Arena Sofia, formerly known as Arena Armeec, is now called Arena 8888. It was quite a surprise to see the name change. 8888 self-identifies as an entertainment website but is actually an online casino. Our society is pushing back against online gambling at the moment and this contract can be considered a bit like an insult.
I think having a sponsorship will be good for the area, which suffers from decay. Turn around by 30 degrees to the right from that spot and it’s like the Zombies attacked and left 50 years ago. So, congratulations to the winners 🙂
I used to have lunch in this garden – a pizza slice, doner kebab, or a sandwich. The pigeons would circle around, trying to grab a potato in a tight competition with the smart sparrows. There used to be a farmer’s market nearby where you could buy some fresh veggies on the way back home. We lost some of that with the tourists – markets generate trash and crowds of locals so we got rid of them. No farmer’s market nearby, no stray dogs, or sparrows. Maybe a pigeon or two left from the olden days.
On the other hand, what used to be a street with no restaurants is now full of choices. I had pizza that says it’s like in Rome (no), and a Japanese Crepe. If you’re in the area, try the Japanese Crepe. Nobody knows if people in Japan eat crepes filled with creme brûlée but it’s worth trying.
We went to Slaveykov this Sunday because of @knotty‘s comment about their visit to Sofia in the 90s. Back in the day, the square was a book market. My high school was 15 minutes walking from it so I visited it almost daily for many years. It had crowds of readers and piles of trash. The municipality reformed the area a few times, slowly pushing the booksellers out and to the surrounding buildings.
The building in the back of the first photo is the Sofia Library. The first floor is a ДКЦ – 2nd Diagnostic Center. Go there in case you have non-urgent health issues.
The fountain on the second photo has a sad story. Same spot had another fountain that electrocuted a person and was named “The Killer Fountain”. It was demolished and rebuilt after that.
The McDonalds in the back is the first one opened in Sofia in 1995. The queue was hundreds of people long. I liked it very much, it was a favorite spot in the center before Covid. It has a secret second floor where you can chill over your large Coke and nobody will bother you. One of the few McDonalds that operate somewhat normally, most of them are a shadow of their former glory.
The third photo is the Slaveykov monument. The father, the poet Petko Slaveykov, lived around that place, and the monument is with his son Pencho Slaveykov, also a poet. The heavy use of the bench for photos damaged the shadow, which is now replaced with a more durable but much uglier copy.
I visited Rome on a work trip last week. Couldn’t experience too much of it because the trip was brief and the schedule – tight.
I liked their inner gardens and pretty, well dressed people. The food outside of the tourist centre was superb.
I hated the car culture, the swarms of tourists. Almost got run by a motorcycle on the sidewalk. Didn’t see a single cat. The Sistine Chapel was so packed that I wandered if I’ll get out alive.
I’ve been a big fan of book fairs ever since I was a child. I hunted for comics and Karl May books, then gamebooks, then sci-fi, and so on. I usually visit them multiple times so that I don’t miss anything. Couldn’t do the multiple-visit tour this year due to my work trip where I damaged my computer and the consequences of that. At least I visited it once.
The Alley of Books’24 is happening right now on Vitosha Boulevard and near NDK.
Here’s my record-breaking harvest:
Bion by Satanasov is a comic book. Got the first part. I’ve heard good things about it
2 Gamebooks by Lubomir Nikolov, frequently featured here
Dodger by Terry Pratchett. Pratchett influenced me as a youth and is one of my favorite writers. I missed 3-4 of his books, and here we are – filling a void in my Pratchettist degree
Travis Baldree’s second book – a fantasy bookstore?
Brandon Sanderson’s The Sunlit Man from Cosmere
Orconomics vol 2. This time I’ll be prepared for a bloody fantasy rather than a satire.
There were more books I wanted to buy but sitting on the shelves is not perfect. I challenge myself to read 5 out of these 7 by the end of October. I’m the most excited about Bion and Dodger.
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