Plodding Up & Down Plovdiv

My most difficult walking day

We stayed in a cute little house on Street of Crafts in Old Town. We loved our quirky house. There was only one problem for me. The stairs. The bathroom (and toilet) were on the ground floor, our bedroom was one floor up, and the kitchen and outdoor patio were up another level.

Opposite us was a little church built or renovated in 1905. Such a pretty view from our bedroom window.

Take a look at the street — this was the flattest easiest part of our walk. You may see some parts that could not be described as streets. There were rocks at odd angles and the actual thoroughfares were made centuries ago for horses. But the houses along these “streets” were worth the foot pain. Plovdiv boasts it’s the oldest city in Europe – over 8,000 years old! I’ve visited other cities that boast the oldest tag but who knows? As an Australian, once you get past a few hundred, it all seems ancient to me.

At the top of the first hill was a little church. A man was watering the garden. It was beautifully kept.

I opened the door and entered. Inside it was beautiful. The decor indicated it was an Orthodox Church. The church is located on the hill. It is perfect to stop by when feeling tired after climbing up the stairs. Inside you can take your time to see each painting and architecture design. The tranquillity is worthy of a stay away from the hustle and bustle of the town. Ornate and reverent interior. There is a peaceful calm in this church which after a stroll around looking at the marvelous icons, is best experienced by sitting quietly for a few minutes.

From the evenly paved churchyard, I could take a couple of photos of the view.

At a crossroads, a sign pointed to the Ancient Theatre saying 100 metres, but I tell you it was the longest most difficult 100 metres I’ve ever “walked”. I carefully put one foot in front of the other and plodded along. Finally, we reached the old amphitheatre from Roman times.

I had little interest in it at first as I grabbed a bottle of water, orange juice, a latte, an orange, a banana and a packet of cheese-and-spinach baked bagel bits from the Arena Cafe — a tiny hole-in-the-wall with some outdoor tables and chairs. I hadn’t eaten since our cup o’ soup dinners last night. Thank goodness Erilyn had brought them in her luggage all the way from Australia. That was her birthday dinner.

And that climb was arduous. I needed water, juice and coffee.

Plovdiv is an ancient city built around 7 hills. We didn’t manage to visit the archaeological museum which chronicles the city’s history, with exhibits including mosaic panels, clay lamps and early coins, but I did discover some recently excavated Roman ruins at the end of our street. There were barriers erected so you couldn’t see in but I waited until a truck left and took a quick photo. The Ancient Theatre of Philippopolis, which once seated around 6,000, now hosts operas and concerts. It seems like everywhere the Romans built a city, an amphitheatre was a must. I’ve seen them in various ancient cities in Morocco, Spain, Turkey and of course, Italy.

Across on the other side of the arena were some dangerously positioned boulders that someone had the foresight to anchor with some sort of cable. I still wouldn’t feel comfortable living in that beautiful house no matter how magnificent the views.

After eating “breakfast” and using the little café’s facilities, we started heading down. It was no easier than the climb up.

At last, we reach the boom gate that signifies the end of the Old Town Pedestrian- Owners’ Cars and walk out onto a flat main street.

First things first. I located a proper café and had a proper breakfast — my favourite, Greek yoghurt, Granola and fruit. Then went to visit the Sveta Prepodobna Petka Church. I find these Orthodox churches beautiful, charming and kind of peaceful. I don’t know why.

I walked past the museum and the Bishops Basilica. I think Erilyn might have found a way inside or went to buy some dinner from a supermarket, and I took photos and videos of all of the cats amongst the ruins. I counted 7. They’ll feature in a future story “ The Cats of Bulgaria”…maybe.

As I reached the bottom of our street (and another boom gate), I was curious about what was being built across the road. There were high metal fences to prevent stickybeaks but after a truck emerged, I popped my head around the entranceway and lo and behold, there were more ruins being excavated! I snapped a quick photo on my iPhone before I was spotted. I hightailed it across the street and into the cobbled streets of the Old City.

Erilyn had been supermarket shopping and had bought some delicacies for our dinner tonight. We are on a budget but mushroom cup o’ soup, as tasty as it was, two nights in a row was taking budget eating to extremes.

This is what one eats when on a budget. Cheese and bagel chips washed down with a lovely rosé in a pretty bottle (Erilyn liked the bottle: she knows very little about wine) followed by real sausages. (She had found a butcher and pointed to the ones she wanted.) They were very fatty but delicious. Most of the fat stayed in the pan and since we didn’t want to pour it down the sink or out the window, we left it there to be cleaned the following day.

We were catching the train to Sofia for an overnight stay to see the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral as I had seen its namesake in Tallinn in 2019, before heading to Ohrid.

Best laid plans. Here’s what happened.

I hope you enjoyed our day out in Plovdiv. Thank you to Jillian Amatt - Artistic Voyages whose stories from Bulgaria inspired me to visit Veliko Tarnovo and Plovdiv. I was disappointed I didn’t get to Varna but as Paul Gardner says (and I’ve remembered it), “It’s impossible to see and do everything.”

You may wonder why most of the photos were taken by my friend Erilyn. If you saw the streets, you’d understand I needed to concentrate on those rocky cobblestone slopes. Sometimes I needed to use those beautiful houses to help me keep my balance.

Thank you to my readers who followed my European adventures on Medium. When I was exhausted, your continued interest kept me writing.