SEVEN HILLS 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>

... but as the time progressed the train gradually filled up and the mist gradually burnt away by the sun, and I enjoyed continuous mountain sceneries interrupted by views of towns and fields. <br><br>Provdiv was sweltering under the sun when I arrived around noon so I took a bus to the Bachdovo Monastery 15 km out of the city in the mountain. A lot of monasteries in Bulgaria were the places ...

9th June<br>Rila Monastery to Plovdiv<br>Sunny 31 degrees<br><br>We left the lovely Rila Monastery to drive to Plovdiv. It involved some backtracking to near Sofia and then on to the motorway to Plovdiv. Unfortunately, once again, the area is very smoggy and spoils what would be lovely views of the countryside and mountains. We arrived in Plovdiv and found our hotel ...

... had the obligatory cobbled streets and quaint houses. Crazily with the weather the way it was there was a beach volleyball tournament right inthe middle of the pedestrian precint area. We joined the 2 specctators for a few minutes before giving in to the cold and the rain ourselves, they must have been freezing in their little outfits! We checked out the Roman ampitheatre on the hill before heading down for a coffee. To kill a few hours we hung out at the hostel and watched the last few ...

Saturday 16th May. We packed up and were on the road reasonably early and headed towards the border of Croatia where we crossed the border and drove through past Zagreb and towards Serbia. All was good and roads were fine though we had to pay tolls along the motorways we soon added up but it was a quicker way to drive there than the free regional roads. At the border of Serbia things got interesting as the border controls insisted we had to pay insurance as they said ...

... then we woke up around 7:30am to get ready to get out since we were to arrive in Plodiv, Bulgaria at 8am. When it hit 9am and we were not in Plodiv, we got worried. Plodiv is the second largest city in Bulgaria; yet, endless grassy plains stretched out the train window. Natasha got really paranoid and kept going to the conductor's room without a satisfactory answer. I finally managed the conductor to tell us that we did ...

... we were from. And so it happened that our original plan of going early to bed after making a small dinner, failed. First it was only smoke, then dinner for all the 3 of us [Ursa-as usual-cooked way too much] and then beer and vodka and some more smoke. "What's life in BG like?" i asked him, but he only smiled. He had a Picasso look [according to Ursa]; a beard, mustache, middle age and ...

... indicating the switch from Islamic to Eastern Orthodox territory.  I decided to mimic this dangerous stride a bit in order to blend in. This is a nation of eminently casual folk, after all. At the risk of sounding condescending, Bulgaria seems to be a cuddly place. Its people tend to be on the shorter side, boasting round, pleasant faces, wavy hair and a flair for food & drink;  but to to call them hobbit-like would be crossing the ...

... walls. Wavy gables, protruding turrets, curved bay windows, wooden shutters and a general overhang complete the unique picture. In the old town a decrepit air hangs in the streets, intensified by decaying buildings, rutted cobblestones, overgrowing foliage and most interestingly, some very austere street murals adorning the sheer side walls of some larger ...

... all the time, but have met none outside of the hostel yesterday in Sofia. I get stares from all around still. I passed by a man playing a xylophone-like instrument today and he began playing Sakura. I could not help but laugh, recalling when I played the same song on a recorder for a 4th grade play. I cannot remember any of the other parts of the day I wished to record and had. grr....But I must run to get my bag and travel onto my next destination, Varna. Until next time...