Plovdiv: A Jem

Once again, Bulgaria has surprised me with its beauty, and I mean really. Plovdiv really is one of Europe's hidden jems.

After catching a very early morning bus and a four hour bus ride, which I slept through most of, a group of seven of us arrived in Plovdiv, Bulgaria. After a bit of confusion about where in the world our hostel was located in the city, we finally found the Plovdiv Guesthouse, and boy, were we surprised. When I hear the word hostel, usually I am not expecting too much, but we got lucky. We were staying right in the Old Town of Plovdiv, with beautiful cobblestone streets and all the sights, and our hostel was very pretty.

Our hostel

mmm my delicious dessert!

After throwing our bags down in our room real quick, we went out to explore the city. First stop: food! We were all starving for lunch so we had a delicious meal at a traditional Bulgarian mehana. The food was incredible, but my dessert was especially phenomenal. Once we were all completely satisfied, we wandered out into the streets, visited a gorgeous Eastern Orthodox Church, at which we found our friend Tiger (a dog) who followed us around for the next hour or so. We found the Memorial House for Hristo G. Danov, the founder of contemporary book publishing in Bulgaria, saw an old printing press, and wandered up the hill farther to a beautiful view of Plovdiv.

Djumaya Mosque

We then walked toward the center of Old Town, saw Djumaya Mosque, one of the biggest and oldest mosques in Bulgaria, and explored the square that was built on top of a 2^nd century Roman stadium. Eventually, we made our way to another hill where we finally came across the site we had all been anticipating: the beautiful Roman Amphitheater built in the 2^nd century. The seven of us looked like a group of kids at recess, climbing all over and exploring the gorgeous ruins. We spent a good hour just sitting in the stands, the sun pouring in. It was unreal to be sitting upon such an ancient site. That night, we ate out at a Mexican restaurant, ordered some mojito’s and enchiladas, and went dancing for a bit.

The next morning, Saturday, after our free breakfast by our hostel, we went back out into the city and explored the sites we hadn’t seen the previous day: St. Constantine & St. Helena Church, the National Geographic Ethnographic Museum, and Hissar Kapiya (the best preserved gateway of the six-meter-tall fortress walls, built around the 2^nd century). We then climbed the Nebet Tepe hill atop which lies the ruins of a Thracian settlement from around 3000 BC. It also provided a breaktaking view of all of Plovdiv. Again, a sort of magical site.

After we rounded out our sightseeing, we went into town for a cup of coffee on a cute balcony overlooking the main square. The weather was beautiful the whole weekend, so it was nice to sit and relax in the sun. For dinner that night, we decided to try Italian, and boy, did we hit the jackpot. We all ate a bit too much, but for less than $15, it was definitely worth it. Sunday morning was an early one, as we had to catch a 7:30am bus back to Blagoevgrad. I slept a little bit, but I wanted to enjoy the scenery that I had missed on the way there. The landscape was amazing. One minute we’re driving through gorgeous green plains, and the next we’re in snow-covered mountains. It made me appreciate Bulgaria even more.

2nd Century Roman Amphitheater

Plovdiv is without a doubt a place I would love to return to. It made me feel even more indebted to this area of the world. Ask a typical westerner and Plovdiv will strike no gold, but Eastern Europe has hidden jems like this place all over, waiting to be discovered, but in the meantime, the value and enjoyment they offer grows exponentially.

A few more snapshots from Plovdiv!