Bulgaria is "so overlooked and underappreciated... and so charming in a Slavic way," Rick Steves writes on the Huffington Post as an introduction to a video he made while visiting a park in the capital Sofia. 

"We have got a society Americans don't know very much about but they could," he says while showing the area around, with people playing chess and other strolling along the alleys or near the fountains situated in front of the landmark National Theater in Sofia. 

The park in front of the National Theater is the "living breathing heart" of Sofia, Steves says.

"Bulgaria is free and, step-by-step, building a new prosperity," he also concludes, comparing to visits he made in his student days.

The video, which is available here, is Day 44 of his 100 Days in Europe series.