Plovdiv is Bulgaria’s second largest city after the capital, Sofia. It has a pretty, but small, old town as well as some Roman ruins which we explored with Nadege (whom we had met in Veliko Tarnovo). The majority of the city, however, is a sprawling homage to the communist era with lots of concrete apartment buildings and lingering communist statues - including Alyosha - the statue of a Russian soldier, on the “Hill of the Liberators.” We explored the hill (a city park) on our way to the statue at the top and found what seemed to be a once lovely park in ruins. At the top, the dilapidated monument to Russian soldiers hints at the former grandeur of this era.
Plovidiv is also a convenient city from which to visit Bachkovo Monastery, the country’s second largest monastery. Founded in 1083, it lies in a beautiful mountainous setting along the Chepelare River. At the monastery, the Sveta Bogoroditsa cathedral and inner courtyard have some nice frescos, but our favorite part of the visit was hiking up into the mountains behind the monastery to visit some smaller churches, including one built around a mountain spring and one built in a cave on the side of the mountain. Though we weren’t sure where the trail lead (there were signs, but only in Cyrillic) and though we had a briefly scary, but ultimately hilarious, encounter with a barking, growling dog that came charging at us, it was well worth the journey.
We also spent one evening in Plovdiv at a jazz concert Nadege had heard about. The setting, a pretty outdoor bar, was a lovely venue for live music and we were looking forward to the show (we even convinced two Brits from our hostel to come with us). When the band came out, however, and consisted of only a singer, keyboard, and drum player we were a little suspicious of what jazz means in Bulgaria. Our doubts were confirmed when they began playing something similar to smooth jazz, and the singer tried to “scat,” beat on his chest frequently, and occasionally jingled some chimes. They sang some originals with lyrics like “if I give you my love, will you treat me like a child,” and some old favorites like “Summertime” (which was all but unrecognizable), and “I shot the sheriff” which was sung as “I shot a sheriff, but I did not shot a deputy.” We had trouble controlling our laughter at a few key moments, and though it wasn’t what we expected going in, it ended up being a totally entertaining, if odd, evening!
Click on the photo below for our Plovdiv photo album.
Plovidiv is also a convenient city from which to visit Bachkovo Monastery, the country’s second largest monastery. Founded in 1083, it lies in a beautiful mountainous setting along the Chepelare River. At the monastery, the Sveta Bogoroditsa cathedral and inner courtyard have some nice frescos, but our favorite part of the visit was hiking up into the mountains behind the monastery to visit some smaller churches, including one built around a mountain spring and one built in a cave on the side of the mountain. Though we weren’t sure where the trail lead (there were signs, but only in Cyrillic) and though we had a briefly scary, but ultimately hilarious, encounter with a barking, growling dog that came charging at us, it was well worth the journey.
We also spent one evening in Plovdiv at a jazz concert Nadege had heard about. The setting, a pretty outdoor bar, was a lovely venue for live music and we were looking forward to the show (we even convinced two Brits from our hostel to come with us). When the band came out, however, and consisted of only a singer, keyboard, and drum player we were a little suspicious of what jazz means in Bulgaria. Our doubts were confirmed when they began playing something similar to smooth jazz, and the singer tried to “scat,” beat on his chest frequently, and occasionally jingled some chimes. They sang some originals with lyrics like “if I give you my love, will you treat me like a child,” and some old favorites like “Summertime” (which was all but unrecognizable), and “I shot the sheriff” which was sung as “I shot a sheriff, but I did not shot a deputy.” We had trouble controlling our laughter at a few key moments, and though it wasn’t what we expected going in, it ended up being a totally entertaining, if odd, evening!
Click on the photo below for our Plovdiv photo album.
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