Today was an action packed morning, a slow afternoon, and a downright lazy night.

My day started today in gum.

Yeah, you read that right.

The gum I had chewed last night was sticking to my bed post.

Said gum somehow moved onto my sheet and, in turn, onto my back and right arm.

Such a nice way to wake up.

Action packed morning

Myself, Nathan, and Noa (the girl from Netherlands we had met yesterday) were booked for a 1/2 day tour of Bachkovo Monastery and Asen’s Fortress this morning.

Our driver stopped at our hostel at 8:45 and we were on our way.   We picked up one other guy at another hostel and by 9:00 the five of us were on the road out of the city.

Our first stop was the Bachkovo Monastery about a half hour out of the city.

It seemed everywhere you turned there was a new thing to marvel at.

You’d be looking at the cloister and turn around to see a wall ordained with beautiful imagery.   Then, you’d look upwards to the magnificent design on the ceiling.   There was so much beauty to be seen and photographed (yeah, I took alot of photos).

We spent a half hour at the Monastery and then we took the short drive to our other stop, Asen’s Fortress.

Perched on a hilltop, the fortress is a nice display of remnants from years past when the location served as a defensive post for the inhabitants of the area.

Centered in the middle of it all was a tiny little church.

Each time I’d take a picture of the church amid the backdrop of the beautiful lush green mountains, I’d climb a little further up the stone steps to get an even better vantage point of it.

The view was simply breathtaking and, of course, it was so peaceful.

By 11am, we were on our way back into Plovdiv and, before we knew it, the morning was over and our adventure for today was complete.

Slow afternoon

I’m not kidding.

The 1/2 day tour was the only thing on the agenda for us today.

I feel like we went from trying to do too much in a day two weeks ago in Turkey to having days now where we’re literally just playing cards most of the day.

I don’t know if it’s a good or a bad thing but, for right now, it’s kind of nice to just do nothing some days.

Anyway, we went for lunch in the Old Town to a place I had pinpointed on my phone map before the trip.

I had sous vide chicken with risotto and vegetables.

It was…

…spectacular!

I’ve never had such tender and moist chicken in my life!   And the risotto, oh my God!   One of the better meals I’ve ever had!

I may actually have to buy a sous vide machine for my kitchen when I get home.

As I alluded to earlier, we spent a chunk of the afternoon playing cards.

Yeah, it was a slow afternoon.

Lazy evening

Well, if the afternoon was slow, then the evening was downright lazy.

After a rousing round of cards, Nathan and I, went for dinner in the main square at 6:00.

It was another place I had previously marked on my map and, again, the food was amazing.

Now, I think the places I’ve marked are fine dining places here in Plovdiv but the price point is anything but.

Dinners are in the $20 range which, compared to back home, it very acceptable.   Of course, there’s probably Bulgarian food for cheap around the corner somewhere but we’ve been eating alright during our time in the country.

I had lamb meatballs over roasted vegetables with a side of mashed potatoes and, of course, indulged in a gluten free chocolate mousse for dessert.

After dinner, it was more cards and then an early night.

Tomorrow, we head off to our Sofia where Nathan and I will spend our last few days traveling together before he heads home to Vancouver and I continue on to New Macedonia.

More adventures await…