Plovdiv and Winery

We started out with a meeting with the English department of Plovdiv University. They have a large one and have lots of graduates each year. Only about 4% of their large number of grads become teachers because the pay here is so low. It was interesting to hear a little about their program. It does include some practical work but seemed to be more theory based.

We then took a walking tour of the old town of Plovidv. We saw a Roman amphitheatre that they are using today as a place for concerts. If fact, they were preparing for a concert for the evening when we were there. We asked out it and our guide described the singer as the Madonna of Bulgaria so I opted not to go to that concert!

We also saw lots of interesting architectural styles of houses. Most of the houses are built on really small plots of land so like other European cities of the time, the upper floors of the houses stick out over the street to make more room. We had a little free time here to explore and shop.


Afterward, we visited the Todoroff winery. We had a short tour of their cellars and facilities and then a short wine tasting. They make only red wine at this particular winery and the three varieties we tried were very tasty. The one I liked the best was the oldest one and (of course) the most expensive one! We then had a wonderful lunch that included salad, a baked potato stuffed with cheese and ham and then the main course which was a pasta with chicken dish. YUM!! There was a flan like dessert (we call it gelatinous goo) as well as fruit. We were so full afterwards but some made it down to the shop to purchase a little bit of Bulgaria before our bus trip back to Sofia.
We were all ready to come "home" to our hotel in Sofia and have a little more free time to end up the trip. I think we are all a little sad that the trip is coming to and end but also excited to see family and friends back home.