Plovdiv!

Tsvetan and I both ended up waking up later than intended... consequently missing the train. Both of our phones had different times listed, and both of these times were not the same as the train station's clock. This made us five minutes late instead of three minutes early or something stupid like that, so we waited 20 minutes and took a more-expensive packed coach instead. It got us there faster at least! I only brought my purse full of overnight stuff; I could come back to Sofia and grab my backpack after.

We met my host Ivan, and his girlfriend Nelly in the centre of town. The four of us went to a funky little cafe that reminded me of places I used to go to at home. There was an art installation up, postcards advertising it sprinkled on the floor, and the decor was artsy too.

I was starving though, so I ran and grabbed a crepe and came back.

After this we went for a walk... Plovdiv is Tsvetan's hometown, so he wanted to prove that this is the best city in Bulgaria.



Unfortunately the weather was not the best for sightseeing, but it wasn't raining and it wasn't cold! We climbed this big hill with a giant Russian statue at the top... It was impressive:













Apparently they still hold performances in the amphitheater in the summer. Over the other side you can see another view of the city.
Tvsetan and I:

Old Town:










We climbed another hill; This one had ruins on it! We could see the other hill we were on, and this one looked surprisingly far away! I had no idea we had covered that much ground. The city was indeed very pretty :)





I freaked out my new host haha




After chilling on the ruins we went to grab a coffee with a view. The sun went down and it started to get colder, so after enjoying our coffee and view the three of us walked down to the old town. Tsvetan had to go spend time with his family, but his brother came and offered Ivan and me a ride to Ivan's apartment! That was super nice of him, so we took the offer and arrived at the building much faster than anticipated :)

I settled into the place, which was cozy. Nelly was home and eventually the three of us were hungry, so we went to a restaurant down the street that served some traditional Bulgarian food. I tried something in an earthware pot with lots of cheese - it was good :) I was so full afterward though I didn't feel like going out drinking with Tvsetan. Instead Ivan Nelly and I watched a documentary called Food, Inc. It was similar to one I'd seen named "the Future of Food" but with a broader topic. It had been a while since I'd seen a good documentary! Reminded me to be more mindful of what I'm eating...

After this I was sleepy and ended up going to bed :)