Day 74 - Plovdiv

 Total so far 3,941.8 km - 554 Left to pedal

Video of the day: Europe Day 73 & 74   

We went back to the “Old Town” to visit Nebet Tepe - Archaeological Complex on top of the northern most of three hills. An amazing place that dates back to the Stone-copper Age (IV millennium BC) to present. “Nebet Tepe” is a Turkish name (meaning watch/tower) and conveys its importance as an observatory of the traffic on the river and valley below. 

There are still a number of family homes and businesses around the Nebet Tepe fortress and it’s difficult to imagine how they do simple things like carry groceries or bring in furniture. Every road there is narrow, steep and paved with rocks, not flat pavers.  

Rocks instead of pavers

We had a nice lunch of vegetables and meat medley served on a clay pot. We split the huge portion as it was too much for one.

Great lunch

Heading back to our place, we stayed in the shade as much as we could. It was around 35 degrees after lunch and it was very hot. Since it’s dry, just finding shade is a tremendous relief.

Keep on the shady side

The forecast for tomorrow and pretty much the rest of the week is sunny and hot. We plan on being on the road by 7 am to take advantage of cooler morning temperatures and less wind.

Plovdiv turned out to be an amazing place to experience. Just 4 months ago, it was just a funny name on a map not far from Turkey. Definitely worth a return visit. This place has over 20 museums with 13 of them in the Old Town.