Month: March 2018

Sunday, March 25

We happen to be walking past the Catholic Church, Cathedral Saint Ludvik, when we saw many people walking about with their version of “Palm Fronds”.  It was Palm Sunday.  Since the service had just ended we popped in for a quick peek.

Construction on the church began in 1858 and it was completed three years later.  The bell tower was built in 1902, after the Ottoman defeat.  The interior was modestly decorated and showed no traces of the Byzantine style found in the Eastern Orthodox Churches here.  We took a few pictures and quickly left for our next destination.

(Cathedral Saint Ludvik)

Fun Fact: The Eastern Orthodox Church uses the Julian Calendar rather than the Gregorian Calendar and so Easter is celebrated a week later than the rest of Christendom.

The day’s main activity was a trip along the walking path that follows the Maritsa River.  The path goes for many miles in both directions and also has a separate lane for bicycle traffic.  We strolled towards the Sports Complex located on the outskirts of Town.  The facility contains a large stadium, a rowing canal, soccer fields, tennis clubs and a few seasonal restaurants.  The complex is designed for professional quality events and has hosted many European championships.  We also investigated the tennis clubs.  One of them was open.  The hourly rate was 12 leva ($7.80).

Lunch was at one of favorite food stands.  We had “French Fry” sandwiches once again.  They are darn good.

(French Fry Sandwiches – These are the Small Ones)

Distance walked: 9.1 miles

Tuesday, March 27

We stayed inside on Monday because of the rain so by Tuesday we were itching to go out and do something.  First we visited the large Muslim house of worship near the city center.  It’s called, Dzhumaya Mosque.  The Mosque was originally constructed in the 1360s after the Ottoman conquest.  The current incarnation dates from the 1420s.  It is one of the oldest mosques in the Balkans.  In ancient times the site was home to a pagan temple.  Later it became a Catholic Church.  The mosque was built on the same site using many of the stones from the previous buildings.

(Dzhumaya Mosque)

We also visited the Imaret Mosque, which is a smaller structure near the waterfront.  It is less ornate than the larger mosque.  At one time the city had dozens of active mosques.  Only three are active today.

Time for a coffee break!  We headed over to a nearby cafe named the Monkey House for some excellent Greek coffee (they claim their coffee beans come from Greece, which seems improbable).  The barista made our cappuccinos and, instead of giving them to us, started playing with her phone.  We were about to be annoyed when we realized that she was just taking pictures of the designs she had made in the foam.  Latte Art is a big thing these days.

(Cappuccinos as Art)

Afterwards we headed back to the Sports Complex.  We wanted to see the park-like grounds that surround the rowing canal.  The gardeners were hard at work preparing the flower beds and grounds for the Spring season.  The forsythia were in full bloom.  This gave us hope that the Winter weather was finally on its way out.  We walked the entire perimeter, more than three miles, and headed back to Town for a light lunch.  We picked up a whole, roasted chicken for dinner.  It cost less than $5.00.

(Rowing Canal)

Distance walked: 11.7 miles

Wednesday, March 28

We had errands to run today.  Our accountant finally got back to us about our tax return.  He needed us to sign some papers so he could file electronically.  The idea of going back to the Bulgarian Post Office was more than we could bear.  We needed to be sure that these papers would get to their intended destination.  We decided to try DHL.

First we had to print out copies of the forms.  We headed over to the area near the University and found a number of office supply stores.  The three copies and an envelope cost about $0.40, which was much higher than in Sofia.  It’s a good thing we’re headed to Burgas in a week.  This place is starting to get expensive 😉.

It had started to rain and we were both dragging from our long walk the previous day so we made our way over to our favorite coffee house: Croatóan Specialty Coffee.  The last time we were there the barista had recommended the “filter” coffee.  We ordered two – one made from Ethiopian beans and one from Kenyan beans.  They were served black and we drank them without milk or sugar.  The filter process produced an intense flavor.  The consistency was almost creamy with no grounds at all.

The Kenyan coffee had a brighter flavor.  They described it as resembling citrus.  The Ethiopian was more mellow.  Both had much higher quantities of caffeine than our usual cappuccinos.  After paying the barista gave us a loyalty card.  We need four more stamps for a free coffee.  No problem!

Two blocks away we walked into DHL.  The sole clerk was SCREAMING into the phone at someone.  We waited quietly until she slammed the receiver down in disgust.  Before we could say anything one of the couriers walked in which prompted a heated discussion.  The Post Office was starting to look good.  However, when she turned her attention to us she was very helpful and pleasant.  Fortunately she spoke English very well.  The package should be delivered by Friday.  We have tracking numbers and aren’t afraid to use them.

Distance walked: 5.9 miles

Thursday, March 22

We’ve had some nice sunny days recently.  The temperature has been close to 70 degrees, which had us thinking about breaking out the shorts and t-shirts.  Today it snowed and the temperature dropped into the 30s.

(The View From Our Balcony)

We ventured out briefly to the supermarket to make sure we had enough snacks to tide us over.  Other than that we stayed in the house most of the day and caught up on our napping.

Distance walked: 1.1 miles

Friday, March 23

The weather report was for more snow and rain.  As usual they were wrong.  We went out about 11:00 am and did some exploring.  The streets and the sidewalks had been cleared so all we had to do was avoid the puddles created from the melting snow.

We walked down the main thoroughfare with no aim in mind.  Finally we decided to try and find the synagogue – again.  We found what looked like an old synagogue that had not been used for many years but we found no evidence of the active one.  According to Google we were in the right place.  When we got home we found that there is an active synagogue in the city but it is a few blocks away.  According to city’s website it is closed for visitation and is only open for Friday night services.

Afterwards we lunched at another recommended restaurant named Pavaj.  It’s a small family run establishment serving mainly Bulgarian foods.  It is located in the Kapana District, which translates as “Trap”.  It is so named because the streets are narrow and winding.  Many people get lost in the area.  No cars are permitted.

From the 14th century until the early 20th century the Kapana district was home to a large Turkish bazaar.  It was famous throughout the world.  Merchants from all over sold their wares there.  A fire destroyed the old market and many of the old buildings.  Recently the area has been revitalized and is now a trendy place where you can find cafes, coffee houses, clubs and a vibrant nightlife.

For lunch we ordered a dish called Tarator.  It is a cold yogurt soup with cucumbers, fresh dill and walnuts.  We also had the meatballs, which are basically just balls of meat.  They look like small hamburgers and were accompanied by fried, seasoned potatoes and a sweet pepper relish.  We shared both dishes and enjoyed them immensely.  We even remembered to take pictures!

(Tarator Soup)

In other news we’ve booked the next several legs of our trip.  We’ll be visiting Burgas, Bulgaria from April 4 – 18.  We’ll be staying in an apartment near the city center.  From April 18 – May 1 we’ll be in Varna, Bulgaria.  Both cities are on the Black Sea.  In Varna we’ll be staying at one of the resort hotels on the waterfront.  We feel that we need a vacation.  For the month of May we’ll be in Budapest, Hungary.  We booked an apartment in “Pest”, which is on the East side of the Danube River.

Distance walked: 4.8 miles

 

Monday, March 19

After several days in the 60s and 70s it became cold and rainy once again.  While we waited for the rain to stop we visited a museum called the Cultural Center Trakart.  The museum contains the remnants of a private home owned by the Eirene family from the third and fourth centuries.  You can still see the layout of the rooms and the gardens.  Large portions of the mosaic floors are still intact.  The museum provided a pamphlet that explained all of the symbolism in the motifs that were on display.  They also had an incredible, unrelated, collection of ancient glass dating from the second century BC to the second century AD.

(Ancient Polychromatic Glass Bowl)

The museum is situated in an underpass that is at the road level of ancient times.  The underpass is paved with stones similar to the Appian Way and dates from Roman times.  It is still used by hundreds of people each day.

It was still raining when we left the museum so decided to do another indoor activity.  We headed over to the Plovdiv City Gallery of Art where they exhibit modern works from Bulgarian artists from the late 20th and 21st centuries.  We were obviously the first visitors of the day.  As soon as we paid our eight leva one of the attendants ran about the gallery and turned on all of the lights.

The first floor contains a rotating exhibit.  The current exhibit featured collages on metal backgrounds that had been rusted for effect.  The second floor contained the permanent exhibit.  There was almost a complete lack of information on the works.  Most were labeled in Bulgarian but there was no description of the art or the artists in any language.

We stopped for coffee at a place called Central Perk.  If that sounds familiar it is because that is the name of the coffee house from the TV show Friends.  The layout is designed to be similar to its namesake.  Instead of tables and chairs it is filled with sofas, armchairs and coffee tables and the walls are decorated with scenes from the TV show.  We ordered two cappuccinos and inquired about pastries (the menu was in Bulgarian and in a font that Google Translate could not handle).  Fortunately, our waitress spoke perfect English.  She informed us that all of the pastries were frozen and advised us that our best bet was the chocolate brownie.  The coffee was great.  We could have done without the brownie.

(Photo Bombed by our Waitress)

Warmed by our coffee we headed to the other side of the Maritsa River to see another part of Town.  We ambled down the main thoroughfare and over a pedestrian bridge that contained many interesting shops.  We stopped at one store and bought sugared almonds (we thought that they were salted), several flavors of Turkish delight candies and some dried figs.  The bridge led to an area that had a large casino and many residential buildings.  In the distance we could see some office buildings.  We walked along the river for about a mile and crossed another bridge to get back to our side once again.  We tried to take some pictures of the river but the weather had turned cold and misty with strong winds.  We’ll try again in a few days.

According to our map the Plovdiv synagogue was nearby and we headed in that direction.  Along the way we found an Eastern Orthodox church dedicated to St George.  We stopped in to see it.  No photography was permitted.

We wandered the streets looking for the synagogue for about 20 minutes.  If it exists we couldn’t find it.  We’ll try again on a nicer day when we have more patience.

By now we were hungry so we walked to the center of Town and ate at a restaurant called Gusto.  It had been recommended by many websites.  It featured brick oven pizzas (the menu called them “pizzas on fire”) and other Italian specialties.  We ordered a bacon pizza.  It came with onions and sweet peppers.  The bacon was really just ham but it was tasty.  It was not as good as the street pizza in Sofia which costs 1/10th the price.

After lunch we went in search of another art gallery on the other side of Tsar Simeon Park.  We surmise that the gallery is in the same place as the synagogue.  We never found it.  We took some pictures of a nearby statue of Philip II of Macedonia and called it a day.  We were anxious to get inside where it was warm and dry.

Distance walked: 7.5 miles

Tuesday, March 20

We got a late start so we began our day with lunch.  We went to another recommended restaurant called Diana.  This restaurant features authentic Bulgarian cuisine.  The menu was very large and featured many typical native dishes such as fried liver, tripe and calves tongue.  We did not order any of those.  We chose fried balls of cheese covered in cornflakes, a shopska salad (a Bulgarian salad with chopped cucumbers, tomato, onion, sweet peppers and cheese) and pork schnitzel.  We have no pictures of any of this but it was very tasty.

After lunch we headed over to the Archeological Museum.  They had displays of local artifacts from prehistoric times through the medieval period.  Along the way we saw displays from the stone, copper, bronze and Roman ages.  They had many golden artifacts from Thracian burial mounds that were in fantastic condition.  There was a display showing a remnant of the mosaic floor from an ancient Plovdiv synagogue.  Maybe this was the one we were looking for.

(Silver Mask/Helmet from First Century)

We loved the Archeological Museum in Sofia and this one was just as good.  The last exhibit was a room filled with coins from the 19th and 20th century that had been found in an abandoned factory.  The government found them when the factory was about to be demolished.  It’s rare to see such a fine collection of diverse coins from this period.  When the family heard about the find they sued to recover their property but the government kept the coins and compensated them for their loss.

Needing a little pick-me-up we decided to head over to our favorite Turkish coffee shop for Turkish Tea and baklava.  The tea was strong and is served in glasses rather than ceramic cups.  The baklava was good but not nearly as good as what we had in Sofia.  Ours was made with walnuts.  They also had baklava made with almonds and pistachios.  You know we’re going to try them all!

(Turkish Tea and Baklava)

Yeah, we ate the damn thing before we remembered to take a picture.  We’ve decided that we’re going to start a new series called, “Empty Plates Of The World”.  We hope you’ll tune in.

Distance walked: 4.5 miles

Wednesday, March 21

The barista at the Owlee coffee shop in Sofia had recommended two places here in Plovdiv.  We had already tried The Monkey House and now we were on our way to try Croatoan Coffee House.  It’s a little over one mile from our apartment.

We decided to take the scenic route and explore some other parts of the city.  We discovered an Eastern Orthodox church named the Church of St Peter and St Paul.  I started to take pictures when one of the priests admonished me to stop.  There had been no signs indicating that photography was prohibited.  Instead of being mad the priest attempted to engage us in conversation.  He spoke only Bulgarian – and you know how good our Bulgarian is.  When we indicated that we didn’t understand he just tried harder.  He was very sweet but we were never able to communicate.

We decided that we’d had enough sightseeing and headed towards the coffee house.  It was a small shop at the intersection of two major streets.  We briefly looked at the pastries that were in the window but just ordered two cappuccinos.  The waitress told us to find a table and told us that she’d bring them over.

The coffee was excellent.  They made pretty designs in the foam, which I  really like (I’m going to have to figure out how to do that one of these days).  As we were paying we realized that they were serving Dabov coffee, which we had in Sofia.  It is roasted by a company based in Sofia.  It’s the best coffee we’ve had since we’ve been in Plovdiv.  We remarked to the waitress that we knew this brand.  She suggested that we try the filtered coffee as a way to get more flavor.  We’ll definitely try that next time.

For lunch we went to the Mall Markovo Tepe and ate at the food court.  It’s a typical mall that you might see just about anywhere in the world.  This time we opted for Greek cuisine.  We ordered a gyro sandwich.  Unlike the gyro sandwiches we’ve had before this one had french fries in it.  This seems common in Plovdiv.  For good measure it also came with a side of fries.  You can never have too many carbs.  It was very tasty.  We’re still not sure what the meat was.  It definitely wasn’t lamb but we liked it a lot.

(Gyro with French Fries)

We took the scenic route to the center of Town where we bought some prepared foods for dinner.  We got chicken on a stick and some sausages from the same place we got the ham hock a few days ago.  I guess this day was just all about the food.

Distance walked: 6.8 miles

Sunday, March 18

A day without churches is like a day without sunshine.  Is that how it goes?  We’ve been accused of visiting a lot of churches but there were none on the agenda today.  To be fair we did try to visit one that was along our route but it was closed.  We’ll try again during the week.

We started the day with a stop at a pastry shop.  We had spotted this shop the first day we were in Plovdiv, on our orientation walk, but now we had an opportunity to stop and sample the wares.  The shops have all sorts of cakes but we wanted to try a pastry that appeared to be covered in icing.  It looked different from the typical fare and it peaked our interest.  It turned out to be something very close to an Italian Napoleon, without the white chocolate on top.  It was delicious.  As usual, no pictures.  We’ll definitely be back for another bite at the apple and maybe we’ll get a picture then.

A short walk from the pastry shop we found The Small Basilica.  I know we said that we hadn’t visited any churches but this really wasn’t a church – it was a museum.   Actually our plan was to visit four museums.  The previous day we had purchased discount tickets that allowed us to visit five museums for the price of three; there are a total of eight museums that participate in this program.  The Ancient Roman Theater that we had seen yesterday counted as one of the museums and so, since the tickets were only good for two days, we planned to see four more today.

The basilica had been built in the 4th century and had been discovered in 1988.  It opened to the public in 2014.  Very little of the original structure is left but there are large remnants of mosaic floors that have been preserved.  The guide map says that there was an ancient synagogue next door but we found no evidence of its exsistance.

(A Baptismal Fount in the Shape of a Cross)

Our path to the next museum took us past the Old East Gate to the city of Philippopolis.  You can still see the remains of the gates and the road that connected them.

(Old East Gate to the city of Philippopolis)

After a failed attempt to see a nearby church we climbed up the hill to where the museums were located.  All of the museums were located in houses that had been built during the Bulgarian Revival period in the 1800s.  The museums featured works of art from Bulgarian artists from the 20th and 21st centuries.  The houses were as much an exhibit as the artwork.  They contained rooms with high ceilings and intricate woodwork patterns.  The rooms were decorated with period furniture and rugs.  Many of the houses have large ball rooms and appear to be used for official functions to this day.  No photos were permitted in any of the museums.

Between touring the houses and climbing the hills we worked up quite an appetite.  We lunched at a German style restaurant, Rahat Tepe, near the pinnacle of one of the hills.  The special of the day was a platter of ribs with pickled onions, french fries and garlic sauce.  We had to try that.  We also order the potato pie.  For fun we sampled a glass of rakia.  Rakia is a fruit flavored fermented beverage.  It’s very popular in Bulgaria.  For our money you could easily mistake it for schnapps.

When the waitress brought the food we assumed that she had given us a double portion by mistake.  The plates were huge.  There was enough food for four people.  We ate it all!  It was wonderful.  When the bill came we realized that we had received normal sized portions.  The menu never said anything about family style.  At least this time we remembered to take pictures before we ate.  We’re getting better 😉.  Total cost for the meal: $17.00.  That’s pretty expensive by our standards.  We’ve been eating a lot of street food and take-away lately.  It’s been quite a while since we ate in an actual restaurant.

(Two Full Racks of Ribs)

(Potato Pie Covered in Feta Cheese)

While we were eating it started to rain so, after lunch, we decided to head back to our apartment and digest.

Distance walked: 4.3 miles

Saturday, March 17

Happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

Our first stop of the day was for lunch.  On the day we arrived we had spied a Turkish restaurant that served grilled skewers.  Meat on a stick!  How could you go wrong?  Well, we did go wrong.  We tried to eat lunch at 11:30 and the shop was not ready – none of the food was cooked – so we went in search of other sources of sustenance.

Nearby, along the main pedestrian path, were a series of booths selling all sorts of things.  We decided to give one of them a try.  We ordered two small sandwiches and a bottle of water.  Deborah’s sandwich had falafel balls, salad, french fries and tzatziki sauce all wrapped in a pita.  Mine was similar although it had roasted chicken instead of falafel balls.  We would hate to see what the large size looked like because we could easily have shared one of the small sandwiches.  Altogether the cost was $3.20.  No, we didn’t get any pictures – again. We’ve realized that we’re not food bloggers, we’re just travel bloggers.  Given that, we don’t feel so bad about the lack of food photos.

Afterward we climbed some of the ancient hills that led back to Old Town.  Initially we visited the Church of St Constantine and Helena.  It was named for the Roman emperor and his mother.  The original church had been built in the 4th century on top of a pagan temple.  Extensive modifications were done in the 1800s during Ottoman rule.  The Ottoman’s did not forbid the building and/or maintenance of churches but their law stated that churches had to be hidden behind a wall that would obscure them from the street.  Thus many churches in Plovdiv, like this one, are only one story high and are surrounded by walls.  In many cases bell towers were added as separate structures after 1878 when the Ottomans were defeated in Bulgaria.  No photography of the interior was permitted.

(The Exterior of The Church of St Constantine and Helena)

Nearby was an old city gate.  It’s origin likely dates from Thracian times, when many of the fortifications had been built.  Because of the many sieges it has been destroyed and rebuilt numerous times.  The current incarnation dates from the 14th century.  The Ottomans rebuilt it after they conquered the city.  Phillip II of Macedonia named it for his sister after he conquered the city in the 4th century B.C. and that name has stuck until the present day.  It’s called Hisar Kapiya (Hisar’s Gate).

Plovdiv is the second largest city in Bulargia, has a population of around 350,000 people, and is one of the oldest cities in Europe.  It may be the only city on the continent that has been continuously occupied for the last 6,000 years.  It has been conquered many times.  Its rulers have included the Thracians (Darius the Great), Persia (Xerxes), Macedonia (Phillip II), The Romans (Emperor Claudius), The Goths (Attila the Hun), The Bulgarians and the Ottomans.  It sits at a strategic location and has been the site of numerous battles.  After WWII Bulgaria was behind the iron curtain but was technically not part of the Soviet Union.  Plovdiv has been chosen the European Capital of Culture for 2019.  Preparations can be seen everywhere.

Next we toured the Ethnographic Museum.  The museum is located in a house that was built by a wealthy goldsmith during the Bulgarian Revival period of the 1800s.  The collection includes many artifacts of the trade guilds, agriculture and rural life from that same period.  The house has three stories with high ceilings and custom wood paneling.  It has magnificent views of the valley below.  In front of the house is a large, beautifully landscaped garden.  For the privilege of taking photos of the interior there was an extra charge of six Лв.  You won’t see any photos of the interior.

(The Ethnographic Museum)

We continued to climb and finally reached the top of Nebet Tepe (Nebet Hill).  The city’s fortifications had extended to the top of this hill and there were remnants of them everywhere.  The hills afford magnificent panoramic views of the entire city and surrounding countryside.  It would have been an ideal place to post lookouts.

(The Hills of Plovdiv)

After a quick stop to take a few photos of the exterior of a house where the famous French author Alphonse de Lamartine had stayed for three days while returning to Paris from the Orient we were off to see the main attraction of the day: The Ancient Roman Theater.

(The Ancient Roman Theater)

The Ancient Roman Theater was constructed in the first century under the Emperor Domitian.  It was designed to hold 6,000 spectators.  Only the rich and privileged were permitted to attend performances in this theater.  Fun fact: Roman law stated that theaters were required to hold one tenth of the population of the city in which they were built.

(The Stage)

The theater was discovered in the 1970s underneath a neighborhood containing several houses.  The houses were demolished and the occupants were relocated.  The theater has been fully excavated and is one of the best preserved examples ever found.  Today it is a popular venue for summertime plays and concerts.  We were able to visit the entire structure and took dozens of pictures.

(Onstage at the Theater)

Distance walked: 5.0 miles (mostly up hill)

Thursday, March 15

Our time in Sofia has come to an end.  It’s been a great six weeks and we’ve enjoyed every minute of it.  We’re moving on to Plovdiv, which is also in Bulgaria.  The people in Sofia have been very friendly and most of them speak English – especially the younger generation.  It makes visiting the city much easier for Americans.

Note: Saying “Ciao” might not seem to be Bulgarian but it is a common way to say goodbye here.

If you ever get to Sofia here’s some of the things we think you shouldn’t miss…

1. Free Sofia Tour
2. Alexander Nevski Cathedral
3. Saint Sofia Church
4. Boyana Church
5. Rila Monastery
6. Banya Bashi Mosque
7. Sofia Synagogue
8. Cathedral Church Sveta Nedelya
9. Church St. George Rotunda
10. Sveta Petka
11. National Archeological Museum
12. National Art Gallery
13. Square 500 Art Gallery
14. Corso Cafe
15. Avrasia Turkish Restaurant
16. Owllee Coffee House
17. Street Food on Shipka Street (Pizza, Banitsa, etc.)
18. The Rainbow Factory
19. The Elephant Bookstore

Friday, March 16

In the morning we visited one of the Eastern Orthodox churches in the area.  It’s called Svetka Petka (Saint Peter).  It’s quite pretty inside and is decorated in typical style.  We couldn’t find any info on the church (at least there was none in English that we could find).

(Svetka Petka Church)

A group called the 365 Association had run a free tour of Sofia.  We had taken it when we had arrived there.  It was a great way to become acquainted with the city and we learned some interesting facts along the way.  It had been a very positive experience.  Fortunately for us that same organization runs a free tour of Plovdiv.  The tour was at 2:00 pm and we planned to be there.

Of course, before that was going to happen we had to find someplace to eat lunch.  Yesterday we had spotted an interesting place.  The front of the store contained a number of grills and a glass encased smoker.  Yesterday we saw a full pig being smoked.  Today there were several racks of ribs visible.  They also had a selection of prepared foods such as potatoes, various salads and innumerable things we’d only be able to guess at.  The middle of the store had a similar selection of items but was geared towards take-away.  The back of the store was a full butcher shop.

Deborah ordered a skewer of grilled chicken.  I ordered a big hunk of smoked pork; I think it was a ham hock.  Both were juicy and fresh and cooked to perfection.  They were also seasoned with salt, pepper and some herbs.  We were so eager to try them that we’d started eating before we remembered to take some pictures.  They were full of flavor and delicious.  A stray dog came by and wagged its tail profusely while we were eating.  I guess we looked like suckers.  I gave him a small piece of bone with some meat still on it.  We expected that he would run off and eat it somewhere in private but instead he sat right in front of us and ate it.  He knew where the good food stands were!  Next time we’ll choose a place to eat based on how many stray dogs we see hanging out 😊.

A few blocks down there was a large mosque.  It is the largest mosque in Bulgaria and dates from the 14th century.  It was built during the Ottoman period.  Right in front of the mosque is a Turkish restaurant.  We ordered two Turkish coffees and, you guessed it, kazandibi.  The waitress asked us if we wanted sugar in our coffee and we said, “a little”.  We had read an article that said Turkish coffee was very strong and could be ordered with varying degrees of sugar.  Our coffees were served in espresso sized cups and came with glasses of sweetened rose flavored water.  Rose flavored items are commonly found all over Bulgaria, Turkey and parts of the Middle East.  There was no room in the cup to add water.  We deduced that you were supposed to mix the coffee and the water in your mouth – at least that’s what we did.  The coffee was very strong but not bitter.  As is the custom there were grounds at the bottom of the cup which we did not care to consume.  The kazandibi was very good.

We’ve really got to visit Turkey one of these days.  It would make life a lot easier for us if the U.S. and Turkey would normalize relations again.  Because of all of the rancor it’s no longer possible for U.S. citizens to get visas to Turkey by applying through normal channels.  Based on what we’ve read you can, however, get one upon arrival at Istanbul airport.  We may try that at some point.

We killed some time by strolling through the Garden of Tsar Simeon.  It’s a large park with broad boulevards, manicured gardens, sculptures and fountains.  It also contains the famous singing fountain.  It’s too early in the season for the singing fountain to be open but we’re hoping to see it in operation before we leave.

(Garden of Tsar Simeon)

At 2:00 pm we met up with the tour guide.  About 30 people showed up.  There was several Bulgarians, someone from Macao, a number of people from the U.S., quite a few from Western Europe and one from South America.  The guide gave us some information about the city in general, told us the areas that we would be visiting and informed us that the tour would last about two hours.  It was going to be a fun day.

He started by showing us the city seal.  There were representations of the seven hills of Plovdiv.  He said that only six hills remain.  One of them, the smallest, had been blown up in the 1950s.  Half of the material had been sent to Germany.  No one knows what happened to it there.  The other half was used as road paving material for Old Town in Plovdiv.  One less hill for us to climb!

We walked along the main pedestrian street.  It is reputed to be the longest one in Europe.  We stopped along the way to see the Ancient Stadium of Philipopolis.  In ancient times Plovdiv was called Philipopolis.  Phillip II of Macedonia, the father of Alexander the Great, conquered the city in the fourth century BC.  He renamed it in honor of himself.  The stadium, which was built in Roman times, is still fully intact although only a small part has been excavated. It was built in the shape of an elongated oval, would have hosted gladiatorial games and originally held 30,000 people.   Fun fact: Roman law stated that stadiums were required to hold one half of the population of the city in which they were built.

(Ancient Stadium of Philipopolis)

Next was a visit to Old Town.  This area, which sits on top of several of the hills, is paved with rough stones and contains a number of museums and houses of historic significance.  The tour ended with a visit to the Ancient Theatre built by the Romans.  It has been fully excavated, sits 5,000 people and is still used in the summer time for plays and concerts.  It’s magnificent.

On the way home we went in search of the grocery store that our landlord had mentioned.  We had previously stumbled upon a nearby grocery store but it was a little expensive and had a poor selection of goods.  Two blocks from our apartment (our landlord likes to talk in terms of meters) there is a modern looking office complex with a number of shops.  The entire basement level is a supermarket.  It’s huge.  The prices were much more reasonable and the selection was awesome.  We’ll be going there from now on.

Distance walked: 7.5 miles

Thursday, March 15

We had decided that the best way to get to the Sofia train station would be to take a cab.  We didn’t feel like schlepping our luggage two blocks down the street to the nearest taxi stand so we ordered a ride in advance.  To help alleviate any language issues I used an app for a local car service.  I was able to specify the exact location of pickup and delivery without having to resort to my inadequate Bulgarian.  In the morning, 10 minutes before our scheduled pickup, I received a phone call from the cab company: no taxis were available.  There was no misunderstanding.  The woman on the other end of the phone spoke perfect English.  She said that they would call if a car became available.  The schlepping began.

Just as we were crossing our street a taxi drove by.  I waived to flag him down but was disheartened when I noticed a passenger in the front seat.  He came to a screeching halt, opened the door, got out and shouted something to us in Bulgarian.  I shrugged my shoulders and shook by head to indicate I had no idea of what he had just said.  He got in the cab and was off again.  We were about to continue on our way when we realized that he was probably going to come back and pick us up.  I put my bags on the sidewalk and stood in the middle of the road and watched him; I also wanted to make sure he could see we were still waiting.  He stopped on the next block, let his passenger out, backed up all the down to where we were standing, jumped out and loaded our bags into the car.  I said, “tsentralna gara” and it was his turn to nod his head.  We were off and headed in the right direction.  Ten minutes later we were at the train station.

As we were about to enter the station a gentleman said something to us in Bulgarian.  We just shook our heads and continued on our way.  Once inside the station we scanned the electronic boards for our train.  A gentlemen came by and asked where we were going.  He offered to escort us to track 3, where he said we’d meet the train to Plovdiv (PLUV-deev).  We thanked him, told him we were going to get some coffee and walked off in another direction.  He followed us as we walked toward a nearby shop.  We went in and he walked away.  We assumed he was just looking for a tip. He didn’t get one.

After 20 minutes we went back outside to check the boards.  The train to Plovdiv was not listed.  Several gentleman offered to assist us but we walked over to the information desk and were told to head to track 1 – track 1, not track 3.  That was a little disconcerting.  We headed over to track 1 and, before boarding the train, looked for a conductor to confirm our destination.  None were found.  We boarded and waited for an announcement.

The train was a solid looking piece of machinery.  It was clean and well kept but it had not been built in the last few years.  There was no WiFi.  The cars had a narrow passage way that lead to several compartments.  Each compartment had a pair of bench seats facing one another and a sliding door.  The seats were large and comfortable.  We stowed our luggage and waited for an announcement.  At the appointed hour the train started to move.  There were not going to be any announcements.

We both checked Google maps.  At least the train was going in the correct direction.  We knew that the main line to the East of Sofia went to Plovdiv, Burgas and Varna so we had confidence that in 2.5 hours we’d arrive at our destination.

The train moved along at a moderate pace and stopped at a few smaller stations to pick up additional passengers.  The scenery changed from urban to suburban and then we saw a bunch of old, dilapidated and abandoned factories that looked like they were from the Soviet era.  Soon we saw large open fields surrounded by tall mountains.  The land was mainly used for agriculture.  We spied cows, sheep and goats grazing in the fields.  The scene was so familiar that we could have been almost anywhere in the world.

After an hour a conductor came by to check our tickets.  She examined ours and she said something to us in Bulgarian.  We just shook our heads.  In hesitant English she said, “first class”.  When we had purchased our tickets we had checked them for any sort of seating restrictions.  There was no indication of class nor of any seat assignment.  The inside of all of the cars had all looked the same so we just settled for a car where seating was available.  The privilege of going first class was going to cost us an additional charge of 6 Лв (about $3.85).  We certainly wouldn’t make that mistake again in the future.  At least she didn’t say anything about being on the wrong train!

Eventually Google maps said we were close to Plovdiv so we prepared to get off.  Most of the people on the train were similarly occupied, which gave us some confidence that we were in the right place.  Once on the platform we had to negotiate down a staircase to get to the main concourse.  Eventually we had to climb a rather tall staircase to get to the street.  Deborah had difficulty climbing the stairs with the heavy luggage.  I told her to wait there and that I would come back and carry it for her.  I had just reached the top of the staircase and was about to return for Deborah’s luggage when a gentleman grabbed her suitcase and bounded up the stairs with it.  Deborah hadn’t asked for any help; she was furious.  I watched him the entire time.  He too was just looking for a tip.  We just walked off in the direction of a waiting taxi.  The gentleman followed us and said something in Bulgarian.  We ignored him.  He implored the cab driver to tell us to give him a tip.  The cab driver responded curtly and he left.

Our cab driver spoke perfect English and knew exactly where our apartment was.  We had a very pleasant conversation about Plovdiv.  As the taxi drove away a young woman approached us.  She was our new landlord and was going to show us our new apartment.  Hopefully she wouldn’t ask us for a tip 😉.

Our new apartment is very nice.  It is somewhat smaller than our place in Sofia and there’s only one bedroom.  It has all of the required amenities and will serve us nicely for the next three weeks.  It even has a nice little balcony where we can eat breakfast and view some of the sights.  The bathroom doesn’t have a separate shower.  It’s called a wet room.  Talk about new experiences; we’ll probably have some stories to tell about that.

In the afternoon we walked around the city to get a sense of it all.  It is quite charming.  It is much smaller than Sofia and more closely resembles a typical Western European city.  We didn’t see all of it.  We had coffee at The Monkey House, which was recommended by our friend, the barista, at the Owllee Coffee House in Sofia.  I think the coffee was from Greece.  It was very good.

Don’t fret.  We’ll start taking pictures tomorrow.

P.S. A short story about our phones.  Yesterday my phone stopped working.  We went to a Vivacom store and found that my account balance was zero.  After all of the ridiculous harassment we suffered in Italy with TIM the Bulgarian phone company didn’t even contact us to let us know it was time to recharge our account.  I put 10 Лв on my account.  That should last another month or so.  We checked Deborah’s account.  She still has 5 Лв on account.  At the rate she uses her phone that might last her until we reach our next country.  At least now we know how to check our balances.

Distance walked: 5.7 miles

Wednesday, March 14

We ran a few errands today.  Of course, this meant another trip to the post office.  The last time we went we bought a couple of extra stamps (the really expensive ones) so this time we just dropped the letter in what we thought was the appropriate chute.  It would be nice to know if any of these letters got through.  The return address on all of them is our official residence in the U.S.,  so who knows where they might wind up if the postage is wrong.  We could’t use our Sofia address for two reasons: who knows where we’ll be if/when the letters are returned and we don’t have access to the mailbox in the building.

The big news of the day is that we accumulated enough punches on our frequent buyer cards at the Owllee (our favorite coffee shop here in Sofia) that we both got free coffees today.  We timed it perfectly because we’re leaving tomorrow.  If only things at the post office worked out so well…

Speaking of the post office we never relayed our post office story from Rome. My iPad was a model two and was over seven years old.  I had read many articles about how you should not upgrade the operating system on those models because they would run pathetically slowly, if at all.  Of course this meant that I couldn’t run the newer versions of many apps and some of the older apps wouldn’t run well or at all.  One day, in frustration, I upgraded the operating system.  Big mistake.  Now my iPad was basically just an expensive boat anchor.

Before leaving for Italy we bought new iPhones and, in return for trading in our old phones, we received gift cards. The problem was that the gift cards were only valid in the U.S. so, in order to use them, I went online and had a new iPad shipped to my mother’s house.  That part was easy.  Getting it to Italy was going to be hard.

The cost for sending it FedEx, UPS, DHL, etc. was prohibitively expensive so Mom sent it via U.S. Mail.  I told her to state the value as being $45 and not to insure it.  I was hoping to avoid having to pay the import fees.  At least I had a tracking number.  Five days later the package was listed as having departing Milan for its destination.  Three weeks after that it still had the same status.  We went to the post office to inquire and they said that it was normal for packages to take a while to get from Milan to Rome.  Really?  That long?

Two more weeks went by and we went back to the post office.  The clerk tracked the package and said that, according to the Poste Italiane computer system, the package had never arrived in Italy.  It was still in the United States.  Seriously?  We went back the next day and spoke to someone else.  This time they had no idea where the package was but suggested that we fill out a lost package form.  I filled one out there and went home and filled one out on the U.S.P.S web site.  Maybe one of them would find it.

A few days went by and I got an email from the U.S.P.S. telling me that they were on the job.  Two weeks later I got a similar one from the Poste Italiane.  Every week I got an automated email from U.S.P.S reminding me that they were working hard to resolve my problem.  I never heard anything else from Poste Italiane.  Every so often I would check the tracking status on my package.  After three weeks it changed – it said it had arrived in Milan.  Was that progress?  Three weeks later it said that it was in Milan clearing customs.  That sounded hopeful.  Three weeks later someone rang our doorbell.  It was Poste Italiane.  My iPad had arrived.  They charged me $86.00 for import duty.

Just last week I got an email from U.S.P.S.  They were sorry.  They had done an exhaustive investigation but my package was considered lost.  When I told this story to my Mom she said, “See, you should have had it insured.  Then you would have gotten it for free.  Who says Mom doesn’t always know best?

After our trip to the Sofia post office we went over to Shipka Street and had pizza at our favorite shop.  Today they had one topped with peppers and onions.  It was delicious.  I noticed that the cost for two slices was 4.40 Лв.  Normally it was 1.80 Лв each.  That’s an increase of over 16%.  Never mind that the total cost for two slices was still only about $2.72.  It’s a good thing we’re leaving tomorrow.  This place is starting to get expensive!

Our last stop of the day was a nearby bakery.  We had to have their baklava one last time.  I offered to share a piece with Deborah but she wanted her own.

Packing for Plovdiv presented a unique challenge.  Wanting to sample the chocolates we bought at the festival we had opened several packages.  Two packages were left and we didn’t think they would travel well.  In the end we decided that we’d just have to eat them.  Oh, the rigors of traveling.

Tomorrow we’re off to Plovdiv on the 10:30 am train.  We’re looking forward to new adventures.

Distance walked: 4.6 miles

Monday, March 12

Today we went to a performance of Verdi’s Requiem.  Finally, a topic we know something about!

Rossini, the composer of The Barber of Seville and many other popular operas, died in 1868.  To honor him several composers, including Giuseppe Verdi, collaborated to compose a requiem mass in his honor.  Later that year, exactly nine days before the premiere, the conductor abandoned the project and the performance was canceled.  The project spurred Verdi into writing a requiem of his own and it was premiered in Milan on May 22, 1874.

The performance we attended was staged at the National Opera and Ballet where we had previously seen a performance of Verdi’s Un Ballo in Maschera.  The piece is scored for full orchestra, a double choir and four soloists.  It is one of his mature works and was composed shortly after his opera Don Carlo.  The piece, neither an opera nor an orchestral work, is not often performed.  We had purchased tickets about a month ago and had been eagerly awaiting this night.  Even if you don’t recognize the name of the piece you would undoubtedly know some of the music.  Excerpts from the Dies Ire have appeared in many places in popular culture.

The choir was situated at the back of the stage.  The orchestra was arranged in typical fashion and the soloists stood on both sides of the conductor.  The offstage trumpets were placed in the balcony level boxes to the left and right of the stage.  The conductor motioned a downbeat and music filled the auditorium.

The soloists were excellent.  Atypically, the choir was a strong, professional and well prepared group.  During several of the canonical entrances they were not fully synchronized with the rest of the performers but the blame for that rested squarely on the conductor’s shoulders.  The orchestra, also members of the opera company, played at a very high level.  We thoroughly enjoyed the performance.  If there had been other performances scheduled we would happily have attended them as well.

(National Opera and Ballet Theater)

Editorial comment: We’ve heard so many people say they don’t like operatic music like Verdi’s Requiem.  If you liked the music from the movie Amadeus then you’re quite familiar with Mozart’s Requiem – it comprises most of the soundtrack from the second half of the movie.  Why not give it a try.  It’s wonderful stuff.

Distance walked: 2.9 miles

Tuesday, March 13

Our plan for the next two days is to revisit all of our favorite restaurants before we leave for Plovdiv on Thursday.  Today’s first order of business was to buy train tickets for the trip.  We’ve been told that the busses are faster and cheaper but we prefer the train.  We took the subway to the station; we considered it a dry run.  Two tickets for the 2.5 hour trip cost us $6.00 each.  We walked back into Town, bought some kazandibi for dessert and headed on over to Corso for lunch.

On the way home we walked through the Serdica Center subway station (Serdica is the ancient name of Sofia).  When they were excavating for the subway they found ruins from Roman times.  The city decided to display some of the relics in the main passage way.  The floor, which is used for all pedestrian traffic to/from the subway station, are the actual stones from ancient times.  It’s the same type of paving that you’d find on the Appian Way in Rome.

(Serdica Center Subway Station)

Distance walked: 5.4 miles