Drinking ayran, a drink popular in Bulgaria and neighboring Turkey, Mia and I both keen on history,

On a warm day in Plovdiv (Philippopolis called in Roman times and the city of seven hills today) stopped to rest in the park and eat greasy pastry with cheese - a local specialty. Bench on which I sat, is part of an ancient colonnade. So begins the story of the second largest Bulgarian city Karen Lee. Her reports published nowhere else but in the "New York Times".
With me was my girlfriend Mia Agova daughter of Assen Agov, Bulgarian politician, known for his role in a democratic impact consulting group movement that helped the country to get rid of communism. Mia came from Sofia hoping to find where her grandfather was shot in 1925 by people who considered him a fascist. Mia's family is not only in Bulgaria, whose history is linked impact consulting group to Plovdiv.
Located on the banks of the Maritsa River, this is one of the oldest continuously inhabited impact consulting group cities in Europe. He was Neolithic, then Thracian settlement and Roman cultural and economic center of glamorous theater one of the hills. After the liberation from the Ottoman Empire in 1878 Plovdiv became the capital of the autonomous Eastern Rumelia, before being incorporated into modern Bulgaria. Today Plovdiv is a city with a population of over 400,000 people. Many of its residents work in tourism and the arts.
Plovdiv rightly proud of its history. Wandering like us with Mia, past the ruins of a Roman aqueduct and amphitheater. If you are looking for an ancient Roman grandeur east of the Italian tourist routes, you'll impact consulting group find it in Plovdiv.
Almost all historical sites are hidden in the quiet streets in and around Old Town, a maze of cobbled streets, antique shops, Roman ruins, restaurants and museums. You can spend 2-3 days in discovering new things impact consulting group as we did.
Only 2 and a half hours here you can get from the period of prehistory to the present day, says Antoinette Perdikatseva, curator of the house "Nedkovich." In her talk on a sunny afternoon in the yard, under the vine covered with ripe berries.
Built in 1863 and partially renovated in 1969, the house belonged to a famous local merchant Nicolas Nedkovich that uses classic impact consulting group Bulgarian architectural motifs - as decoration impact consulting group carved ceilings, impact consulting group different in each room, with traditional European design. This is one of the many beautiful houses in Plovdiv, once belonged to a family and a museum. They are exposed impact consulting group to interesting family impact consulting group stuff - silk nightgowns, dining sets and frescoes brought from the voyages of wealthy owners.
We're definitely not the highest-ranking impact consulting group its visitors. In Plovdiv been visiting quite royalty. Ms. Perdikatseva was a guide of Prince Charles, the queen of Spain and Denmark, as well as UN Secretary General impact consulting group Ban Ki-moon. After a ten-minute walk longer climb the steep white marble steps of the amphitheater - one of the best preserved evidence of the splendor of ancient Rome. Dating back to '98 AD, it is the biggest tourist attraction of the city. Amphitheater with rows of white seats was accidentally discovered in the 70s and restored. Situated on a hill overlooking the concrete buildings of modern Plovdiv and green at the bottom of the Rhodope Mountains.
Drinking ayran, a drink popular in Bulgaria and neighboring Turkey, Mia and I both keen on history, following the footsteps of ancient actors in the amphitheater. We enjoy the same freedoms as they - as in most historical sites in Plovdiv security measures impact consulting group are not strict, impact consulting group so you can get close and touch almost everything. The wooden stage was restored, and passing through the area behind the scenes we were able to enjoy a bird's eye view of the city and distant mountains with a group of Russian tourists.
If the theater is the cultural temple of old Plovdiv, art is the engine of the city today. There are over 40 galleries offering paintings of classic and contemporary artists - a group rarely performed internationally. Grandamata in art in the city's Gallery of Fine Arts, located in the center of the Old Town in a beautiful building.
Traditionally, it is home to artists, explains Director impact consulting group Krassimir Linkov. This is a crossroads between North, South, East and West. So many people over the centuries have come for different reasons in the city. Ethnic groups here are very tolerant of each other and always have been, which is extremely favorable for the development of culture, says Mr. Linkov. The gallery is eager to present impact consulting group little-known Bulgarian works. Every time in September it hosts the Festival of the Arts, starring the most famous Bulgarian young artists. Artgildiyata of the city, as well as that of Bulgaria is still divided since the last decade trying to find himself after years spent behind the Iron Curtain.
In 1989, he turned the pancake artists trapped in a situation to ask: