First, we will come clean and admit that Marcus was not looking forward into driving into Bulgaria; there are far too many horror stories on the internet about the country. According to various sources on the internet, there is an abundance of criminals waiting just over the border to steal your car. Yes, we know that we are only driving a Peugeot 207 station
wagon; however, as Bulgaria is at the economic bottom of the EU, the reading made it sound like thieves would jump at the chance to take the Peugeot off our hands. Apparently, the car thieves dress up like police in a “marked” car, pull you over, put a gun to your head and steal your car. One website described what a police car looked like and if a car not matching that description tried to pull you over, it suggested that you try and outrun them. It went on further to say if they persisted with the chase, they were probably real police and you should stop and explain your concerns to them. !!!! After hours of driving, getting lost thanks to numerous closed roads in Bucharest, we finally we hit the Bulgarian/Romanian border, which was over a toll bridge at Ruse. This was a crazy toll bridge where you paid 26 Romanian ($8 USD) to leave Romania and cross the bridge to Bulgaria. Sounds like one of the last pay tolls at the Illinois-Wisconsin border! On the other side, we had to stop and show our passports and our car registration, and after 10 minutes we were waved through. The next thing we had to do was buy a vignette to drive on Bulgaria’s roads, which we accomplished right after customs. After Ruse, we kept driving --- through the country --- and were in need of a bathroom break and stopped at a scary-looking gas station. While Christy was in the station, Marcus started watching a guy fill up his mid-eighties BMW from a plastic gas tank, and to Marcus’s horror the guy had a blue uniform on with handcuffs hanging off his hip. A fake policeman who definitely looked like he would consider the Peugeot a trade up from his crappy BMW!!! But to Marcus’s relief, he drove off without a second look.Our first night in Veliko Turnovo, after the really long drive, we just crashed and actually slept in a/c, which seems to be a novelty in most of Europe! The next morning, we were out and about before the heat of the day set in, and finally found the really cool Monument of the Asens. The only way to get there is to find the small pedestrian bridge to reach the isolated "island" in the bend of the river. The statue is part obelisk, part sta
tue of famous townsmen defeating the Byzantines years ago. It was a massive statue, and there were only a few tourists milling about, making it a really great experience. Next up was the Tsarevets Hill... which was across town and about 3km away from the monument. We reached the entrance to the site, which was a long bridge over to the tall Tsaverets hill, and paid our admission fees of about $9 USD. There is no literature
in English, so luckily we had our printed out Lonely Planet chapter to help us! The fortress dates back thousands of years; Thracians and Romans used it as a defensive postion, but the Byzantines built the first fortress there. It was rebuilt and fortified by the Slavs and Bulgars, then by the Byzantines. Apparently, the Soviets did undertake renovation efforts to preserve the sites, although the exact historic nature of their efforts has been questioned. The hill has the remains of over 400 houses, 18 churches, gates, towers, and the Royal Palace. The best parts are the views from the end of the hill, which overlooks the valleys and towering white cliffs in the
distance. The top of the hill has the Patriarch’s Palace, also called the Church of the Blessed Savior, which has been restored since it was built in 1253. The murals inside are …. Scary. The murals are in black, grey, and white, and have scary shapes, forms, and sinister looking depictions. We took a picture, and we were quickly chided by a guard, and told you have to pay a $3.50 USD fee to take pictures. We did not, but were glad we did get the one shot. Later that afternoon, after a hot walk back to our neck of the woods, we stopped and bought a pottery chip and dip bowl set, although we are not sure that it was not marketed as such. Marcus talked Christy out of buying anything else larger. We also found out that there was a massive fruit market adjacent to our hotel, and so we went fruit shopping, and ended up buying lunch – tomato and red pepper salad, with a sausage sandwich, and fresh peaches for dessert. We love Bulgaria!Sofia
As we began our drive into the city, we noticed it was quiet --- no one was on the road. As we learned from some reading, Sofia empties out in August, especially on the weekends, as the city heads to the shore out east. We did not mind, as we headed into the empty Sofia Hilton, where our car was one of three parked in the lot! Sofia is Bulgaria’s biggest city, with 1.4 million people, although it never felt that large to us. After checking into the hotel, we decided to head on out and see the city and find lunch! We walked up the pedestrian street called Vitosha, where there were lots of shops, most of them open, and we decided to follow the Lonely Planet wal
king tour. This seemed like a great way to see the city and have a narrated guide! There are quite a few historical buildings and monuments to see, including the Banya Bashi Mosque, the city’s only mosque, built in 1576 by a celebrated Ottoman architect. Outside of the building is an amazing site – large water fountains that continually spout warm mineral waters. Many citizens were gathered around the numerous taps, filling up liter bottles, some even had the large massive blue water containers used for purified water coolers! There was one other tourist couple there taking the same shots as we were, also baffled. We continued walking, and by chance, caught a view of the hourly changing of the guard at the President’s Palace, which actually shares a building with the Sheraton hotel! The walk down this street was amazing, and you actually follow a yellow brick road! We carried on till we hit the massive and monumental Aleksander Nevski Memorial church, which
is one of the main “symbols” of Bulgaria, and saw a wedding being photographed there. The church was built between 1882-1912 in memory of the 200,000 Russian soldiers who died fighting for Bulgaria’s feedom during the Russo-Turkish war in 1877. The church was built in a neo Byzantine style, and on the inside was adorned by gold and black paint, with massive murals of various saints. The air was smoky with incense, and had dim lighting punctuated by flickering light from huge candlebras (where people would add and light candles for prayers). There was no sound in the church, it was almost eerie, and the silence was punctuated by a guy scraping wax off of the floor. We noticed all the animal heads all over the walls, and have to admit, it was quite mystical. The next day, we walked the city'
s neighborhoods; we found a Turkish barber who cut Marcus' hair, and then we walked around the local markets where the locals (no tourists) shopped. We found more pottery (Christy bought a crock pot) and had a sausage sandwich lunch in the park. Sofia was amazing; quiet, modern, and a real cafe society! Additionally, we think our hotel on the edge of downtown had the best view of the mountains! Bansko
Jane the GP
S took us the ABNORMAL way to get to our next destination, and while the drive was very scenic, it took us on roads of an interesting caliber, where we literally slowed to a halt, see adjacent photo! Bansko is weird, it has a lovely old town, which has small cobblestoned and rock lanes. The small streets have some small tavernas, many of which were closed, since it was off season. The small pedestrian street is also charming; there were many small cafes, restaurants, and a few shops, really a town that was still geared towards the locals. However, on the outskirts of the original town, lots of modern chalets have sprouted 
up, some obviously not finished due to financing. Many of them just looked like they were plopped down, without regard to whether or not there were streets there initially, and with little thought to city planning. The area around all the chalets also was ill-designed and ugly – there was no landscaping. So, given the area’s dry climate, it resembled a dusty moonscape, with lots of scrub and dirt. It was an odd juxtaposition between the old and the new. However, old ways can still prevail – goats with their herder passed along our property every afternoon. Our first full day there, we took a trip up to the mountains in Pirin National Park for some hiking. We found a walking path and went walking for over an hour, it is a real DIY park, not much is marked. We spied an older couple hiking in a bikini and speedo, complete with walking sticks! After that, we kept noting everyone driving UP the mountain, and hoped that there was something to that…. so we kept driving up the mountain. However, this was a little nerve-wracking, not only for the small roads with plunging views --- with no steel reinforced side barriers --- but the way our car was dangerously dropping in gas tank levels since we were heading uphill. We passed a few hotels and then popped out where everyone was parked – at a small outpost in the mountain valley where they had this aweso
me little al fresco basic dining hut with picnic tables. Since we had no lunch plans and it was 12pm, it was perfect! We had grilled green pepper salad, a deep fried block of Bulgarian cheese (feta), grilled breads and a massive grilled home-made sausage. Don't worry - we did not finish all the cheese. It was a real trip moment! The weather up at the top was cool – we had jackets although we took them off once we acclimatized. After lunch, we went for stroll down in the 
valley past the campground, where it appeared there was a walking path next to th
e river. We noticed twisted bits of iron and twisted fences. As we walked further it became a little more apparent there must have been an avalanche there; the rock path turned into huge boulders, just stacked on top of one another with lots of debris piled up. It turned out not to be a path, but we enjoyed the walk anyways, and ended up chucking big rocks in the fast river and making them splash.
Sandanski
Our routing took us close to this small town situated 40 km north of the Greek border, and about 1.5 hours away from Bansko. The scenery we passed enroute turned very Mediteranean-looking, with dramatic dry looking rolling hills, and scrubby green looking trees. Town
was famous for being the birthplace of Spartacus, a spa centre, and numerous hot springs. We certainly were looking forwards to seeing town, but were put off the first day, as the routing took us across an ugly entrance into the city. Were we wrong! Town featured a busy town pedestrian avenue brimming with cafes and tavernas and a food and everything-will-sell market, and town was packed when we walked through in the morning. However, we noticed that it was a ghost town in the afternoon, due to the 38 C heat! Town also featured a massive park which ran adjacent to the burbling little river, which had numerous decorative fountains, fresh springs to drink from, and a series of pools for the locals to use. We also stayed in Sandanski due to its proximity to Melnik, which was a wine center of Bulgaria, or so we read. We took a scenic drive thru the country to get there, Melnik was 17 km SE of Sandanski, and the roads became smaller and hillier once out of Sandanski. We knew we were getting close when we saw vendors selling their wine at the side of the road. Soon we saw the sandstone pyramids that the town is famous for – they were jagged outcroppings and hills – which were very scenic. Melnik turne
d out to be a gigantic rip off town, and we were really disappointed! We had to park on a curb and hoof it through town in 40 degree heat, which is enough to make anyone crabby. We read about one winery actually located in town, and so we hiked up a steep rocky path hillside (more like clambered) and found Mitko Manolev Winery. The waiter there was eating his lunch and looked us up and down when we asked if there were tastings. He responded – actually he sneered – and said that they were not free. We asked how much they were, and he asked what size. We asked for a small sampler, he looked us up and down again and randomly said, “five leve.” Whatever, we wanted no part of it and walked back down. After seeing the prices of bottles of wine in the local shops, we decided it was a waste of money and time, and decided to buy some local wine on the side of the road from locals – the old phrase, “support the locals,” came into play. We bought 1 liter from an elderly gentleman for 5 lev, about $3.50 USD from his tabletop “store” in a small town heading back. We also found another guy on the side of the road who let us taste -for free – and bought two liters of white wine for $6 lev, about $4 USD. We would have bought more, but with the free drinks at our hotel and the import rules heading over to Greece, we figured that was not prudent.
We passed the last night in Bulgaria on the patio of the hotel, watching this amazing storm rip through town – we noticed it coming by the winds, which brought dark storm clouds. The rain intensity was not too hard in town, but it was enough to have the hotel clearing all the tables off the uncovered bits of the patio!
We really enjoyed Bulgaria, and were pleasantly surprised by how much we did like it! It was the sleeper surprise of the European trip, and we could not fathom why a lot of the tour books were so negative about it! We look forwards to our drive back through Bulgaria to the Black Sea Coast after we reach Greece, the southernmost part of our trip!
Jane the GP
S took us the ABNORMAL way to get to our next destination, and while the drive was very scenic, it took us on roads of an interesting caliber, where we literally slowed to a halt, see adjacent photo! Bansko is weird, it has a lovely old town, which has small cobblestoned and rock lanes. The small streets have some small tavernas, many of which were closed, since it was off season. The small pedestrian street is also charming; there were many small cafes, restaurants, and a few shops, really a town that was still geared towards the locals. However, on the outskirts of the original town, lots of modern chalets have sprouted 
up, some obviously not finished due to financing. Many of them just looked like they were plopped down, without regard to whether or not there were streets there initially, and with little thought to city planning. The area around all the chalets also was ill-designed and ugly – there was no landscaping. So, given the area’s dry climate, it resembled a dusty moonscape, with lots of scrub and dirt. It was an odd juxtaposition between the old and the new. However, old ways can still prevail – goats with their herder passed along our property every afternoon. Our first full day there, we took a trip up to the mountains in Pirin National Park for some hiking. We found a walking path and went walking for over an hour, it is a real DIY park, not much is marked. We spied an older couple hiking in a bikini and speedo, complete with walking sticks! After that, we kept noting everyone driving UP the mountain, and hoped that there was something to that…. so we kept driving up the mountain. However, this was a little nerve-wracking, not only for the small roads with plunging views --- with no steel reinforced side barriers --- but the way our car was dangerously dropping in gas tank levels since we were heading uphill. We passed a few hotels and then popped out where everyone was parked – at a small outpost in the mountain valley where they had this aweso
me little al fresco basic dining hut with picnic tables. Since we had no lunch plans and it was 12pm, it was perfect! We had grilled green pepper salad, a deep fried block of Bulgarian cheese (feta), grilled breads and a massive grilled home-made sausage. Don't worry - we did not finish all the cheese. It was a real trip moment! The weather up at the top was cool – we had jackets although we took them off once we acclimatized. After lunch, we went for stroll down in the 
valley past the campground, where it appeared there was a walking path next to th
e river. We noticed twisted bits of iron and twisted fences. As we walked further it became a little more apparent there must have been an avalanche there; the rock path turned into huge boulders, just stacked on top of one another with lots of debris piled up. It turned out not to be a path, but we enjoyed the walk anyways, and ended up chucking big rocks in the fast river and making them splash.Sandanski
Our routing took us close to this small town situated 40 km north of the Greek border, and about 1.5 hours away from Bansko. The scenery we passed enroute turned very Mediteranean-looking, with dramatic dry looking rolling hills, and scrubby green looking trees. Town
was famous for being the birthplace of Spartacus, a spa centre, and numerous hot springs. We certainly were looking forwards to seeing town, but were put off the first day, as the routing took us across an ugly entrance into the city. Were we wrong! Town featured a busy town pedestrian avenue brimming with cafes and tavernas and a food and everything-will-sell market, and town was packed when we walked through in the morning. However, we noticed that it was a ghost town in the afternoon, due to the 38 C heat! Town also featured a massive park which ran adjacent to the burbling little river, which had numerous decorative fountains, fresh springs to drink from, and a series of pools for the locals to use. We also stayed in Sandanski due to its proximity to Melnik, which was a wine center of Bulgaria, or so we read. We took a scenic drive thru the country to get there, Melnik was 17 km SE of Sandanski, and the roads became smaller and hillier once out of Sandanski. We knew we were getting close when we saw vendors selling their wine at the side of the road. Soon we saw the sandstone pyramids that the town is famous for – they were jagged outcroppings and hills – which were very scenic. Melnik turne
d out to be a gigantic rip off town, and we were really disappointed! We had to park on a curb and hoof it through town in 40 degree heat, which is enough to make anyone crabby. We read about one winery actually located in town, and so we hiked up a steep rocky path hillside (more like clambered) and found Mitko Manolev Winery. The waiter there was eating his lunch and looked us up and down when we asked if there were tastings. He responded – actually he sneered – and said that they were not free. We asked how much they were, and he asked what size. We asked for a small sampler, he looked us up and down again and randomly said, “five leve.” Whatever, we wanted no part of it and walked back down. After seeing the prices of bottles of wine in the local shops, we decided it was a waste of money and time, and decided to buy some local wine on the side of the road from locals – the old phrase, “support the locals,” came into play. We bought 1 liter from an elderly gentleman for 5 lev, about $3.50 USD from his tabletop “store” in a small town heading back. We also found another guy on the side of the road who let us taste -for free – and bought two liters of white wine for $6 lev, about $4 USD. We would have bought more, but with the free drinks at our hotel and the import rules heading over to Greece, we figured that was not prudent.We passed the last night in Bulgaria on the patio of the hotel, watching this amazing storm rip through town – we noticed it coming by the winds, which brought dark storm clouds. The rain intensity was not too hard in town, but it was enough to have the hotel clearing all the tables off the uncovered bits of the patio!
We really enjoyed Bulgaria, and were pleasantly surprised by how much we did like it! It was the sleeper surprise of the European trip, and we could not fathom why a lot of the tour books were so negative about it! We look forwards to our drive back through Bulgaria to the Black Sea Coast after we reach Greece, the southernmost part of our trip!
Next Up: Our big fat Greek seaside vacation
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