BULGARIA BLOG: written 20/5/19

Hristo Stoichkov.

That's all I knew about Bulgaria before this trip.

What do I know now? It's the oldest country in Europe but its people are Asian and its culture was almost wiped out.

And they're addicted to cheese.

OUT OF AFRICA, AND ASIA

Parts of Sofia and other towns resemble Dickensian London or Havana; crumbling 1800s houses with sagging roofs, orange slates falling off and small dormer windows.

This was the first-populated area of Europe as out-of-Africans migrated along the River Danube 45,000 years ago.

Thracians, the first culture to work gold – with a sideline in recreational drugs and orgies - arrived in 4,000 BC.

Sofia was almost capital of the Eastern Roman Empire ahead of Constantinople, and remained its second city thanks to 85 hot springs which still still flow out of snow-capped Mt Vitosha overlooking the city.

The Roman city of Serdica was hidden until 20 years ago, when subway excavations dug up a 20,000 capacity amphitheatre.

Now, remarkably, right next to Sofia's main station and square, I walk down Roman roads, marvelling at bathhouses and remains of red brick villas.

But Bulgarians are not European. Bulgars, relatives of Mongolia's Genghis Khan, came from Central Asia in 632AD and even called their leaders Khans.

Sick of using the Roman alphabet, two Bulgarian brothers dreamt up Cyrillic, based on Greek.

Bulgarian culture would have been wiped out during the Ottoman Empire's 500-year rule until 1878, had it not been for monasteries preserving the language, culture and religion banned by Muslim rulers.

Russian Communists invaded at the end of World War II, and the secret police which followed was among the most feared of Soviet states.

Bulgaria is now in the EU but still hasn't joined the euro.

SPLASH AND SOBER

They really like cheese here.

Some bakeries had eight variations of cheese pastries. The country's most famous dish - kavarma meat stew, served in Sophia's (outstanding) most traditional restaurant – was submerged in cheese.

And in a mountain village restaurant, Google Translate's astonishing live video screen changed Cyrillic words to English before my disbelieving eyes, revealing 'omelette with cheese and cheese.'

Bulgaria's mountains look like a lush, smaller version of the Rockies, with beige cliffs, Alpine meadows and gushing rivers which I found to my surprise not to be cold when our raft capsized.

Black Sea beaches are calling me for a future holiday.

Travelling in my twenties, I hated flowers, walking tours and being sober for more than 24 hours.

Now, I like botanical gardens and loved the Free Sofia Walking Tour, source of most facts in this blog - but I still couldn't resist downing a pint of beer through a 3ft vuvuzela horn on Sofia's high street.

Well, I was on a stag do after all.