Hotel Berkut Plovdiv

... and a host who when w e asked if we could sit in the garden, promptly put up an umbrella, handed me a glossy magazine (I'm still not sure why) and told us his life story! Funnily enough, it was so interesting and we heard the good the bad and the ugly about life in Bulgaria.<br><br>After our rather full day and dinner in a Balkan Restaurant we headed to bed and set the alarm for 5.30am to ensure we did not miss the train to Varna the next morning.<br><br>

... to explore the old town by 1900. After that I went back to the train station and looked for a place to eat. I found it but its menu was in Bulgarian only. Luckily Maria on the next table helped me to order some salad, soup and fish and a bottle of wine, so we had a nice conversation while sharing the wine. She is a drummer from Plovdiv but living in Vienna now. We talked about politics ...

... hostel were really vague (no streets had any signage) and so we spent a bit of time trying to find someone who could speak some English to point us in the right direction. Just as we thought we were going to have to jump in a taxi we found a guy outside the station from Abu Dahbi who was in Plovdiv visiting family. He walked with us through town until we found some landmarks that corresponded with our directions - he was really nice and didn't want anything for helping us which was excellent ...

... border into Bulgaria with a stop at the Duty Free Shopping Centre at around 12.00 <br>· Arrive Plovdiv and check into hotel <br>· Free afternoon <br>· Optional group dinner at a traditional Bulgarian restaurant, followed by a tour of the locals bars <br>· Day 2 <br>· Free Day <br ...

... longer operating. This meant there were only two ways off the mountain. Ski down or walk down. First day on skis or not, there was no way in hell I was going to walk down that bloody mountain. Katie though, had not been enjoying the skiing experience and was, I think it fair to say, utterly petrified of the prospect of having to ski down the mountain. With much coaxing and cajoling, Sharone and I (over the course of several hours and countless encouragements, platitudes and ...

... depressing! Plovdiv is nice, the Old Town is lots of twisty, hilly cobbled streets and lovely houses in the National Revival style, which is this particular style of the mid 19th century. I went to the Ethnographic museum, which was ok but all the information labels were in Bulgarian and so not much help, and it was pretty small, so not as good as other ethnographic museums I've been to. The best thing about it is that it is in one of these Revivalist houses which is well ...

... a director's chair. I think shooting was in Bulgarian, so I doubt I'll ever see the movie, but it was cool anyway. At least at first. As the afternoon progressed, the movie, occupying the main old town street, thwarted all my efforts to explore the historic part o the city. The annoyance, however, was probably to my benefit as it forced me into the more narrow alleyways and down picturesque streets I probably would not have seen otherwise. There was an older ...

... the border until someone agreed to change my coins for bills, and with most of the train back on board, chances hadn't looked good tonight! With my visa in my passport, I made a dash for the other building and got my stamp just in time to run back to the train. I don't like cutting it that close at 3am on a border like that! Safely back on the train and with my breath caught, it was back to bed until we pulled into Istanbul :)

... in Sofia at about the same time that I got off of the bus in Plovdiv). As we rode into the city, he pointed out the secondary school he attended. As it always is the case on the road, we parted ways, and Bro and I strolled off to look around. Plovdiv is an old Roman city. Every time I think of a Roman city, I think of a ruin somewhere in Turkey. Plovdiv doesn't feel too much like that: in front of the first church we saw is a big poster for a type of Vodka. It's got a scantily ...

Woke up this morning, from the strangest dream I was in the biggest army that the world has ever seen We were marching as one On the road to the holly grail Sadly, we said goodbye to Simon and Martina. I now only have Lucy to drink Bulgarian wine with now. They have gone to Istanbul, but we will meet up again in Lille But that is not the story. This ...