Medieval Magic of Bulgaria and Romania - July 2025 - Hostess Round Up - Cindy Plant

Well, the Bulgaria and Romania Sisters have returned and it was magic, but to our surprise not all medieval.  It was like being in a time machine and on any given day we could be in a completely different century, ranging from 4th century BC all the way through to the present day. Having said that we did spend a lot of time in the medieval period but on some occasions, like in Sofia, we could see buildings from the 1st,4th, 11th, 13th, 15th ,19th and 20th century all within metres of each other.

We had the opportunity to see tombs and frescoes from the Thracians which date back to BC in Kazanlak. We also got to walk through roman ruins in many places.  In Sofia the old Roman town of Serdica was visible thanks to subway excavations and we were able to walk on the original main road through town and see where the buildings and baths would have been.  In Plovdiv we were able to walk over ancient mosaic floors from a basilica dating back to the 4th century, that were discovered when a road widening project was undertaken, and are now protected by glass and housed in a modern building. And to completely blow our minds we also sat eating dinner in Plovdiv while admiring a Roman stadium that was discovered when a pedestrian mall was being constructed. Just incredible.

The sisters also visited many amazing monasteries hidden up in the mountains and incredible churches with beautiful frescoes and decorations as we travelled through the countryside.  We also had the opportunity to visit many old towns and see how people from different walks of life would have lived many years ago.  The housing ranged from very basic to incredibly beautiful and we were often seen with our jaws dropped as we admired what was before our eyes.

We were blessed with the weather throughout our entire trip with warm sunny days and we had a couple of opportunities to take advantage of the thermal springs that can be found throughout Bulgaria. Some of us even added on a relaxation massage just to top off the experience.

As we drove from one location to the next we saw miles of sunflowers or corn in the valleys with various mountain ranges as the backdrop. We also got to see the famous storks that come to Bulgaria and Romania and build their huge nests (80-90 kg) to have their babies and teach them to fly before making the long journey back to Africa.

The sisters enjoyed amazing hospitality throughout the trip and ate incredibly well, often having 3 course meals at least once if not twice a day, accompanied by the local beer or wine if desired.  The food was very fresh and we found out that both countries make excellent desserts thanks to the various influences over the centuries.

Probably one of the biggest realisations by the sisters was that the communist period of approximately 40 years is such a small part of what is in fact a 2000 plus year history.  The sisters would probably also agree that two of our highlights were in Bulgaria where we dressed up in traditional dress and danced in the street with a Baba (local granny) and another evening where we enjoyed an aqua aerobic session next to our swim up bar at a beautiful spa hotel. 

Yes our trip was informative and educational but it was also lots of fun.  Til next time ��