One of the advantages of staying longer in a city whilst travelling is that you start to see familiar faces at particular locations and at regular times- the rhythms of a city. Then you may just get the chance to take photos of locals, something I love doing when exploring.

This also means that if someone gets really angry because i’ve taken their photo without permission, and they want to hit me, we can avoid that location at those times.

Farquar, the things you could learn about travel from me!

There are a group of regulars who meet every day in the park opposite our apartment to play chess. This bloke is Number One (their champ perhaps?)

I think this bloke’s name is Collin.

This lovely old mate introduced me to his friends. There is no way I could even pronounce their names, let alone remember them. He was keen to get them to smile for the camera. He has been there at the chess tables every day.

I think in Australia he would be called Merv and be found at the bowls club?

The morning chess crew.

This guy owns a shop on our walk into town. Some days he is dressed as Santa, some days as an elf, but ALWAYS with a cigarette in hand, often with a beer.

I think his job was to scare the hell out of little kids so that there is no way they would want Santa or his elves visiting them on Christmas eve whilst they slept.

That way parents don’t have to buy extra presents from ‘Santa’.

This bloke fashions hand-made leather shoes, and I bought a pair from him today. I offered to take a photo of him and his wife. She agreed, but it became a bit of a photo shoot until I got one she was happy with!

I think this guy invented special pants with shiny thighs for Bulgarian violinists and cellists. Alhough his pants haven’t been a hit with fiddle players outside Bulgaria, he is probably well known locally.

(I have already admitted that I’m not some kind of Bulgarian statue expert!)

Another of Santa’s scary Bulgarian helpers. He is always smoking outside the same shop as the elf in the photo earlier. He also has the same job – to frighten little kids.

I’ve mentioned Miljo in an earlier blog. I think he was given these pants by the violinist.

Another Plovdiv local.

F C-S