Sofia; Sunday, 22 October, 2023

Another pre-dawn start to have a quick breakfast and then head into town to pick up my day tour bus. This morning the journey was out to the countries second city, it’s cultural capital and reputedly the oldest continuously inhabited city in Europe, Plovdiv. After an on time pickup from the centre of Sofia we travelled the 140Km or so, mostly on the highway over to the city, arriving a little over 90 minutes after leaving Sofia.

The first part of the tour was a 2-hour guided tour round the city, during which time our driver and guide took us round some of the main points of interest in the city, including up and down several of the six hills that the city is built upon and through many of the historic areas including the Forum, ancient stadium and theatre.

The tour also included wandering through the grounds of a couple of the historic houses that the city is renowned for before the tour ended at the entrance to the Ancient Theatre, located in the saddle between the 2nd and 3rd hills of the city. From there we had two hours of free time to do our own thing and grab a bite to eat.

After the guide left I headed into the Ancient Theatre to have a look around that, including taking in the stage and the area above and behind it – not something that is possible in most Roman ruins. From the theatre I continued down the hill and visited the remains of the ancient stadium – only a small portion of this remains, but it’s the main part at the very turn of the course with the entrance tunnel and the curved seating.

I then stopped in a nearby café for a very pleasant, if slightly less the healthy lunch, of Baklava and Turkish Coffee with Rose Water before continuing on wandering through the city, stopping off at the remains of the Roman Forum and the Odeon before it was time to head back to the meeting point to catch the bus onto the next stop.

From Plovdiv it was a 25 minute or so drive south to the town of Asenovgrad and slightly beyond to the remains of the Asen Fortress. Little of the original fortress which guarded this mountain pass towards Greece, except for a small portion of the upper defences, and below that, picture postcard beautifully perched on a sheer cliff drop, the fortress chapel which is still in really good condition.

We spent about 30 minutes looking round the site before it was time to head back to the bus and the long two hour drive back into Sofia, dropping us off at the same place we’d been picked up 9 hours earlier. With just a few minutes left before sunset I had a short wander round before finding a restaurant to grab an early dinner in as the Baklava and coffee really hadn’t been enough given all the walking that I’d done.

After dinner I had a bit more of a wander around the city before heading back to the hotel for a night cap and a well deserved early night.