Plovdiv and Assenovgrad
The weekend of the 17th and 18th we all went to Assenovgrad and Plovdiv. The trip was planned by Doriana, who works in our office. She is from the area and wanted to show us around. As seems to be the routine, we were to leave early (7:45am this time) from the bus station giving us Friday night to enjoy the nightlife. Well, as it happened we got most of our partying done on Thursday night at Adam’s going away party (planning ahead, you might say), so Friday was low key (meaning we were in bed by 2am). We met up with Doriana at the bus station and the 5 of us hopped on a bus for Bachkovo Monastery which is located about 30km south of Plovdiv. Bachkovo Monastery is the 2nd largest monastery in Bulgaria, after Rila. It was founded in 1083 by two aristocrat Byzantine military officers. It was looted by the Turks in the 15th and 16th century and underwent major reconstruction in the 17th century. There are two small churches within the walls. One of them had a christening in progress which we watched for a little while. After seeing Rila the week before this monastery was not so impressive. After touring around the monastery for a bit we got on a bus to Assenovgrad (only 10km or so away). Assenovgrad if where Doriana’s parents live so part of our excursion included having lunch at her parents house. I think they were trying to fatten us up because they had A LOT of food. We started with Rikea (in Bulgaria the liquor is drunk with the salad – and usually throughout the rest of the meal as well, but they start the drinking right off the bat) and shopska salad. Then we moved on to a variety of other courses. Basically, the food just kept coming. After lunch (which lasted four hours) we hiked up to Assen’s Castle. Assen’s Castle is basically an old ruined castle (14th-15th century-ish?) up on the side of a steep valley. I can see why it was a strategic location as you can see up and down the valley quite easily. There is also a church there that has been renovated, although it was not open when we arrived.
As an aside, Assenovgrad has a taxi called “Titanic” taxi with the logo in the shape of the Totanic ship. Not a name I would pick for a transportation service, but it must work for them.
The next day we took the (25 min) train ride to Plovdiv. We walked up to the Russian Monument – basically a huge Russian Soldier on one of the large hills overlooking Plovdiv. After the “changes” (as the locals like to call the fall of communism) there was some movement to tear the statue down, but the government decided to keep it as a historical monument. You can see the monument in two of my pictures – one up close and one from afar (you can see it at the top of the right hill). The biggest draw at the top was a black lab, whose owner would throw a ball down the stairs of the monument. We’d all watch the dog scamper down to retrieve the ball only to return looking like it was seconds away from a heart attack from running up and down all those stairs. That was almost as fun as when the ball took a bad bounce and went over the wall. Then the owner would have to scamper down the hill to show the dog where the ball went, only to return looking like he was seconds away from a heart attack.
After the monument we walked around the old town. It was quaint with narrow cobblestone streets and old-style houses (i.e. not made of concrete). There is a large Roman amphitheater in town that is still largely intact. There are also a variety of less intact Roman ruins throughout the city.
Sunday afternoon we hopped on a non-air-conditioned bus, without windows that could open, and lots of stinky people for a 2 hour bus ride from hell. Pretty much every time we step on a bus in Bulgaria it turns into the same situation – no A/C, stinky people, and a top speed of 40 MPH which makes the whole thing even more agonizing.
