Plovdiv is Bulgaria's charming, second-largest city. We stayed two nights in a 5-room, family-run hotel on the edge of the old part of the city, and took a Free Plovdiv tour, given this time by a high school senior who was pleasant, but less informed than we'd like. The tour was cut a bit short by a thunderstorm, but we had another day to return to some of the sites. The highlight is a Roman theater (from the time of Trajan), discovered when excavating after a landslide in the 1970s. Roman ruins are found scattered throughout the city, and there are also grand, recently restored, 19th century houses built for wealthy merchants. The city center is down the hill from the old town, with modern, chic shops, bustling and pleasant. The art scene is vibrant, with an international festival to have begun just after we left. We attempted to attend an opening of an exhibit of Spanish art, listed as beginning at 7 PM. When we arrived at 7:15, the young women looked flummoxed and told us that the reception had ended an hour before. Bulgarian time is, apparently, often inaccurate. Still, the reception enabled us to walk to a part of the city we might otherwise not have seen. Another highlight of Plovdiv was a visit to the Dzhunaya (Friday) Mosque, where I was required to where a robe and head covering, conveniently provided by the mosque congregants.