A weekend in Sofia OR: You're going WHERE?

Yesterday was a public holiday in Austria and I spent the long weekend in Sofia with my Mum. Now if you're ever looking for a mini-break destination with a duly "exotic" flair, I'd recommend Sofia any day. Every time people asked me what I had planned for the 8th-December-weekend, expecting to say something along the lines of "Oh, I'm going to my parent's" or "I'm flying to London/Paris/Amsterdam for the weekend", they asked me to repeat my answer, Sofia, as if they couldn't believe their ears. Yep, Sofia. Capital of Bulgaria.
Why Sofia? Well, I had given my Mum a voucher for a weekend-break at a European destination for her birthday. When Skyeurope sent out a newsletter promoting (yet another) "two tickets for the price of one" offer a couple of months ago, I checked all the available destinations and flight times only to find out that the latter did not really allow you to make the most of 3 days. Not so the Sofia flight which arrived at 9 a.m. on the Saturday and left at 8 p.m. on Monday night. Perfect! I checked with my Mum, knowing that she is quite adventurous when it comes to exploring "the East" and made sure the weather wouldn't be arctic that time of the year before I booked the flights and checked hotel reviews to find a nice, centrally located hotel.
More about my weekend-break to Sofia (with photos) coming up.