Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Monday June 9th

Keith and Christine would love to hear from you with questions, comments, personal news and any news at all from Australia or wherever you are. We will reply to all emails! Please write to either windlechristine@gmail.com or windle.keith@gmail.com

There is nothing more restful than sleeping in the country and waking to the sound of birds instead of traffic. Natasha had left, unheard by either of us, and we had slept on until our body clocks chimed – Keith’s some time before mine. Breakfast was leisurely and then I settled to writing up the day we went to Gallipoli, a blog entry that was long and fairly difficult to do. Not because it wasn’t a very significant day on our trip, but because it was, and I wanted to do it justice. All through the writing we were discussing our feelings and memories of the day and the events of 1915. I had not finished it, or the entry for our visit to Troy when it was time for lunch.

We heard voices and were surprised to see Kyril and a friend. I didn’t recognise Kyril, whom we had not met but whose photo at his high school graduation we had seen. Many experiences later, he is a guide who has a strong commitment to, and interest in, the environment. Amazingly he had a didgeridoo in his hand, and told us that he is working on playing it. His friend left and he led us up the lane beside the house and into the mountain. One important thing to know about Bulgaria is that it has plenty of water, with springs pouring out of the earth all over the place and rivers flowing vigorously. As a consequence, the deciduous forests on the mountains grow densely, with upper storey canopies and several levels of lush undergrowth. We could hear the ground seeping slightly and the perfume of the trees and flowers, in particular the pines, was so fresh. All our senses seemed to be turned up a notch. It was a very different experience to walks I have had so far in Australia, with very much a feeling of going ‘up into the mountain’, of the mountain wrapping itself around you and of other creatures present.

All the while Kyril was answering Keith’s questions. Wild animals are not often encountered but there are deer, foxes, rabbits and wild pigs, there used to be wolves and there are now feral dogs and cats. There are some native species of pine trees but the ones on this mountain were planted during the communist era to reforest areas that had been over used. Unfortunately, these black pines have turned the soil acidic and not much grows under them, showing a lamentable lack of research into environmental effects. The impact of technology has been immense on forests, where once a man with a hand saw cut a certain amount, but now a chain saw and other equipment has changed everything. There are controls on logging by permits, but a certain amount of turning a blind eye, as a result of inducements, happens. It was fascinating talking with Kyril about plant species, his travels and his environmental activities, providing an insight for us into another aspect of Bulgaria.

Emerging at a high peak, we scornfully ignored the distant thunder and threatening clouds and walked on a little.

The spring water was icy cold and pure. Finally, the weather catching us as the thunder storm broke, we plunged back into the forest for protection and scampered back to the house.

There I typed, Keith slept and Kyril mooched around, coming in with a dish of mountain strawberries that now grow in their garden. Tiny and crunchy with seeds, they have an intense and very sweet flavour. After some more chatting, we set off to catch the 4.30 bus into Plovdiv.

The street trees in this village are cherry trees, with delicious cherries on them.

We walked to the flat from the bus stop, with Kyril explaining more about the area around us and life in Bulgaria. Compulsory military service, once only waived if a boy was studying at university, has ceased and now Bulgaria has a regular army with professional soldiers. Kyril took us a way we hadn’t gone before, across a large field, and he lamented the building boom and the current city planning that has caused and allowed so many open green spaces to disappear since he was a child. He is about 27 years old now.

It wasn’t long before Natasha got home from work and said that she was sure we could get tickets to the rock concert she was going to, if we wanted to go. It was to feature the music of Freddy Mercury and Queen. Of course we did, so after dinner and showers we were off around the corner of elderly gamblers again and heading for the Ancient Roman Amphitheatre. There was a bit of an anti-climax when we arrived an hour early, but it should impress anyone who knows how we usually run at or after the very last minute for everything. It was a very relaxing feeling; one that we must try to cultivate.

In buying tickets, and then in Natasha asking if we could swap Natasha’s so we could sit together, we were kindly upgraded from the sides to the centre, from cheap seats to expensive ones, and from marble with a magazine on it to cushioned comfort. Just as the Romans would have, we sat and observed the audience, with Natasha giving us an entertaining commentary on who was doing what with whom. Ten minutes after the starting time, a light-hearted clap started, grew and waved across the crowd. Natasha explained that ‘on time’ for Bulgarians means starting to arrive at the appointed starting time with many coming ten to fifteen minutes late.

Eventually the backing singers, dressed a little like monks, and the philharmonic orchestra and their casually clothed conductor came out to great applause. They were followed by an extremely energetic young singer, one of the finalists from Bulgarian Idol last year. The sound was literally deafening, with years reduced from our future hearing capacity in five minutes. Either the sound levels were turned down slightly or deafness had already set in because it was not so bad from then on. Three young performers presented the songs, which delighted the audience who sang along, waved and danced in their spots. The show moved on quickly from song to song with great energy and costume changes for one of the men. There were a couple of operatic numbers, which included a woman whose beautiful voice rippled off into the breeze from the high stage of marble statues. Her elegant, full length, cerise gown fell in folds like a modern version of a Roman gown. The audience was most appreciative of everything and this feeling fed to the stage and rebounded to the audience, as should happen in any very successful concert. I had a favourite man in the audience who looked like a staid accountant, but who let the inner rock concert attendee out as soon as the music began.

Some of the songs included were Barcelona, Don’t stop Me Now, Bicycle, We Will Rock You, Radio Ga Ga and Bohemian Rhapsody. By the time they reached We Are the Champions I joined Natasha and many of the crowd who were joining in thoroughly, and Keith stood up too when it became impossible to see across the rest of us.

What a night of great entertainment! We couldn’t actually hear Natasha suggest we leave a different way so she had to use hand signals and it was about half an hour before our ears recovered and we could talk in comfort again.

We walked back companionably together, packed up everything, including a jar of strawberry jam from Natasha’s kind mother and a little Bulgarian jug from Natasha, and went to bed. We would have to rise early to catch the bus to Veliko Turnovo in the morning. The concert had been a fabulous finale to our time staying with Natasha and her family.