BULGARIA
Buzludzha monument has been on my bucket list for a very long time, loving soviet architectures and abandoned buildings this was the perfect place to visit during my 4 weeks off before moving to Sweden.
I booked a 4 day trip to Sofia in order to be able to visit this surreal monument in the mountains of Bulgaria. One thing I didn't take into account during my planning: the weather.
Buzludhza monument was erected in 1981 in honour of the Bulgarian communist party; since the collapse of the soviet union this place has been left abandoned.
I booked a local guide to take me to Buzludzha Monument, this wasn't the cheapest option (80 EUROs) but it was all worth it. We set off very early in the morning as the drive from Sofia is in good weather 3.5 hours. We got stuck few times in the snow as we were in the middle of a proper snow storm. We couldn't reach the peak of the mountain, where the monument is, with the car so we decided to continue by foot for about 45 minutes until we reached it.
The monument is surreal and the snow storm made the whole situation even more surreal.
Before going to the monument I did some research on how to get inside the building. As of March 2018, there is a hole in the ground on the left side of the monument in front of a wall full of graffiti. There is a first drop of about 1 meter and a second drop of about 3 meters. Unfortunately, we were not able to use this passage as it was all covered in a thick layer of ice; it would have been easy to get inside but definitely impossible to get back outside; not to mentioned that phones didn't have any network coverage in that area at the moment.
This was very disappointing as I really wanted to see the beautiful mosaics of the inside and the great red star at the top of the tower.
It was still a great adventure to go there and see this crazy architecture!
I have spent the rest of the days in Sofia where I discovered a museum full of socialist statues; a great place to visit if you want to see old Lenin statues!
Bulgaria I will definitely be back...but this time in the summer to make sure I get inside the Buzludzha Monument!