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Bulgaria 19.7 - 30.7 2005

Day 43: Vama Veche - Varna

From Vama Veche we walked 2 kilometres to Bulgarian border. There were cabs available (for a hefty fee) on Bulgarian side, but we decided to continue on foot. It was 6 kilometres to Durankulak where we hopped in a minibus to Kavarna and from there continued by bus to Varna. Only hostel in Varna was all booked, but superfriendly owner arranged us home accomodation.

Day 44: Varna

I had completely forgot, what pain in a ass these cyrillic letters can be... I tried to order latte for breakfast, but got some kind of ice coffee instead. Spend whole day checking out Varna`s sights which included Roman thermae and huge pedestrian zone that covered whole city centre. Also discovered that eating out is even cheaper than in Romania.

Day 45: Varna

Visited in Varna`s archeological museum, which had definitely one of the best exhibits I have seen. Hung out at the beach for a while, well, mainly in one bar that was located in beach promenade, but even so, weather was too hot for me and I headed back to my place pretty early.

Day 46: Varna - Veliko Tarnovo

Walked in to bus station and got lucky: First bus I saw, was leaving to Veliko Tarnovo, so I hopped in. Trip took three and half hours + hour to find my hostel (cyrillic letters on streetsigns + map with latin letters= troubles!) Hikers hostels had good views to Tsarevets fortress and I hoped to catch that cool lightshow (for free), but it wasn`t on tonight.

Day 47: Veliko Tarnovo

Went to see that Tsarevets fortress in morning before it got too hot to do anything. Fortress was nice enough, but what really blew my mind was those frescos in assumption patriarchal church. They weren`t anything I`ve seen before, screw Sixtus chapel! Truly a work of a genius... Finally catched that lightshow on the fortress tonight - decent show, considering I didn`t have to pay for it.

Day 48: Veliko Tarnovo

Had quite a hangover, but yesterday I had made a promise to couple friends that I would join them for a hiking trip to Preobrazhenski monastery, which is located about five kilometres from Veliko Tarnovo. There was fairly nice waterfall along the way and that hiking trail wasn`t too demanding, so I had a good time. Monastery itself wasn`t anything spectacular.

Day 49: Veliko Tarnovo

Kicked back all day with new book and my only "activity" was participating in BBQ party at our hostel. And by participating I mean mainly eating... For some reason Veliko Tarnovo reminded me of Sighisoara, it had that same small town feel to it. Definitely one of my favourite places on this trip.

Day 50: Veliko Tarnovo - Plovdiv

All I was looking, was Plovdiv written in cyrillic letters, so first I tried to board on a wrong bus... one that was coming from Plovdiv. Luckily ticket inspector noticed my mistake and kindly guided me to right bus. Hostel I was staying in, was smallest place ever, but I had made reservations from Veliko and got a bed for myself. Took it easy for rest of the evening.

Day 51: Plovdiv

First thing in a morning visited ruins of Eumolpias, settlement which dates back to 5000 BC. What a disappointment: Few rocks lying there, covered with graffiti. After that just walked around city all day. Popped in Dzhumaya mosque and admired local roman amphitheatre from behind the fence.

Day 52: Plovdiv - Sofia

I slept late, so I had to forget that ethnographical museum I was planning on visiting. Got to trainstation and bulletin board said my train was leaving from platform one, but there was two platform number ones??? Somehow I managed to find a right train and got to Sofia. Did small walking tour near my hostel and went to bed early.

Day 53: Sofia

Hostel Mostel is THE place to be: Grand slam breakfast and pasta dinner with beer is included in their prices! After breakfast, I just walked around Sofia all day. There isn`t that much to see in here, just some churches and museums. I did however discover my favourite place in this city: Beergarden in Yuzhen Park, they had stolichno, excellent bulgarian bock beer, on tap.

Day 54:Sofia

Sofias subway systems is pretty useless, it only has one line and six stations, but since I have always visited local metro, if there has been one, I just had to drive through couple stations. That trip got me to Zapaden park from where I walked back to central Sofia. In the evening, once again found myself in Yuzhen park, sipping that priceless stolichno.

Church of Assumption of the Virgin

Roman Thermae

Varna Beach

Tsarevets Gate, Veliko Tarnovo

Old Town

Preobrazhenski Monastery

Old Plovdiv

Dzhumaya Mosque

Roman Amphitheatre

Beergarden in Yuzhen Park

Petko and Pencho Slaveikos

National Palace of Culture