Bulgaria - Eastern Europe - page 101

the rates are currently so favorable) is the new four-star Hotel Orlovetz
( & 03021/9000 or 03021/8511; [e-mail]). In 2006, 3 nights in a very
spacious double room with wonderful mountain views cost a mere 180lev ($115/£62)
per night, including breakfast (price reduces with length of stay). The hotel also has
an excellent (and equally reasonably priced) range of treatments to deal with aching
post- piste muscles.
If you would prefer to have everything taken care of by one operator—from accom-
modations and equipment hire to instructor and passes, take a look at www.Bulgaria
Ski.com , the biggest source of information on skiing and snowboarding in Bulgaria;
booking here is often very cost-effective (6-day “full ski package” including instruc-
tion, equipment, and passes costs 263 /$334).

Caveat: While they are cheap, none of Bulgaria's resorts come close to the standards
set by European and American resorts, not only from an infrastructure point of view
(the reason they didn't make the 2014 Winter Olympics short list), something you
will feel keenly if you cannot ski for a day or two due to foul weather.

€

5 Plovdiv & The Valley of Kings
Plovdiv is 147km (92 miles) from Sofia; 190km (118 miles) from Veliko Tarnovo.
Five thousand years ago the central plains of Bulgaria, stretching from the foothills of
the Balkan mountains to the heartlands of the Rhodopes, were once the central home
of the Thracian tribes, said to be Europe's first civilization, whose gold and silversmith
techniques were the most sophisticated of ancient times. The area, referred to as the
“Valley of Kings,” is rich in archaeological finds (of which the UNESCO-listed
Kanaznluk tomb is the most famous), but the most popular destination in the region
is a city. Described during Thracian times as “the biggest and most beautiful towns in
all of Thrace,” gorgeous Plovdiv is still the jewel in Bulgaria's crown, with a long and
varied history that is a great deal more palpable than Sofia's.
Known to the ancient Greek writers as Eumolpiade, the original settlement was
invaded by Philip II of Macedon (father of Alexander the Great) in 342 B . C ., who
renamed it Philippopolis in honor of himself. Initially a frontier town, the city's strate-
gic position on the Belgrade-Constantinople trade route ensured that it flourished
under Roman rule (a period of which there is still ample proof, most notably the
Roman theater, said to be the largest outside of Italy) but also that it would be invaded
(and renamed) no fewer than six times.
The town experienced its second heyday during the late 17th to 19th centuries,
when the town's most affluent merchants flashed their wealth by building beautiful
town houses. The best urban examples of the style known as National Revival (also
referred to as “Bulgarian Baroque'), these richly decorated timber houses showcased
the considerable skills of the Bulgarian artisans in their pay.
Declared an architectural-historical reserve in 1956, the cobbled streets of Old
Plovdiv—meandering past Roman ruins, imposing mosques, cool church courtyards,
and the beautifully painted facades and terraced architecture of these National Revival
homes—offer a crash course in local history, while the sheer beauty of the color com-
binations and geometric lines provide even the most amateur photographer with won-
derful images to show off back home.
It may be Bulgaria's second-largest city, but Plovdiv likes to lay claim to the title of
“cultural capital'; certainly its art galleries far out-class Sofia's, and in the spring and