2025-2026 Central Asia Adventure – Plovdiv Bulgaria
My Huntington’s Disease fundraiser plug today comes from a video from 17 years ago. Shana Martin, a woman I have known for decades, is one of the shining stars of HD support. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HP9YrOrpt3A Donations are gratefully accepted: https://www.jprobersonfoundation.org/
Hello from Plovdiv, the second stop on the trip, still in Bulgaria. I’ve been here before so we don’t need to duplicate things I’ve seen before like the spectacular excavated churches and Roman ruins. See my post from 2022 for more background: https://www.facebook.com/mwbrown42/posts/pfbid02A7Z9hWhT5gbmAh1Ca8NwaMkv2cb2kkg75RVB8bvxHGm5qCBJTfHUfg9mYsAdf4zzl
My Sofia host Vani planned a 3-day driving adventure around western Bulgaria for us. Sadly we can’t bring Reina along and had some issues with the dog-sitter – not good for a first time away from home puppy momma! This is the Independence Day holiday weekend in Bulgaria so it’s good timing for related festivities and a birthday party that we’re attending tonight.
My eye was glued shut when I woke up, not a good sign. I do more drops and baby wipes to get it under control until I can get some proper meds, likely in Istanbul.
We took the metro all the way to the airport as it’s the only Europcar location open on a Saturday. Two very nice guys at the desk took good care of me. I used my US license and International Driver’s Permit – one of the worlds stupidest pieces of paper. I took out the full insurance package, meaning I can leave the car upside down and on fire in a ditch and I can just walk away. Mikey doesn’t want to be fighting a battle with a rental car company for anything that might happen… I had actually booked the smallest car they offered but was upgraded to what I would call a full-sized European hatchback. I like tiny cars here because they’re much easier to drive on the goat path roads in most European towns and cities, but we persevered.
On the way to Plovdiv we stopped at a 9th century castle called Asen’s Fortress overlooking an impressive valley – check out the pictures.
From there we went to the second-largest monastery in Bulgaria, called Bachkovo Monastery – more pictures. We had dinner across the river in a place that Vani has been to before. I had mincemeat wrapped in cabbage leaves – no flavor, no sauce and most disappointing – no baklava for dessert! I fully intend to go on a baklava bender while in this region of the planet.
We drove into Plovdiv and I dropped Vani off at her friend’s home. I continued on to my hotel using spotty Google Maps and grabbed an extremely rare streetside empty parking spot just down from the hotel. It had a very ominous sign with a big red X and tow truck, but I’m feeling lucky and don’t want to pass up this golden ticket of a parking space. I checked into the hotel, super nice lady at the front desk. I showed her the picture of the parking sign, she says this is normally a paid spot owned by a company for its employees and instantly towable, but since it’s a national holiday I’m OK to stay there! Her card terminal was down so I had to pay in Euros cash. I’m trying to use cards everywhere and preserve cash, using it only where absolutely necessary. My primary card is from Wise which allows me to top it up with an easy transfer from my Spanish bank and then set the currency to use depending on which country I’m in.
It turns out my hotel is near the center of the town and I saw people dressed in period military kit in the park across from the hotel preparing for holiday activities, and then a fireworks display about a block away. I found out the next morning that the Prime Minister also gave a speech with of course supporters and opposition in the crowd.
After some moderate confusion I met Vani at her friend Ilian’s bar called Quattro Piano Bar. It’s underground and has a speakeasy feel to it – low ceilings, large leather booths and a piano in the center with a giant table mounted to it. Ilian plays guitar along with a piano player and singer. The evening started with just the birthday party guests with hors d’oeuvres and an open bar, then opened up to the general public later. For Ilian’s birthday I brought him a handmade old-style inlaid wooden capo from Barcelona with a knob and string used to tighten it down on the guitar neck, as was the custom before springs were used. He seemed to like it and sent me a video later of him playing a song with it. Since indoor smoking is apparently allowed in the country, we said our goodbyes after the first set and I was still able to breathe.
I sent a message to my smart and beautiful granddaughter Wavey for her 4th birthday. I bet nobody else in her class has a grandpa visiting in Bulgaria!
Tomorrow we’re heading to Bulgaria’s ancient capital city Veliko Tarnovo with a stop on the way at an ethnic festival on the grounds of a historical preservation site.
