Pleasant, Promising Plovdiv

Plovdiv getting ready for the European Cultural city of 2019

The outskirts of Plovdiv did not ease our concerns that Bulgaria might not be the most comfortable or pleasant of travelling destinations.  The Russian influence was still evident.  We went through the small city of Harmanli which seemed to be made up entirely of gray crumbling concrete tower blocks.  The Stalinist architecture is soul destroying.

As the early dusk was enveloping the already gray cold sky, we were deposited at the central bus station surrounded by disintegrating mid 19^th Century neo-Gothic buildings that must have been quite charming in their day.  

Building next to the bus station

The holes in the footpaths showed signs of long abandoned attempts at repair.  We rolled our cases down the bumpy potholed footpath in search of our hotel.  The location of the hotel according to Google maps turned out to be a vacant, cleared demolition site.  

This is where our hotel was suppose to be

We asked around and were directed further down the pedestrian mall intersecting the area of Kabana.  Kabana is a lovely neighbourhood of wide public spaces, upmarket shops, cafes and vibrancy.  Things were looking up.  We found our hotel in an ideal location on the edge of the Kabana district and the Old Town.  We dropped off our bags and went in search of dinner.  The whole mall was twinkling with Christmas lights and happy shoppers and workers on their way home.

 

We found a very nice restaurant and had a delicious meal.  Back to the hotel to crash and have an early night after more than 36 hours since being horizontal.

The next day we explored the town.  Plovdiv has been selected as the European Cultural Centre for 2019 and the centre of town is undergoing extensive renovations and refurbishment.  Plovdiv proved to be a delightful town of pleasant parks, cobblestone streets, Hellenic ruins interspersed amongst charming 19th Century neo-Gothic houses in various states of repair.  There were a few Stalinist monuments and government buildings just to remind us we were in an ex-Russian satellite country; but not too godless as there were also many ornate Orthodox Churches.

Beautiful houses along the city park

Cobblestone streets

 

Old Town Plovdiv

Greek ruins nestled in the city

Reliefs on a government building

One of the many churches

Icons

Churches and cobblestones

We stumbled upon the School of Music next to a large Greek amphitheatre and went into their cafe for a cuppa feeling very hip to be amongst the talented students.  

School of Music

Bob was very impressed with the coffee machines dotting the street corners.

Bob getting coffee from one of the many street side machines

There was some fantastic street art on the sides of buildings and wonderful views from the seven hills that surround the city.

 

Street art

That night we had one of the best restaurant meals I have ever had.  The flavour of the Bulgarian dishes only ranked behind Gordon Ramsay’s La Noisette but unlike Ramsay’s restaurant, Raya cost a ridiculously low $25 for drinks and two courses for the both of us.

Our fantastic pork dinners

So Plovdiv gave us hope for Bulgaria’s future.  It is a vibrant city of culture, history and haute cuisine.