Rick Steves’ Travel Blog

Hooray for Кириллица (Cyrillic)! There’s nothing like a parade to celebrate the use of your particular brand of alphabet. In Bulgaria, a day comes in late May when there’s no school. All the generations gather for dances, laying bouquets on memorials, and a grand parade to celebrate their Cyrillic alphabet (which is also a celebration of their language and their culture). We’re in the city of Kazanlak, and today it’s all about those medieval missionary monks (Methodius and Cyril) who promoted Christianity to the Bulgarians and gave that corner of the world its alphabet — named not for Methodius … but for Cyril. Enjoy the scene as this humble town in the poorest country in the EU is filled with the simple joy of being Bulgarian. It’s fun, as an American, to be reminded that people across our globe treasure their heritage every bit as much as we do.

This is Day 49 of my 100 Days in Europe series. As I research my guidebooks and make new TV shows, I’m reporting on my experiences and lessons learned in Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Bulgaria, Romania, and beyond. Find more at blog.ricksteves.com.

This clip captures the simple joy of just being out on a Sunday afternoon in Bulgaria. I love the fact that there are songs that mean absolutely nothing to an American like me that get the local crowd, both young and old, jumping onto the dance floor. This one was a real favorite. Enjoying this scene in Sofia, it occurred to me, I didn’t need no stinkin’ folk show on some tourist stage. This was the real thing. Scenes like this demonstrate that, even in the poorest country in the EU, there’s an abundance of joy. And sharing in that joy is one of the beauties of travel.

(Notice also the joyful woman — who I just had to dance with — for whom dancing is clearly a fountain of youth.)

This is Day 48 of my 100 Days in Europe series. As I research my guidebooks and make new TV shows, I’m reporting on my experiences and lessons learned in Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Bulgaria, Romania, and beyond. Find more at blog.ricksteves.com.

Plovdiv is to Bulgaria what Krakow is to Poland: It’s the historic capital and the most enjoyable city (even though the capital city — Sofia or Warsaw — is much bigger and more consequential). Plovdiv has ankle-breaker cobbles, a fun little foodie/hipster zone, and a great paseo vibe on its long pedestrian boulevard. Like cities are doing across Europe, it has artfully incorporated its archaeological sites into its modern, people-friendly layout. The layers are fun to ponder: Under the happy 2016 ambience is a stern Communist shell; an Ottoman-era mosque; and finally a racecourse where, 2,000 years ago, chariots careened around this corner. Whenever I’m here, I find myself wondering why most Americans don’t give Bulgaria a second thought. Sure, it’s got the alphabet and the religion and the Slavic blood of “Mother Russia.” But the dreams and the aspirations are facing West — a reason to encourage us to travel East.

This is Day 47 of my 100 Days in Europe series. As I research my guidebooks and make new TV shows, I’m reporting on my experiences and lessons learned in Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Bulgaria, Romania, and beyond. Find more at blog.ricksteves.com.

When ideologies change so do the statues on the square. And with the end of the Cold War about 25 years ago, statues from Vilnius to Varna came tumbling down. Bulgaria, so subservient to Mother Russia throughout its 45-year-long communist nightmare, had more than its share of these propaganda statues. And many of them fill the backyard of the art museum in its capital city, Sofia.

I remember visiting the tomb of Georgi Dimitrov (the father of the Bulgarian Communist Party) here in Sofia back in the day. It was like going to a mini-wannabe Lenin’s Tomb. Today, no one even thinks of him. And his statue is just another face in this stony junkyard of propaganda.

I love to visit places like this and think of politics — compromise, diversity, respect, democracy, pluralism — and the treasure we have in our freedom. Here’s a quick tour.

This is Day 46 of my 100 Days in Europe series. As I research my guidebooks and make new TV shows, I’m reporting on my experiences and lessons learned in Portugal, Spain, Italy, France, Bulgaria, Romania, and beyond. Find more at blog.ricksteves.com.