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