Steps of Foreign Soil: Eastern Europe: Paris of the Balkans

Day 3 - July 17th, 2012
Sozopol, Bulgaria - Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Gorgeous night. THe windows were open, the breeze was coming through, and when I woke to go pee everything was wonderful... but wait a second... I adjusted my head a little and looked out the window... there was a man across the way on his balcony (one floor up from us) and he was looking in our window.... um... sketch! I closed the window and enjoyed the rest of the night.

Sozopol Sunrise

Sunrise came, and we met it on the rocks... well... we tried. There were clouds resting over the sea, though it was clear above us, and the sunrise was somewhat limited. Still, the clouds glowed with the hidden rise, and the winds of the Black Sea carried fresh sea air.

Bulgaria and the Black Sea!

Streets of Sozopol

Ruins on the Sea

When it was a more reasonable hour we grabbed some pasteries at a local bakery and then hopped into the car. It was nerve wracking as we rolled back down the cobbled streets but soon enough we were out of Sozopol and on the open roads.

Highways, sketchy passing, tiny villages, construction, more sketchy passing, and sunflowers... sunflowers... sunflowers... sunflowers...

Plovdiv is Bulgaria's second biggest city, and it, like the rest of the cities in the region, has been built up around what was an older city... in some cases going back to ancient times. The best Hostels are in the middle of the action, and thus in the middle of these old cities, and thus in the middle of Plovdiv. So, we rocketed through the city streets with the rest of the Bulgarians, shot ourselves on the cobblestones, and drove ever upwards as the GPS sorta told us where to go. We got lost once, then found, then drove up a hill with a massive church and a gate. The hill was the road we wanted, but the house number we wanted was on the other side of the gate. We were just about at melt down stage here so I hobbled out of the car and wandered over the the gentleman manning the gate. I showed him the address on a piece of paper and he yammered on in Bulgarian while pointing up the hill. He raised the gate and we were up through it. There were cars parked on the hill, and then there were no cars... none at all... We found the Hostel, and then we realized that we had driven onto a walkng street and that was the reason there were no other cars. Eff. We took the car back down, passed the gatekeeper, and into a small parking lot. We grabbed our gear and headed back to the Hostel. Finally, we had arrived.

Arrival in Plovdiv

Mural

The Cross

That afternoon/evening were spent exploring Plovdiv. We found their pedestrian street at the bottom of the hill with its ancient ampitheatre in the ground, and its Parisesque shops lining the road. Then we headed back up the old town to the Roman ampitheatre, the ancient buildings, and at the heart of it all, the Thracian settlement which was the beginnings of this great city. The Thracians picked the largest hill to build on, and when we stood atop it we could see all of Plovdiv around us.