Not Really a Bulgaria Trip Report, but Maybe

[Cossie]

More

 

[Cossie]

More,

 

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More

 

[Cossie]

Last. So glad we went. We were going to stay the night, but the traffic was not nice so we bailed,

 

[RooFlyer]

That's a really interesting area, thanks. I once was planning to go up the Romanian coast to the Danube River delta; going back to Bulgaria sounds good, too, so there's a new trip forming.

 

[Cossie]

That's a really interesting area, thanks. I once was planning to go up the Romanian coast to the Danube River delta; going back to Bulgaria sounds good, too, so there's a new trip forming.

Just try to avoid July.

 

[Cossie]

After Varna we moved westwards to Shumen, stayed in a great hotel called Nirvana, had a wander, interesting restaurant/bar a short walk away. I think they like Scotch in Bulgaria!



Our hotel had a great selection of wine as well, nice gardens to enjoy dinner.

 

[Cossie]

This is the site of The Founders of the Bulgarian State.

Shumen - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Monument to 1300 Years of Bulgaria, Shumen - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

Brutalist, but I quite like it. Almost a ‘transformers’ feel to it.

 

[Cossie]

Did I mention it was hot?

 

[VPS]

Love the horse

 

[Cossie]

On the way to Veliko Tarnovo we stopped at Arbanasi, admired the Volga and the hand sewn garments.


The boss went into the Nativity Church, she said incredibly, possibly the best she has gone into.

 

[Cossie]

Can’t edit the above for some reason, more about the church.

Arbanasi Nativity Church - Veliko Tarnovo - Църква Рождество Арбанаси / Arbanasi Nativity Church

Arbanasi Nativity Church - Veliko Tarnovo

www.arbanasinativitychurch.com

Church of the Nativity in Arbanasi ➤ VELIKO TARNOVO - THE MEDIEVAL CAPITAL OF BULGARIA

Explore and feel the medieval spirit of Veliko Turnovo ✓ Have fun in the old capital ✓ Visit Veliko Turnovo ✓ velikoturnovo.info

velikoturnovo.info

The above should be ‘incredible’, not ‘incredibly’.

 

[Cossie]

Veliko Tarnovo, nice setting, a quick walk around, a real mix of older buildings and ones that have been renovated, we didn’t make it to the fortress, just way too hot.

Veliko Tarnovo - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Cossie]

I read about a covered bridge in Lovich, not really what I expected, it had burnt down and had been rebuilt.

Lovech - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

 

[Cossie]

Romania beckoned. I did want to cross the Danube which is the border by ferry, but ended up going through the main crossing at Ruse.
I had read reports of 2 to 3 hour waits and things did not look promising, you go through one booth to pay the bridge tax, then it’s a free for all.
The reason is that one lane of the bridge is being rebuilt, so vehicles can only cross in one direction at a time. We only waited 20 minutes before getting a green light.
Getting into Romania was fine, no passport control as they are both Schengen.
The line of waiting vehicles wanting to cross from the Romanian side was kilometres long. Must have been over a hundred semi trailers, we gave up counting.
No Bucharest this time, I had wanted to drive the Transfăgărășa road last year, but it was still closed for the winter.
Stopped in Pitesti before heading up to Braşov. Boy was that a mistake, most of the 73 Highway was under roadworks. Single land start stop for a lot of it. Probably 30 sets of traffic lights along the way.
We stopped at a market in a small town, got chatting to a young person with perfect English, she had been to Australia many times as she had previously worked as cabin crew for Qatar.

Usual tat found at most of these markets.