Plovdiv - Day 104

Plovdiv is the second largest city in Bulgaria after Sofia, but it has a distinctly different feel. Whereas Sofia was designed as a capital city with all of its grandeur and authoritativeness, Plovdiv is more laid back and the Old Town area is spectacular. I realize I say this about many places I visit, but I can't help being romanced by well-preserved old buildings and cobblestone lanes. And the streets of old town Plovdiv are some of the most cobbled I've seen.

Getting to Plovdiv in the first place was an interesting experience. I inadvertently picked the Friday before a holiday weekend (5/1 is Labor Day) to travel, which meant horrible crowds. And what I thought was the bus station turned out to the train station next door, but since time/price is basically the same, I just went along with it. The bad news is the ticket office continues selling tickets for a particular train even after it has run out of seats. The trick is to buy a ticket with a seat reservation but really...how was I supposed to communicate that with the clerk? So I end up standing in the aisle for the two and half hour ride between Sofia and Plovdiv, but I was in good company. The good news is I met a really nice girl before boarding the train who turned out to be my little savior of sorts. She was traveling home for the weekend and offered me a ride to my host's shop after we got off the train. We weren't even in the same cart (she knew what to do to ensure a seat) and she found me after everyone got off - how sweet is that?!?

My host this time is a middle aged man who works in a Mercedez-Benz shop selling spare parts. One of my favorite things about Couchsurfing is you get to meet so many different people from different walks of life, and also experience some solid middle-class living. This guy compared to my last host in Sofia is like night and day. Veneta (in Sofia) would ask me at 9pm, "So what do you want to do tonight?" Zarko (in Plovdiv) basically ends his day at 7pm and his favorite part of the day is lying on the couch at 9pm watching TV. I can hang with both. It's a nice change after the midnight meals and late night concerts in Sofia. He's a very gentle soul though. The apartment is spotless, he re-peels potatoes after I've peeled them, and this morning I saw him ironing his t-shirt.

I forgot to mention he's a pretty decent cook and has exposed me to a couple of Bulgarian dishes since I've been here. Last night we made this bizarre dish of which I don't remember the name. It consisted of a whole plate of Bulgarian yogurt, couple of poached eggs on top, minced garlic, and topped off with melted butter and paprika. Who knew those things would go together and yogurt could be eaten as a meal? Speaking of, I've been eating a LOT of yogurt here - goodbye osteoporosis! Apparently yogurt originated in Bulgaria and it shows. Tonight actually, I had a yogurt soup called tarator. It's cold liquid yogurt with cucumber, walnuts, garlic and dill. Quite refreshing on a unseasonably hot spring day. We also pre-made moussaka last night and had it for dinner today.I got a tip from my Sofia tour guide on traveling in the Balkans. She said people are very territorial about their food and will claim something as their own. The polite and sensible thing to do is eat it, say it's delicious, and not debate its origins, because otherwise you will get into a fight. I always thought moussaka was Greek but of course I kept my mouth shut, except to eat copious amounts of Bulgarian moussaka.

Sofia - Days 102-103

I'm leaving Sofia for Plovdiv today, another town in Bulgaria. This little capital has really grown on me and I'm kind of sad to leave it and my host. 

Sofia has multiple museums and churches and cathedrals and mosques but really who wants to go from attraction to attraction all the time? In my three full days here I managed to not visit a single museum, and that's fine by me. I've been walking around the city visiting different shops, hanging out in cafes and bookstores, meeting my host for lunch and cooking dinner together. 

Yesterday, at the suggestion of my host, I did do something touristy and attended the Free Sofia Tour. I seriously think every city should have an equivalent. It's a non-profit organization staffed by volunteers who take time out of their schedule to guide people around. They don't skimp either, the tour lasted two and half hours! And I learned so much about the history (although I won't retain even 10% of what they covered) and factoids about the city. Sofia means wise but as the guide said, the city isn't wise when it comes to decision making. They have paved and built over the pre-existing Byzantine and Roman cities without making effort to preserve much of the remains. However, there are a couple of underground sections where people can walk on the original Roman roads and see the structure under the city. Also, the city is gifted with numerous thermal springs but unlike Budapest for example, there is not really a bathhouse. 

After the tour I met Veneta and went to a Turkish restaurant for lunch - a little preview of what's to come next week. It was amazing :) She's a huge Istanbul fan as well and has been several times. Then for dinner, we made empanadas for a Spanish themed party she's attending tonight. Sadly I won't be around to go but at least I got to sample the food. That was supposed to be dinner but based on my experience here, dinner usually isn't until 10pm so I ate a pre-dinner dinner snack around 7pm. Thank goodness I did because the empanadas took a lot longer than expected. We finally sat down to eat at 12:30am! But they were delicioso :) 

So now I bid farewell to Sofia and will take a short bus ride to Plovdiv. 

Ohrid/Sofia - Days 99-101

Thank goodness I was stranded in Ohrid for another day because the last day was the best yet. The sun finally decided to be less timid and made a full appearance - what a difference it makes. At the suggestion of the guest house owners, I took a local bus to a monastery called St. Naum about 30 km from Ohrid. The ride itself was along the lake shore and and up into the mountains, so naturally really scenic.

The monastery itself was beautiful but the location was absolutely ideal. Right on the cliffside by the Albanian/Macedonian border, it overlooks the length of the lake with Albania on the left and Macedonia on the right. And if you look behind, it's yet another snow-covered peak. Plus the grounds were inhabited by a dozen or so peacocks, a couple of which were quite the showmen. I'll post pics on Facebook later :)

So that evening, I made a second attempt at catching the bus to Sofia - success. 7 pm departure, midnight border crossing, and 4 am arrival (which is really 3am Macedonian time). At least they make the border crossings here relatively easy compared to the ones in Africa. The passengers get to stay on the bus while the border patrol comes on and collects everyone's passport. Of course there's always the occasional luggage check where people have to get off and open all their belongings.

I made it to my host's place around 5:30am after waiting at the station for the public transportation to start running. So it's back to couchsurfing. This time my host is a Bulgarian girl named Veneta and she is hosting with a young daughter. Now I generally trust people and will totally host when I get the opportunity, but hosting with a child is a whole other story. I assume you have to be really really selective and careful, and she told me she doesn't generally host men or even couples, but there are evil women out there too! But I'm grateful that my profile seemed legit enough for her to trust me and let me into her home.

Sofia is a small capital city and the center area is compact enough to walk everywhere. It has a quirky mix of Ottoman and European architecture and some parts of the city are so ornate that it feels like you're in Paris, except without the sky high prices and snobbery. Bulgarians are really friendly and whoever said that no one in the Balkans speak English totally lied to me. When I first arrived, I asked a local guy (at 5am) how much the ticket for the bus costs and if any exchange places would be open at that hour. He said "Not at this time," gave me 1 Lev and said "Welcome to Bulgaria." :)

Yesterday I explored the city by myself and met up with my host after work for a walk and decided to try to sneak into a Brand New Heavies concert. I had no idea who they were but why not? First attempt totally  failed, but second attempt was a breeze (much like the bus to Sofia). Turns out the Brand New Heavies is a jazz/funk group from the UK and they were quite good. Not really my cup of tea, but for a free concert it was appropriately entertaining. I was also witness to some of the most passionately awful dancing I've ever seen in my life. I can't even describe it...sort of like Austin Powers stepping on hot coal and getting bit by fire ants.

By the time I finally got home around midnight I was pooped. So today I slept in and spent a better part of the day at "home" online - checking email, writing this blog, sending out couchsurfing requests, and applying for a couple of jobs. Tonight I'm meeting Veneta again for dinner.