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Published: June 10th 2013
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After yesterdays sights at the beach we wanted something a bit more historical to look at and with the weather starting out fine and sunny we planned a walk through to the old town which is over a short causeway and about 3 kilometres away.We haven't had a decent walk for a couple of days so a good stride out will do us good.
Again we weren't in too much hurry today and dallied around over breakfast taking our time.
This little plan didn't work out that well for us because by the time we got on our way after 11am the sky to the west looked threatening and by the time we got about two thirds of the way to the causeway large spots of rain started to fall and there was rumbling of thunder indicating the rain was going to get more intense.
Luckily the road we were walking on had large trees with bushy leaf cover and we sheltered under one of them for 20 minutes or so as we hadn't bothered to bring our packaway parkas or an umbrella with us.We were on the verge of calling off the exploration and dashing back to
where the little tractor drawn train ran between the hotels and the town when the rain eased and then stopped and we were back on track again.
There has been a settlement here since the 6th century BC although the oldest building in existence is a church,St Stephens, from the 11th century AD.We paid the small fee and went inside and were amazed by the wall paintings that had been maintained in their original form.Other churches were on the peninsula as well but we were happy with just the one to go inside.There were the shells of a couple of other ancient churches as well and you could wander through these although nothing but parts of the outside walls had been retained.
Part of the fortification walls which had been built in the very early days of the settlement and restored at various times, are still visible although much of them had either been destroyed during the battles to get rid of the Ottomans in the late 1800's.
The Ottomans did introduce a different style of construction by building the wooden houses that are evident all around the old town mostly with shops on the ground level
and living accommodation on the second level.The look of these buildings give a different aspect to other older buildings in Bulgaria that are mainly of stone or block construction.
One disappointing aspect of the old town was the number of tourist shops and restaurants there were making it a bit of a tourist trap and we were often approached by eager restaurant maître d's to come and have lunch in their establishment as we strolled the lanes.They didn't know that we had lunch waiting for us back at the apartment.
With the skies darkening over again we decided we had seen enough and headed the 3 1/2 kilometres back home to the apartment.On the way back we stopped in at the local fruit stalls and topped up the fruit basket with peaches,oranges,raspberries,strawberries and more of the ridiculously cheap cherries at €2 per kilo.At that price we couldn't stop from heaping more and more of the sweetest cherries we have ever tasted into the bag to be weighed.
The rain didn't eventuate and in fact by the time we got back the sun was out again.
It was a late lunch and then time to watch some
tennis from the French open before another walk up the road to work up an appetite for dinner.
All in all a relatively quiet day for the BBA but it has been good to slow the pace down a bit and enjoy the facilities the spacious apartment has as well as the trip to the old town today.
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