Plovdiv, Bulgaria

Posted on September 1, 2023  •  10 minutes  • 2098 words

I had gotten into the habit of writing about our travels every few nights. This doesn’t work so when you travel with friends and you stay up chatting each night. In Bulgaria I got a bit behind on my writing and to be totally honest, am writing this about 4 weeks after we left Plovdiv. It really was a special place for me (all of us actually) and knew I had so much to say, maybe for that I have felt the task a bit daunting. But here goes…it might be more pictures than words, compared to other posts, but I got it done and will always be able to look back at it.

We soon realized that our Airbnb was smack dab in the middle of a central area with pedestrian streets and restaurants, cafes and shops galore. It didn’t take long for us to get out of the house and start exploring with the intent of finding dinner. The area had such a good feel…one that you could almost get used to and Laura and I decided that this felt like a very livable city. We found a place that had scrumptious looking food in front of current patrons and had a nice big table for us. We oriented ourselves with a ‘kids end’ and an ‘adults end’. Kids got right to their drawings and adults to the drinks’ menu. They had a summer cocktail that Laura and I jumped on, guys beers. So much good food to chose from. The kids heard quesadillas and having not had them in 2 months, were quite excited. Kid Ben was still so full from the hamburger that he wanted to just eat a little. Big Ben and I had delicious banh mi sandwiches, with a Bulgarian twist. Food took a bit to come, really just the right amount of time to order more cocktails.

The quesadillas were gigantic, as was a lot of the food, but it was a hit all around. Big Ben and I couldn’t get over how amazing our Bahn Mi sandwiches were.

The super nice servers helped box up the leftover food, as I got hit a bit harder than expected from the cocktails. Kids were awesome during dinner AND we were in a new town, so we set off in search of some gelato.

Kid Ben was still so full that for the first time in his life, turned down gelato/ice cream! It had been a long day, so we headed back to put the kids down and have some chill adult time.

The next morning, kid Ben and I headed out in search of a bakery for some breakfast goods. I was going for more sweet, but really only found the savory kind. It still worked and it was nice to just have 20 minutes of wandering around with Ben. He found a map of the area and really wanted to figure out where we were on it. A bit frustrating as a lot of the roads didn’t have names, nor did all the roads on the map. We made a pretty good guess where we were and where we were headed though.

We came back with some treats, but they did not compare at all to the filled croissants from the bakery across the street that seems to specialize in croissants and was only open on the weekend…and opened late for a bakery, hence the reason for pre-bakery bakery run. Being a Saturday, we headed over a few minutes before it opened up and good thing…the line kept getting longer and longer. So maybe options, but I’ll let the photo speak for itself.

We had 2 full days in Plovdiv, but there really was a lot to see. A town of 7 hills and at least that many areas to check out. We were going to have to pick and choose. We had heard of the kids’ train and thought that would be fun, so headed that way with spots picked on the way to stop. We saw old amphitheater ruins right in the middle of a pedestrian walkway with lots of shopping, which was quite quiet this time of day.

Next, we found a hill to climb, which was pretty easy and we got great views at the top, as well as another old structure to look at.

Continuing on, we of course pass by a playground (family rule, we have to stop) on our way to the next hill we want to climb up.

Some kids were lagging a bit, so we split up. Dan, Laura and kid Ben hiked up and over the next hill and the rest of the crew went around, but not before finding another cool European public drinking fountain.

Meeting back up at the other side was touch and go for a bit, because there really didn’t seem to be trails connecting the back side. It worked out and now desperate to get there, we were hot, tired and hungry, we continued on to the train station. Well, the ‘train station’ we found was the end of the line and unfortunately found out, there wasn’t a train for 4 hours! There were steps and some shade, so we had lunch while we pondered what to do. Lacking a bit in views, but it worked for us at the time!

With no rush whatsoever, we took out time eating and decided to walk to the ‘main station’. Nice paths, but I think at one point Dan had us going the long way around.

Even walking over slowly, we still had time to kill and found a restaurant that had a playground. It wasn’t ideal, as the playground was a bunch of kid rides that were half broken and needed coins for. I was lagging more than expected, so I ordered an iced latte and did Laura. The guys went for the beers and Dan got dessert in addition. We almost died when our ‘iced lattes’ arrived! We got coke floats! It was actually refreshing, but still have no idea how it happened.

We survived with antsy kids just long enough to head over to get our train tickets. I’m not going to lie, the train was TERRIBLE. It was so hot and because it went SO slow, there was zero air flow. Kids were somehow oblivious, but we were miserable. We got off at the turn around point to walk around (our picnic spot) and almost didn’t get back on.

I was starting to really feel like crap, so back at the start we looked for taxis. It took way too long and Dan had to go buy something to break our one big bill, so each taxi had cash. He came back with a giant bottle of Fanta! Haha

Finally, we got cabs and went home. Kids decompressed with a show and we all had some chill out time. Our place had an awesome rooftop deck, so we decided to send the guys out to get pizza to supplement our leftovers and do dinner up there. It was kinda amazing! Really cool to see the surrounding buildings from above and get views in each direction while Dan served us wine.

We convinced the kids to all draw us a nice picture and they were quite proud to show them off.

And a nice bright orange sun setting in the distance.

I woke up the next morning and immediately knew something was off. I kinda felt it going to bed, but didn’t want to believe it and now my whole body was telling me I was sick. I loaded up on some Dayquil and hoped for the best.

Loaded up on sugar and coffee, we headed the opposite direction today, towards the old town. Our Airbnb host had given us suggestions, but I was lagging and just being a total follower. We walked past the museum and decided to check it out. I tried to convince Sam to hang out with me on a bench in the courtyard, but that lasted about 10minutes and he wanted to go inside. So much to see, traditional dress, old tools, etc, but I was more interested in trying to find chairs I could sit in.

Not a huge place, and kids seems to fly through, we left and continued walking along the old streets. Seriously, how are these buildings still standing? The state of so many of them seems ‘sub-par’ at best, yet they are still standing. Leaning maybe, but standing. :)

We found a place for lunch on the side of the hill with a view out the back. There were no large tables, so we treated ourselves to an adult table and a kid table…it worked so well. Not sarcastic, even though this photo might hint otherwise.

All the food looked good, and huge portions. I was able to eat enough to make me feel a bit better, but I really have no idea what I ate.

Sam needed a nap as did Dan (he wasn’t feeling well either), so Dan, Sam and Max headed back while the rest of us went to see the mosque. I LOVE the architecture of mosques. I love how the dome you see from the outside is the ceiling from the inside. I love how they are open/empty inside without a cluttered feel that I get with Catholic Churches. I love the arches and the tiles and the geometric art work. Yes, I know all mosques aren’t the same, but I’m going with the general feel of the ones I’ve seen.

Afterwards, I took Ben to get the ice cream he passed on the night before and had a little mom and Ben time. He always got just mom time since his school got out before Sam and Max’s school did and I feel he’s missing that a bit. I’m missing it a bit. We popped in a mosque and each got some ice cream. It seems that no matter how crappy I’m feeling, ice cream always helps. We headed back after and all got some down time. I needed to rest a bit to be able to rally for the concert that night.

When we were researching Bulgaria, Big Ben had mentioned that the ancient amphitheater has live shows. We didn’t care who we saw, we just wanted to experience live music in such a cool place. Well, we couldn’t have lucked on any more that we did with seeing Ara Malikian (more on this later).

As I got some much-needed time laying down, the guys went out to get pizza for dinner on our terrace. I woke up feeling 100x better and was getting excited about the night. We had dinner, drank wine and took in the view and the magnitude of such a wonderful city. Cleaned up and ready to go, we headed out for the short walk to the venue, The Ancient Theater of Plovdiv.

There are no words to fully describe the next 2 hours. We descended the steps into the amphitheater as the sun was setting and the sky was lit up.

Kids (and adults) were anxious for the show to start,

but when it did wow! The kids were transfixed! We were transfixed! Ben and Sam could not take their eyes off the show. Sam’s little hands were drumming to the the beat. It was too amazing.

It really was amazing and felt surreal as you looked around where you were.

Ara is an amazing musician (his band mates too!), showman and story teller. How he could dance, run and half roll around while he never missed a beat is beyond me. He fully entranced the audience below centuries old pillars. For kids that are usually in bed by 8pm, I was a bit worried for the 8pm start. Ben and Sam were not affected, but Max did keep asking for the show to end. Well, it ended a bit early for him. :)

Hearts full, faces imprinted with perma-smiles and giddy from the energy, we joined in on a huge round of applause to an amazing show that probably only ended when it did due to neighborhood noise regulations. We were so happy walking home, not being able to talk about how amazing it was. I still don’t know how to embed videos here, but google ‘Ara Malikian Plovidiv’ and see some of the videos the rest of the audience posted.

Kids slid so easily into bed and parents had a nice cap to celebrate an almost end to an amazing trip.