Sofia, Veliko-Tarnova & Ruse, Bulgaria

Bulgaria is our 31st country together and it's been a bit confounding. It's a hard place to get to know in just two short weeks. It's my first Eastern European country, Scott has been to Ukraine many years ago and says it reminds him of there. There is definitely a difference to Western Europe. Of course, any sort of generalization will likely be wrong but the main thing we can say is that it is seems like the poorer cousin. It may be that Bulgaria is particular in this respect but we won't know until we visit other Eastern European destinations.

One thing for sure is it has a very long history. There have been three Bulgarian empires with the first one dating from 681. As a result, Bulgaria is one of the oldest countries in Europe and they identify as having been a country that whole time even during times of occupation. Add this to: Bulgaria's long history with Russia, who helped free Bulgaria from Ottoman rule in the Russian-Turkish War; the period of National Revival and involvement in four conflicts from 1885-1918, including fighting with the Central Powers in WWI; their involvement in WWII, first on the side of the Axis and then on the side of the Allies, and their refusal to export their own Jews while participating in the exportation from other countries; followed by their long period of socialist-communist rule, and you have a country that is not easy to understand for an outsider.

That being said, you don't have to understand it to enjoy the very beautiful parts of the country that we feel lucky to have seen.

SOFIA

Sofia is the capital of the country and as such seems to have gotten the lions share of development and maintenance money, as well as tourists. It's a small city with regards to the tourist parts, although it is fairly sprawling overall. The main pedestrian boulevard is Vitosha that runs from the Palace of Culture to the Cathedral Saint Nedelia. It's a pleasant walking area with shops and restaurants and beautiful view of the mountains.

We were lucky to have picked lodging just off Vitosha Boulevard in a quiet neighborhood. The neighborhoods are a mix of dense postwar apartment buildings that are generally very drab interspersed with some of the remaining townhouses built in the late 1800's-early 1900's after Bulgarian independence.

The park around the National Palace of Culture is really beautiful and this is where we took our morning walks.

The area around the Presidential Palace has most of the grand public buildings built after the First World War on through the 50's. The Statue of Saint Sofia that replaced an enormous statue of Lenin after the fall of communism is also in this area. We ended our tour with coffee in the park behind the National Gallery of Art, formerly the King's palace, and the City Garden.

Sofia has an excellent public transportation system that we took frequent advantage of during our stay. Everything from a metro to buses, to both old and new trams criss-cross the city. It's a flat-rate "tap and go" pay system and inexpensive. Some of the stations have excavations from the Roman era similar to those in Thessaloniki. There are some Roman ruins dotted here and there and a few remaining mosques, from the period of Ottoman rule, and synagogues.

RILA MONASTERY & SAPAREVA BANYA

We did a day trip to the UNESCO site of the Rila Monastery, stopping off at the hot springs on our way back to Sofia. It was a great way to get up into the mountains and as the day became a bit cool and overcast a nice afternoon to spend in the hot springs. The monastery was founded in the 10th century, grew to great importance during the Second Bulgarian Empire, and survived the 500 years of Ottoman occupation preserving Bulgarian Orthodox beliefs and Bulgarian culture. Apart from the tower, the rest of the monastery burned in 1833 and was rebuilt in the new Nationalist style. The cartoon-like frescos that decorate the exterior are a real highlight.

I took the time to climb the tower and get some great views.

I also toured the immense kitchen.

Interestingly, they had heating through the floors of the building provided by giant furnaces on each floor. The upper floors are private for the remaining monks and pilgrims that come and stay at the site.

The town of Sapareva Banya is at the foot of the Rila mountains and has many hotels and hot pool complexes. The one we went to had three large pools and smaller hot and cold tubs spread throughout. It was a very relaxing place set at the foot of the mountains.

We enjoyed Sofia. It has an amazing array of international food for one thing. We had Roman-style pizza, a wonderful French meal at the fabulously named "Fake French" restaurant, Indonesian, Italian, brunch with real bagels, and some great calamari. It would be an easy and relaxing place to spend an extended period of time as long as you don't ask too much of it. And it does live up to its reputation as being less expensive than say Greece or Western Europe.

VELIKO-TARNOVA

From Sofia we traveled by bus to what was surely the highlight of the trip. Veliko-Tarnova was the capital of the Second Bulgarian Empire from the 12th to 14th centuries. It is built on the cliffs above the meandering Yantra River around the Tsarevets hill on which stands the former residence of the Bulgarian emperors and Patriarch.

Wandering the old town streets and admiring the endless views is a wonderful way to spend a day. And we finally tried Bulgarian cuisine and had a really great meal at an old taverna.

We also mustered the energy to climb around and to the top of the fortress. The Patriarchal Cathedral at the top was rebuilt in the 1970-80's and is adorned with modern mosaics but the climb is worth it for the views.

We got super lucky that our hotel room faced the fortress and also that they did a special Tuesday light show, usually reserved for Saturdays. It was about 15 minutes of colored lights illuminating the hill accompanied by music that can be heard across the valleys.

We stayed very near the old Samovodska Charshia Market and enjoyed the little shops, restaurants, and bars in this historic area. The architecture here is unique and dates largely from before the First World War. Most structures are made of stone and timber.

We loved our stay and would definitely recommend it as a destination.

RUSE

And now we come to our last stop, Ruse. The "bus" we took this time was a small one, maybe 20 seats and more like a van. Its shocks had seen better days! The drive was pretty though. Field after field of sunflowers and corn.

Situated just across the Danube from Romania, Ruse had its heyday in the National Revival period of the late 1800's and early 1900's when it was a hot bed of both culture and revolution. In guidebooks it's called "Little Vienna" and while you can just make out the outlines of that once grand period, unfortunately very little of it remains. Where once there were beautiful townhouses and buildings housing embassies, diplomats, and wealthy businessmen, today there are crumbling shells, low rent stores, and communist apartments. The exception being in the beautiful square surrounding the Monument of Liberty statue and a few nice parks.

Now that we are here, we can see the result of Sofia getting the lions share of the countries funds. Add to that Bulgaria has one of the highest emigration rates and lowest birthrates in the region and once grand boulevards feel deserted even on a Friday night. Some of this may be due to summer travel but...

We've taken the opportunity to enjoy a very nice apartment, do some laundry, and catch up on some planning tasks before we embark on our month in Romania. It's been a welcome break but we can't say we'd recommend a stop here unless that's your aim, too.

All in all, we're glad we included Bulgaria in our itinerary. It's been very interesting - in the way visiting any previously communist country has been for us - and we've been able to get a taste of the food and culture during our brief visit. Maybe someday we'll make it back to see Plovdiv and the Black Sea.

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