Today was our first full day in Plovdiv after arriving yesterday evening.

I was the last one up in our dorm room at 9am and after getting ready, we were out the door at 10am.

The only thing we had planned today was the 11am free walking tour.

Time to get on with the day…

Morning

We had an hour before our tour started so we stopped at the first place we saw offering breakfast.

There was a nice covered patio overlooking the fountain in the main square which was also our tour starting point.

After waiting for awhile for someone to greet us with menus, I finally waved down a waiter walking by.

I did my usual small talk with the waiter, cause, ya know, I’m Canadian and friendly and all.

Me: How are you today?
Him: Not so good.

Oh.

Well, this is awkward…

Anyway, we each ordered the English breakfast which worked for us.   Not a Bulgarian dish but it was nice to start the day with the familiar bacon, sausage and eggs.

After a leisurely breakfast, we strolled the few meters over to the starting point for the tour.

Unlike the tour in Veliko Tarnovo where we had only 4 people, this tour was a full group of 29 people.

In fact, there was a backup guide ready to take on the reigns of a split second group if the number got to 30.

But, nope, we were at 29 people so the poor guy went home and Mila, our tour guide, showed us the town over the next 2 1/2 hours.

We saw alot of the old uncovered Roman artifacts strewn throughout the city as well as other points of interest.

She told us alot about the history of Bulgaria and, specifically, about Plovdiv.

We eventually ended the tour at the site of an old Roman Amphitheatre overlooking the city.

Quite the breathtaking place to end the tour!

Afternoon

After the tour we came back to the hostel and found two new people had checked into our dorm room.

A man from Slovenia, Jernej, and a woman from the Netherlands, Noa.

The four of us spent the afternoon just playing cards on the picnic table in the backyard of our hostel.

Again, it was nice to just sit there in the afternoon just doing nothing and getting to know some new people.

Evening

As evening approached, myself, Nathan and Noa headed out to a place in the Old Town for dinner.

The place, Rakhat Tepe, was recommended to me by one of the French guys I had met in the hostel a few days ago in Veliko Tarnovo.

The restaurant was on the other side of the city from the hostel we’re staying at so it was a good 25 minute walk there but, in the end, it was definitely worth it.

Unlike last night, when I ended up feeding a swarm of cats most of my unappetizing meal, tonight the food was amazing.

Nathan and I both ordered the meat clay plate and Noa, a vegetarian, ordered the vegetable clay plate.

Our plates were listed at 1000 grams.   Yeah, we were each getting 2 pounds of food for dinner.

The meals were served on hot clay plates.   They were an array of sautéed and roasted vegetables topped with chicken, beef, and pork sausages.

So damn good.

We took our time eating our meal and chatting about all kinds of stuff.   It was nice to have someone else join our meal to chat with.

I had also noticed a chocolate lava cake on their dessert menu that didn’t have a “1” or gluten allergen listed beside it like almost every other dessert I’ve encountered on this trip.

Well, a gluten free desserts?

Uh, yeah, I don’t care how big that dinner was, I was having that damn dessert!

And it didn’t disappoint, not even a little.

Oh my God – so good!

It was my turn to pick up the tab since Nathan had bought dinner last night.   I decided to also pick up Noa’s bill too, cause, hey, I’m Canadian, it’s just what we do.

Eh?

After dinner, we headed back to the hostel and at 8:30 they went to see a fountain light show in town while I decided to just hang by myself finishing off this blog.

To be honest, I knew all 3 of us would need a shower later and there’s only one shower at the hostel so I figured I’d get mine out of the way while they enjoyed the lights.

Besides, there’s always another show tomorrow night.

Anyway, tomorrow, all 3 of us are going on a day trip tour of Bachkovo Monastery and Assen’s Fortress in the morning so it’ll be cool to go out of the city to see what marvels await.