BG in the news...

As my time here leads me back to Sofia for a few days, I cant help but remember this article my friend stumbled upon and shared with me. It is an article from the New York Times published July 1, 2007. Its a rare occurrence when Bulgaria makes the headlines. And even more surprising when they make the NYT for their clubbing scene. But, I must say, Maskata is one of my favorite clubs to go to when I make it out to the big capital city.

Partying Amid Cold-War Ruins:
OUT at Sofia’s southernmost edge, where new offices and condos are continuously in the works, Studentski Grad, or Student Town, still looks lifelessly rooted in its cold war-era skeleton. An academic zone of six universities built in the ’60s and ’70s, it’s a place where graffiti-covered housing blocks crumble, rusted fences line overgrown fields, and Soviet-made cars decay on cracked sidewalks. Crisp blue-and-gold European Union flags do little to sway the impression of a bleak wasteland. That is, until the sun sets.

At night, many of the area’s 25,000 students — including engineering and economics majors at the Technical University and the University of National and World Economy — hoof it to more than 30 strobe-lighted bars and discos, many hidden behind aged, Soviet-era dorms and publicized only by word of mouth.

Spurred by Bulgaria’s accession into the European Union this year, the capital city of Sofia is experiencing a night-life boom. And nowhere is this more apparent that in Studentski Grad, where cheap rents, lax zoning rules and young residents mean that clubs and bars are opening everywhere, from vacant lots to active dormitories.

“It’s like a resort of clubs,” said Ventsislav Dudolenski, 40, the district’s appointed mayor, who has a no-holds-barred approach to development. “Bulgarians like to go out every night.”

Some of the most popular clubs are clustered behind dorm blocks 13, 14 and 15, where bright lights and blaring DJs are the rule. Fans of chalga — a kind of Balkanized disco that sounds something like the Borat theme song — pour into Avenue (1A Atanas Manchev Street; 359-898-553-086; www.complexavenue.com), a well-lighted and mellow club where you’ll find friends dancing in groups, arms raised and hips shaking.

Alt-rocker types head to Stroeja (Block 23B; 359-2-962-5977; www.stroeja.com), a dive bar that resembles, as its Bulgarian name suggests, a construction site, with broken windows, scaffolding and sawhorse tables. The crowd comes to drink Zagorka beers (1.50 leva, or about $1 at 1.49 leva to the dollar), listen to post-Nirvana rock and play the Pamela Anderson pinball machine.

For live music , there’s Maskata (Block 19; 359-2-868-8079), a cavernous club on the ground floor of an active student dormitory. In one corner, portraits of Bulgaria’s former Communist leaders are cheekily on display. But the focus is on the stage, where rock bands jam most weekends, and fellow students sing Whitney Houston and Judas Priest tunes during the Monday karaoke nights that last till 5 a.m.

The restaurant scene in Studentski Grad is starting to show life, too. Until recently, the district had three choices: drab student cafeterias, pizzerias and kebab stands. Now there are a handful of decent sit-down restaurants like Borimechkata (Block 24; 352-888-222-124; www.borimechkata.com), a Greek taverna-style place with hanging vines, wine-filled barrels and an open grill for skewered meats, including lamb shish kebab (5.20 leva).

All this partying doesn’t exactly bode well for studying. “About 80 percent of the students go to university only to drink and drink,” said Aleksander Sirakov, 21, a student at Sofia University. “It’s fun, but it’s hard to learn anything when you’re hung over every morning.”