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content/posts/tanks-rolling-streets-sofia/index.md

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+---
+title: 'Tanks Rolling Down the Streets of Sofia'
+date: Thu, 05 May 2016 14:10:12 +0000
+draft: false
+slug: 'tanks-rolling-streets-sofia'
+categories: ['Bulgaria']
+tags: ['Armed Forces Day', 'Saint George', 'Sofia', 'Tanks']
+description: "My evening commute is disturbed by tanks rolling down the street."
+---
+
+Last night my trolley ride home from downtown Sofia was interrupted by a police roadblock and some rather unusual traffic on Aleksandar Dondukov Boulevard.
+
+{{< video src="tanks-in-sofia" >}}
+
+<!--more-->
+
+Welcome to Bulgaria, where military tanks roll down the streets of the country's capital in preparation for the annual [Armed Forces Day](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armed_Forces_Day) parade. I've seen a dozen or so airshows, but this takes the cake! Nevertheless, this was pretty surreal to see.
+
+Bulgarian Holy War
+------------------
+
+Bulgaria's Armed Forces Day coincides with [Saint George's Day](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_George%27s_Day) — you know, the [guy who is depicted as killing a dragon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_George_and_the_Dragon) in folklore and monuments all over Europe — on May 6th, as Saint George _is the patron saint of the Bulgarian Armed Forces_. This gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "Holy War."
+
+**Update (May 6, 2016):** Discussions with at least three Bulgarians about the strangeness of having a patron saint for the army have been extremely unproductive so far.