Bulgaria

Alex and I (well more me) had a goal of 40 countries before we moved back home. After seeing Bulgaria on TV, I really wanted to go. We finally made it happen in October securing Bulgaria as our 40th country.

We flew Friday night into Sofia, Bulgaria. We rented a car and headed to the hotel arriving right before midnight. We woke up early the next morning, got back in the car and headed to Plovdiv – the oldest European city. The oldest by a lot actually, about 3000 years older then Athens! We wondered around the city that was heavily influenced by Romans. From stadiums, theaters, walls and statues, there was no shortage of old architecture. After wandering around and seeing a lot of newer buildings with older structures scattered throughout, we found a map and realized we were in the newer part of the city. We headed into the Old Town which had a really different feel. No nice roads, just uneven cobblestone to walk on, littered with “traders houses” turned museums and really old structures. We saw the best preserved old Roman stadium and stopped in a beautiful Greek Orthodox Church. After feeling like we saw most of old Plovdiv, we stopped to buy a souvenir from a woman that spoke zero English then found ourselves in the creative district. A lively part of town filled with bars and restaurants. It was a beautiful day so we sat outside at a Friends themed cafe called of course, Central Perk. We ordered a drink and a Phoebe Pizza (margarita, of course). We loved this part of town and wished we were staying the night so we could enjoy the evening there. But we eventually headed back to Sofia for our dinner reservations. We had dinner at a delicious restaurant that paired each meal with a craft beer.

We slept in the next morning, enjoyed a relaxing breakfast then went out to explore Sofia. It was huge and we spent a good part of the day just walking from sight to sight. We saw Alexander Nevsky Cathedral, the market hall, numerous churches etc. Then we joined the many locals on the main shopping street for lunch. By then it was time to head to the airport. We really enjoyed seeing Bulgaria. It’s interesting, having now been to 40 different countries, how each country really has its own identity. I think it might take us a bit longer to get to 50 countries, but it’s our next goal!