The Alien Diaries: The Alien Diaries Visits Bulgaria Part Two

Life for most of us is full of steep stairs to go up and later, shaky stairs to totter down; and very early in the history of stairs must have come the invention of bannisters.

Louis Kronenberger

Stairs and mural in Veliko Tarnovo

Bulgaria is hilly and mountainous. The cities were built on hills and access to tourist sites involved climbing up (and down) many stairs, often without bannisters. Good balance is essential, especially on rainy days, when stone steps can be slippery. I don't remember which cities in Bulgaria had the most stairs. Plovdiv comes in as a close second after Veliko Tarnevo.

The photo below is of an endless stairway, also with no handrails. It took forever to get down. There were times I had to go down sideways.

Going down from one of the Thracian tombs.

Plovdiv is the place to visit if you love murals.and ruins.

The amphitheater in Plovdiv had some really steep stairs. This particular set had handrails, a modern innovation. The amphitheater is used for concerts and performances during the summer.

No handrails on these stairs, also in Plovdiv. Like Rome, it is an ancient city (predating Rome) and built on seven hills. The Romans had not installed bannisters when they built this structure. I wonder how many people fell down the stairs......

Check out this manhole cover. It contains the coat of arms of the city of Plovdiv and to me it's a work of art. The motto translates to: "Ancient and Eternal." I you look close enough you can see the seven hills. Walking on cobblestones in the Old Town was brutal after a while. Even with supportive sneakers it was hard of my knees.

There were street cats everywhere. I don't know if people owned them but they were used to being around humans (unfortunately I don't have the photo of the cat who sat up and begged for food at an outdoor restaurant in Varna. That kitty got a little too close.)

During patriotic holidays in Bulgaria, the leader of the dance often holds a Bulgarian flag in their hands. I missed the celebration in Plovdiv during the weekend of Unification Day; but this is what a street celebration looks like: (not my video; this was taken in Brussels). This was the celebration of the anniversary of Bulgaria joining the European Union (it has been a part of the EU since 2007). The EU is headquartered in Brussels. It was a rainy day, but that didn't dampen the enthusiasm of the crowd.

If you want to skip to the dancing start at 1:45. What I like about this video is that a woman leads the dance (Pravo Horo), one of the most popular dances in Bulgaria.

Bulgarians are enthusiastic about their folklore (music and dance); it is a big source of pride and patriotism for them. After being oppressed by the Turks for 500 years, I can understand why. Since many young Bulgarians (and a few older ones) speak English) they chatted with me when I told them of my interest in folklore and we had some lively conversations (more on this in a future post). They were particularly impressed when I told them I was familiar with many of the dances.

In Bulgaria, especially in Sofia, there are underpasses under the busiest streets. They are a clever way to for people to avoid unwanted encounters with traffic and trams. The metro stations are accessible from the underpasses. Another unique thing about this underpass was that there were exhibitions of the ruins of Serdica. They were found when the Sofia Metro was under construction.

Bulgarians live forever in the afterlife on trees and bulletin boards in the center of town. These obituaries are called "necrologs." I took no pictures of them out of respect for the families, but if you want to see what they look like and read more about them, click here.

If you enjoyed this you may also like:

The Alien Diaries Visits Bulgaria Part One

The Best of the Bisserov Sisters and Family (includes video footage taken in the Sofia Metro at Serdica station).