My first impressions of Plovdiv confirmed my decision to go, there is a lot more to this city than you first see. But I must do some maintenance first, I need working breaks again! Work before you play. It was nice to reconnect with Graham and his wealth of knowledge of travel; we grab lunch together in a Turkish restaurant. I discuss my winter issue which is fast approaching. Central Asia will be too cold to cross, unless I can find another cyclist who fancies a mad challenge! Iran is an outside possibility. We discuss Iraq as an option.
To be honest I had never really thought about Iraq, but the country has been stable for a while and people had visited. Well a bit. After Iraq I would have to head to Kuwait and try and catch a boat from there to India or continue to Dubai via Saudi Arabia and then a boat. More work was needed before I embark on this adventure. However, Graham had a contact I potentially could talk to and find out a bit more what it is like on the ground.
That evening I make dinner for both of us, a small salad starter and pasta main of spring onions, ham and mushrooms. The evening is spent discussing travelling, world events and our future plans. The next morning I say goodbye to Graham with the possibility of meeting up again in the future. The World is a small place after all.
Beer and food festivals
I also set off on a walking tour of Plovdiv and was surprised to discover the city is one of the longest inhabited cities in the World. It has many old structures from the Roman times and earlier which are still present today. Many of the Roman structures are in great condition. I also happen to have arrived at Bulgarian unification day, which occurred in Plovdiv and is the centre of celebrations. I agree to meet up with a few people from the tour and we attend the beer and food festival in honour of the unification day.
The festival was a bit surreal but the food and drink were amazing. They really know how to do a barbeque in Bulgaria. Almost everything was barbequed along with a rather eccentric way of cutting and preparing the food. I can still hear the crashing of knives and butcher’s cleavers against poles and tins and chopping boards. All the while cutting the meat and preparing the dishes for the customers. Very entertaining but a little eccentric.
We also discover the Bulgarian love of AC-DC when the cover band pops on stage; it turned into a great night as we all dance and sing along to the songs. The next morning Tai (from Hawaii), Birgitte (German living in India) and I head off to the Museum of Archaeology. It has an amazing collection of artefacts from the Thracian all the way through to the Roman period including some amazing mosaics in great condition. However, their prized collection was the gold artefacts dating back to the Thracian period. They were found by three Bulgarians and were handed over to the authorities for all to enjoy.
Unification day
The next day saw the actual unification day and events leading up to it. We meet up with people from other hostels and head to the main square where we are treated to a procession re-enacting the unification. This involves some shooting, the arrest of the old leader and appointment of a new leader. Plus some rather scared horses! There were also speeches by many dignitaries from the Government and a jazz concert. However, we decided to head to the festival again for the last day. This time we were treated to the Bulgarian ‘Bob Marley;’ however, all the songs this time were sung in Bulgarian. The beers flowed and we had a great time and got to meet the lead singer afterwards along with another of his singers who was a spitting image of Jason Momoa!
The next day was a bit of a right off but I did attend the Opera Queen event held in the Roman amphitheatre. Plovdiv regularly uses the theatre for productions ranging from operas to ballets and musicals. The setting is a perfect location with the sunset in the background. As the light died the lighting of the venue for the performance took over and they brought the features of the amphitheatre to light during the performance. It was nice to hear all the Queen classics with a full orchestra behind, although we felt they could’ve used the orchestra more. But it got us all dancing and singing along!
It was a perfect end to my time in Plovdiv and whilst I would’ve liked to stay longer it was time to head off towards Turkey. A country I had heard a lot about from other cycle tourers and was looking forward to riding through.