Black Sea

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Geo: 44.0875, 27.2549

The Black Sea Discovery cruise finally made it to the Black Sea. The last thirty miles was by motor coach, but we made it to Varna, Bulgaria. The first stop at the Archeological Museum was interesting. A few artifacts in the collection date back to the Old Stone Age (10,000 – 100,000 BC). The museum has its charms and is a long way from decrepit, but it lacks any kind of style and most of the displays are very ordinary and somewhat shabby. The country doesn't have money to spend on making the place attractive. As in many of the places we have visited on this trip, photography is not allowed inside.

After visiting the museum, we had some free time to see the city. Varna is a popular resort location for Bulgarians and other Europeans, and the main shopping district was designed for them. Philip and I walked down to the beach for our first look at the sea. The water is a lovely greenish-blue with just a few whitecaps. It is unknown how the sea got its name.

We had way too much free time allotted here. Over an hour was left open for free time. I think it was because only part of the cruise passengers visited the museum at the same time. During our free time, the others were at the museum. With the temperature at 39 degrees Celsius and no place with A/C to hang out, we got pretty wilted waiting for the tour to continue.

When we finally got going again, we drove just a few minutes to a restaurant for lunch. Captain Bill's Fish and More is built in the shape of an old sailing ship. They served us chicken for lunch. It was okay, but chicken??

After lunch, most of the other passengers we had met gathered on the deck of the restaurant for a view of the beach and the sea. Topless sunning is common in this area. Such funny comments from the people in this group about the view of old and young relaxing on the beach.

Fortunately, all the buses in Bulgaria have had good air conditioners. We cooled down pretty soon after boarding the bus for the ride back to the ship.

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