So, Sofia

My first time in Bulgaria, the plan being a 7 day skiing odyssey, plus a day spent in the capital before heading to the mountains.
After a 3 hour flight from Luton (WizzAir), and with a 2 hour time difference, Alex and I get to the airport at around 10pm, and are whisked efficiently away by the pre-booked taxi, arriving at the 4 star Hotel Rodina half an hour later.  We manage to convince the giggling receptionists that we want a double room each, rather than just one, and so, time for a beer or three.
There's a convivial piano bar on the top floor with views of the city, and our first experience of the Bulgarian taste in music as the singer does 'Alice' and 'Hotel California' among others - we'll hear both songs live again more than once.
Then at 11:30 - still only 9:30 UK time - we head across the lobby and through a door signed 'Night Club'.  Maybe there will be dancing?  But actually it is empty, and once we sit down a girl asks for 10 Lev each entry fee... but whatever, that is only around 4 Pounds and it is a change of scenery.  Our beers arrive, and then shortly afterwards the first pole dancer comes out - it turns out that 'Night Club' means something a bit different in Eastern Europe.  And though drinking a beer while pretty girls dance isn't a bad way to spend your time, it quickly becomes clear that they really want you to spend money on other things too.  I'll leave it to your imagination as to exactly what...

The next day we go sightseeing, and Sofia is certainly an interesting place.  A lot of it is rather run down, street dogs slink along past decaying buildings, but there is also some fascinating architecture dating from the Ottoman and pre-communist Bulgaria days, and plenty of modern shops and restaurants.  Plain bars are not common, but you can walk into a restaurant (taverna is probably closer) and just drink if you want.
Most impressive are the city's many Churches, we find a tiny 11th century one by the Serdica Metro station, but some are enormous and magnicificent.  We also see a Synagogue, and right next to it a 16 century Mosque.  This is close to the ornate Bath House - currently being restored, there are also the ruins of a turkish bath next to the Mosque, and some even older ruins across the road.  The hot springs that fed the baths are still working, we see a steaming fountain and an array of constantly running taps, the locals queuing to fill plastic bottles - whether to sell or to drink I couldn't say.

A winter Monday turns out to be a bad day for museum hunting though, most seem to be shut either for refurbishment or just because it is Monday.  It's particularly annoying that we can't get into the museum of Socialist Art, after tramping a few miles through the snow to it, though we can at least peer at the numerous massive statues through the fence.  There is also a sparkly new shopping mall nearby where we grab some decent Italian food, and then we take the Metro back (from G.M.Dimitrov station).  The Metro is clean, efficient and very cheap, and soon we're back in the centre, where the temperature is dropping and after a few more failed attempts to get into museums it's time for some beer.  We spend most of the evening in Happy's Bar and Grill near the most impressive Church, the beer is cheap (2.29 Levs or around 95p), and there is a wide range of vaguely meze style food - more on Bulgarian cuisine later.  Finally back to the Rodina piano bar to meet our remaining holiday companions, ready to head off on the road trip tomorrow.