Blogs from Veliko Tarnovo, Veliko Tarnovo Province, Bulgaria, Europe - page 6

So I'm in Veliko Turnovo, Bulgaria now. It's about 10.45. And we just had dinner a little while ago. Before that we walked around the massive fort/citadel structure here. That was really beautiful. There was a strange church/cathedral at the very top, which had no crucifix, nor an altar, nor any seats at all. It was just paintings--and not regular church paintings. They were almost communistic in style, if that makes any sense. Very large and daunting, with bold colors, covering the walls entirely. Before that we chilled at the hostel (which is gross by the way, more on that later) for about a half hour because we were tired and hot and gross from walking around. Before that we walked around Veliko, seeing a few monuments, climbing up to another citadel-ish area, and my favorite, ... read more

I was not a true Bulgarian until I reached Veliko Tarnavo and developed a taste for the fine 'Rakia' (grapa)... until now I was not much of a fan, but together with my fine Swiss company... it was a whole new experience. Since returning to my grandparents' home, I cannot get used to my grandfather hiding the Rakia from me... he's not used to his grand daughter asking for seconds and thirds.... but I know his hiding place, he he!!... read more

Dobre Den everyone...... Greetings from sunny Bulgaria!!!! We drove from the Carpathian mountains back to Bucharest where we boarded a train for the 2 hour run to Constanta......which actually took 5 hours. The ship was ready. Cabins are really large and the public rooms very nice. Dinners have been wnderful so far and are served, with lunch and breakfast being buffet style. Today we rode by bus to 2 beautiful towns, Abrenassi and Veliko Tarnovo, both of which go back to the middle ages. Now we are back in Ruse, which is our port on the Danube. This internet cafe was not easy to find and we have to figure out how to get back to the ship, so gonna be shot. One of these days I'll be able to upload some pics. Bob... read more

It's regrettable, but inevitable, that on a trip such as this, sometimes places don't get their just due. It could be bad weather, it could be logistical complications, or it could be they fall during a break in our verve. While we had a great time in Istanbul, and saw more than we thought upon reflection, we certainly didn't do our best job of getting off the beaten path. One reason for this was the crew that travelled with us from V.T. continued their corrupting influence in Istanbul. While Farrah went off with her parents to stay in four-star luxury, Adam and Joel stayed in the same hostel. This lead to many a good night, but cut into cultural exploration. This isn't to say we didn't get a fairly good sample of Istanbul during our four ... read more

We boarded the train at 13:37 and ran into an American couple from our hostel in Bucharest, Justine and Christine who joined us in our Romanian train compartment. The conductor in our carriage was trying to extort 100,000 Romanian Lei from us for the privilege and when we refused to pay he got quite angry, waving his cigar around and shouting something that not one of us understood. At the Bulgarian border we changed carriages and continued our journey in peace. We arrived into Veliko Tarnovo shortly before dusk and walked for about 40 minutes to a homestay which had been recomended to us. Veliko Tarnovo is a pretty, small town, built into a hillside with all the houses overlooking a meandering stream in the valley. We eventually found the place where we wanted to stay ... read more