Veliko Tarnovo, Bulgaria

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Early on Tuesday we board the same train that we arrived on two days ago, completing its run to Bucharest. Just 100 miles and it takes three hours … and this is an express! We have a quick change to make in Bucharest but are thrown by the station board saying our next train is heading for Sofia not Istanbul. We discover that we are once again on a train that splits, half will go west and half south.

We now have a routine for long distance train travel. We stock up on snacks and water – restaurant cars are not to be relied on and the dreadful breakfast on Romanian railways has put us off for a long while. If it is an overnight trip, wine is essential for the evening. Once establishing ourselves, out come the books, maps and so forth. We while away the journey with a mixture of watching the world go by out of our windows, reading, eating, drinking and talking.

Bucharest to Veliko Tarnovo is not so far but it takes 4 hours. This includes the train being stationary for half an hour three times – once when leaving Romania; once on arrival in Bulgaria; once to split the train up. Our passports have been well and truly inspected

Veliko Tarnovo is a town set on a high ridge, a finger of high land around which the river Yartra flows. At the eastern tip is the fortress; in the narrow middle are the two old towns; at the western end, where it thickens out, is the new town which spills out in all directions.

Our room is in a house that appears to be two stories from the road but the house is set on the steep hill side, almost a cliff edge. There are four more floors below road level, with all the rooms looking out across the valley. We are on the second to bottom level, so that is a lot of steps … and no lift, of course.

On our first day we have a priority – to get the final rail tickets to Istanbul. Bulgarian railways have no system to allow tickets to be bought abroad and we need to be on tomorrow's only train to Istanbul. But buying the tickets proves simple, once we find the international rail travel office which is carefully hidden.

Then we are off to see the town, The new town has an air of affluence but the back streets show a much poorer lifestyle than is at first evident. There is a slightly Mediterranean air – this could be the interior of Greece. There are many orthodox churches, no two alike. The newly restored church in the fortress has very modern frescos inside and feels well cared for. The churches in the back streets are poorly maintained and we only see old ladies in them, dusting.

In the cathedral church we are lucky enough to watch an elaborate ceremony for a young lady. She was accompanied just a few members of her family and around her the priest chanted. Holy water was poured into a large silver bucket. The girl was then anointed with the water before stepping in and out of the bucket three times. Finally, while standing on a pink towel, she was blessed with a small sheaf of herbs and four locks of her hair were cut off and placed in a pocket of paper. It was very strange, very impressive and we have no idea what it was all about.

We have one more day here in Bulgaria before we take our final overnight train journey to Istanbul, dawn over the Bosphorus and the edge of Europe.

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