Our third and final day in Plovdiv we headed out early to see a few landmarks. We started by walking across town to the Alyosha monument on top of Bunarjik Hill. Alyosha is a relic of the Soviet era, a Russian soldier who overlooks and protects Plovdiv. At 11 meters tall and on top of a large hill, you can see him from most areas in the city.
Next was the Roman theatre of Plovdiv. The ancient theatre was only discovered in the 1970s and has since been restored. Now it's a concert venue and of course a major tourist attraction. We made sure to get there early to avoid any lines! Later in the day it was packed.
That afternoon one of our Airbnb hosts brought us to two of the most picturesque areas of Bulgaria: Asen's Fortress and Bachkovo Monastery.
Asen's Fortress sits high in the Rhodope mountains. The fortress was a small part of a larger structure but unfortunately it's the only part remaining. You can still see the ruins surrounding it and hike a little further up to get a great view down.
We ended up at Bachkovo Monastery on a holy day (don't ask me which one!) There were lines going through the grounds to get in to light a candle for one of the monastery's icons.
Luckily we were still able to get in and visit the other buildings including the icon chamber.
That evening we went to a restaurant north of the pedestrian mall called Memory. It was recommended to us by a guy we met the night before at a cafe. The food and drinks were terrific! I had the herbed lamb roll with potatoes and Jay had Кюфтета (meatballs). We also sampled the plum rakia.
Go to Bulgaria! Day 5: Shipka Pass, Veliko Tarnovo
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