Bulgaria’s capital city, Sofia, is a city with a rich history reaching back hundreds of years before Rome. It's built on the site of an ancient Bulgar city, later called Serdika by the Romans. It was revered by emperor Constantine for the power of its mineral springs. Now Sofia is the bustling capital of one of the EU's newest and more rapidly developing members. It's a city of contrasts: ancient and modern, beautiful and utilitarian, progressive and filled with traditions. Visitors find in Sofia's residents this same contrast: blunt and hospitable, warm with friends and cautious with outsiders, cynical and hopeful. As the culture becomes more Western, the false promise of happiness and peace found in a good job, a better car, or a nicer house is exposed and we find our friends expressing a craving for real connection and deep friendships.
