There are quite a lot of places to chill...

...to stop by... 

...to stare...

...before getting home after the consecutive long day. 

Sofia has a lot of different faces but as every capital – it’s a vivid one. 

Sometimes it’s cozy, but others – it makes you want to run away.

Yes, usually there are established obstacles that force you to stop or wait but soon or later you get there. You get to the spiritual salvation.

I don’t talk about extraordinary mythological after-death places. I talk about a real place right next to the whole urban hysteria.

Or above it...  

This is Vitosha. Or... a view form Vitosha towards Sofia. By the way few countries can boast with the possibility to climb in less than 40 minutes from the capital up to 2000 meters altitude. The mountain is perfect for escape, relax, walk, run, ski... It’s sometimes referred to as the ‘lungs of Sofia’. You see, Vitosha is quite precious because Sofia is not among the cities with the best air quality. Such a true capital it is...

As one Bulgarian movie says "Salvation Lurks Around the Corner". In the Vitosha nature park (the oldest in the Balkans) there are around 50 huts and shelters. Some of them are still functional but many others...

...look like this: 

The abandoned huts are an architectural heritage and some of them can be described as truly beautiful buildings. Lack of money, unclear private ownership, conflict of interests and total ignore from the local municipality are some of the reasons for this destructiveness. 

However, there are quite a lot of people who care and not only... They practically do something constructive led by the motive that these huts are precious and worth being full of life. To spend a day, or even a night in the abandoned hut right in the calmness of nature and the friendliness of the right company would make you feel the idea. 

Meet Boeritsa and the architecture students from the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy - the people who initiate the change for this hut!

Led by the motivation to return back to life one of the most beautiful buildings in Vitosha...

...and of course by the nature of their work as architecture students...

...they truly do the difference as people who not only speak about the problem... 

...but go there, wear masks, gloves, boots and just deal with it. 

The cool thing is that other... creatures are feeling engaged too. You don't have to understand a lot of architecture, civil engineering or geodesy to give a hand.

Boeritsa is being prepared for a very big architectural student event** which will be held in October. The right to host this event was won deservedly because of the enthusiasm and commitment which this hut was lucky enough to receive. 

Looking forward... 

An article from 1937 in a local newspaper starts this way:

"Foreigners from Central Europe have always been surprised that the high mountain near our capital is not yet connected with a mountain railway that would allow them to enjoy the beauties. To experience the beneficial influence of the high mountain, not only our enthusiastic youngsters, who, without railways, climb up, but also all the residents of the capital and guests from the country and abroad, who lack the strength and time to walk the steep Vitosha paths."

81 years later - still no railway. Still no complete working strategy for developing and protection of the Vitosha mountain. And this isn't a reason not to care. Everyone is finding for himself the path to be close to the nature, to preserve it, to enjoy it. You'll need sometimes to escape so, take care! Of yourself, of your environment...