Blogs from Varna, Varna Province, Bulgaria, Europe - page 5

Back in Varna but it's just a brief stop on my way somewhere else. Got to move on from the East Coast it's been nearly a week now... I've booked a train to the capital, FIRST CLASS on the 2215 and arriving early morning. I don't know what to expect from FIRST CLASS (unavailable in lower case), but you can imagine my excitement. ...hopefully upload some photos... read more

Arrive at 4am, no sleep and have to suffer the hell of the idiots at passport control. They NEED to know the exact duration of everyone's stay and where they will be down to the nearest minute. The queue takes about an hour for a hundred people and by the time I get out there's an empty airport. Manage to crash a lift into town with a couple of girls on a conference who have a car arranged to pick them up. Wander the streets a bit but it's no fun, go into the nearest bar and drink some beers. Head vibrating with lack of sleep. As it starts to get light outside I wander down to the beach and watch the sun rise over the black sea. The beach is almost deserted save for a ... read more

Not much to report here I'm afraid. Bulgaria's Black Sea coast is a bit like an action film. It's fun but not very interesting. Trying to escape from some zealous American missionaries (Missionaries? Bulgaria is almost entirely orthodox Christian) I had met on the Bus from Velika, I jumped into a taxi that drove me to the hostel I had planned on staying in. Up three flights of stairs later, and it was clear that the either 'Coast Hostel' didn't exist, or someone was making some extravagant claims on the web sight. Some wide-boy Bulgarian, who might have worked in this mythical place or not, (I never figured out whether it existed)took pity on me and lead me across town to the Flag Hostel. I was greeted by Dean, a laddish northerner who seemed like he'd ... read more

A Várnai Régészeti Múzeum A Bulgáriában látott múzeumok közül az egyik legemlékezetesebb számomra. A múzeum szinte csak Várna környéki anyagot mutat be időrendi sorrendben, a kőkorszaktól a középkor végéig. Több mint 39 terem, 100 000 tárggyal. Sajnos a két szint közül a felsőt éppen javították, ezért csak a kiállítás felét láthattuk. Bár ennyi éppen elég volt, hiszen ha egészében meg akartuk volna nézni a kiállítást, az legalább egy napos program lett volna. Szerencsénkre az alsó szinten vannak a őskori és ókori leletek, ami számunkra az érdekesebb volt, főleg Alinak, aki már alig bírt ránézni egy újabb ikonra. (Azt mondta, elég ikont látott egész életére Bulgáriában.) A múzeum legrégebbi leletei Kr.e. 5000-ből származnak. Ekkor egy virágzó kultúrális központ alakult ki a Várnai Tavak körül, mely egyik pillanatról a másikra pusztult el, amikor a tengerszint hirtelen 10 m-t ... read more

Sometimes when arriving in a city you just don't like it, you can't say why but it just has an uneasy feeling to it. Varna was like this for me, maybe it was the rain that greeted us, or the hassle from taxi drivers and money changers on the streets, or maybe it was just too busy for us. We found a small apartment (bedsit) for 32 leva per night, a little away from the center. We had taken it for 3 nights based on photos, after not having much luck finding alternatives. The initial veneer of the flat quickly wore off, the door to the building banged really loudly, and the bed was really uncomfortable - meaning sleep was difficult. Moral of the story - always take a look at a room if you can. ... read more