Sofia, Bulgaria

2022-02-09

Cheap beer; gorgeous nature; hard rock bars

In the fall of 2020, COVID was steadily declining all through Europe. We'd been locked down for three months in Spain, and I just HAD to get my travel on. And Bulgaria just so happened to have some of Europe's lowest COVID ratings. So off I went.

As it turns out, Sofia's a cool city. It's big, but not so big that you can't get around on foot between the most important places downtown. Also, it's got a lot of big green areas – something several other major cities could learn from.

If you ever do a picture search of Sofia and/or Bulgaria, the Alexander Nevsky cathedral is gonna come up. Might as well get it outta the way up front.
If you ever do a picture search of Sofia and/or Bulgaria, the Alexander Nevsky cathedral is gonna come up. Might as well get it outta the way up front.
You can't see it here, but they included the nuts on this lion. Not the entire package, though; just the nuts. Which makes it even funnier!
You can't see it here, but they included the nuts on this lion. Not the entire package, though; just the nuts. Which makes it even funnier!

I obviously wanted to find some metal bars. One such is Adam's Bar. It doesn't sound like it up front, but it IS a metal bar.

The problem is, the place is a veritable foosball cult. Everyone in there are solemnly gathered around the foosball table, and while there are breaks in between matches, there's no music or talking when the game is on. Most of the time, nobody says a word, including the bartenders.

You'd think with a font like that it'd be a pretty cool place.
You'd think with a font like that it'd be a pretty cool place.
... But this is pretty much what it's like 90% of the time: Everyone quietly worshipping at the Altar of Foosball.
... But this is pretty much what it's like 90% of the time: Everyone quietly worshipping at the Altar of Foosball.

I mean, it's not that I have anything against foosball, but... Come on!

By the way, the following week I passed another metal bar further down south that's also called Adam's Bar – also using the Iron Maiden font for its name. Not sure if it's some kind of franchise or just the weirdest coincidence. Either way, that other place was closed until after I'd left. Boo.

Anyway, on to Rock'n'Rolla, which seems to have somewhat taken its name from the first Priest album, but still not really. Whatever the case, some local hard rock jam band was playing there, and I was perfectly starved for gigs.

The place itself is in downtown Sofia, and it has the interior of a regular nightclub, but without the shitty, annoying music. This is saying a lot in the country's favor.

That jam band kinda butchered some otherwise great songs by Alice In Chains, Guns n' Roses and the likes. Wasn't expecting much, but still. And to make matters worse, that was the only live music I saw that year.

PICTURED: My collective amount of concerts attended in 2020.
PICTURED: My collective amount of concerts attended in 2020.

One place I visited more than once is Строежа (Stroeja = "Construction"). Also located close to the heart of the city center, it's an industrial style bar where they play a lot of hard rock, grunge, punk, and otherwise all-round alternative stuff from Depeche Mode to Radiohead.

Under normal circumstances, apparently live shows are frequent there. One night, my party and I got hammered and formed our own little moshpit on and off the stage area as the DJ played '90s classics like "Come Out and Play" by Offspring and "Song 2" by Blur. Good times.

Any fan of hard and/or alternative modern rock – or simply cheap beer – should pay Stroeja a visit when in Sofia.

NOT PICTURED: All the rocking out that we did here.
NOT PICTURED: All the rocking out that we did here.

More cool bars: Апартамента (A:part:mental) is, as the name suggests if you can interpret it right, an old house-turned-bar. So you hang out in different living rooms with regular furniture, but there are different, individual bars and DJ's who, respectively, serve beer and play cool music – Johnny Cash; The Police; Blondie; The Clash; Nirvana... you name it.

As you could imagine from the description, it's kinduva hipster place, but cool nonetheless. Lots of different Scotch whiskies in the outside bar as well. And I gotta mention all the graffiti in the bathroom area.

Also: If, like me, you're into board games and pirates, you should definitely pay a visit to the Abordage board game bar. Surprise, surprise: It's a pirate-themed board game bar. Lots of games; lots of good local beers. The owner's a metalhead as well; played Alestorm and a lot of folk metal.

Board game bar with an interior like this? Coulda stayed there forever.
Board game bar with an interior like this? Coulda stayed there forever.
Ooh-wee!
Ooh-wee!

Speaking of which, Club BarBarossa is a goddamn pirate-themed hard rock and metal bar in the city center. I remember them playing Dropkick Murphys and System of a Down. And apparently, they give you a free tequila shot when it's the owner's birthday. Only went there once; this will definitely be the first place I visit whenever I get back to Sofia.

You see a sign looking like that, you just know it's gonna be good.
You see a sign looking like that, you just know it's gonna be good.
The bartenders, one of whom drank himself out cold in tequila. My kinda place in every kinda way!
The bartenders, one of whom drank himself out cold in tequila. My kinda place in every kinda way!

Next to Club BarBarossa, in some basement, is a big place, which, it seems, is normally meant for swingers and kinky S&M kinda deals. The bartender is nice; eager to play Zeppelin and Floyd, and serve moderately priced wine and whisky. Also, there's a hot tub that you can use for 25 Bulgarian leva, which is the equivalent of around €12,75. Comes with a free beer.

I forgot the name of that place, and I can't find it on a map next to BarBarossa, so it's either too undercover, or it doesn't exist anymore. In any case, you should totally go to BarBarossa and snoop around if and when you're in the area. The first one who manages to find that other place gets a free Global Metal Blog t-shirt whenever those come out.

Apart from all this, there's Mount Vitosha down south, which, apart from providing a pretty backdrop, you can spend a coupla hours climbing if you're into mountain-hiking. Also, the Museum of Illusions is well worth the 21 leva entrance, and the staff are way cool and eager to explain exactly how and why you're getting your mind blown.

It's stuff like this.
It's stuff like this.
And this. The picture only starts to look like Einstein when seen from a certain distance. You have to be there.
And this. The picture only starts to look like Einstein when seen from a certain distance. You have to be there.
Mount Vitosha's got a Middle-Earth kinda vibe to it. In fact, revisiting my photos from there made me put on Blind Guardian.
Mount Vitosha's got a Middle-Earth kinda vibe to it. In fact, revisiting my photos from there made me put on Blind Guardian.
You can simply follow the stream uphill until you can't go any further. – Just like in your corporate career.
You can simply follow the stream uphill until you can't go any further. – Just like in your corporate career.

The local cuisine and beers are great too. As for the latter, I could easily go the rest of my lifetime swilling Shumensko, Stolichno, Zagorka, and Kamenitza. There's just something extra tasty and refreshing about those Eastern European pilseners.

That sign counts as the place's entire business model.
That sign counts as the place's entire business model.
Dill cream cheese and tomato sauce in deep-fried batter, and eggplant beef rolls in tomato sauce, sprinkled with cheese and parsley. Excellent hangover cure!
Dill cream cheese and tomato sauce in deep-fried batter, and eggplant beef rolls in tomato sauce, sprinkled with cheese and parsley. Excellent hangover cure!

So, is Sofia worth a visit??

Abso-fucking-lutely, dude. Like any girl you'd wanna get involved with, Sofia's pretty; she's alternative; she's fairly low-maintenance, and she's got lots of action.

Also, if you wanna meet some cool locals and other travelers, I heartily recommend doing the free walking tour and the pub crawl.