Staying in the Kempinski in Sofia - which is posh but out of the way & a long trek to the city centre. The Panorama Restaurant on the 19th floor has - inevitably - good views of the city & surrounding hills. I had dinner there on my first night - some lovely turbot (from the Black Sea) (i assume they farm it) - and then for dessert a plate full of gorgeous ripe cherries & some red grapes - a fine (Bulgarian) Sauvignon Blanc to wash it all down - magical....

On arriving in the centre of Sofia you'll notice that the streets are paved with yellow-brick - i will try & find out why............

The centre of the city is quite compact and quite easy to walk around - just bear in mind that drivers here treat zebra crossings with disdain - there are interesting things to see such as the Alexander Nevski Cathedral; the Banya Bashi Mosque; the Sofia Synagogue - first time i've been in a synagogue; the archaeological museum is very interesting (and has a jazzy cafe right outside); the Sveti Nikolai Russian Church is lovely and - incongruously - the Sveti Georgi church - surrounded by the Sheraton Hotel on one side and the Presidential offices on the other three. Luckily it survives & is open to visitors following restoration in the 1990's....

Anyone familiar with GUM will recognise TSUM - and like GUM, TSUM is home to classy (well, pricey) boutiques.......

About 130km from Sofia is the Rila Monastery - which is set at the head of a beautiful valley some 20km from the small town of Rila. There has been a monastery around here since 927, when it was founded by Ivan Rilski (later Saint Ivan) - badly damaged in 1833 it was rebuilt & this is what you see today. A magnificent setting and well worth the long trek from Sofia. On the way you can see a collection of old disintegrating Mercedes in Usoyka and in Kocherinovo a quite astonishing collection of old Soviet cars - similarly rotting away - a shame really as they'd be quite an attraction, i'd have thought, if they were restored. You also pass the Stob pyramids - a series of rock formations............

On the way back to Sofia & about 4km from the city centre - we stopped at the Natural History Museum - set in the old presidential palace - which is well worth visiting and with a good 50% of the signs translated into English - it is only 10 lev and there is a lot to see with various interesting maps showing how the different races & tribes spread throughout this part of the world in ancient times.......

After that we went to see the tiny Boyana Church - not far from the museum - and set in lovely gardens. They allow only 8 people in at any one time & each group is allotted 10 minutes. There isn't a huge amount to see except for the frescoes - but they date from the 13th century and are therefore very frail.........

So - only managed to finish 2 books while i was away: All Gone to Look for America by Peter Millar - which was ok but not as interesting as i'd hoped and I Wouldn't Start From Here by Andrew Mueller - which is excellent - an interesting take on some of the world's trouble-spots. He has written another book called Rock and Hard Places, which sounds interesting despite the title - so will give that a whirl......

I have the rest of the week off so - once i get back to the UK i will set about applying for a visa to Syria - oh & sorting out my tax return.....