Day 14 Plovdiv

My plan for today was to go and see the Roman Amphitheater, it was the only Plovdiv plan that was set before I left the UK. As I wandered through Tsar Simeon Garden Park past the singing fountain the warmth of the day penetrated the dappled shade of the trees. It was early but it's never too early for an ice-cream is it? I found a vendor made my purchase and wandered into town.

Okay, the main building was what looked to be an old Soviet Era building. Though Bulgaria was not a part of the Soviet Union The peoples Republic of Bulgaria, as it was known then, was run by the Bulgarian Communist Party in coalition with the Bulgarian Agrarian Peoples Union between 1946 and 1990, More information can be found here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/People%27s_Republic_of_Bulgaria. My point being that it looked a bit like this.

Complete with huge stucco motif on the side it looked mostly derelict but on closer inspection there was activityon the lower floors at least but I assume it was still, for the most part, in use. In hindsight, it was just a bit tired looking and could've done with a bit of external tidying up, but then I saw this...

Roman ruins, no plaques and no little signs, just a bit of overgrown dirt with Roman stuff on it. How could they allow such history to decay under worn out old black tarpaulins and wooden pallets? My expectations were lowering at every turn. This was no Skopje with it's magnificent square and jaw dropping visuals or Novi Sad with its cosmopolitan buzz. What's all the fuss about?

And then I noticed this...it had a plaque and looked extremely well looked after, wow, people were allowed to walk on it and play on it, some lads (centre left) were practising Parkour on it. It was magical.

I wandered around some more and found this...Paths had been laid and plaques had been made, people could walk around it for free and learn about this ancient city. There were tablets talking about Marcus Aurelius and other famous Romans amongst many others. Too many to list here. It was fantastic.

Just around another corner I found this. This wasn't the only huge amphora jar I saw. I was walking around the ancient Thracian city of Philippopolis, more information can be found here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippopolis_(Thrace) . It wasn't that the Plovdivian authorities didn't care about their Roman ruins, they just have so many of them. I was in awe. People wouldn't be allowed near these ruins if they were in the UK but here it's all part of the soul of the city. Quite incredible.

I wandered up the hill and was once again blown away when I saw the amphitheater. There was a man tuning a piano on the stage and the sound was crystal clear even in the "seats" at the top.

By this time a wedding party had arrived. The piano tuner was still hard at work. I hope the concert went well.

Plovdiv far exceeded my expectations. It's an incredible and ancient city with Roman bones. As I wandered back down the hill into the town again I found yet another amphitheater, this time forming part of the foundations of the walkways and buildings surrounding and in sympathy with it. The Roman legacy, wow!

The city had other aspects which were no less important, this was a dynamic, modern and rich place and I was so pleased to be able to spend the whole day exploring.

There was so much more but this was the last photo I took before my battery died. As I wandered back through the streets and through the park I walked past men at their chess games, some gesticulating animatedly and others concentrating vehemently. My battery was flat so I couldn't capture it, I did however, find this which hopefully gives you an idea.