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Published: March 11th 2020
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9th - 11th March 2020 Plovdiv, Bulgaria After taking the first class train (hilarious in itself, but so much better than 2nd class!), we arrived in Plovdiv and caught a taxi to our apartment. The service of Hippo taxis in Varna was second to none. They dropped us off initially and didnt try to rip us off, they prebooked a taxi for our departure, and they showed up right on time as promised. Why would it be any different in Plovdiv? Dirty old thief. This ride cost us three times as much for the same distance in a grotty old taxi, where he used a hand held navigator and pretended not to know where he was going. Then he dropped us off at the top of the street indicating he couldnt go any further because it was pedestrians only. Once we had our bags out, he continued on down the same street, stopped the care, got out and pointed to our apartment and then got in again and drove off ! WTF??
Our apartment could not have been better located. Its right in the centre of everything and some of the Roman ruins are directly opposite us.
There is a reason that Plovdiv won the title of most cultural city in Europe in 2019. The old district may not be huge, but it sure is quirky and beautiful.We have basically just walked around the Old town and Kapanya for the last 2 and a half days looking around at the quirky street art, sculptures, gardens and drinking coffee and wine and beer. The architecture is diverse and the streets are clean and well cared for. Its a breath of fresh air really.
Three days goes so fast!
We have climbed to Nebet Tepe, Danov Hill, and Liberators Hill, the highest point in town, for some great views of the city. We had in fact, not planned to go to Liberators Hill because it looked like quite a hike and Ive done something to the side of my knee. Climbing up is ok, but wow, those steps coming down are pretty ordinary. But after lunch, when we took off walking nowhere in particular, we ended up there anyway. So pleased that we did!
Could someone enlighten us about the toilet paper frenzy back home? I mean, really? How embarrassing!!! Who ARE these people? Even our
Italian friends in lockdown through no fault of their own find this hilarious!
We are headed to Sofia tomorrow and will spend four days there, perhaps longer. We are already being forced to reroute our trip due to this virus thats going around, so we may end up spending more time in the Balkans than anticipated. It is changing here in Europe every day. The worst thing that could happen is that all the borders are closed I guess, in which case we wont be able to come home anyway. Oh well, at least we wont run out of toilet paper!
Shane says he has nothing to say today, which is quite worrying in itself. Oh no! He's engrossed in something on Netflix and he says he is having an AFD (alcohol free day)!!! I might have to keep an eye on him. It might be a new variety of bizarre flu symtoms, like collecting toilet paper and storing tinned goods!!!
?? RIP Marty - Will miss you terribly dear friend ❤❤❤
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