Tag: Travel

Naples vs Sofia

~ Veselin ~ 13 Comments

I spent a week in Naples for a team meetup with my team. I kept comparing the city with Sofia for reasons that may not be immediately obvious. At least not obvious to me. Don’t take this post seriously.

Here’s this spreadsheet with an honest and unbiased comparison between Sofia and Naples.

Sofia 🇧🇬Naples 🇮🇹
Volcanic activity🚫✅
Nearby mountain✅✅
Mountain tries to kill you🚫✅
Lots of pizza✅✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅
Lots of trash✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ 🍌 💩
Dog poop💩💩 💩 💩 🤦
Frequent dealers🚫✅
Sidewalks blocked✅,✅,
Pineapple pizza✅🚫
Roman ruins✅✅ ✅ ✅ ✅ ✅
Has skyscrapers✅✅
Has skyscrapers everywhere✅ 🚫
Has a giant brutalist trash can🚫 in progress ⏳✅
Restaurant food prices💰 💰 💰
Restaurants offer salads✅ 🚫
4-course meals for tourists🚫✅
Food is usually great🚫✅
Yogurt is usually great✅ 🚫 🤦
Coca Cola Zero bottle size500 ml ✅450 ml 🤦
Number of cats🐈 🐈 🐈 🐈 🐈 🐈
Crowds of tourists🚫✅
Drivers sometimes stop for you✅🚫
Taxi prices💰💰 💰 💰 💰
Taxis may attempt to scam you✅✅
Walkable🤦🤦

Naples for me was a place with a long history, old buildings, too much pizza, and lots of cars.

The Cats of Pompeii

~ Veselin ~ 4 Comments

Pompeii is a city of the dead. The tragedy captured them, covered everything with ash, and petrified the last remaining citizens who didn’t run away from the first stages of the eruption. Their houses remained almost as they were, frozen in time.

The ruins are now ruled by cats, or at least the cats think that way.

Castel Nuovo

~ Veselin ~ 2 Comments

Castel Nuovo was built in the 13th century and hosted kings, popes, thinkers, and artists. I walked by it and it made me think about AI rather than history. People built that thing and felt like it was impenetrable, and then came artillery and it was suddenly just a cold building. A story that keeps repeating. You have a status quo, and you have people thinking how to break it, over and over throughout history.

Happy Holiday, Bulgaria 🇧🇬

~ Veselin ~ 11 Comments

I visited a few iconic places today to celebrate the national holiday.

The Nevski Cathedral, St. Sofia with the eternal flame, and King Samuil’s statue.

This is King Samuil, watching if you click like.

The other cathedral, St. Nedelya (we have two), the Largo with the St. Sofia statue in the distance, and the president’s office with the guards.

Vitosha Boulevard, The Palace of Justice (The Court House), and The Parliament, with the Horse, an ancient TV truck, and the Cathedral in the background.

There will be fireworks in the evening. I hope we have a chance to go and watch them in person.