Stray Cat Strut

While I was in Bulgaria, I missed my kitties dearly. Although I will admit it was nice getting to sleep in on the weekends and not getting a paw in the face to "get up and feed me". But having them around the rest of the time far outweighs that.

So I tried to make friends with the neighborhood kitties, which didn't go so well, as they're very skiddish!  Can you find the two black kitties in this photo? (before they ran away from me...)

This is the closest I got to a kitty in my neighborhood.

The country kitties were much friendlier. These two were at a gas station on the way to Veliko Tarnovo. I probably could have taken them home with me.

And this super relaxed (and dirty) kitty was at the guest house on my hike in the Rila Mountains

This next two were at the ski resort where we started our hike in the Rila Mountains

(this one was so pretty)

Plovdiv kitties

I saw cats pretty much everywhere I went in Sofia.

 

Most ran away shortly after I snapped my photo.

Or they were perched out of reach so they felt safe.

But the best kitties in the world were of course waiting for me in the states.

Vitosha

I couldn't leave Bulgaria without hiking on Mt Vitosha, the mountain that looms over Sofia. Thanks to my friend Milena for taking me there.

View of Sofia, edge of town

Snow covered Rila Mountains in the distance

Little town where we started our hike from...

Cemetery...

Fixer-upper 

Bus stop in the suburbs...

Sidewalks

While in general I was impressed with the infrastructure in Sofia (you could drink the water, toilets flushed, no blackouts, metro ran until midnight, etc.), the sidewalks left something to be desired. Hence why I only went running in the nearby parks.

Each home owner was responsible for their section of sidewalk and you could tell.  Some were better than others.

I *may* have ruined a pair or two of shoes...

Sofia Cultural Tour

The same group that does a free walking tour of Sofia, also does a cultural tour where you experience all the senses of Bulgaria.

We listened to Bulgarian music, including the Bulgarian national anthem.

We saw the oldest church in Sofia:

We tasted banitza - both savory and sweet:

We drank some traditional beverages:

We smelled (and tasted) rose tea and jam:

And then to wrap up the tour, we felt the burn of rakia (Bulgaria's equivalent of moonshine):

Plovdiv and Koprivshtitsa (are you loving these town names yet?)

With limited time in Bulgaria remaining, I decided to do back-to-back day trips with the same tour company.  What a difference a tour guide makes.  Georgi, my driver-guide for this trip was great.  He talked the whole way to Plovdiv (over an hour and a half away) about the history of Bulgaria and other interested tidbits.  Like why Sofia became the capital instead of Plovdiv, when the tiebreaker vote was someone from Plovdiv?  And which city in the U.S. has the most Bulgarians?  (see answers below)

Having just been to Rome, the ruins were not as impressive as I thought they might be.  But still pretty cool.  And interesting how recently many of them were discovered.

This road was discovered just a few years ago when excavating for a hotel.

The Roman Theater was discovered in the 1970's after a landslide (I was told one of the columns was sticking out of the ground).

Roman Stadium - again, digging to build something downtown

More ruins nearby

There were also some ruins on the top of one of the hills. Plovdiv was built around 7 hills just like Rome, although only 6 remain today. The views were fantastic!

The old part of Plovdiv showcased traditional Bulgaria architecture

Old wall that used to surround the city

Loved the chimneys

Next we visited Koprivshtitsa - try saying that one three times in a row.  This quaint little village was were the rebellion against the Ottoman Empire started.  After several centuries under their rule, four folks from Koprivshtitsa decided it was better to die starting the rebellion than to sit back and wait for someone else to help them.  Well, it worked.

Memorial to the rebellion:

Bridge where it all started:

I may have gone a little overboard with the photos here, but I heart this town.  So glad it was part of this day trip or I would not have gone there.

 

Trivia answers:
When Bulgaria overthrew the Ottomans and became a sovereign nation, the vote for the new capital came down to Sofia and Plovdiv (the two largest cities in Bulgaria).  The tie breaker was a publisher from Plovdiv.  He actually voted for Sofia because he saw how being the capital changed other European cities, and he didn't want to see that happen to his beloved hometown of Plovdiv.  And that's how Sofia became the capital.

And while it seemed that everyone I know in D.C. had a friend in D.C. who was from Bulgaria, D.C. does not have the highest concentration of Bulgarians.  That honor goes to Chicago, where there are over 100,000 Bulgarians currently living there.