When visiting Sofia, there are a couple popular day trips to choose between. One is to the Rila Monastery and the other is to Bulgaria's second largest city, Plovdiv. It was a tough decision between the two because we only had one day to dedicate to a side trip, but in the end we chose Plovdiv.
We booked a guided tour which left Sofia in the morning. We rode a van with five other tourists to Plovdiv which is about two hours from Sofia. We saw tons of sunflower fields on the drive! It would have made for some great photo opportunities if you were driving yourself.
Our guide did not have us introduce ourselves to each other, so I am not quite sure where everyone was visiting from. We found out toward the end that one couple lives in Italy. I think another couple was Italian, as well. But the lady that sat next to me in the van was quiet the whole time. I never heard her speak. It was a little odd spending a good chunk of the day with a group and knowing almost nothing about them.
This building is now a post office, but its roots are from the Communist era (if that wasn't obvious from the style).
The city has unearthed a lot of Roman era ruins.
Can you believe it's free to see this? A lot of places would charge you to enter and sit on a Roman era amphitheater.
Our guide told us about this Bulgaria tradition. They give each other friendship bracelets and then hang them from trees in the spring. After he told us about it, I noticed several hanging from trees around the city.
This was near the Old Town area of Plovdiv and gave fantastic views of the city. But I had to capture this lovely message spray painted onto a rock.
And here's the view!
This was the group we toured with except for the couple with the child. They inserted themselves into our tour at the previous stop and, for some unknown reason, thought it would be cool to be in our group photo. People are weird! But it gave us something to laugh about.
The story behind this statue reminded me of the one in Bratislava. This was a man that often sat in this spot that was well-known to the people of Plovdiv. After his passing, a group of people raised funds to erect this statue of him. It is rumored that if you whisper a wish into his ear it might come true.
One thing not pictured was a visit to the Ethnographic Museum. It was a small museum, but it had some nice pieces on display including beautiful traditional Bulgarian outfits. If you love clothing and/or folk art, a visit to this really affordable museum is a must. When we visited there was a small market in the front garden. It prevented us from getting a picture of the building (which is beautiful), but we were able to pick up a couple souvenirs.
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