OK … I’ve been in Bulgaria before. Really, I have. But I don’t seem to be able to recognize anything. But I only spent an hour in Sofia on that trip (if you don’t count time at the airport) and none at all in Plovdiv. I’m not sure that excuses not recognizing the one church we visited during that one hour in Sofia (the Cathedral of Alexandur Nevsky), even after being in it for a while on the current visit.
Unfortunately, I don’t think I’d have decided to come back if the first experience was anything like this one. The first time around, the signs were mostly non-existent or non-trustworthy (and in Cyrillic lettering, to boot) … but the people were nice and very helpful. I think it was the people and the very thorough introduction to Bulgarian culture that I loved. I should also admit at this point that I was traveling with a group on that trip … 12 years ago … and most of the accommodation, food, and transportation logistics were taken care of. MUCH simpler. If I come back to Bulgaria again, or get up the gumption to go to Romania, it will be on a tour or with an exchange group. Unfortunately, this time the easiest thing about getting around was the cab ride from the Sofia airport.
The first half-day we were in Sofia, we decided to reconnoiter our surroundings and make arrangements for a day trip to Rila Monastery (as recommended in the Lonely Planet guide, approximately 30 – 50 Euro and fantastic in my memory). Unfortunately, Sofia is Bulgaria’s capital and, as such, depressingly gray, disorganized, and chaotic. We did finally manage to find a couple tour agencies (no tourist information in the country’s capital … they assume the tourists will all flock to the Black Sea coast). The first two said either “no tours to Rila” or “you can get a private tour in a taxi for 90 Euro per person.” And here I thought Eastern Europe was supposed to be inexpensive!!! Finally, the 3rd agency told us that you can, in fact, take a public bus to the town of Rila where there should be other busses that can take you to the monastery. But the way the timing works, you’ll have about 2 ½ hours to find the bus, get to the (very big!) monastery, explore it, and return to the first bus station to get the last one back to Sofia. AAARGH!!! So much for Rila. We decided to leave Sofia a day early and go to Plovdiv.
The next day in Sofia (only full day) was remarkably better. We saw the Alexandur Nevsky cathedral that I’d forgotten, plus its crypt, which is filled with an exhibit of iconography rather than dead bodies and a couple other churches before collapsing in a café in the park for a couple hours. That had good people watching, too. But not enough to make us want another day there.
Plovdiv .. better than Sofia. The people are more helpful, the streets have trees, there are more parks, and more stands that sell doner kabobs and pizza (very helpful if you want lunch) and they have ruins of an old amphitheatre and other places in the ancient city of Philopolus that you can really explore and touch if you want. But not enough for much more than 2 days, which is as long as we spent there. Oh! Also they have a movie theatre that was playing “Pirates of the Carribean.” We couldn’t resist … especially since it was in English (Bulgarian subtitles).
One other plus about Plovdiv before I end my rant … we had a really fun experience with an older Bulgarian lady who sat down with us on a bench in the park. She spoke nothing we spoke (other than to be able to say “Sprechen Sie Deustch?”) and as we only speak enough Bulgarian to get to a hotel, minimally order a meal, ice cream, and beer … the conversation was stilted. But I’ll remember it for years. We learned that Plovdiv is an expensive place for pensioners to live, that it’s pricey to get married in Bulgaria (she was proud of us for our 3 years of marriage), and that (we think) she has a child who speaks Bulgarian, Russian, French, and English and who lived in New York for 6 years. I’ll remember her and her persistence in the conversation for years!!!
