Tag Archives: Bulgaria 🇧🇬
the dangers of walking
This post is about a 23km walk from Plovdiv to Stamboliyski. I have made a plan to walk to Sofia in ten days. The road is terrible. I was notoriously bad at making decisions, but I had finally made one. In fact I had even bought a ticket. On the 1st of March I would […]
roman theater
This post is about a visit at the Theater Of Philippopolis. I am absolutely in awe of the structures and how well they have been preserved. One thing Plovdiv seemed to do really well was the use of tunnels: there quite a few of them going through the hills that the city sat on. This […]
ugly pretty
This post is about a day spent exploring Plovdiv. I see some Roman ruins, a mosque, some Soviet ugliness, and then I decide to get wasted. Plovdiv turned out to be the prettiest town with the ugliest name: Plovdiv. I didn’t know how it sounded to a Bulgarian speaker, but to me the name evoked […]
this was, like, totally LAAAAAAME
This post is about a 21km walk from Asenovgrad to Plovdiv. I walk on the service lane of a highway. And then there is a terrible bridge. When I looked at the road to Plovdiv on the map I felt worried: there seemed to be no way but the highway. I hated walking on highways, […]
the blue string
This post is about a 21km walk from a roadside chapel to Asenovgrad. I overeat in a restaurant, and then I walk down a bad road. I woke up a few times during the night. Sometimes it was too hot in my sleeping bags. So I would open them a little. Then again it was […]
Iskra
This post is about a 19km walk from Bryagovo to a roadside chapel. I pass the village of Iskra, which got its name from a partisan in WWII. I said goodbye to my hosts and continued walking southwest. This wasn’t the shortest way to Plovdiv (or to my home to Germany) but I wanted to […]
layered hills
This post is about a 10km walk from the Chapel Of Panteleimon to Bryagovo. The road leads past a stunning mountain scenery. At night the temperatures had dropped down to a few degrees below zero. I had been using both my sleeping bags at once, one wrapped within the other, and I hadn’t felt cold […]
make-out point
This post is about a walk from Mineralni Bani to the Chapel Of Panteleimon. It’s a quiet day, and I pass a Turkish village. The road from Mineralni Bani led through quiet, forested hills. There was hardly any traffic. I would walk for a little bit, then sit down somewhere and listen to the birds […]
lyutenitsa
This post is about a 23km walk from Haskovo to Mineralni Bani. I look at a huge monument of the Virgin Mary, then I take a hot bath. My host Ivan had warned me that his house was undergoing renovation, and so everything was going to be pretty basic. I found it perfectly fine anyway. […]
chosque or murch?
This post is about a 22km walk from Aleksandrovo to Haskovo. I pass through a destitute village and see a church that used to be a mosque. Sometimes it’s difficult to say goodbye, and still you do. The sun was warm and the day was quiet when I bid farewell to my hosts and started […]
boostered, looking at pricks
This post is about a visit at the Thracian Tomb of Aleksandrovo. I appreciate the fact that it’s a good replica. I was staying with a lovely family who had a campground in the village of Aleksandrovo. And because they had a car and they were going downtown anyway, I finally had the chance to […]
all we need is love
This post is about a 24km walk from Harmanli to Aleksandrovo. I stop at the biggest refugee camp in Bulgaria, where people are unhappy. The first thing I saw was the wall of the old Caravanserai of Harmanli. It was all that was left of it. Then I crossed a river where I saw a […]
remembrance
This post is about a 21km walk from Lyubimets to Harmanli. It’s cold and grey, and there are a few reminders of the finitude of existence. I woke up to the sound of rain on a tin roof. Beautiful. I lay there, listening to it, then I drifted back into sleep. I dreamt of snow […]
really a prison
This post is about a 17km walk from Svilengrad to Lyubimets. I cross a historical Turkish bridge and see my first refugee camp. And then I walked. It was a warm day, and I took off my hat and my gloves and opened my jacket. I crossed the historical Old Bridge in the center of […]
hornyphon
This post is about a Hornyphon Prinzess in Svilengrad. It keeps me company while I’m having some very good Bulgarian food. Another day of rest. I left the hotel and walked around for a little bit. Found an ATM and got some Bulgarian money. The exchange rate of Lev and Euro was about two to […]
the Grand Corona
This post is about a painful day of rest in the former Grand Corona Hotel in Svilengrad. The Grand Corona Casino is right next door. I woke up late, and when I did, I confusedly remembered a scene from the border crossing the night before. my turn It had happened in the Bulgarian part of […]
no kalimera, no kalispera, and no kalinixta
This post is about a 47km walk from Edirne to Svilengrad. I fail to enter Greece and decide to walk directly into Bulgaria instead. Greece, Hellas, the cradle of Europe. Homer and Alexander, Socrates, Aristotle, and Rotting Christ. It sounded like a promise. I had been pondering over the map for months and years, and […]