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Plovdiv Travel Blogs

Background: The Bulgars, a Central Asian Turkic tribe, merged with the local Slavic inhabitants in the late 7th century to form the first Bulgarian state. In succeeding centuries, Bulgaria struggled with the Byzantine Empire to assert its place in the Balkans, but by the end of the 14th century the country was overrun by the Ottoman Turks. Northern Bulgaria attained autonomy in 1878 and all of Bulgaria became independent in 1908. Having fought on the losing side in both World Wars, Bulgaria fell within the Soviet sphere of influence and became a People's Republic in 1946. Communist domination ended in 1990, when Bulgaria held its first multiparty election since World War II and began the contentious process of moving toward political democracy and a market economy while combating inflation, unemployment, corruption, and crime. Today, reforms and democratization keep Bulgaria on a path toward eventual integration into the EU. The country joined NATO in 2004.

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By GregCath
September 28th 2009

Sofia to Plovdiv Europe » Bulgaria » South » Plovdiv

Sofia

Enjoyed an excellent Bulgarian Merlot 2003 before settling in for a quite night in the village. On the morning of the 27th, pushed on out of the Shiroka Laka valley and continued on twisted, narrow, barely-maintained mountain roads. Surprisingly close to SL, we came to the Parapova ski resort. This looked great in that the forest was dense and evergreen, but not so great in that it was like an outpost of Pomland inserted in the Bulgarian mountains. Pubs, and chip butties. Worth another visit though. Dropped back into Bulgarian villages pretty quickly and then onto the Chepelare district. [View Full Entry]

By GregCath
September 27th 2009

Country Bulgaria Europe » Bulgaria » South » Plovdiv

Sophia is clearly in transition or has been for the last hundred or so years. Soviet-style apartment blocks are everywhere with new smarter blocks being built with methods which would challenge most OH&S policies. Picked up a Citroen on Thursday morning and headed out of Sofia. As we drove from chique inner Sophia, Greg was chanting "keep right", and the big hair ladies came out in force. At least there was only 5km of cobbled streets heading out so the plastic cable-ties holding the cars hubcaps on, are still in place. On a pretty good highway we reached the village of [View Full Entry]

By fionavicky
August 21st 2009

Problematic Pavements Europe » Bulgaria » South » Plovdiv

So, it was time to part from the mountains - probably appropriate since our pace of travelling and general movement had become extremely slow. Our next destination was not Varna (like every other backpacker) but Plovdiv, Bulgaria's second city. We took the train again, preferring perhaps unwisely legroom over the option of an air-conditioned bus. Arriving at Veliko Tarnovo station (after some expert Bulgarian language attempts to the taxi driver) we were rather bemused as to how to obtain a ticket as the woman was shut firmly behind her screen doing her best to ignore us. Luckily though, th [View Full Entry]

By jewel89
July 16th 2009

Week in review Europe » Bulgaria » South » Plovdiv

I can’t believe tomorrow’s my last day here in Plovdiv! Time really flies when you do these volunteer camps, it’s crazy. As much as I’m looking forward to coming home, it’s still sad to think of leaving here. Wednesday pretty much cemented the fact we're all going crazy w/ these kids - everyone of us girl volunteers has been molested by these kids. They're not shy about it either, they grab on. Hard. I dare the next one to try it (they were good yesterday) because they will get their hand smacked, and hard. Oh yes, we've also pretty much all [View Full Entry]

By jewel89
July 13th 2009

New group! Europe » Bulgaria » South » Plovdiv

The Ampitheatre in Old Plovdiv
It was closed though, we couldn't go in.

So, we met the new bunch of kiddies yesterday - world of difference b/w the two groups. Three of the girls came into our kitchen, introduced themselves and asked if we'd go play football. We had just woken up (it was like, 11am haha), so we told them later. (Even though it was supposed to be our 'day off' we still didn't mind). When we finally went downstairs they all came over and were like shaking hands w/ us and everything haha. Aw, too cute! And then even ask for things - it's no more grabbing glasses or cameras, I love [View Full Entry]

He loved the statue a little too much haha

By Sarah B and Sarah S
July 11th 2009

Another storm. Europe » Bulgaria » South » Plovdiv

Well we are in our final country and final stop of the trip. We are in a place called Plovdiv, about 3 hours from Sofia where we were yesterday, and where we will be tomorrow for our fight on Monday. Sofia was odd, it didnt seem like a capital city, not helped by the fact we arrived there at 6am. There was little to see, which we knew would be the case. We went to see a cathedral and a crypt which SB probably went on about yesterday. This morning we came here after much fun. We struggled to find the [View Full Entry]

By jewel89
July 11th 2009

Half way point Europe » Bulgaria » South » Plovdiv

Simeon - camera hog
I have about 30 pictures of him like this. Silly Simeon.

I'm currently sitting by the window watching a lovely thunderstorm. There is nothing better than reading a good book, sitting curled up on the couch, and listening to the rain. It's not quite as good as the one we had the other day (where we lost power, about 10 screen windows blew out into the backyard etc), but it's still a good storm. It's a nice break in the weather too - it's not boiling for once. I can't believe the camps already half done... these volunteer stints always go by so fast, it's sad. Yesterday afternoon we ended up bringing [View Full Entry]

By jewel89
July 10th 2009

Come! Come! Europe » Bulgaria » South » Plovdiv

Nikki at work

The kids have calmed down a bit since we began... or maybe I'm just getting used to it, I'm not sure haha. It's funny because that's the one English word they ALL know how to say - COME, COME! A couple know please which is nice, but very often you just have them run up to you, take a flying leap for your chest or just grab your hand and pull - come, come! Come, come! Yesterday morning we played outside as per usual - it was too cute. There's one kid that's clearly the leader of the bunch; he's a [View Full Entry]

By jewel89
July 8th 2009

Wow. Europe » Bulgaria » South » Plovdiv

Hellooooo

So, first off a bit about our schedule - first week we're with 15 orphans, aged around 6-10yrs, all with either physical or mental disabilities. Second week we're with older kids (11-15ish), but we don't know how many, or if they're disabled. Our daily schedule is usually 9:30-11:30am outside w/ the kids (sometimes 30-60min inside on the comp as well), a well deserved break where we literally eat and then flop out in our rooms, and then 4-6pm we play inside w/ the kids trying to get them to do crafts or stuff like that. Plovdiv is quite warm - and [View Full Entry]

By tanglefish
June 24th 2009

Plovdiv Europe » Bulgaria » South » Plovdiv

Roman Ruins with Mosque in background

Plovdiv and Overnight train day 18-19 (June 24 -25) We took a bus trip to Plovdiv through some amazing mountain ranges. We stayed in a hostel in the heart of the old town area of Plovdiv and a short walk down to the main street. Plovdiv has many Roman ruins including an amphitheatre that is being excavated right under the main streets. The Romans were here but also the Thracians (who I don’t know much about). A short walk up the hill from our accommodation and you find yourself suddenly on the top of the hill with a great outlook. The [View Full Entry]

Travel Blog » Europe » Bulgaria » South » Plovdiv