Across Bulgaria in 5 Days

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Plovdiv - 2nd-4th August 2015

My trip into Bulgaria began on a high note after finally, my last hotel in Istanbul found a loaf of gluten free bread. So after loads of bread and jam for breakfast followed by some make shift cheese and tomato sandwiches for the 9 hour journey ahead of me, I was all set. The scenery was lovely with a reminscence of home after passing many bright yellow fields, only this time, the yellow was from Sunflowers rather than Rapeseed. The expanse of flat fields were edged with distant mountain ranges that appeared slightly hazy in the heat. It was also nice to have an uneventful border crossing. 😊 It was about 4pm when I arrived at my hotel. Wow I thought, had I really booked this place for the cheap price I was paying? It was really nice and the staff super friendly. So with yet another street map in hand I headed towards the 'Old Town'. It was a complete contrast to the hustle and bustle and sheer manic vibe of Istanbul. I strolled about and took in my surrounds. I didn't want to do too much as the following day I had a guided walk planned. With that in mind and the fact my light weight walking sandals had met their demise in Turkey, I decided upon a little retail therapy. Luckily the shops were still open and so I cruised up and down the main street which shared a striking resemblance to Queen Street Cardiff, to find some new shoes. I struck out some really comfortable leather strapped sandals, or so I thought. It was cooling down now but still well into the 20's. I continued my stroll and stumbled into a Park full of families picnicking and generally kicking back. Towards one end of the Park was a large pool with various fountains and a place to stop for food and drink, looked onto it. At this point I could here my stomach growling and attempted to get a seat. It was so busy I headed back and went to a little place in the 'Old Town'. It was nice to eat outside and finally be presented with a menu with lots of good choice. I'd like to say there wasn't a Kebab in site but I hadn't quite travelled far enough to loose all Turkish influence. 😉 I settled on Duck in Ammaretto and Apple Rissotto washed down with a Mint and Lime Carling Cider. It was like the birthday, I never had!!! 😊 With a full stomach and a feeling of pure joy that I was no longer going to struggle to eat, I waddled back to base for a good nights sleep and the realisation I was back on my solo adventure. The following day I doned my new shoes to break them in and kicked off with a short climb to a Clock Tower situated on one of the surrounding hills for great views over Plovdiv. From there I joined the Plovdiv Revival walking tour to learn more about the place I was in. It was really interesting and we got shown plenty of Plovdiv Art along the way in many different forms, from graffiti to painted murals and bronze figures strategically placed. I also found out that Plovdiv has won a competition to be named Cultural City 2019 so at present there is lots of investment going on to better highlight and preserve the historical sites it has. I was quite impressed how they had managed to fuse the modern with the old in some areas. Whilst on the tour we passed a few historical properties which were now Museums so after we had finished, I decided to take a look inside since I had enjoyed having a nose in Amsterdam. All in all I managed 3 houses and a short 3D film on how the Roman Stadium would have looked which now sits beneath the shopping street I had been in the night before. It had been hot during the day and my feet had swollen significantly. Here comes my rookie mistake. Only try on strappy shoes when your feet are fit to burst that way you will know if they are comfortable or not!!! It was time to change my shoes before I starting losing toes and freshen up before attending a show to kick off Folkdance Cultural Festival. The show was in the Old Ampitheatre and it was really impressive watching the traditional costumes, dance moves and songs from Bulgaria, Slovakia, Turkey and Spain. Apparently this is a big event and people travel from all over the world to see it. I guess I was just lucky as I'd never heard of it. Given I'd been slightly off the grid whilst in Turkey, it was great to catch up on the goss with the Sweeden household before getting my head down in readiness for another Bus journey the following day to Sofia. I was gutted my time in Plovdiv was already over but I would definitely recommend this as a location to visit and would love to come back someday.

Sofia - 4th-6th August 2015

Sofia is the capital of Bulgaria and given how impressed I had been with Plovdiv, I was excited to see what the capital had to offer. Unfortunately I wasn't taken with it, although it does have some beautiful buildings with interesting architecture, I think my main problem was working out how to get from place to place. As you already know my map reading skills are not the best but I found it more difficult here, given my map was in English and the street signs were in Bulgarian. This is, of course what you would expect, the problem came with the Bulgarians using a Cyrillic alphabet and not the fact I can't read Bulgarian! 😉 I did however manage to get to the starting point for the 'Balkan Bites" food tour after 2 hours which was literally 20 minutes from where I was staying!!! The tour took us to a few places to try local specialties. I tasted 'Tarator' which is a yogurt based cold soup with cucumber, dill and walnuts. I know it sounds disgusting but was really refreshing and tasty! 😊 We also got offered a yoghurt based drink called 'Ayran' which is basically yogurt and salt and is an aquired taste. This had proved popular in Turkey, where I had chosen to avoid it and for good reason after tasting it!! We continued to savour a variety of dips which almost always had garlic in them and of course yoghurt, with some definitely being better than others. I even found out why they grew so many Sunflowers. It was to make Oil as the climate here is no good for Olives! The tour had provided another insight into the Bulgarian way of life and how their cuisine has been influenced historically. Luckily for me I was able to try quite abit which made for a refreshing change. I recognised where I was when the tour ended so headed back to base to take care of some Laundry! 😞 The following day I got up late, as I wasn't overly excited about this place. I decided to wander and see where it took me. Thinking back to Plovdiv, where Art had played a major role, I decided to give the National Art Gallery a visit which housed both local and international pieces. As with all art it's a personal preference. There were items I loved, many I didn't understand and some I thought, were just rubbish! Still it made for an interesting afternoon especially when I went to a contemporary art exhibition aswell. This was just down right weird and I often wonder how they get some of these items exhibited let alone passed off as Art??? During my stroll I came across many religious structures from a Russian Church, a Mosque and the Alexander Nevski Cathedral. I did actually venture inside the cathedral given it was the largest in Sofia. Again, I would love to say it was impressive but it was so dimly lit you didn't stand a chance of viewing any of the frescos that were present on the internal walls. The chandeliers were nice though. 😉 After a pleasant day, rather than an exciting one I stopped for a snack. Now this was good! Roasted Bulgarian Cheese with Walnuts and Honey. It was simply delicious. I kicked back and enjoyed spending some time sat in the pedestrianised area where I had sampled the fantastic cheese. I had decided to cook my evening meal as I had kitchen facilities in the place I was staying this time. That evening I made use of the Cable TV for a change whilst enjoying my boil in a bag rice, peas and tomato and basil sauce meal. It was as exciting as Sofia had been! 😊 During the night it had rained and it also appeared I had been feasted on. Now looking somewhat like I had the beginnings of Cushions disease, it was definitely time to move on to sample one more Bulgarian destination before my cross country journey ended and Romania beckoned.

Veliko Tarnovo - 6th-7th August 2015

I didn't have long in this place, barely an afternoon as I had a full day of train travel to look forward to when travelling to Bucharest the following day. This was a shame as I much preferred this place to Sofia. Veliko Tarnovo had been the Historical Centre to the Second Bulgarian Empire where the Fortress and numerous Religious Buildings remain. Inside the Fortress now stands a new place of worship fresh with modern frescos inside. I wonder how that will be described in history?? Again Art plays a big role here with most things decorated, rather than just being covered in Graffiti. The weather had also heated up, so it was nice to enjoy sometime in the Park eating Ice-cream and taking in the rather large Memorial Statue. The landscape was much greener here and it wasn't crowded. It was easy to get about as my hotel was centrally based. Turn right for historic stuff, left for the main shops and restaurants and straight on for the very quaint market street selling all sorts of traditional goods. There were other items of interest I could see but didn't have time to get to. Maybe one day, if I'm close by or passing through. Bulgaria for me has been a true mix of the good, the bad and the ugly! If only Sofia hadn't have been such a let down I might have encouraged more of you to visit. From the looks of it, Velicko Tarnovo also put itself forward to win Culture City 2019 but missed out to Plovdiv. It is easy to see that Sofia probably didn't even enter as it's not really geared towards foreign visitors at present. Hopefully with Dracula being renowned around the world, Romania is.

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Comments

[Nadiene]

Things are looking up
Glad to see the food situation has improved and you've enjoyed visiting Bulgaria even if Sofia wasn't up to par with Plovdiv. Fabulous blog and definitely providing lots of ideas for potential trips. Safe journey to your next destination. Nad xx