DAY 85 - Another City of Old Ruins and I Mean OLD

June 12 - A lunch stop in Plovdiv, Bulgaria

 

We headed to Plovdiv for lunch, on the way for our next destination in Bulgaria.  Another long bus ride with plenty of changes.  We do enjoy all the scenery along the way, however, and try to take pictures out of the window.  

Good thing they have "Lassie" to help herd the sheep.

When we got to the city, we had so much help from this young, handsome Police guy.  He helped us to find a place to store our backpacks, led us to the correct bus to go to tour the city and also helped us when we returned.  We really appreciated his semi-good English, too.

It's nice to find someone who speaks some English and can help us

Some bus companies have attendants to check to see if you have a ticket, but in Bulgaria they never checked.

The ancient Roman Theatre in Plovdiv

Plovdiv is the 2nd largest city in the country and is ranked among the world's oldest cities.  Plovdiv's history spans 6,000 years, with traces of a Neolithic settlement dating to roughly 4000 BC  The city has historically developed on seven syenite hills, some of which are 250 m high (over 800 ft).  Because of these hills, Plovdiv is often referred to in Bulgaria as "The City of the Seven Hills".

We wanted to climb one of the biggest hills, so this is it.

High above the city is a hill contains sparse ruins of Eumolpias, a Thracian settlement from about 5000 BC. The fortress and surrounding town enjoyed a strategic position, and it was later bolstered by Macedonians, Romans, Byzantines, Bulgarians and Turks, who named it Nebet Tepe (Prayer Hill)

We've arrived at the top of the hill and Rich has another one of his famous panorama shots.

"The hills are alive...with the (you know the rest)"

Love the ruins!!!!!

Cuma Mosque

Rich is enjoying the ruins today because he gets to hike and there is a great view

"How come you're always following me?" - the cobblestone streets are tricky to walk on.

If I could read Bulgarian, I would know who this famous violinist was - help anyone??

The inside of...yes - another church

This old man was so cute - we got the photo right in front of another cute little guy

 "I say, what are you doing here looking so happy?"

A War Memorial

 We enjoyed a nice afternoon, waiting until our bus would take us to Ivan Tarnovo, so we watched people:

European girls always walk arm and arm or hand in hand...great way to show friendship

A favorite past time - feeding the pigeons

It's so hard to grow old, but they are doing it together helping each other

There are even Mormon missionaries in Bulgaria

A few more pictures from our afternoon in Plovdiv - - - - - -

An old Roman bath that was transformed into a very cool Art Museum

This beautiful girl was volunteering at the museum while going to University

This place has seen better days

This was a HUGE arena in the Roman days, but the city built over the TOP of it - I think it's sad....

A replica stood close by of what it USED to look like.

This had a wonderful little concert hall inside...building was donated by a wealthy person 150 years ago.

A modern way to change the architecture of the city

We think these were the ruins of the 6,000 year old Neolithic settlement - never could find out for sure.

We head to the small village of Ivan Tarnovo for our next adventure with a beautiful Bulgarian family.