Paul and Jean tour Bulgaria: Day 4

After an early breakfast we caught the bus from Sofia to Plovdiv. The scenery between the 2 cities was lovely with mountains on both sides and a lot of forested areas. At Plovdiv we were met by the owner of the hotel, who gave us a very good guided tour on the way from the bus station to the hotel. We have a really nice room in a very quiet part of Plovdiv Old Town.

Plovdiv is the 4th oldest most continuously inhabited town in the world. 2 of the other towns older are Jerusalem and Petra. Like Sofia, many medieval and roman structures have been discovered in recent years through excavations for roads and tunnels.

We first took a walk around the old town which has many unique houses and buildings. There are many antique shops plus some souvenir shops as well. We found it hard walking on the cobbles which are very big and uneven. The highlight of the old town is the roman theatre. It was constructed in the first century AD and discovered by archaeologists in the 1980's. It is now in use as a theatre and concert venue.

Adjoining the old town is the Kapana District (The Trap). It was the site of a former medieval market where it was almost impossible to enter and leave without buying something.

It was very hot today so we took a walk around the Tsar Simeon's Gardens and had a rest before joining the free guided tour at 18:00. There was a lot of history involved in this. We also learned that a recent discovery has been a 30,000 seater stadium under the main shopping street. The street was build without knowing what lay below. The theatre end has been excavated and it on full view but the seating area is beneath the shops. Some of this is visible in the basements of H&M and one or two other shops.

It cooled down considerably after dark and we found a nearby restaurant for a meal and returned to the hotel.