Welcome to the Ancient City of Plovdiv!
I was born here, the city of Plovdiv and the sixth oldest city in the world. At the ripe age of 8,000 (!!) years, Plovdiv is happily situated in a valley at the foothills of six granite hills, in between three main mountain ranges and within a 2-hour drive to the Black Sea sandy beaches, some of the best ski resorts in the Balkans and the borders with Greece and Turkey. Thracians, Greeks, Romans, Turks, and now Bulgarians, have all called it home at some point in history (and have also certainly fought for it at some point in history). And I will be the first to admit that the development of my hometown through the ages is so long and convoluted, that I decided to leave it to the professionals to tell it! The video at the bottom is an 8-minute overview of the city backed by some of the most beautifully shot scenery I have ever seen. Immediately below are some of the outtakes of my own journey through Main Street, The Old Town, and the Ancient Town. Enjoy!
A few months back, a co-worker of mine convinced me to join my company's Spartan Race team. He didn't talk it up much: he mentioned it's a long-ish run with a few fun obstacles. You know, no big deal. Something someone who runs as much as me should complete more than easily (read, you don't really need to train for it). Ha ha ha.