Turkey/Bulgaria 2011: Plovdiv

Our last minute decision to take a train to Plovdiv ended up being a great one. We booked a hostel last minute and headed to this Bulgarian city. It was snowing when we arrived, which I truly enjoyed. We went to a small pharmacy museum right down the street from the hostel, followed by the City Gallery of Fine Arts. Even though it was cold outside, I wanted to walk around and enjoy the snow. I ran out into it and dove on the ground, making my first snow angel. While exploring the city, we stumbled upon an old Greek-style amphitheater. Lightly dusted in snow and empty, the theater looked hauntingly beautiful, a grand monument to ancient times. 

Walking through one of the main streets in Plovdiv, we found a large public park. The snow was even thicker and my feet kept sinking into it. I also built my first ever snowman and had my first snowball fight. We created some monster snowballs, bigger than my head even. Our final night in Plovdiv, we made reservations at a nice restaurant and booked overnight bus tickets back to Istanbul. Before dinner, we walked down to the river and watched the water flow over chunks of ice. Dinner was good and very relaxing, the perfect end to the Bulgarian leg of the trip. 

Events occurred: December 21-22, 2011