8/15 Thursday
Our
agenda for today is a visit to the National Gallery of Art, which is the former
palace building at the center of the city. The palace also houses the Ethnographic
Museum. Oddly enough, they are two completely separate entities. Even though
they share a common grand staircase, there’s no combined admission, you need a
ticket for each side of the palace.
The
gallery collection is very nice, regional artists, mostly 20th
century. Sadly, the building interior has been painted over, all white, with
traces of the decorative plasterwork faintly visible. There is one grand
ballroom filled with mirrors and chandeliers that suggests the former beauty of
the place. We can’t help thinking that restoring the palace would make a more
popular tourist attraction, a la Versailles. The Ethnographic Museum is
interesting, a collection mostly of regional costumes for holidays and
celebrations. There is a gentleman there who explains a little, and tells us
there is no national costume in Bulgaria; each region has its distinctive styles
and patterns. The embroidery and silverwork on the clothing is quite
exceptional.
Afterwards,
we walk a few blocks to the great Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, covered in golden
domes in the Russian style. It’s impressive. We see a priest of some kind, an
important person, evidently, taking donations for a special blessing. There’s a
line of people waiting to see him. We
don’t know enough about the orthodox services to explain why there are no pews,
just an open floor in the cathedral.
We
stop at a fancy park café for lunch. I have a nice spinach salad. Bob has,
quelle suprise, chicken soup. It’s not as good as the last place.
1 Video Included
Sofia National Gallery of Art
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