First of all, keep in mind that this trip was pretty spontaneous. We had the idea of going to Bulgaria in the back of our minds for a while, but we didn't know anything about the country, what cities to go to, what sites to see, or even what kind of language they speak there! Well Thursday rolled around and we finally bought our tickets that afternoon for 9:30 that night! They were one way tickets also because the Metro Bus Service couldn't book return tickets at their office. Thus we went home, packed up, caught dinner with Erin and her mama, and boarded a one-way bus to Plovdiv, Bulgaria! I guess I should also mention the ''we'' here is me, allie, mark & ian from australia, and pauline from france!
The bus ride was a bit of a nightmare... Mainly because it was over eight hours long but also mainly because it was uncomfortable and we had to go outside at 4am for passport border control issues. Cold, man! Eventually we arrived in Plovdiv at 7 in the morning. Everything was dead - both us and the city. After walking around for a while we realized places won't open until maybe 9 or 10. So we decided to just walk around. Allie and I have pretty much become excellent gezmekers so these two hours were a dream for us (: The first place we decide to stop at immediately demonstrated to us a difference between the Turkish and Bulgarian lifestyles.
Here in Turkey, the people are known for being incredibly hospitable and it is not uncommon for a Turk to go out of his or her way to help someone out. For example, tomorrow night I am going to a ''Warm Turkish Home'' for dinner. My friend Fatih is in the XChange Commission and he knows a family who wants to host a dinner for 5 international students. Cool, right? Julia went to another home last week and had an incredible experience! The people here are so nice! (: Another example of their hospitality came when Julia, Erin, & I spent a morning walking around Bebek (along the water) and decided to stop at a traditional place for brunch. The place was clearly full when we got inside but the hosts and guests had no problem rearranging just to make room for us! Who does that? Not the Bulgarians evidently... After walking around in the early morning cold for a while, we go into the only open café we can find. The tables are the size of picnic tables with benches instead of chairs. Each table has one person (maybe two) sitting and eating. It looks pretty empty to us. The hostess thought otherwise. She just kept looking at us, a little put out that we even bothered to show up. She kept motioning to the ''crowded'' room and was practically pushing us out the door. haha it was kind of funny, but at the time it was just odd and a little rude. I thought the point of running a café was to serve customers and make money but maybe I'm wrong (:
Thus our trek continued. We eventually found the main street and boy do I love the old Bulgarian architecture! It's hard to describe but quite picturesque, charming even. During our walk (seriously this is in the main, modern part of the city) we stumble upon what? None other than ancient Roman ruins! Big columns and amphitheater seating just hanging out next to the highway! haha it was pretty cool the way this kept happening, actually. (Yes ''actually'' - it's a fave word here along with ''by the way'' and ''for example'' so my apologies if these words keep popping up!) Finally we find a tea and coffee place and we whipped out our ekemek, peanut butter, and jam and go to town in this chic café (:
After breakfast we found an internet gaming station where we were able to pay for internet usage and check my Couch Surfing account. Did I mention we couch surfed? (www. couchsurfing.com) CouchSurfing is a network of hosts and travelers that connects people internationally so that when you travel somewhere (like Plovdiv) you can stay for free at a person's home. Our host was Atanas. 38 year-old pilot with a wife and two darling kids. Because there were 5 of us coming, he said we'd need to go to his mountain home for couch surfing instead of his city apartment. At the internet place, we learned that Atanas was at work until 4:30 so we had all day to ourselves and we could catch a bus after that to his village. Plan.
We find the Tourism Center and the most helpful man gave us maps and postcards and directions to the old city and we were off! The old city of Plovdiv was very cool indeed. Again the architecture was so charming! And the history was absolutely incredible. At one point we met a man selling Russian dolls and toys who wanted to tell us all about the Ottoman history in Bulgaria, the Turkish-Bulgarian (lack of) relationship, etc etc. (It was pretty much a ridiculous russian doll situation, but he was funny). We also ate lunch at a nice traditional place. (Cheap too! Not that I had or wanted any at 2 in the afternoon, but the beer was nearly 50 cents!)
After our pleasant afternoon hiking past Roman ruins, entering ornate old churches, and antique shopping, we find our way back to the bus station. Oh and we got delish ice cream on the way (: We managed to have enough time to buy our return tickets home to Istanbul and our tickets to Korlovo (in the mountains). Unfortunately, we didn't have time to call our host, Atanas, but we'd figure if worse comes to worst we'll call him when we get there and get further instructions. haha there? where? We had no idea what we were getting ourselves into.
The bust starts driving out into the middle of nowhere. I think all of us fell asleep and every time the bus stopped we'd note that we were at a shack and a bench. It all looked the same! Finally, after an hour, Allie suggested we try to borrow someone's cell phone. So I asked the girl next to me if she spoke English. Praise God she did and she gave us her cell phone which we handed to the bus driver. The bus stops. Atanas tells us to get off right away. We just missed the stop! haha how lucky is that? We missed it by one stop! After waiting on the side of the road for a little while, a car pulls up. The man doesn't speak any English but we're pretty sure he's our ride... who else is picking up 5 foreigners in the middle of nowhere Bulgaria right?
He brings us to a bar in this tiny village where eventually Atanas walks in. We luckily recognized him because he was still wearing his pilot onesie - oh and we met the mayor there too. Mon dieu, quel catastrophe! (As Ian would say... all day we tried practicing our French with Pauline) But we finally made it. Atanas took us up to his home and explained that the village has only 350 people. No gypsies (just one crazy lady) so we should be okay - how reassuring! By this time, it is nearly pitch black outside and freezing cold! The house we come to has no heat and the bathroom is a hole in the ground outside. There's a nice sized bahçe (garden), framing all around for grape vines, two floors, 8 beds, a 'shower', a guitar, and a drum. Atanas decides maybe tea (heated by a travel-sized camping gas can) and a jam session are a good idea. The water never boils so instead he calls the restaurant (if i can even call it a restaurant) and we decide to go get some dinner there. Bulgaria is known for its mineral water and its white cheese and let me tell you both were delicious at this point! Oh and the traditional folk music videos were a sight! We spend some time talking philosophy with Atanas before eventually calling it a night and heading to bed.
We all slept for over 12 hours. Holy cow. But the sun was shining in the morning and we could finally have a look at the village. Kind of what we thought we'd seen the night before: crumbling ''brick'', terra cotta rooftops, dirt piles, one church, and lots of kokoshka - chickens.
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