It is an interesting little tale of Bulgarian manners and the generosity of the Almighty. Though Bulgarians have not always responded to the gesture with any great religious devotion. But the story nicely highlights that punctuality is not a national virtue in this country in the southeastern Balkans. Bulgaria arrived late in the European Union (EU) — it joined, along with Romania, only in 2007.

Hallmarks of identity

On the face of it, Bulgaria really is a place apart. It is the only EU country that overwhelmingly favors the Cyrillic alphabet (not to be confused with the Greek script). That Cyrillic script may often be judged as a hallmark of Orthodoxy, but in fact many Orthodox churches in Bulgaria are markedly less crowded than in neighboring Romania (which, for all its Latin ways, is still one of the most devoutly Orthodox countries in Europe).

The Trigrad Gorge in southern Bulgaria. Photo: Countries in Color

Architectural heritage

The churches in Bulgaria may not be packed, but the country boasts some of the world’s most striking Orthodox heritage. The monasteries of Rila and Bachkovo, easily accessed in day trips from Sofia and Plovdiv respectively, are landmark examples of Orthodox architecture and design. The two are very different: Rila a riot of color, Bachkovo more muted yet a place of perfect harmony. Some of the interior murals in the ossuary church at Bachkovo are almost 1,000 years old.

If Orthodox style is not your thing, then Bulgaria also has some of the finest Islamic architecture in the Balkans. Take a look at the superb Tombul Dzhamiya complex in Shumen (in eastern Bulgaria) to discover how Islam nurtured an entire community, providing a focus for prayer and education. It houses a beautiful mosque with an adjacent school, library and sheltered courtyards for rest and relaxation.

Memorable landscapes

Bulgaria has its gritty cities which could do with a little love and care. It is struggling in the transition to a market economy. But it is has some memorably beautiful landscapes. We like the strange natural obelisks of Belogradchik and the gaunt beauty of the Pirin mountains. The Trigrad gorge is utterly memorable, as too are the coastal wetlands of Dobrudzha.

Catch any of these in the right light, and well might you feel that you have indeed stumbled on a little piece of Paradise.

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Probably not a lot of Cheapos would normally add the National Museum of Military History (92 Cherkovna str.) to their list of “must-see” sights in the Bulgarian capital. The Web site is not calculated to wow the casual surfer, but it does have some splendid promotional nonsense: “Everyone who has crossed the threshold of this museum enters the Bulgarian temple of immortality.”

So if you want immortality Bulgarian-style, you know where to head.

Mission impossible

It’s hard to say that things are much better at the National Polytechnic Museum, which has as its mission “to collect everything created by our ancestors in the past because in them are contained the signs of knowledge.”

Grand stuff, but that’s another cultural treasure that we’ve somehow missed. Next time we are in Sofia with a month to spare, perhaps.

Museum of Socialist Art

But don’t give up entirely on Sofia’s museums, for tucked away around the city are a few gems. The one that has hit the headlines this fall, and for all the right reasons, is the new Museum of Socialist Art (7 Luchezar Stanchev). It opened in September 2011 and is already attracting very positive reviews in Bulgaria and beyond.

The exhibits

The museum displays about 150 pieces that for the last two decades have been hidden away in vaults and cellars. The country’s transition to democracy has not always been easy, but the authorities have decided that now is the time to show how artists variously suffered and thrived in the socialist period.

Visitors to the museum, which is tucked away in a side street south-east of the city center, are confronted at the entrance with a classic stereotype: the massive five-pointed red star that for many years topped the Communist Party Headquarters in Sofia. There is also a 45-ton statue of Lenin in the museum’s sculpture garden.  Previously it stood in one of Sofia’s central squares.

Lots of splendid late 20th-century art, and more than merely the predictable socialist realism, help make this a top choice for culture vultures looking for an engaging diversion in Sofia.

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Last week I flew from New York’s JFK to Istanbul and connected from there to Sofia. Aside from the duration of the layover in Istanbul (six hours!) the journey was very pleasant. The layover in Istanbul was also a blast, despite my personal jetlag-induced fog. Turkish Airlines has very wisely turned Istanbul into an intercontinental hub. Loads of passengers on my flight were continuing on to places like Tel Aviv and Tashkent, and massive numbers of Dutch and German tourists were heading home. The airport is a thoroughgoing cultural crossing point.

Onboard Turkish Airlines

But back to the Turkish Airlines experience.

Let’s start with the best bit of branding, the showcased food items. Our pre-dinner drinks on the JFK-Istanbul flight came with little bags of hazelnuts, replete with the propagandistic slogan “The Miracle Nut Hazelnut Comes from Turkey.” The question of origin aside, this particular miracle nut is a pretty delicious introduction to a meal service. The dinner that followed was unexpectedly tasty. It included a small tube of very flavorful olive oil and lemon juice packaged to call attention to its Turkish provenance.

Also of note: the yogurt cucumber salad served with dinner and the sandwiches passed out late at night, between dinner and breakfast. We’re talking about airplane food, granted, but everything was pretty acceptably tasty. I can only imagine what sorts of things passengers at the front of the plane were eating.

My second flight, from Istanbul to Sofia, was in the air for fifty minutes or so. According to the flight distances list posted in the back pages of the airline’s in-flight magazine, the Istanbul-Sofia flight is Turkish Airlines’ shortest international journey. Nonetheless, a decent meal and drinks were served in that short window. The meal contained another gorgeous tube of olive oil and lemon juice.

A little reading

The April edition of Skylife, the Turkish Airlines in-flight magazine, continues the work of interweaving airline and national brands. The issue’s best articles: lengthy spreads on Denizli and Ekaterinburg, both with multiple images, and a short piece on a trio of Turkish springtime destinations.

Most exciting of all is the route map in the back of the magazine, with its documentation of Turkish Airlines’ impressive list of routes. The links across Central Asia, the eastern end of the Mediterranean, and the Gulf States will no doubt appear especially suggestive to seasoned European travelers looking to push beyond Europe. The airline’s domestic routes across Turkey are also impressive.

Next week I’ll fly back to New York on Turkish Airlines from Chisinau via Istanbul. Here’s hoping for a similarly enjoyable return journey.

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