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Published: September 14th 2023
Towering Alyosha Monument, Plovdiv
Just your friendly Soviet soldier here to help. Forty five years later...After climbing Plovdiv's small hill culminating in the massive Alyosha monument (sort of a Tomb of the Unknown Soviet Soldier), I could only discern 4 hills: clock tower, TV tower, the higher Youth Hill behind me, and, of course, Alyosha on which I was standing. During the next day's Socialist Architecture Walking tour (not to be missed but only a couple days/week during high season), the guide told me that Old Town consists of three hills allegedly making the total number seven. Dubious topography aside, Plovdiv was fantastic. Hard to phathom that less than 3 weeks ago I was still in Plovdiv as I am now sweltering in Malacca, Malaysia. Mid-day have to chillax in the AC hostel so using the time to wrap up this blog entry.
$US ≈ 1.80 Bulgarian lev (лв)
Plovdiv
I really liked Plovdiv, definitely more than Veliko Turnovo (a.k.a., VT) and maybe more than Sofia which I also liked. VT was insanely hot, worse than Plovdiv even though the former is in the hills.
First night after walking up super early for the 6:50am bus from VT, i decided to do the free walking tour since I did not want to do it
at 11am. It was OK, bit long, and I'm sure I would have enjoyed it more had I waited another day. There was also a Graffiti Tour but I think it's only Sunday, the day I left.
Aside from the walking tours, there are many ancient Roman ruins... agora, forum, arena, theater, and many old churches, all to contrast with the communist architectural styles.
Accommodation and foodReserved 3 nights in Skerzzo Guesthouse for 111.60 лв (~$62) in a room that was more like a suite. Clean, quiet, AC, small fridge for chilling water, located just south of the central square close to the train and southern bus stations. Travellers FYI, Bulgaria is not the place for to get laundry done unless a large quantity. Re-fresh took 19.70 лв for up to 3 kg even though I only had 1.5 kg. I was desperate so forked over the cash but at least the clothes were ready early next morning.
No shortage of places to eat. Took many of my meals at Хранителен Комплекс Център "Витекс-90" which translates to "Food Complex Center Vitex 90." Drab, Trotsky inspired name aside, it was really good cafeteria style, diverse, something for everyone,
inexpensive and they take plastic. Also good... Гозбите на Баба (Grandma's Feast), Гостилница Даниеле (near Sever station), Supa Bar (nice but pricey). For breakfast, grabbed a massive 2 лв banitsa at Marti Fast food or the pedestrian underpass bakery where a chocolate croissant and ½L fresh OJ ran 2 and 4 лв, respectively. Good deal at the smoke shop next to Yogi Foods where 250mL OJ+espresso was only 2.5 лв.
Transport Train station's track rebuilding project means that most trains leave from the northern Filipova station (free shuttle bus between the 2 stations). But the Sofia-Svilengrad trains use Plovdiv main station. I arrived from VT at the distant Sever bus station. Local buses 12 and 99 pass from there to the center but it wasn't that hot and I wanted to grab lunch on the way so I walked, ~40 minutes to my guesthouse.
Border crossing to Alexandroupoli, Greece First, I took the "fast" train from Plovdiv to Svilengrad for 11.15 лв in first class just for the AC. Bought online since I wasn't sure I could use credit cards at the station and I was changing all my lev to € before heading to the station. Left
11:17am, arr Svilengrad 1:04pm from where I was hoping I could catch a lift at least through the border posts.
No such luck and I had to hoof it the whole way, maybe a bit more than an hour through Bulgaria and to the Greek post. After entering Greece, the plan was to walk a few miles to the village of Ormenio where a daily bus was scheduled to depart at 6:30pm for Alexandroupoli. There was more traffic than I anticipated and after ~20 minutes, I got a ride from Nadiya who had driven all the way from Moldova on her way to catch the boat to Samothraki. Perfect! With Nadiya, I arrived at the port about 5 hours earlier than I would have with the bus.
Sofia
My third time in Sofia and by far the best. Last time in 2019, it was just a brief stopover arriving late from Ivanovo and leaving early next day for Thessaloniki, Greece. First time in 2000, there was very little tourist infrastructure and there was major construction. This time, there is a massive backpackers network, all kinds of tours, great metro/transit system, and I finally made it to Mt. Vitosha. Free
Walking Tour (same association as in Plovdiv) with Dino was great. I went on the 10am tour to beat the heat, but I ended up retracing it later in the day since the afternoom light was better for pictures.
For Mt. Vitosha, the bus from Vitosha metro station drove all the way to a hotel at 1,770m while the summit is at 2,292m. From the hotel I set out at 8:55am along the direct trail on winter's ski slope. Reached the pinnacle at 10:25am where the wicked wind was a relief from the sweltering city heat. Departed the summit at 10:58am, got to the end of the trail and the free-flowing spring at 11:50am. Topped off with water, got to the hotel for the 12:00pm bus which actually left at 12:25pm so no need to have rushed. Very popular day hike with the locals, especially on a Sunday. All passengers' cards were checked for a tap by an inspector after boarding the bus at the metro station.
Accommodation and food Stayed 3 nights in Ivory Tower Hostel's AC dorm for 87 лв. The location is great, few minutes walk from Serdika station. Popular place and it was mostly
packed the time I was there. Being the second half of August, many of the cafeteria-style restaurants I like were closed for vacation. There also seemed to be many closed on the weekends but I could always find at least one. Near the hostel are Sava Garden, Karamel, and Mish-Mash (sort of a small local chain named after a tasty dish consisting mainly of red peppers). The latter 2 offer discounts late afternoon/early evening. At all 3, 15 лв is a good meal with dessert, of which Bulgaria has many fine ones. Fairly close to the end of the walking tour was Яж и Бегай (Eat and Run, open Saturdays) featuring a 12 лв обед меню, sort of a set lunch including a small, frosty draft, if desired, but I optes for
ayran. Only place I could find on Sunday was dirt cheap Скара На Жар Мезимо, near Lion Bridge and Women's Market. Always open Miral Foods filling felafel plate and
ayran ran 7.50 and 1.80 лв
Transport First day in Sofia I barely got off the living room sofa as I was completely knackered from the long trip from Innsbruck plus the 12 hour pit stop in Zagreb.
Also, since neither Serbia nor Bulgaria are in the Shengen Zone, there were 2 formal border crossings during the Zagreb-Sofia bus trip: Croatia-Serbia around 2:00am followed by a 4:00am.stop in Belgrade then Serbia-Bulgaria ~8:00am. Everyone had to get off the bus both times. Brutal. Overall, I left Innsbruck ~1:00am on a Thursday and arrived Sofia ~11:30am on Friday.
Locally in Sofia, the transit system operates with single tickets or a "tap & go" either with the system's own cards or contacless credit cards, even foreign cards. Each "tap (1.60 лв) affords a 30 minute free transfer window which if timed right is just barely enough time to get to the start of the Mt. Vitosha hike on one tap on the metro and a free bus transfer. The way back need 2 taps but the beauty of the system is that after 3 taps on the same card, the max charge is 4 лв, the cost of a day pass which is automatically conferred onto the card. Brilliant!
Leaving Sofia for VT, bus is the way to go as there is no direct train. I went with Global Biomet, 22 лв purchased online. Left Sofia Central Station 4:00pm,
arr VT Yug station 7:15pm, easy AC ride.
Veliko Turnovo
Old imperial capital strategically located over 3 hills at the junction of 3 rivers. Spent 3 nights here, without a car 2 would have been plenty. It was hottest here of all the 3 cities I visited but Tsaravets Fortress and the dining scene were both great. The free walking tour started 11:00am, already too late in the day by that time. Since I'd seen a lot day the day prior, I bailed about halfway.
Accommodation and food Booked 3 nights in the highly recommended Diel Guesthouse for 120 лв, high especially compared to Plovdiv as my room in VT did not even have a private bathroom and the WiFi was wonky. The place doubles as a private school for elementary aged kids learning English so it was kind of amusing having them around.
Very nice Café Amaretto has pastries, coffees, and amazing yougurt & granola parfaits for 4 лв. Cafeteria's Hedo Restaurant and Царица Елена (Tsarina Elena) both very good. Latter does 20 percent off after 7pm and has an insane selection of incredible desserts.
Transport Patnicheski Prevozi bus departs for Plovdiv from distant Zapad (west)
War Monument, Plovdiv
Bulgarians had much military success in WWI and WWII. Unfortunately for them, they sided with the Axis powers station at 6:50am and 1:30pm although the afternoon bus originates in Ruse and could be full by the time it reaches VT. About a 4 hour trip, 25 лв cash only at the ticket counter. There had been until recently one direct train per day to Plovdiv. Now the train trip is an all day affair, bus is the way to go. Frequent buses for Sofia leave from the much more convenient Yug (south) station.
About 10 times/day there is a minibus passing thru the center for Arbanasi for 2.20 лв. I took it one way, didn't really see the big deal just seemed like a bunch of oligarchs
dachas, and promptly hitched back as the afternoon buses taper off significantly.
Zagreb
Poor Zagreb is the Rodney Dangerfield of the Balkans- they get no respect in the travel-sphere especially compared to Croatia's coast. Like me, most tourists alighting from the Innsbruck train (also could have boarded in Switzerland or Slovenia) made a beeline for the train station lockers (€2/24 hr but accessible only 5am-10:30pm) to leave luggage while exploring the small, compact city, presumably before they headed to the coast. I had been to Croatia on 3 previous trips
and not once even passed through Zagreb.
The train arrived ~11:20am and my bus to Sofia was not leaving til 11:00pm (€49.50 Florentia bus online, arr Sofia 11:30am local time, lose an hour, nice bus and comfy ride) so I had a LOT of time to kill. There was a small coffee & croissant served on the train so first order of business was more coffee. Like Innsbruck, Zagreb abounds with really good, cheap espresso vending machines and fortunately there was one just next to the train platform. Famished and now almost sufficiently caffeinated, I headed over towards the bus station, a fair walk from the train station, to get the lay of the land. On the way I scouted Asia Gold for its €13.90 all you can eat Chinese buffet including sushi rolls. I think they changed their name to Dragon BBQ but the buffet was really good regardless.
Wandered around the city feeling like a homeless person and at that point I regretted not spending the night in Zagreb if only for an AC place to chill, literally, and take a shower. But the Florentia bus did not run every day and I was stuck with
my non-refundable couchette from Innsbruck that I'd bought months in advance so I had no choice but to suck it up. Looking back, it was fine and I got the extra day in Sofia which was great.
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