My name is Marion Vermazen. I am a traveler, hiker, reader, Sun alumnus, computer geek, YouTuber, Spanish and French language student, knitter, weaver and genealogist.
To make it easier for you to follow our 2026 Spring European trip from the beginning I’ve linked the blog posts in order.
You can go to the first blog post of our trip by clicking on this link.
At the end of each blog post after that, there is a link to the next day’s blog post.
We had a very productive first full day in Spain. We started by doing laundry. While the clothes were washing we had coffee and pastry nearby. Then while the clothes were drying we had second cups of coffee at a different place. We almost always have breakfast included at our hotels so it’s a change and kind of fun to go out and find a place.
Madrid is a beautiful city. In the last several years all the building facades have been cleaned, the city center has almost no cars, AND it was a beautiful sunny day with temperatures in the high 60s. It’s amazing how sun improves your experience of a place.
We’ve been to Madrid multiple times over the years so we have seen most of the must-see sites. But the New York Times recently published a Google map of its recommendations of things to do in Madrid. I went through the list and found a few good ideas of new things to do and see.
So Thursday afternoon we went to the Teatro Real (Opera House). The ticket price included an audio guide. The whole visit was wonderful. The Teatro Real is directly across from the Royal Palace with a beautiful garden in between the two. Highlights of the tour include the view of the Royal Palace from inside the Opera House, the view of the stage from many different levels of seating and the multi story foyer surrounded by Lebanese cedar pillars.
It was such a beautiful day to walk. There were a lot of people out but we finally found a place for coffee.
We had to set an alarm for 6:30 this morning so that we could have breakfast, checkout, drive an hour to Sofia, fill the car with gas, return the rental car and catch the 10:40 plane to Madrid.
We had so many grey and chilly days in Bulgaria that it was fantastic to see the sun when we got to Madrid. It was also really nice to be able to read the street signs and understand some of the language. We’ve been to Madrid so many times that it almost feels like home.
To read our blog post about our second day in Madrid, our first full day click here.
Tomorrow we leave Bulgaria and fly to Spain so tonight we wanted to stay not too far from the Sofia airport. Today turned out to be a pretty nice day weather wise. There hasn’t been any rain and we even saw some patches of sunshine.
We had a great breakfast at Bey House. Before we left Veliko Tarnovo we went to the post office so I could mail some birthday cards.
Tonight we are at the Hyatt Regency Pravets Resort. It’s a beautiful resort on the lake. And the Hotel Director of Operations personally welcomed us when we checked in. We took a two mile walk around the lake and then had dinner in the hotel bar.
I could certainly see staying here again. They seem to have some interesting sites nearby and the large indoor pool overlooking the lake looks inviting.
Tomorrow we fly to Madrid. If you would like to see that blog post click here.
In spite of the rain we were determined to go out exploring in Veliko Tarnovo on Monday. We started at the history museum just 2 minutes up the road from our hotel.
I decided that I wasn’t dressed warmly enough. But when we went back to the hotel they were making up our room so we went across the street and had coffee and lemonade.
Next we went to the fortress. It an interesting and beautiful place to explore.
When we got back to the hotel we made an appointment to use the Turkish Bath.
We had a wonderful dinner to end our day.
It rained all day today. Luckily our rooms in both Carpe Diem where we stayed the last two nights and the Bey House Royal Hotel in Veliko Tarnovo where we are tonight are big and very welcoming. So we were happy staying in our room, reading and enjoying the ambiance.
Today we drove just over three hours west towards Sofia. We stayed in Veliko Tarnovo the last time we came to Bulgaria too. Wikipedia describes it as the historical and spiritual capital of Bulgaria. The center of the old town has the castle complex where the Bulgarian Emperors lived. Tomorrow we will explore it rain or shine.
If you would like to see our blog post about us exploring Veliko Tarnovo you can click here.
Marion's Blog 