More from Plovdiv – Plovdiv 2.0

Mandy’s Recount

Wednesday – July 3rd -We tackled Aqualand. Aqualand is a water park in Plovdiv. It was 3.5 miles /5.6 km from our Airbnb and we didn’t hesitate walking it. We laugh because we would NEVER walk 3.5 miles to get to a pool at home. The 1 walk took us through a new park and it was great. Plovdiv has water fountains all over town, so it is nice to just bring our water bottle and fill it along the way. We got to Aqualand and all was good, until Maren realized she didn’t know the pool rules, so she starting assuming what they were based off the “lifeguards” actions. LOTS of whistle blowing gave Maren PSTD flashbacks from Beyond the Bell at school. To end it, I asked one of the “lifeguards” the rules…he told me…and I told Maren and we were all good. I keep putting “lifeguards” in quotes because we saw a handful of them literally sleeping, so don’t know how effective they would have been if really needed. The kids met a couple girls there age from Ireland and off they went. We thought we were going die a couple times on some of the slides, but since we didn’t, we would give Aqualand 5 stars.

Friday, July 5th – OMG! We have found a gem. Daniel, the tour guide we met, does a food tour. Uh…someone teaching me about food…JACKPOT!! The kids were super excited to have Daniel again. For starters, we had Banitsa, a Bulgarian breakfast dish. It is layers of Filo pastry, eggs and white brined cheese like feta cheese. He said at Yogi’s, a Turkish Street vendor, has some of the best in town.
(Side note – Not on the tour, but earlier we had felt bold to try Aryan, a popular yogurt based drink. It must be an acquired taste, because we gave it two big fat thumbs down. Maren said it tasted like salty yogurt gone bad.)
Next up, we have Bulgarian yogurt. We had heard from a Bulgarian friend that Bulgaria is known for their yogurt. Daniel had given us a local kind that he knows and likes. Bulgarian yogurt is believed to be the secret to longevity and good health because of a special bacteria found only in Bulgarian yogurt, lactobacillus bulgaricus. Because of this bacteria, milk can turn into yogurt by itself, without any special treatment. The Rhodope mountains in Bulgaria have a dense population of centurions and they believe it is because of the yogurt. It is sour, but oh so yummy. We can get a container that feeds all 4 us for breakfast for 1.80 leva/ $1.04. Winner, winner, chicken dinner. Next up, Daniel gave us assignment…we had to go to Thursday market vendors and ask for ingredients in Bulgarian to make a Shopka’s salad. Daniel said that the Thursday market has been around since the medieval times. It has been documented that the market had enough food to feed an army.

We then headed Bakeland Bakery to try fresh baked soda bread with honey and lutiniza. Lutiniza, which is sort of the Bulgarian form of ketchup, is mouth watering. It is a condiment from roasted red peppers, eggplant and tomatoes. You can put it on bread, pasta, pizza, meat…probably anything.

We had tea from a local tea shop in Kapana. We had tea from a blend which they called the “mountain bouquet.”

The tour ended at Central restaurant (Go BIG RED #CUI, “If you ain’t Dutch, you ain’t much”), which being Central College grads, we thought was cute. We found out Bulgarians call dishes that look like dips to us..salads. We had “salads”, an apricot/rose/honey Rakia, sausage, lard and black pudding. We surprisingly liked everything WAY more than when he told us what it was. Hey…as we have been saying, “Say YES to adventure.” No more black pudding for me, please.

We ended the night with our traditional Family movie night & pizza. We invited our new friends, the Fischer’s to watch Johnny Depp’s Neverland movie. I cried. Of course, the kids looked at me like I was crazy, but come on, the Mom died.

Saturday – 6th – Ethno Fest show at the Roman Theater. Can’t say that I have ever seen such a show especially in a theatre from the 1st century. Grant joked that the Romans must not have been worried about lawsuits. The steps are steep, slick and no railings. It was awesome to be in such a cool, historic venue.

The next couple days, I reclaimed my Mother of the Year award by venturing AGAIN back to the game store to play Pokémon. This time, I convinced Grayson’s new friend to take my seat. WIN!
Monday – 8th – More exploration of the city to Old Town and St. Maria church.

We have had a craving for pancakes. We were lucky enough to find Multi Culti, a relatively new restaurant in Kapana, that has them. They were about 1/5 the serving size from Ihop, which come to find out is probably the right amount. While we were eating, I see a glimpse of something copper out of the corner of my eye. Could it be? Calm down, I tell myself, it probably isn’t true. I kindly ask the waiter…”What do you serve in those copper cups?” He looks at me if I am an idiot. I am ok with him thinking that especially after his next words… “Moscow Mules”. My friend, Beth Lemley, will know how excited this made me. I made an adult decision not to have a Moscow Mule while the kids finished their pancakes, but vowed to come back. We accomplished that goal in an adults’ night out later that week.

Thursday, 11th – Family dance parties are my favorite. During an afternoon dance party, Grant said Grayson started rocking out to “Old Town Road”. Grant thought it was only a country song and said, “I’d rather have Grayson be a stripper than a country music fan.” Yep, it’s official, I hate cats, Maren pigeons and Grant dislikes country music. 🙂

Friday, 12th – Another 1 hour to an adventure we COULD have died at, but didn’t…go karting. We went to Karting Track Lauta in Plovdiv. Kids loved it and we were the only ones on the track, which helped as Maren and I did more drifting than probably allowed.

Saturday, 13th – Check Asen’s Fortress & Bachkovo Monastery off the bucket list. Both are about 30-40 minutes south of Plovdiv. We joined our friends, the Fischers, on the hike. We took the 20 minute train from the South train station to Asenovgrad, which the tickets were less than 5 leve / $3 for all 4 of us. From Asenovgrad, we explored the city while heading up to the 11th century Asen’s Fortress. After the fortress, we caught a taxi to Bachkovo Monastery. Again, the history is these places is overwhelming. But the kids helped keep it real, by having the highlight be some random kitty or “that really cold water fountain”. We wrapped up the day by celebrating Shila’s birthday with her. She treated us to dessert from the Italian restaurant below our Airbnb. Sooooo yummy!!!!

Grant’s Recount

The last couple of weeks in Plovdiv have been more relaxed and less structured as the first two weeks. We have done a lot more walking to different areas of the city, trying to get a feel for different areas and neighborhoods. Exploring all areas of a city makes me happy, because it gives you a good sense of the people and how they live. And if I can find another old, narrow alley during these explorations, the day has been won. I have been impressed with Plovdiv even far outside the city center. Most neighborhoods are nice, with parks and families walking about. Again, I still haven’t felt unsafe once, even after 10pm.

I think I have tried most varieties of Bulgarian beer that I can find. It has been a real struggle to complete this goal:). When I go into a grocery store and a half liter of good beer is only 50 cents, it seems ridiculous not to buy it. I almost bought a six pack of one of the beers I like for $1.75, but decided that would just lead to me buying a 12 pack for $3 dollars a few days later. Have to pace myself.

As Mandy mentioned, we took a trip outside Plovdiv for the first time to head to the southern Bulgaria Rhodope mountains and Asen’s Fortress. The sharply sloped mountains surrounding the fortress was an amazing site. The hike up to the Fortress was long and steep, but well worth it. Being out of Plovdiv for a day was a nice change, but it felt comfortable and familiar to be back in the town we are starting to know very well.

We only have a little longer in Plovdiv before we head out to explore the Bulgarian countryside and mountains again. We are looking forward to jumping on some mountain trails and living off the land for awhile. Or, more accurately, a two hour hike with six bottles of water and bug spray. Then coming back to our hotel and watch some Bulgarian cable TV.

When we leave Bulgaria for a while and head to Israel, it is going to be difficult to swallow a much harsher exchange rate than we have gotten used to. Mandy and I both now have a skewed sense of value given the low cost of living here in Bulgaria. Buying a week’s worth of groceries here is going to be the equivalent of eating lunch in Israel…not sure I am ready for that. But we will relish the last week here in the country that we have grown to love, and we will be back in a month to see if it has missed us.

Maren’s Recount

July 3rd – The other day we went to Aqua land. It’s a big water par not too far from our apartment. There was so much stuff there, like 7 normal slides some with open roofs and some closed and some needed tubes. There was this steep one that I went on and I picked up so much speed, but then wiped out at the end. The biggest one was The Cobra. It was u-shaped and you would be going on a long slide then drop down. I did not want to go on this one. There was a smaller version of that one that I went on and I thought I was going to fall off the tube. There was also The Toilet Bowl, which was my favorite. I’ve never went on one but I don’t know why it’s so fun. You go down a closed slide then spiral around in a bowl, then drop into the water. So fun! The best part was that I finally made some friends. Their names were Beatrice and Babura and they were so nice. They were from Ireland. They are the reason that I even had the courage to go down the slides. I was just planning on swimming. I recommend Aqua land.

? – Today we went to a go-karting place. It was so fun. We go to even wear helmets. Me and my Mom went together and there was two steering wheels, so we both could drive. I drove most of the time. It was so fun, but I felt very claustrophobic in the gear! Then we walked home and went to a cake shop. There were so many flavors. I got a vanilla cupcake and Grayson got a chocolate one. Soooo good! Then after, we did school work, we went to Diana’s. It was a traditional Bulgarian restaurant. It was very busy. The best part is that it was right next to the hill/mountain of Aloysha. When we went inside you could see the mountain rock. The food was great. I hope we come again.

Saturday – Today we went to the fortress on the hill. We got on a train then walked to the top. It was a long walk but every time their was an opening it had a great view. When we got to the top, we had to follow a thin stairway that led to a rocky edge. The view was amazing, I could see for miles. then we went to the look out tower, that was used to watch over two areas of the fortress. It was cool their were pictures of old preist and religious people in window ledges with coins as offerings. It was a long walk but after we got dessert it was all worth it!

Grayson’s Recount

30th – 10th These are some of my highpoints: Ancient Theater performance, Pokémon Store, Ropes Park, Singing Fountain. In the Ancient Theater we say 5 performances. All of them were in Bulgarian. Maren & I went to a Ropes Park. We watched a 3D film in the Roman Stadium. The sports that they did in the stadium were discus, chariot races, wrestling and more. We saw fireworks on the 4th of July. Me and my Dad hurt our ankles. I got a few Pokémon packs and taught my Mom how to play (kinda). We are still getting 16,000 steps in a day. My parents have been planning to go to the Bulgarian mountains. They say we will stay at a resort with an indoor and outdoor pool….and AIR CONDITIONING. We are also going to Tel Aviv, Israel. I get to go in the Dead Sea and take a mud bath. We will also go to Jerusalem. I met a kid named Jaden, who lives on the top floor of our apartment. I taught him how to play Pokémon and he showed me digital art. It is so cool! The wifi is awful here. Although it says we have 3 bars, we don’t have any.

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Top 12 Family Friendly Plovdiv Bulgaria Must Do’s

Plovdiv Bulgaria Blog – First Impressions

Mandy’s Recount

Getting to Plovdiv was a bit of a journey. We flew from Praque to Sofia (the capital of Bulgaria), but our flight was delayed by 2 hours and we had a gate change. In Praque, you don’t go through security until right before you board the plane, so we were just hanging out in the terminal. We over an announcement that *we think* said for anyone on our flight to go to Czech Luggage Transfer to get a voucher for refreshments. Since, I am ALWAYS up for something free, I went to the counter. We were given 4 vouchers for 160 cz each, which was a little over $7 each. AWESOME!!! Lunch was paid for because it was 2 hours delayed….hmmmm….I could get use to this. Almost makes you wish we have more delayed flights…almost. Once the plane took off, the captain again apologized for the late departure. I could hardly hear him as they were passing out water bottles and lovely meat/cheese sandwiches and chocolates. Air Bulgaria for the WIN!!!

Thursday, June 20th

Woke up refreshed and excited to set the month with good intentions and invited Maren to do meditation with me.  Her first question, “How long?”  **Breathe….I’m determined to stay in my happy place, it is too early to lose your mind…breathe…**  We did the practice and I was thrilled she came around.  I washed the clothes like a BOSS with my German washing machine.  Considering the metal basket that the clothes get washed in is the size of our Vitamix, if may take a few more loads than planned.  I hung the laundry on the drying racks from one of our 3 terraces, seriously we have 3.  The place has1 terrace for every bedroom.  NOW, the terrace is literally large enough to hold a drying rack with no space to squeeze around, but still.  I just feel like a big shot saying, “we have 3 terraces”. 😊

Next adventure…the neighborhood grocery store.  Now, you know how most people feel about Target…that is how I feel about EVERY grocery store ever.  This was a *bit* of a different feeling, as I walked in I realized, I don’t know why I didn’t realize this earlier, but I wasn’t able to read ANYTHING.  To add to the experience, the whole gang is in tow, shopping with the kiddos always makes any shopping trip exponentially more expensive.  This will be an adventure for sure.  The goal, get food for:

1. Breakfast
2. Lunch

Since this isn’t vacation and we aren’t spending like vacation, AND I like to cook, we can save by eating 2 meals at home.  Breakfast and lunch are the easy ones.  Breakfast was easy, we found a bag of what looked like Cheerios-ish by other picture-less bags of cereal-ish products.  We super scored when we found Coconut/Almond Milk (box was written in English).  We grabbed some “peach like” fruits.  Ok..we are good for a couple days.  Lunch….ok…as I give myself a pep talk, “Let’s keep it simple.”  Tomato – yep, I see those.  Bread – ok…things are going well, I see that.  Really can you go wrong with any FRESH bread..FRESH, like baked THIS morning?  Cheese, oh boy.  We could have problems…LOTS of cheese options and no familiar words.  Ah, ha!  I have Google Translate.  After using the camera on Google Translate, I realized it isn’t working.  Screw you, Google Translate…you aren’t helping me at all.  I watched what someone else picked and copied them. A hard, white cheese it is.  I’m sure it will be fine.  We got some apples.  I picked up a package of meat with the same uncertainty I did with the cheese.  The kids asked what kind it was, and I said I wasn’t sure.  Maren asked, “what ANIMAL did it come from?” I said, “I’m not sure”.  To top off lunch, I would LOVE some hummus.  Oh boy…where is hummus at?  Is it refrigerated?  Is it only refrigerated in the states cause we probably put something in it so it will last as long as Twinkies do?  Hmmm…after wondering with the family in tow, I had nothing.  I typed Hummus in and Google Translate came through for me.  Hallelujuh!  Sorry Google Translate for all the bad things that I said about you under my breath. I showed my screen and grunted to a sweet lady who worked there, she nodded and handed me a glass container.  I examined it, like I knew what I was looking for, and then nodded.  I forgot that in Bulgaria a (Yes) head nod means No and a (No) head shake means Yes.  (I’m not making that up, it’s a real thing…Google it.)  I feel so successful and so exhausted, but HOORAY we have stuff to make lunch.

Later that day, we walked with the goal of getting coffee and mailing some letters.  Confidently, walking into a place clearly marked Post Bank, the kids giggled when I was rejected and told that it was a bank.  Hmmmm….good to know.

6 PM came around and we joined the Free Walking Tour and Daniel was our tour guide.  Most cities have one and they are fantastic.  The tours are usually 2-3 hours and you pay or tip what you want when it is over.  The is our 2^nd Free Walking Tour and we give them both two thumbs up.  Some facts we learned about this history-laiden region:

• Plovdiv has been conquered by numerous peoples: Thracians, Macedon, Romans, Byzantines, Bulgarians, Ottoman Turks which contributed its’ heritage. 
• Plovdiv is one of the oldest cities inhabited cities in Europe. The city is over 8000 years old. 
• In 300 BC, Plovdiv was conquered by Alexander the Great’s father, Philip II of Macedon, the city was renamed as Philippopolis or “the city of Philip”.
• During the 4/5^th century, Plovdiv was a the main military passage in the Balkans.  Today, some public buildings, shrines and theatres have been excavated. 
• Roman times were a period of growth and culture in the city. The Roman stadium, which is partial exposed only 10 meters under the current city, fit 30,000 people where as the Roman theatre only sat 7,000, implying that sports were more important than the arts.
• Cyrillic alphabet came in the 9th century. The Bulgarians became Christians and became more powerful because they were united.
• In the 19th century Russian fought against the Ottoman empire to free the north. They are a democratic republic.  Our tour guide states that still today, his grandparents talk very fondly of the Communist time, claiming it was better times than today because they had better healthcare, better education, and more people were working.
• Plovdiv has the longest pedestrian mall in Europe.
• During the Ottoman time, Plovdiv was known for the trades.  The Trap or Kapana was created.  It was an artistic neighborhood that was a Turkish bazaar with 900 wooden trades/shops that burnt down in the 1900’s.
• The first Ottoman mosque in Europe is in Plovdiv still today.
• The city is known as “The City of 7 hills”, but really only has 6:
  • Nebet Tepe – Old Town is located on top of 3 hills with the original Eastern Gate.
  • Guardian Hill – Used as a fortress with a statue of Alyosha a common name for a Russian soldier.  It has the best panoramic view. Alyosha silently watched over Bulgarian while facing towards Moscow – 2nd hill
  • 2nd Hill – Youth Hill
  • Clock Tower Hill – 500 year old clock.
• Melo – There was a man who lived in Plovdiv in the 60’s and supposedly, he always sat in the ped mall and wanted to make others happy by smiling, singing and saying silly things. When he died, a private donor commissioned the brass statue of him, and they say you can tell him your wishes and they come true.
• During religion persecution periods, the churches were small but they dug down to have them start in the basement, to prevent them from being desecrated.  They have non descriptive walls to hide them and to not draw attention to them.

Friday, June 22nd

We were so excited that our friends Jess & Steve Meyer rerouted their 3 week European summer vacation to see little ‘ole us in Plovdiv.  We went to The Trap/Kapana, Old Town and a great restaurant where we shared our first bottle of Bulgarian rose wine…so yummy, but I don’t know if I have had a bad bottle.  Wait!  Yes, I have…while cleaning out our alcohol prior to this, I found an unmarked bottle and took it to a friends house, knowing she would be brave and try it with me.  After we took the foil off, the bottle, because it was SO fermented actually uncorked itself, while we were sitting there.  IT WAS NASTY to smell…so that bottle was bad.

Saturday, June 23rd

I took both Maren, Grayson and London Meyer to the pool and gave the others a break for a couple hours.  The kids had a blast, but my self esteem was a bit bruised as watching young European girls in **itty bitty bikinis**.  For those 3 hours, I played on repeat “I have Confidence”  song from the Sound of Music silently in my head. 

Sunday, 24th

I LOVE farmers markets.  I saw that there was one on Sundays at the Plovdiv Plaza Mall.  After a 50 minute walk, we found it on the 2^nd floor of a mall (like a legit “normal” mall we are used to) with 5-6 “booths”.  Although, it was ONLY the 58th / 81st things to do in Plovdiv, I can say I think that ranking was a bit high.  The Des Moines farmers market really ruins us for any other market anywhere, ever, I get that, so….glad we went, buuuuuttttt we won’t be back.  The surprise at the mall was that they had climbing walls and a huge trampoline, so the kids were pretty stoked…AND, it was inside with “air conditioning”.  We chuckled, because Grant had to come all the way to Bulgaria to go to his first IKEA.  Oh….and we found a Starbucks.  Mama got a latte in a cup big enough I could wrap both hands around.  So happy….

Food at the mall….Kids found 2 new flavors of Fanta.  Have I mentioned that our kids have NEVER had as much pop ever in their entire lives as they have had in the last 15 days. We are loving the surprises that we get on our food.  We got food from a burger place.  We are SO grateful that we have taught, “You get what you get and you don’t throw a fit.”  Oh….that has paid off BIG time.  We found out that if you get the burger “as is” it comes with vegetables. What would be the standard vegetables on a burger…lettuce, tomatoes, pickle? Nope. How about lettuce, corn and cucumber, which are all yummy, just totally unexpected.  Oh, they also came with fries…on the burgers.   

Singing Fountains…Every night at 9:00 at the main park, they have a fountain area that they have a “light show”.  You know what they say about when you ASSUME something.  Well, the only fountain/light show that I knew of was the Bellagio fountains in Las Vegas.  I ASSUMEd it would be *kinda* like that…my bad.  It was pretty, but don’t oversell it as a Las Vegas show. 

Observation:

1. Lots of cats. I hate cats but not as much as Maren hates pigeons
2. Washcloths. Why are they so hard to find?

Riddle me this…will walking 20k steps per day offset a 42 yr old metabolism and daily bread consumption?

Monday, 24th

Our general weekly routine is…breakfast…then Grant and kids do some schooling…I work for 3-4 hours…then we are off.  If you ask me what is fueling The Manning’s in Plovdiv, I would hands down say: coffee, Fanta and ice cream.

Today, we were off to tackle Guardian hill.  Maren looked at the forecast beforehand. But, to be honest, it has been wrong A LOT, so we didn’t put much stock that it said there was a 70% chance of rain.  We hightailed it up the hill and once we got to the top, the storm clouds rolled in. So we couldn’t see anything and then started to rain (and by that I mean significant thunderstorm).  She gave me only the look a pre-teen daughter can give a mother, and I knew at that moment, she would NEVER let me forget this hike.  Even when we reached a “shelter” (I’m sure it was a homeless/drug shelter, from the looks and smells of it), I looked at Maren, and started to say something along the lines about how grateful we should be that we found this shelter. She just rolled her eyes at me and said, “I told you.”  Eek!  Let’s just add this to the list of the time my daughter was right, and I was wrong.  After the monsoon, we found an amazing French restaurant at bottom of the hill.  I tried to point out AGAIN how grateful we should be that IF we didn’t get caught in the rain, then we wouldn’t have came down the hill the shortest way and we would have missed this spot.  My wisdom fell on deaf ears.

The kids have done a great job finding ways to stay entertained.  They have created their own language, own jokes, own songs and games like, “Is the potato chip bendy or crispy?” They pretend one of them has the force and is choking the other.  Theater is definitely in Grayson’s future.  Sometimes (most of the time) these games/jokes/songs/language are equally annoying to anyone except for them, but at the end of the day, it is endearing.

Wednesday, 26th

Early morning walk back up Gaurdian Hill.  Show no mercy!  Maren was almost less happy on the 2^nd trip up Guardian hill, but she was a trooper. 

We found another mall, and I had a pedicure scheduled and the kids went to this jungle gym/trampoline area.  Ever get a pedicure with someone who doesn’t speak ANY English?  My charade skills don’t match Wayne Brady, but they are getting better.

The night before at bedtime, Grayson asked that we pray that he meet a buddy.  He is really missing his friends.  That night at dinner, we overhead the table next to us speaking English.  I engaged them, and VIOLA…Shila and Jaden enter our lives.  Jaden is 11 and Shila is a self proclaimed, “nomad gypsy”.  Seriously, how awesome is that.  She has been doing this since March, with Jaden.  She helped explain what we are doing has a name and it is “world schooling”.  That is awesome to know, but “world schooling” sounds way more sophisticated than what we are doing. Which, seems like more like walking, keeping kids off ipads, and managing kids ice cream intake. 😊  So glad, though, to hear that we are part of a community of “world schoolers”.

Sleep…sleep has never evaded me like it has here.  I don’t know if it isn’t having a pillow top, no flip mattress, no real air conditioning, no dark rooms, no neck pillow, or just adjusting.  I really love this time that helps us figure out what is REALLY important.  So in the middle of the night, I decided, things would be SO different with a sleep mask (even though I haven’t found one in Plovdiv).  I spent the better part of an hour figuring out how many hair ties I could sacrifice to cut and reattach to a sock to get around my head to create a sleep mask.  I also entertain the thought that maybe JUST maybe drinking coffee all day doesn’t help.  Right now, I don’t need to entertain those negative thoughts…more on how to make a sleep mask.

Upon waking in the morning, I realize using a headband that I already have would work WAY easier.  Looking forward to seeing my bed again tonight.   

Thursday, 27th

Nature’s wake-up call really is birds and cats.  It reminds me of the time that our Girl Scout troop had a sleepover in the Omaha zoo….ugh!  Anyway, the sleep mask/headband was a SUCCESS!!!!

We went to the Roman Stadium and watched the 3D about it’s history and found out that running, discus/javelin throwing, chariot races and wrestling were all events that took place right here.  The stadium still has Roman numbers carved into the 17 rows of marble seats. 

We have a City Card that allows us to visit 5 Musuems in Plovdiv.  Today, we went to the Hindliyan House it is an examples of traditional Bulgarian architecture in Plovdiv Old Town built by a team of master craftsmen in 1835.  These homes belong to the shop owners/merchant class.  It has wall murals that took 6 months to create and just to show how much money he had, he installed a rose water fountain.  Even today, the fountain runs and still smells of roses.

We walked out to the music festival Rock of Hills. It was out by the Rowing Canal. It was a long walk, but nice. We found a restaurant and got a drink. The kids spotted a bounce house about 50 meters away and asked if they could go. We gave them some leva and sent them on their way. Calm down…we could still see them. We questioned our parenting choice, when Grant said, “If you can’t trust a Bulgarian carny, who can you trust?” I adore his lightness and humor. The bounce house and 10 leva provided a 20 minute, carny-level babysitter.

Have I mentioned how many stray cats live in this town?  They are tame and fed.  It seems like nobody owns a cat, but everyone takes care of them and they run EVERYWHERE.  Restaurants – yep, churches – yep, ped mall – yep. 

Friday, 28th

I need some I.T. help from Grant, so we switched duties.  Grant is and would be a great full time teacher, but I have to say on Friday, his substitute teacher, sucked!!!!  (Sorry, kids…just take a recess break and your “real” teacher will return in just 30 minutes.)

We took a trip up Youth Hill. Once again, Maren pointed out it was suppose to rain, but we batted that away with a point to the blue sky. Up we went, and I kid you not, 1/2 way up the skies open up and down came the rain. Maren was beside herself and couldn’t believe it was happening…AGAIN. AGAIN though, we were fortunate to find a shelter. We passed the 20 minutes by playing “Heads Up” on my phone. We were soaked to the bone, but headed to Gusto to get some pizzas for take away, and go home to watch Slumdog Millionaire.

Saturday, 29^th

We connected with Daniel (the tour guide), and our new friends, Shila and Jaden, on an Arts & Crafts tour in Kapana.  It was a more in-depth tour of the crafts and trades during the 1600-1800’s.  Kapana had over 900 wooden shops in the trap.  It was called “The Trap” because once you got in, you couldn’t get out without buying something.  It was recreated in the 1900’s with the main floor for shops and top floors for homes.  Over the last 5 years, this area has seen a resurgence due to Plovdiv being selected at 2019 Culture Capital of Europe.  It is once again a pedestrian area with new shops, bars, restaurants and is oh so cute.  City folks knew that the buildings would be “tagged” with graffiti, so they went ahead and commissioned some of the best graffiti artists/muralists for the area.  On the tour, we learned more about these artists and their works:

Stern – Star graffiti artist in Plovdiv.  Well known for “purple people” or what he calls his agents.

Nasimo – A well known street artist in the Balkans, is the creator of “The Chain Rockers” and the large mural of a lady here in Plovdiv. Check out Urban Creates in May in Sofia.

We also visited 3 craft stores (not Micheal’s or Hobby Lobby, but legit places).  The first was a knitting shop where you can buy hand knitted wears and toys.  We got knit and sew our favorite creatures of Plovdiv…yes, you guessed it…a CAT!  They all turned out great, but we determined Grant’s cat is a tough, old street cat that has seen better days.

Then we went to a leather shop.  This woman has spent 20 years with leather.  She has worked with all the top names in the business and recently opened up this lovely shop called Giovanna (www.giovannabags.com).  We made a beautiful leather tag.  It was fantastic. 

We ended the wonderful tour at you guessed it…a coffee roaster.  It is the only coffee roaster in Kapana and it was a beautiful end. 

Because rain won’t keep us down, up Youth Hill we went. Grayson and I jogged up part of it. Maren did her best to bite her tongue, which I appreciated. I’m not positive, but Maren may change the Weather Channel app to my Home Screen on my phone by evening.

Grant’s Recount

This is now my second time being in Plovdiv. My friend and I came over in March as sort of a scouting trip for this gap year trip. I immediately knew I wanted to come back to Plovdiv with the family after that trip. We only spent about a day and half here in March, but it was enough to easily sway me toward coming back. We met some very nice people in our short time here in March, and I was confident the family would enjoy our time here.

I usually initially judge a new city I am visiting by the “vibe” it gives me. Right or wrong, that is a big part of the equation on whether I really enjoyed a place or not. Plovdiv definitely gives off the right vibe for me. There is a certain energy about Plovdiv that I enjoy. It has a sort of a laid back appeal while still having many activities to choose from. It is the tourist season here, which you could say of many places across Europe, but yet it doesn’t feel too busy, crowded, or rushed. Touristy areas where you are herded around like cattle are not appealing to me. So Plovdiv fits the mold for me. We have yet to find a restaurant with no room, a sold out activity, or a need to be early for anything. There isn’t a general sense of “we better hurry” mentality, as I have found in many touristy areas of Europe. And that is exactly how I like it.

That being said, there has been times when a more structured or detailed set of rules or instructions would have been nice. Many times I have felt that an activity we have signed up for may not actually take place. There is more of a nonchalant attitude toward things that makes you a little nervous. Also, the store/business hours that are posted online rarely apply in my experience. It is more of a “we might or might not be here during those times but you won’t know if you don’t stop by to check” kind of arrangement. That has happened many times already. Eventually though, you get the info you need, just may have to work harder to get it than we are used to. For some businesses, it almost seems that they would generally not want anymore business, so missing out on a sale to this American probably doesn’t affect their sleep patterns.

As for the town itself, I think it is a very beautiful town with a lot of variety. The city center pedestrian area is said to be one of, if not the longest in Europe. This make finding the main activities and sites easy and within walking distance for most. The hills (the city of seven hills they say) throughout the city are easily accessible and climbable. The hills can generally be climbed in 20-25 minutes the views are fantastic from all of them are fantastic.

In addition, the street art and murals in the Kapana area, which we talk about in the Vlog, are not to be missed. The Kapana area, known as “The Trap”, is famous for its street art, along with dozens of shops/restaurants/bars to choose from. If I was here for just a night or two with friends, this is where I would spend my time. It is a lively, fun area to have a drink or eleven (might have happened in March – but the details are fuzzy for some reason).

But if I were to pick the top of my list for Plovdiv, it would probably be Old Town. I think I might have mentioned that I like alleys…more specifically old, cobblestone alleys in historic towns. And, throw in the fact that Old Town here in Plovdiv is on a steep hillside with many of said alleys, and you have a recipe for greatness in my book. Many of the beautiful houses from 19th century have been fully restored here, including several museums, hotels/hostels, restaurants, etc. (Did I mention the Roman Ancient theatre in Old Town?). We have been through Old Town now about 7 times already and probably will be back there tonight. I still keep finding new alleys, so stay tuned.

We are still learning how to communicate and interact with the people of Bulgaria, but that has gotten easier over the last week or so. Like I mentioned in the Vlog, Bulgarians seem a bit standoffish in the beginning, but are personable and open when you get to know them. This happens more easily when your wife is like mine, and can start a conversation with anyone without a common language. But the humor and helpfulness comes out over longer interactions, not when you are asking for a free WC after 6 coffees.

We still have a couple more weeks left in Plovdiv, so more adventures are yet to be had. We still have several things on our list to see and do, so I think we can still fill the time and not be bored. We may also be coming back to this fine city later this summer, so that in itself makes me happy. We also will be heading to the Bulgarian mountains to the north and the south, so that will be a nice change of pace. I hope to have more experiences to share about Plovdiv later, but would definitely suggest adding Plovdiv, and Bulgaria in general, to your short list of travel destinations. Travel on the cheap and plenty to see and do.

Maren’s Recount

Friday, 21st

Plovdiv is awesome. We learned a lot about Bulgarian history. WE found a workout park and it was very fun but hard not to trample little kids. We also went to another park and there was a ton of swings and a huge slide. Me & Grayson want to go again, so we can play hide and seek. We discovered a water park 5 minutes away from our apartment. It looks awesome and since we live so close we can go as much as we want.

The Meyers are coming to visit today. We are going to go to Old Town and hike up the hills to see the sites. You can see the entire town and there are so many rocks to climb on.

Saturday, 22nd

I have been having so much fun here. We have been going to so many parks. They have them everywhere. The other day, we went to the park next to the Singing Fountains and it is very big. There is a very steep slide and lots of skinny things. Also, Grayson made a friend there. It’s probably a good thing we are going to parks because, we have been eating so much ice cream. We get ice cream at least once a day. My Mom decided to start cooking at home . We have to go get groceries. They have some weird foods. Me and Grayson play a game where whoever finds the weirdest flavored chips wins. The weirdest flavored one so far was Wild Mushroom and Cream or Grilled Bacon. GROSS!!!!

I am a little homesick, so seeing stuff from home helps makes me feel better.

There are really cool buildings. We learned that the reason top floors come out is so there is more room upstairs and they don’t have to pay taxes because the square foot on the bottom doesn’t change. I think it is crazy how old some houses and buildings are. The really old houses have the nicest and most detailed walls and paintings. I love it here, but I miss Iowa. The thing that I miss most is rockbound. There are no music stores that we have seen yet. I hope that when I get back I will be able to pick up music right where I left off.

Saturday, 29th

Today, was very fun. Mom had to get her nails done. Me and Grayson went to a play area. It was like a giant climbing obstacle course. There was trampolines, ball pits, slides and tunnels. It was very fun and we played hide and seek forever.

Today, I slept until 9:00. Then we got up and ate a quick breakfast of yogurt. Then we went to the Old Town Square to go on an art tour. It was very interesting to hear about the different types of art and who did it and when they made it. We were able to sew a little handmade cat. We walked to this huge mural and go to hear the meaning behind it. Then we walked to the leather store and learned how to make leather key chains. They were super cool.

Grayson’s Recount

Tuesday, 18th & Wednesday, 19th

On the 18th, I flew from Prague to Sofia and when we were in Sofia, we went to a hotel. I like our hotel room because it was 2 floors. I hung out a little bit. I went to bed. In the morning, we got hotel breakfast. It was delicious. Then we went back up to our room. Then me and my sister played hide and seek. Then we got all our things together and we went to the airport.

Thursday, 20th

I had a Plovdiv tour with my family. I learned that before the Bulgarians were here the Croatians were.

Saturday, 22nd

I love learning so much from schooling with my Dad. I still love the ice cream. We had 1 tour guide for Plovdiv. It was very fun and I learn a lot. I learned that the ancient theater sets about 30,000 people. Also, the other theater for performances seats 7,000. I learned that when people came back to there house in Old Town they added a little bit that hangs out of the house so they would not have to increase their square footage to have more in taxes.

I already kinda of know my way around now. I like that we are now sometime eat at home instead of at a restaurant. I have fully gotten use to the time zone, so I don’t feel very tired for schooling. I learned all of the states and what they look like and I learned all the countries names in Europe. I know most of the State Capitals. I am learning a ton.

Sunday, 23rd

I watched Dumb & Dumber. It was so good. We have eaten a lot of ice cream and delicious food like ribs, pizza, candy and other Bulgarian food that I don’t know the name of them. I went to the mall to go to the Farmer’s Market. We got honey, cheese and coffee. There was a huge climbing wall, so I went on that. I got to the top. It was so tall and then I went on some small ones too. It was so fun. I also saw a Pokémon shop and I’m going to go into. My favorite ice cream yet is probably this place called “Pablo Gelato”. Gelato means ice cream in Italian, I think. There was also an opera going on in the ancient theatre. I also went to the top of this hill and it was covered with ancient ruins. It was so cool.

Tuesday, 25th

We hung out in the morning, then we learned some history about WWI and WWII. It was very interesting and crazy that in WWI, 20 million people were injured and in WWII 80 million people were injured.

Then we climbed up the biggest hill with the statue on it. It was a 30 minute walk but very fun. Then we ate at the restaurant next to our apartment.

Wednesday, 26th

In the morning, we went to a super cool market. Me and my sister got peaches and my Mom got raspberries. My peach was amazing. There was around 50 booths full of fruits.

Thursday, 27th

Me and my Mom went to the market, but even though the name is the Thursday market, it doesn’t only happy on Thursday. Me and my sister did Khan & reading. Then we went to the Hindlyian house. It was amazing it was really old and there was a ton of detail. It was the only house in the Old Town that has a rose water spring inside. We went to the 3D movie in the Roman Stadium. It was cool. You could look back in time. We walked around and found a bounce house and me and my sister were in it for 15 minutes. At dinner, I ate wiener schnitzel.

Friday, 28th

We went up to Youth Hill. When we were half way up it started raining SO HARD. Maren was not too happy, but I was kind of made cause I warned my parents. They said, “no, no it said it was going to rain o Tuesday, but did it? So the point is, we all got soaked again. We looked for something to go under and we found a little shelter thing covered in grafitti. Then we waited out the rain and got pizza and came home to watch a movie. We always we watch a movie and have pizza on Fridays.

Saturday, 29th

We did the Arts & Crafts tour. The first craft was making a cat because cats are everywhere in Plovdiv. It was really cool, but difficult. Then we made little leather tags. It was also hard. Then we went to a coffee place. I got lemonaid. It was fun.

Cats…flippin’ cats…everywhere.

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