Pwovdiv (The True Pronunciation)
Went to see Superman Returns yesterday afternoon, at the local cinema. The screen was tiny, with just over 100 seats, 6 small speakers stationed around the room and only 11 of us watching the film. We had been rather worried whether or not the film would be dubbed into Bulgarian, and were debating whether or not to walk out if it turned out to be. But there were subtitles, and the film was very enjoyable.
We ignored the few hiccups, such as sound mysteriously getting very very quiet, and strange 'splicing' of reels, where the film would jump ahead a few minutes... But it was fun, and nice to have an afternoon sitting in an air-conditioned room. Very odd walking out, because we expected to be in England again - your mindset changes and you forget entirely where you are. It took us a while to get used to being in Bulgaria again!
Had a meal in a little restaurant off the main shopping street last night - unfortunately our waiter confused 'bread' with 'veal' so he brought us our spaghetti, and then a plate of veal each. We pointed out his mistake, he got rather huffy, removed the veal and spent the rest of the evening walking past with his nose in the air, refusing to look in our direction. (We assume he had to pay for it from his wages...)
Still, wasn't as bad as the previous nights' food - had 'pork neck' in a nice-looking place on the street, and when it turned up, it was bloodier than a medium beef-steak in the middle. Only realised half way through, so called the waitress over, explained the problem (as far as one can in a foreign country), said no to more and ended up paying for one, rather than two. Spent the rest of the evening hoping that we had bypassed any food poisoning - but it was fine.
Had a musical late evening, with a performance on a stage in the main square of a dance group jumping into the air amidst much smoke and loud music, and an aging rock group (we heard the name 'Rolling Stones' in there somewhere, but seeing as it was Plovdiv, with a crowd of just a few hundred, and they spoke Bulgarian, maybe they were just a tribute band...). Walked away, into a crowd watching a small harmony choir called Synergy from the USA - they had fantastic vocals, and it was great to watch them perform.
Went into the Old Town this morning - on the way along the cobblestones, up the hill, we spotted an 80-odd man with a wind-up organ, who suddenly sprang to life when some tourists emerged from a nearby building. He energetically turned the handle and plinky-plonk music poured out of the machine, but he quickly tired and the music started to sound rather odd and v-e-r-y s-l-o-w... He then stopped and (we assume) turned the handle quickly the opposite way, so came out back-to-front and sounding like some sort of weird Beatles' backmasking...
Visited Nebet Tepe - one of three hills surrounding the town, with remnants of a Byzantine fortress and ruined Thracian citadel looking over Plovdiv. The view was fantastic on a day like today, with no clouds in the sky.
Made our way through the narrow cobbled streets to the Amphitheatre (took a while because, due to no signage and useless map, we got lost). It is a huge arena, situated over a busy dual-carriageway - they found the ruins when excavating a tunnel for the road underneath. The semi-circular seating is largely intact, with some renovation using concrete and stone. Also found some ancient symbols on the seats, possibly noting where the 'important people' would sit.
Walked around and behind the theatre, where we saw a huge swallowtail butterfly on a flower. Typically, when H got the camera out it moved and, much to the amusement of a local Bulgarian sitting nearby, a chase ensued, whereby it would sit on a flower, pose, then float happily away just as the shutter was pressed. And no, we didn't get a photo.
The Old Town is gorgeous, with National Revival-period houses overhanging the small streets and wooden shutters across the windows. Roman ruins lie around every corner, and numerous thin and moth-eaten cats saunter along the streets, adding to the character. Made the mistake of feeding a couple of cats some morsels of ham and (yellow) cheese as we ate lunch - they became very excited and looked up mournfully with big hungry eyes, for the rest of the meal.
Another thing about Bulgaria - they are obsessed with ham and yellow cheese. Everything has yellow cheese (not red cheese, or green cheese but yellow cheese) - it's actually made from a specific sheep's milk and is called 'Kashkaval', or, as the Bulgarian's translate it, 'Yellow Cheese'. Numerous menus offer (along with tripe soup - yum) 'Yellow Cheese with a Hat', 'Yellow Cheese Under a Cover', 'Yellow Cheese in a Pot' or even, for the adventurous, 'Yellow Cheese Rolled in Ham'. We like yellow cheese.
On that note, we will say goodbye, and go and buy an ice cream. Hope it's not too hot for you over there - it's not too bad here, however hot it is, there's always a refreshing breeze.
Lots of love to all of you
From the both of us xxx
We ignored the few hiccups, such as sound mysteriously getting very very quiet, and strange 'splicing' of reels, where the film would jump ahead a few minutes... But it was fun, and nice to have an afternoon sitting in an air-conditioned room. Very odd walking out, because we expected to be in England again - your mindset changes and you forget entirely where you are. It took us a while to get used to being in Bulgaria again!
Had a meal in a little restaurant off the main shopping street last night - unfortunately our waiter confused 'bread' with 'veal' so he brought us our spaghetti, and then a plate of veal each. We pointed out his mistake, he got rather huffy, removed the veal and spent the rest of the evening walking past with his nose in the air, refusing to look in our direction. (We assume he had to pay for it from his wages...)
Still, wasn't as bad as the previous nights' food - had 'pork neck' in a nice-looking place on the street, and when it turned up, it was bloodier than a medium beef-steak in the middle. Only realised half way through, so called the waitress over, explained the problem (as far as one can in a foreign country), said no to more and ended up paying for one, rather than two. Spent the rest of the evening hoping that we had bypassed any food poisoning - but it was fine.
Had a musical late evening, with a performance on a stage in the main square of a dance group jumping into the air amidst much smoke and loud music, and an aging rock group (we heard the name 'Rolling Stones' in there somewhere, but seeing as it was Plovdiv, with a crowd of just a few hundred, and they spoke Bulgarian, maybe they were just a tribute band...). Walked away, into a crowd watching a small harmony choir called Synergy from the USA - they had fantastic vocals, and it was great to watch them perform.
Went into the Old Town this morning - on the way along the cobblestones, up the hill, we spotted an 80-odd man with a wind-up organ, who suddenly sprang to life when some tourists emerged from a nearby building. He energetically turned the handle and plinky-plonk music poured out of the machine, but he quickly tired and the music started to sound rather odd and v-e-r-y s-l-o-w... He then stopped and (we assume) turned the handle quickly the opposite way, so came out back-to-front and sounding like some sort of weird Beatles' backmasking...
Visited Nebet Tepe - one of three hills surrounding the town, with remnants of a Byzantine fortress and ruined Thracian citadel looking over Plovdiv. The view was fantastic on a day like today, with no clouds in the sky.
Made our way through the narrow cobbled streets to the Amphitheatre (took a while because, due to no signage and useless map, we got lost). It is a huge arena, situated over a busy dual-carriageway - they found the ruins when excavating a tunnel for the road underneath. The semi-circular seating is largely intact, with some renovation using concrete and stone. Also found some ancient symbols on the seats, possibly noting where the 'important people' would sit.
Walked around and behind the theatre, where we saw a huge swallowtail butterfly on a flower. Typically, when H got the camera out it moved and, much to the amusement of a local Bulgarian sitting nearby, a chase ensued, whereby it would sit on a flower, pose, then float happily away just as the shutter was pressed. And no, we didn't get a photo.
The Old Town is gorgeous, with National Revival-period houses overhanging the small streets and wooden shutters across the windows. Roman ruins lie around every corner, and numerous thin and moth-eaten cats saunter along the streets, adding to the character. Made the mistake of feeding a couple of cats some morsels of ham and (yellow) cheese as we ate lunch - they became very excited and looked up mournfully with big hungry eyes, for the rest of the meal.
Another thing about Bulgaria - they are obsessed with ham and yellow cheese. Everything has yellow cheese (not red cheese, or green cheese but yellow cheese) - it's actually made from a specific sheep's milk and is called 'Kashkaval', or, as the Bulgarian's translate it, 'Yellow Cheese'. Numerous menus offer (along with tripe soup - yum) 'Yellow Cheese with a Hat', 'Yellow Cheese Under a Cover', 'Yellow Cheese in a Pot' or even, for the adventurous, 'Yellow Cheese Rolled in Ham'. We like yellow cheese.
On that note, we will say goodbye, and go and buy an ice cream. Hope it's not too hot for you over there - it's not too bad here, however hot it is, there's always a refreshing breeze.
Lots of love to all of you
From the both of us xxx
posted by the travellers at 1:15 pm
2 Comments:
So glad you're enjoying Pwovdiv and especially the yellow cheese.
Hope you go butterfly chasing again tomorrow - it sounds highly entertaining.
How could you lose the amphitheatre - isn't it big enough?
Tremendous thunder and rain here yesterday, cooler today, but getting hot again apparently. I think we're all starting to get used to it now.
We're going to Anglesey on Friday for a week and then a week in mid Wales so will probably be incommunicado - however we're going to try to find an internet cafe and log on (ha ha - should be amusing).
Loads of love
M,A,G,T&T
Hello!
I wont ask why you WANTED bread with your pasta, girls?! Hope youre eating lots of fresh 'green' things, wouldnt want you to return with scurvy.
Had a lovely weekend with the folks up in town, a good time was had by all! Had to eat our dinner in 45 minutes flat though as we had to get to the theatre for 7.30, and all of us ended up pegging it down Regents St, and were VERY hot subsequently on arrival.. Still baking hot here, but trying not to complain, would hate it if it was raining!
Speaking to D today about booking flights, so hopefully see you in a few weeks.
Lots of love,
Lydia xxxx
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