Cherni Vrah

~ Veselin ~ 5 Comments

I was lucky to have the first successful hike for the year. We did two in the winter but the weather was windy and unpleasant and we got nowhere. There’s still some snow here and there, just enough to enter your shoes. The weather was very warm – t-shirt, sun screen, and winter boots type of weather.

I’m thankful I was able to do this. 15k steps, roughly 3h.

National Theatre Ivan Vazov

~ Veselin ~ 16 Comments

My daily walk got me to this iconic place in Sofia, which I frequently feature here. It’s probably the prettiest area in the city, although I see some competition forming around Doctor’s Garden and some other places. It’s dominated by tourists during the day and by young locals drinking beer during the night.

Some trivia, in case you get there:

  • There’s a dude selling expensive balloons who wears shorts from April. You see a dude selling balloons with shorts, it means the spring is here. It can be freezing cold, doesn’t matter.
  • There are older men playing chess. Some coins get exchanged, playing is not free.
  • The best place to visit within this garden, apart from the benches with this particular view, is the City Gallery. I’ve never regretted visiting it.
  • One of the best vegetarian restaurants is just behind (and to the left), called Satsanga
  • Starbucks Srebarna is good but doesn’t have a nice toilet, you’d be happier visiting one of the two McDonalds in the area

Books I Read in April

~ Veselin ~ 3 Comments

April was not a great month for reading for me. I missed the first 10 days and then read a few short ones for the number. Nevertheless, some mind blowing books came out of it. Few but good.

Best Books

  1. Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir – the sad story about necromancers who face too much magic and a universe that’s 10K years after the apocalypse. I think some love is lurking in there but it’s not a romance. It’s deeply touching, well written, engaging, interesting, and memorable. It was by far the best book I read this month, and I keep thinking about it.
  2. Careless People by Sarah Wynn-Williams – a former director from Facebook reveals dark secrets from her past work. Mixed feelings here. Her story is awful and at the same time, the genie is not going back to the lamp.
  3. Harrow the Ninth by Tasmyn Muir. A book where the imaginary and the reality are so mixed that I needed Wikipedia to explain the events to me. However, despite the 4*, I feel this book was far more memorable than the next books on the list that I can forget quickly. I plan to get the 3rd part as well but maybe after a break.
  4. The Narrow Road Between Desires – Patrick Rothfuss is a modern classic with his incredible skill of arranging small and tiny events into a larger puzzle. I’d say, a good member of the Cozy Fantasy family.
  5. Cursed by Alex Kosh – 5* but pretty much unavailable anywhere, I was the lucky first reviewer on Goodreads. And also, thematic, it is about ghosts and in line with Gideon, Harrow and the unfortunate sixth book.

Worst Book

  1. Five Broken Blades – ironically, almost identical plot with Gideon the Ninth, which I liked so much. The story is about 6 (no kidding) people trying to assault an immortal king who is both the enemy and the ally. However, unlike Gideon the Ninth, it’s constantly annoying, and none of it makes sense. For example, why 5 blades if it’s about 6 people, and why broken, if nothing is broken? The book doesn’t answer. Maybe the sequel will.