Blogs from Plovdiv, Plovdiv Province, Bulgaria, Europe - page 4

If you love cheese, then you will love Bulgarian breakfasts. Because they seem to be all about cheese. Or so it was at our hotel anyway - 3 different types of cheese, served with a side of cheese, and to finish it all off, some crackers and cheese. Day 3 started in Plovdiv, second largest city in Bulgaria, and known for its well-preserved old center and Roman ruins. We started off in the more chique part of Plovdiv downtown, which is a big strip mall, most memorably lined with lots of ice-cream vendors selling really cheap ice-cream, including fabulously great rose flavoured ice-cream (Bulgaria is famed for its roses). Apart from the ice-cream though, its just your typical strip mall. Oh, except for the big half-excavated mini Roman amphitheatre tucked at the far end. And a ... read more

I had planned after Turkey to head East not West, but unfortunately the government of a certain 'Axis of Evil' country decided to ignore my visa application - 2 months no yes / no no! So visa limbo meant I had to turn my travels in another direction - west through Eastern Europe, first stop Bulgaria! As there are 3 weeks before I have to be back in London it's given me a lot of flexibility to make it up as I go along and so far my plans are changing on a daily basis dependent on what other people recommend and where seems interesting. Did an overnight train from Istanbul to Plovdiv the old capital of Bulgaria as I didn't feel I could quite face another overnight bus this soon after Turkey and I kind ... read more

hi everyone :) i have been in bulgaria , in plovdiv it was so nice city ... i think you should see immediatelly bulgaria before using euro :) becouse its a cheap country and there are many historical places to see ... especially ottoman heritage is still living there .. maybe some bulgarians dont like about this sentences but ist true i think:) the houses at plovdiv are so nice they made from wood and like other ottoman cities that smoll and wood houses are sweet and tell you the lifestyle of ottoman people ... humble life effective ... and balkans i think you also should see it .... balkans are a love of travellers... there are many cities at europa but balkans and west europa are some different i find ... i believe that if ... read more

....and one still won't eat his veggies! Woohoo! Third Intrepid tour in a row! I'm quite the adventurer now aren't I? This last tour was through Eastern Europe, crossing four countries and only on one continent this time. I tell you what though, Budapest was a bit of a shock after six weeks in the Middle East. It's definitely Eastern Europe - it's more industrial, a bit less colourful and a bit cooler. Those judgements made we picked up the airport shuttle direct to the hotel (it seemed a bit of a pain to try and do it by public transport at 7 in the morning!) and found that the outskirts of the city were precisely how I expected them. They're definitely post-Communist - slightly blocky and very run-down. Downtown however is a pleasant surprise. We ... read more

We have a whirlwind seven weeks to hightail back to Paris. We are going via a few more Eastern European nations with plans for all the IA countries, the Slovakias, Romanias, Bulgarias and Hungarias. First up, Bulgaria, proudly boasting "the oldest survived state in Europe which has kept its original name". You suspect a country's tourism is in its infanacy when the customs official at the border asks with a look of resignation if we are just transitting in Bulgaria. It's as if that's all he thinks foreigners do here. A nation that must be crossed enroute to somewhere else. To his great delight, we asked the customs guy to put down his well worn transit stamp and dust the cobwebs off his tourist visa stamp. We are staying, for a short while at least. So ... read more