bulgaria - another day another UNESCO site

so the next morning we headed out into the old town area of Plovdiv to see the sights-

the entire area of the pedestrian street was once part of a Roman hippodrome- and is now lined with lovely European style buildings from the turn of the last century.

We see the part of the Roman ruins that remain in several places - including the stadium and the amphitheater and part of the forum...

there is a renovated mosque right near the stadium-

Then we head up hill to the oldest part of the city - an area that has also been protected by UNESCO-

I guess it shouldn't surprise that the houses look very similar to the ones in Turkey given how close we are to that country and how long the Bulgarians were under what they refer to as the "Turkish Yoke" -

you can still find pay phones here-

then we were off to the winery for lunch and a tour and tasting-

so back to our less than stellar accommodations (they would end up being the worst of the trip) in Plovdiv... and updated soviet style hotel with creaky wooden floors and rooms that reeked of cigarette smoke! but only two nights so tomorrow night we get another shot at better digs... stay tuned. You already know it gets better because I told you this was the worst one...LOL