MONDAY - We departed from Saint Vladis which is just a bit north of Burgas on the western coast of the Black Sea and headed towards Ruse which is on the banks of the Danube River which marks the boundary between Bulgaria and Romania. Other than these two photos of donkey/horse carts, the countryside looks just like parts of the Willamette Valley in Oregon
We saw more than these two carts - mostly they were carting loads of firewood. It was unusual for us to see this manner of transport, but, when you think about it, how much different is it from when we use our ATV and pull a trailer load of firewood along the road through the Village of Brunner.
The countryside was the same, but the buildings are really different. It reminded us of when we were walking the Camino in Spain.
We passed through many villages but only saw this one church
There were a bunch of graveyards which were all clustered right alongside the highway.
We're staying at the English Guest House which is small and cozy - no restaurant or spa for us tonight and tomorrow night!
After getting settled into the hotel, we went to a pizza place recommended by the hotel receptionist.
Dad got a pizza which was better than Kazakh pizza, and I got a salad and risotto which was absolutely delicious!!!!! I am going to learn how to make risotto when I get home.
I should tell you this anecdote which happened while we were eating. We were outside under big umbrellas which shaded the area and kept falling leaves off of the tables. At one point, a seed pod floated down from the trees, evaded the umbrella, and "plopped" right on to my plate. Dad, in a quiet and very serious manner simply said, "Telia americana, American Basswood." It was so funny in a pathetic way - he is such a great plant lover.
We went to Ruse because it is the jumping off point for the Rusenski Lom Nature Park which we will visit tomorrow. Our Lonely Planet book said Ruse is "one of Bulgaria's most elegant cities.....and "it seems as if a little chunk of Vienna had broken off and floated down the Danube." Well......maybe I don't remember what Vienna looks like, but Ruse is just...not...elegant.
We went on a short city walk and visited the town square, in a park which was quite lovely.
There were giant chestnut seed pods all over the sidewalk in one place.
We wanted to find the Danube River and walk down its romantic promenade...so we headed north.
I was so surprised because I expected the Danube to be bigger and wider than the Columbia, but it isn't - - I'll need to check my google facts on this point. There really wasn't a way to easily get to the river though these guys were fishing in a scenic area.
And finally the promenade, of sorts. Maybe there is a better one somewhere - - we were in a sketchy area.
A floating restaurant we may go to tomorrow
A pedestrian walkway over the railroad tracks to get back street side and walk back to the hotel.
TUESDAY - this was a perfect day. We planted on visiting four sites, and they all met or exceeded our expectations. They were all about 30-45 minutes apart.
Basarbovo Rock Monastery was established some time before the 15th century. It is Bulgaria's only working rock monastery
And some contemporaries buried in a small cemetery
Up we go
This was the church
another room
rock world and world of electricity meet
And yet another room that we 'slid' over to
Inside people had left hundreds of slips of paper upon which they had written names of family members. They just laid them on the floor or window sills or stuffed them between stones on the walls.
And someone left this water bottle, probably with trace DNA.
Ivanovo Rock Monastery is a UNESCO World Heritage site. It was built during the 13th century and houses some of Bulgaria's finest murals from the 14th century.
Here you can see it from the parking lot. There were only two rooms. The one on the right was the original entrance; Dad an I wonder how they used it....maybe they were expert rock climbers.
And up
Entrance to the church
This was my favorite ceiling mural - The Last Supper
On our return to the car we walked along the ridge of the cliff and 'happened' to find two geocaches. We always have fun finding caches in historical locations.
Cherven Fortress is a somewhat intact 6th century hillside citadel. Streets, towers, and churches have been discovered.
But first lunch at a little self service snack bar.....and we won't be ordering cheesy fries again.
From below we could see what looked like city walls
Here's the parking lot from above
The whole flat top of this ridge was full of ruins.
Back at the bottom we found a truck with tracks from a much earlier period than the 6th-century
Last on the day's list was the Orlova Chuka Cave which we almost didn't go to. Our guide book said tours were on the even hour, and we figured we'd get there about 3:00 and would have to wait until 4:00. But, at 2:45 we walked to the ticket booth, bought tickets and went off with our guide right away.
We entered the cave after going down 124 very steep steps (many were equal to two steps) and entered here.
We learned right off that a cave and a cavern are not the same. Caverns are bigger and the water dripping is full of minerals which allow the formation of stalagmites and stalactites. But in caves formed by water, like this one, the minerals are completely filtered out by the limestone, and the water that drips into the cave is pure filtered water. And.....the sides of a cave, at least this cave, were very smooth and you could see where the water level had been eons ago. Really cool!
This was an interesting formation. The area on the left side was hollow and when the guide 'plinked' on the surface, different tones were created.
This is the ceiling in one area which have these spiral shaped indentations. The guide said they are formed when water flowing through the cave starts making a whirlpool which causes the formation of these indentations.
The cave is the home home of up to 12,000 bats of various species. They are starting to hibernate now and eventually the ceiling of the cave will be black with bats. Here are just a few hanging in for the winter.
Tuesday was a good day - we drove through farmland (looked like the Willamette valley), saw wheat being planted, hiked in a nature preserve and found three geocaches, and experienced antiquity.
WEDNESDAY - We left Ruse and headed south on our way to Veliko Tarnovo. Suddenly, on the edge of the roadway, we saw a big brown sign - you know, the kind that alert you to a national monument or...something of interest. Looking on the map I could see the name; Dad put the name into his google maps app.....and we watched the little arrow moving on the blue line. With no directional signs in sight, the google map voice said, "turn right!" and Dad did. The only thing ahead of us was a long straight dirt road - in very poor condition.
We kept going and finally found Nikopolis-ad-Istrum which is the remains of a Roman 'Victory City' build in AD 110, The foundations were laid by Emperor Trajan after a successful battle against the Dacians...we all remember the Dacians, right? It was destroyed in the 6th century and resettled in the 9th, after which it slumbered for centuries. In 1871 the ruins, including streets, gates, walls, a town hall, and a city square were discovered.
Just a portion has been restored
I loved the roads constructed of huge slabs of stone
In this photo you can see the stones caving in. That is because underneath, there is a drainage system which is collapsing.
A big crane and a bunch of workmen were removing some stones - "archaeology in motion"
Outside a building I found these piles of shards just waiting for someone to take on the challenge.
We got to Veliko Tarnovo about noon. This city is amazing. It is one of Bulgaria's oldest towns. It's like walking through a medieval town in Italy. The historic part of town is tucked in between two bends of the Yantra River. We did a bit of exploring - it is difficult to find your way on the side of a hill with roads running horizontally and stairways running vertically.
Our hotel and the road leading up to it
View from our balcony window
After lunch we headed for the 'downtown' part on the river where there is a handicrafts bazaar, and we wanted to cross the bridge to get into the parks between the bends of the river.....but we were stumped. We have a second try on Friday.
The river and a dam, of sorts.
The exterior wall of an old house.
Full of hope, we bought these interesting treats. But, as with doughnuts, we were disappointed
Tomorrow we go to Pleven.
THURSDAY - Ahhh.....Pleven. Pleven is my favorite Bulgarian town for two reasons. The first is because Malcolm served his mission there and secondly because it is an unpretentious beautiful city with incredible fountains,
We had plans to meet with Mima Petkova in Pleven. Mima is a Pelvenite who Malcolm knew and befriended, and she befriended him. There is a tender spot in each of their hearts for one another. We follow each other on Instagram, Facebook, maybe she reads this blog, and send occasional email greetings. Dad had made Facebook arrangements to meet her Thursday morning. After a two hour drive from Vetliko Tarnovo and after figuring out how to pay for long term parking, we finally met her on the sidewalk outside her apartment. It was like we were long lost friends.
She had graciously invited us for breakfast - it was delicious!
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She made the famous traditional Bulgarian breakfast banista. This is like a cheese pie made with a filo pastry and filled with Bulgarian feta cheese. I'd never had it before - reminds me of a hearty popover with cheese. And there was home made applesauce, Bulgarian yogurt (don't know exactly what makes it Bulgarian though), and a fruit tort thing. It was so good.
Mima also treated us to lunch later on. Cutlets, peppers, stuffed peppers, and a delicious sauce made from mayo and black tomatoes.
We had interesting conversational experiences with Mima and later with her husband Villie. I think I speak a little more Russian than either of them speak English and, working together, we managed to spend the morning and afternoon sightseeing in the city. Honestly, it was a bit stressful, and both Dad and i were thankful we didn't need to discuss a serious health problem or a legal problem with the gendarmes.
After breakfast we went for a leisurely stroll to the city center. This was really easy to do because her front door opens right out onto the pedestrian zone which is encompassed within the city center.
It was impressive - the fountains are so beautiful. I have seen BIG flashy fountains in Las Vegas, but the ones in Pleven are far more lovely. And the public space is very welcoming.
These "dandelion" fountains are my favorite.
A small river flows through the park, and it is incorporated into some of the water features which become waterfalls - very cleverly done.
After lunch we visited the super main attraction in Pleven - the Pleven Panorama, a museum which depicts the liberation of Pleven in 1877.
For 500 hundred years prior to December 1877, the Bulgarian people had been under the rule of the 'evil' Ottoman Turks. (I suppose you might consider anyone 'evil' who conquers your country and then holds you as unwilling citizens for 500 years). In 1877, however, aided by Russian and Romanian allies Bulgaria finally gained its independence, but only after a major battle which occurred right on this very hill.
Huge pictures are mounted on the walls and then there is a 360 degree mural depicting the battle from all angles with genuine artifacts from the battle, displayed in front of the murals. All of the design and painting was done by a crew of Russian artists who had previously done a similar museum somewhere in Russia.
There was an interesting display of the weapons. All of the rifles used by the Ottoman Turks, the Russians and the Romanians had been made by American or English companies like Remington, Colt, and others I can't remember. This happened because Russia and Romania wanted the weapons very quickly and preferred to buy them rather than make them themselves.
What about the rifles for the Bulgarians? Well, the Turks had forbidden them to make, buy, or otherwise have weapons. Because of this, their rifles were all secretly handmade and were all unique in their design and specs - not a particularly desirable feature for warfare. This display shows some of those guns.
This Gatling Gun was one of twenty four that were used in this battle. Gatling guns were the first multi-fired machine guns that were operated by a person manually turning a crank. Our guide said that the guns were used here in Pleven for the very first time in battle - - but I can't find anything on the internet to confirm this.
The Russians bought the guns and immediately took one apart to try to copy it - which they did, But ,they didn't know how to make the barrels out of metal that wouldn't melt under the heat caused by the rapid fire. To solve this 'melting' problem, they made a water cooled tube that enclosed the barrels, but this only worked until the water heated up and needed to be changed. Like the one below.
After viewing the weapons of war, we took a walk through the adjacent park to the site a very big and tall monument with a sparkly summit (it was sparkly in the sunlight).
And the city of Pleven below the monument
We said our farewells to Mima and Villie (they said to give a big hello to Malcolm) and headed back to our hotel in Veliko Tarnovo.
FRIDAY - this was the day we were determined to explore Veliko Tarnova. The city is an ancient one, begun in pre-Roman times and then fought over for millennia. Finally, in 1877, as described in yesterday's post, modern Bulgaria emerged. The city is a hill-town, built on three different hills which are separated by one river which forms a lazy oxbow formation and flows around all three hills. Streets, which cars can drive on, run in parallel lines across the hills. Then steep lanes or stairways connect the parallel horizontal roads. Walking in the old city is like going to the gym and working out. Most of the houses are really old, but many of them have been remodeled; the exteriors still have an ancient look. There are a bizillion cats everywhere - it seems most are calicos or tabbies.
Here are some of city photos
the river from a bridge
Our exploration of the city was inspired by four geocaches which we chose to find. Many geocaches are placed in interesting spots, and you can learn about a city by searching for these 'historical' caches.
The first two were on one of the big hills which, besides a big art gallery, is a huge park with paths and playgrounds, picnic tables and benches, and live music concerts in the summer.
Here is the Asenevtsi Monument which memorialize the Asenevtsi brothers and their sons, under whom Bulgaria flourished in the 12th and 13th centuries.
And, at the very top of the hill, which we reached by climbing many, many, many ......stairs, there is a 'skyway' with great views.
From here you can see the Tsarevets Hill Fortress.....which we visited in the afternoon. You can see the tall spire on the right of the photo.
Here's the cache we found in a pile of rocks off to the side of a path.
Lunchtime came, and we were starved. We couldn't find a simple sandwich shop anywhere.... so we just went in to a restaurant that looked good and ended up having the most expensive meal we've had on this two week diversion. But it was delicious - lamb leg roast and pork leg roast with rice.
In the afternoon we went out to the fortress where there was another cache hidden.
Here's the entrance and just a couple of other pictures. I think Dad and I have reached our saturation point on ruins....Roman or Thracian or Bulgarian or Byzintine or Greek - after awhile they are a bunch of rocks, usually on the top of a steep hill.
This is "Execution Rock" where those, who were "in bad" with the law, were ignobly pushed off in order to satisfy their punishment.
And the big church/palace/whatever....by the time we got to the top of this hill all we did was buy two Coke Zeros from a vending machine.
We did find this nice cache next to the base of a tree, right by an 'ancient' rock wall.
On the way back to the hotel we stopped at a Snack Bar at the T B Hotel where, inside, was yet another cache. Sometimes a cache is hidden at a business - with the permission of the proprietor who understands how geocaching works and becomes part of the activity. The hint said the cache was in a box of wine and that in order to find it, you had to ask the waiter for "Wine For an Adventurer" When we said that the waiter said, "okay, but you have to find it before I give it to you." Well, it was easy to find. I saw it right away on a shelf in a wooden wine box with a 'geocaching' sticker stuck to the outside.
By this time in the evening, we were exhausted from our walking - climbing of the day. We went to a mini market and bought fruit and yogurt for the next three breakfasts.....and two ice cream bars as our reward for the exertions of the day.
SATURDAY -We left Veliko Tarnovo early in the morning with the intention of driving south and then east until we reached Sofia. It was kinda sad to leave because we had enjoyed the 'oldness' of the city and the narrow streets and getting lost - it really is a city that Americans love...just like in the movies.
The drive through the countryside was interesting because we drove up and over mountains and through Shipka Pass which was where one of the big battles for the liberation of Bulgaria had occurred back in 1877. At the top of the pass there was a big memorial with a fantastic 360 degree view.
and a bazillion steps which we bounded up like energetic gazelles.
At the base of the steps there is a relief of a lion with it's chains broken...symbolizing...yes, Bulgaria is now free.
A cool eagle head on a door
Lots of artillery guns placed all over the place. I thought this was a photo showing the weapons of war along with the results.
And, lucky us - there was a geocache at this monument. It was located in a field of boulders and tucked into a big crevasse. This was one of the most physically difficult caches we've ever found because it was on a steep hillside where the long grass was very dry and very slippery.
Basically I had to crawl to get the the spot
Then we climbed back up to he top
The big monument at the top of Shipka Pass is not the only reminder of that war back in 1877-1878. At the bottom of the mountain there is a small village named Shipka and off in the midst of the tree tops we could see.....
this church which was built to memorialized the men who fought and died for the liberation from the Ottoman Turks.
And there was another cache here, but it was so boring and uninspiring in its location that it doesn't even merit a photo.
We drove on to Sofia - through farmland and wooded areas that look like you're driving from Newberg to Cove Orchard, Oregon. We chose to travel on a secondary road rather than the freeway, and so went through village after village. It looked so much like the roads and towns we encountered on the Camino de Santiago in Spain.
We met up with Elder and Sister Lynch in Sofia, and they took us on an evening walk into downtown Sofia. And ---- there is yet another big church built after the 1877-78 war to commemorate the liberation of Bulgaria from Ottoman rule. This is a big time tourist destination - crowds of people and tour buses.
SUNDAY - We are now staying at the Mission Home in Sofia - - when President Davis heard that we would transit through Sofia to catch a plane on our way back to PDX, he generously invited us to spend our last two 'sleeps' here. It has a special meaning for us because this was Malcolm's mission, and he slept in this building too (no, I did not try to find the actual bed he may have slept in).
In the stairway there's even a portrait of President and Sister Wilstead who was Malcolm's mission president.
Our last evening in the mission field was spent at the Mission Home in Sofia where we had dinner with President and Sister Davis and with Elder and Sister Lynch. They were our leaders before Kazakhstan was split off and put into the Russia Yekaterinburg Mission. It was fun talking over good the times and the bad times with them. Here we are in front of the 'famous' map of Bulgaria in the reception room
We left Kazakhstan two weeks and three days ago and in that time, we have had a chance to 'unwind' and travel all over Bulgaria. This is the kind of travel that we love to do - back roads, weird places, unknown food, ruins and monuments - adventure at its best. ....and geocaches.
We head home tomorrow (Monday) morning back to a life of 'peace and calm' with our 6 children and 17 grandchildren and with whatever adventures await us in the future.
And...it's over!
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