most often cloudy ridden. Adding to this the smoke and dirt of construction and general industrial manufacturing contribute to a smog that the mountain keeps fairly stationary until a rain or strong wind moves through the city. While it appears to be overcast in Sofia, it passes and offers a spectacular view in the distance with the mountain range so close. During my visit in October, there was some damp weather, occasional rain, broken up by occasional sunshine within the city. The Balkan mountain range is never far from view and adds a lot of visual stimulation for those of us that grew up on the flat(ter) lands of west Texas.
Temperature wise, Bulgaria has harsh, snowy winters and the occasionally blistering summers. I went during the fall transition just before it cooled down for the winter.
