Seriously, is there anything better than Roman Ruins? Everyone should know by now that thetwinsontour LOVE Roman Ruins.  Today we hit the jackpot! Plovdiv, Bulgaria is recognized by Unesco as the second longest inhabited city in the world (after Damascus). For some reason, I want to say it’s 8,000 years old but I know that’s impossible and the Unesco website is no help.  Anyways, it’s an old city that has seen lots of different empires.  I do know it was a city of seven hills, but one of the hills was mined so much that it eventually wasn’t a hill anymore and they built a shopping mall there instead.  So now they call it the city of 6 hills and a shopping mall.  

Imagine if you will, its the year 85 AD, you are a Roman citizen living in the vast Roman empire, and you want to go watch Hamilton or maybe Rent.  Where would you go? Why to the Roman Amphitheater in Plovdiv of course! The very same Amphitheater that thetwinsontour went to today! It’s very nearly 2,000 years old.  (When you get that old, it’s ok to round up.) Now, the cool thing is that it is still being used today to stage productions.  Unfortunately we didn’t get to see anything other than the stage. Actually, it’s better that way.  Have you ever sat on a Roman Era marble seat for two hours? Well, I haven’t either but I am sure the excitement wears off in about 5 minutes and after about 7 minutes you start to lose the feeling in your legs. It can’t be comfortable at all, even with the thin little cushions they have put down for extra butt comfort.  

Now, thetwinsontour had pledged to listen to the local guide once we got to the Amphitheater because we wanted to know ALL THE THINGS about the Amphitheater because thetwinsontour LOVE Roman Ruins.  Alas, that did not happen. We were overwhelmed by the amazingness of the  Amphitheater.  We quickly started exploring and ended up down on the stage wandering around and just basking in the glory of 2,000 year old ruins.  I thought I was taking a million pictures, but I didn’t get that many at all.  Now since this is still used for plays and things, they do have to maintain the stairs and benches.  Some of the stairs are quite new and even and safe, but some are clearly 2,000 years old and have been worn away by 2,000 years worth of footsteps.  Have I mentioned how much thetwinsontour LOVE Roman Ruins?

There are also a few random sites around town where they have discovered more Roman Ruins.  In the middle of one of the longest pedestrian zones in the world (not sure the guide was correct on that one, but we will go with it) is the Roman sport arena.  It’s not very complete, but it is there.  And we happened across several other little random ruins too.  The history of it all is just mind bogglingly amazing.  

After all that excitement, it was time to hop on the bus and head to Sofia, Bulgaria.  Sofia is the capital and largest city of Bulgaria.   We went for a quick walk around town before dinner.  And guess what! The metro station is full of Roman Ruins too! Roman Ruins are everywhere! (maybe in every metro station?) Are you sitting down for this? Take a deep breath before proceeding.

We walked on an ORIGINAL ROMAN ROAD! It’s just part of the subway passages and you have to walk on an ORIGINAL ROMAN ROAD! I walked on the same road that maybe Julius Caesar or Marcus Aurelius or Russel Crowe or the most famous Bulgarian ever, Spartacus, might have walked on.  It’s like a 2,000 year old road and I walked on it!

The crazy thing is that they have so many random Roman Ruins that they are literally just leaning up against a wall as decoration in a subway station.  Like, yeah these are our crappy leftover ruins that we don’t know what to do with so let’s just lean them up against a wall.  If I wasn’t worried about baggage weight limits I could just grab one out of the subway station and sneak  a giant Roman Ruin home with me.  Any of them would look nice in my flower garden. I’d even keep the weeds out of the garden to better show off my Roman Ruin.

Ok, I can’t handle the excitement anymore so I am going to wrap this up.  But tomorrow we get to go and see even more Roman Ruins.

Love,

thetwinsontour

PS. Don’t forget to follow thetwinsontour on TikTok.  We posted a great one there today!