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Bulgaria

April 2024
A 7-day adventure by Mary Kieran Gap Year Read more
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  • TravelerBulgaria
    Day 1

    Day 99: Plovdiv Oldtown

    April 18 in Bulgaria ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F

    Plovdiv, the European Capital of Culture in 2019, has seen many nations over its lifetime including Greeks, Romans, Bulgars, Ottomans, Russians, and now independence. We arrived at 8am by train and checked into the hostel for a quick nap.

    Oldtown Plovdiv offers a program where you can buy a ticket to 5 cultural sites of your choice. We selected Ancient Roman Theatre of Philippopolis, Balabanov's House, Hindliyan`s House, and Hippocrates Pharmacy Museum. The houses were traditional Bulgarian style with wood carvings in the ceilings but also Roman/Turkish baths! The room are color themed and older furniture was staged to mimic a typical room design.

    We ended our tour with delicious craft beer and a beautiful view of the city.

    Hostel: Saborna 25 Guest House

    Restaurant:
    Soup Pause
    Rahat Tepe Beer Garden

    Food:
    Shkembe (Tripe Soup)
    Palneni Chushki (stuffed peppers)
    Bulgarian Cheese stuffed chicken

    Spots:
    Old town Plovdiv
    Ancient Roman Theatre of Philippopolis
    Balabanov's House
    Hindliyan`s House
    Hippocrates Pharmacy Museum    Read more

  • TravelerBulgaria
    Day 2

    Day 100: Bulgarian Countryside & UFOs

    April 19 in Bulgaria ⋅ ☁️ 41 °F

    Situated in the Balkans, Bulgaria boasts mountain ranges, rivers, and lush valleys with wineries and rose farms. We booked a day tour to travel to the countryside and see the Buzludzha Monument, which is an abandoned Soviet monument that looks like an alien space ship.

    Driving through Plovdiv and the nature, Soviet murals, monuments, and statues are sprinkled into the green mountains. We also stopped at an Ancient Greek tomb which our driver called the Pyramids of Bulgaria and a Russian church.

    Restaurants:
    Хлебарницъ Нико (bakery)
    Citizens Club

    Food:
    Chicken Kavarma
    Kachamak (corn dish)
    Tarator (cold cucumber soup)

    Spots:
    Buzludzha Monument
    Thracian Tomb of Seuthes III
    Shipka Memorial Church    Read more

  • TravelerBulgaria
    Day 3

    Day 101: Night Out with Zee Germans

    April 20 in Bulgaria ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F

    Because TRAIN COUNTRY, we woke up, loaded our passes for the 11:51am train, and moved on to Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria and the third oldest city in Europe. Want to comment again on how much we love this Eurorail pass and the ability to just pick a train time and hop on. If we miss the train, we can just activate a ticket for the next time. Trains > Planes.

    We hit the streets for some more European style clothes. Wearing the same clothes for months gets stinky no matter how much you wash and doesn’t work well in European fashion standards.

    We planned for a night out and sat down in the hostel common area with wine and beer next to a phone charger. Kieran was worried about the charger, but assured him this is how conversations start. Next thing we know a German kid sits down, we apologize about the charger, and he asks us where we are from. BAM his cousins sit down and we start an excellent night with our new friends Gabriel, Francesco, and Marcello, and who are Italian expats living in Germany.

    Our mistake was that these kids are 22-25 and we are 31/30. The night quickly became a Jäegermeister shot party with tequila and rakia interspersed. The best part was starting a “Fuck the French” chant which was joined in by some Spaniards and Russians sitting at tables across the outside bar. We may be different culturally from Italians, Germans, Russians, Spaniards, and Americans, but were united as one belligerent group of drunk assholes who hate the French.

    3am came around and our newfound friends needed to hit the airport. They bought 10 more Jäeger shots (two each) and that was the downfall for Mary. Let’s just say the next day is a Kieran Solo Day.

    Hostel: Hostel Mostel
    Restaurant: Divaka

    Bars:
    Shtastlivetsa
    Vitosha Street Bar & Dinner

    Food:
    Shopska Salad
    Shkembe Soup
    Sautéed Chicken    Read more

  • TravelerBulgaria
    Day 4

    Day 102: Kieran’s Solo Food Tour

    April 21 in Bulgaria ⋅ ☁️ 54 °F

    Zee Germans were fun, but it’s been a long time since we’ve taken multiple shots. 11am rolled around and Mary was still down. Kieran grabbed soup and pizza, and she had 3 hours to rally for the free 2pm food tour. No luck.

    Kieran ventured on and had a lovely experience. The tour was 100% free which is rare for food tours. First stop was MEKITSA AND COFFEE where they make homemade ayran salted yogurt drink. Kieran is not an ayran fan and yet he liked this version of the drink. They proceeded to a burger and wine shop, where he was served a red/white blend called Pelin. They also tried Bulgarian donut pastries at Pastry of Sofia.

    On the tour Kieran met Tobias, a German structural engineer who worked in different countries throughout his life (Abu Dabi, Romanian, US). They hit it off talking about engineering nerd stuff and decided to meet up for dinner later.

    Mary emerged from her cocoon of despair and joined for dinner, but headed home early after the restaurant band started playing tunes next to us.

    Bonus photo of shame for Mary and her failure to realize she isn’t 22 anymore.

    Restaurants:
    Skapto Burgers, Beers and Fries Shishman
    MEKITSA AND COFFEE
    GARAFA WINE
    Hadjidraganov's Cellars
    Pastry of Sofia

    Food:
    Ayran
    Burger    Read more

  • TravelerBulgaria
    Day 5

    Day 103: Communist Bulgaria Tour

    April 22 in Bulgaria ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F

    Today we opted for a history tour to learn about communism in Bulgaria and how people lived during the Soviet imperialist era. Our guide disclaimed he was born in 1980, but had stories from his family and distinct memories from when Soviet rule collapsed. We toured the various government buildings which were cleaned of their red stars and sickles/hammers as soon as the government was overthrown.

    Our favorite stop was the Georgi Dimitrov Mausoleum where they buried their first communist leader and held yearly parades. The mausoleum is no longer standing because the Bulgarian government attempted to blow it up three times but it actually was built as a nuclear bomb shelter and had underground tunnels to the major government buildings. Instead it had to be manually disassembled and took longer to destroy than it was built. There was pain behind this building because at the May 1, 1986 parade, the government leaders couldn’t be found while everyone marched outside; it was 5 days after Chernobyl explosion and they didn’t tell anyone.

    Final stop was the largest communist monument in the city that is being torn down right now. Since 1987, many vandalize the monument or write political messages which Russia threatened action against Bulgaria if they didn’t reign in their people. However, Ukraine’s invasion was the final straw and the Bulgarian government decided swiftly to remove the monument in 2022.

    Restaurants: Divika

    Food:
    Roasted Pork Knuckle
    Shopska Salad    Read more

  • TravelerBulgaria
    1
    Day 6

    Day 104: Bulgarian Wine and Dine Travel

    April 23 in Bulgaria ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F

    Today was a travel day to get to Greece. We hopped on a 4 hour train to Sandanski and had 4 more hours to kill before a bus to Thessaloniki. It was a rainy day, but the dark clouds and weather added to the nature in the area.

    We found a London restaurant chain that served Mexican, sushi, Greek, Bulgarian, and American and had fun with the menu. Next we trudged 17 minutes to a winery to enjoy Merlot, Sauvignon Blanc, and Rose.

    We arrived to Greece around 6pm and needed a laundromat badly. Mary found a delicious restaurant with food to go and the owners were so nice to offer real silverware. We had to go back and got a wine and beer to show our appreciation.

    Restaurants:
    Happy Bar and Grill
    Sintica Winery
    Mono gia Simera

    Food:
    Shopska Salad
    Sushi
    Wine
    Tomato Cucumber Salad
    Grilled Shrimp
    Thessaloniki Local Sausage    Read more

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