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.
Category: Europe 2026 – Bulgaria Greece Spain Ireland Scotland
The beginning of our breakfast this morning. We also had crepes and scrambled eggs.
Carpe Diem where we are staying is an absolutely wonderful retreat deep in the Bulgarian countryside. We have had great food and our room is very comfortable.
The preserves under the stairs are a work of art!
Today after it stopped raining we went for a walk into the tiny village of Sladka Voda.
Sladka Voda
Then we used the spa. The hot tub, spa and saunas are all heated by wood stoves.
This sauna was really hot. We only stayed in here for a very short time. I don’t think I’ve been in a sauna with windows before.
As I said the food has all been great. Dinner tonight was even better than last night.
Salad with roasted pears and cheeseBeef liver is not always great in restaurants. This was tender juicy and so good.
We spent 4 nights in Burgas. The Primoretz Grand Hotel and the town of Burgas are really nice. That’s all it takes to enjoy a place. I really liked Burgas. Of course it helped that we had two days of sunshine. Today is grey again but today is a travel day.
Before leaving Burgas this morning we used the spa. It was lovely.
The hotel indoor pool was really nice.
Just before noon we checked out and drove about an hour and a half north and inland to a hotel spa outside of Sladka Voda. Duke booked Carpe Diem because it has excellent reviews. I think it was an excellent choice. It is a wonderful hotel and spa. Even though the weather is back to rainy, cold and grey we had a wonderful relaxing afternoon.
Our room at Carpe Diem
We checked out the spa which we will use tomorrow and relaxed and read this afternoon.
The pool and spa at Carpe Diem
We had an excellent dinner in the hotel restaurant.
Today we went out exploring. We drove 45 minutes up the coast to the old town of Nessebar. The following is taken from the UNESCO World Heritage Site web page.
the more than 3,000-year-old site of Nessebar was originally a Thracian settlement (Menebria). At the beginning of the 6th century BC, the city became a Greek colony.
We walked all around the town, went to the Archaeological Museum, and stopped for coffee.
There are several Byzantine churches in Nessebar. This one was built in the 13th century.Another one of the old churchesInside the Archaeological Museum. This pottery is from the 5th millennium BCOur coffee break
For dinner we went back to Restaurant Ziatna Ribka. Duke had Rapana and I had mussels. It wasn’t until after we ordered that we figured out that Rapana is a kind of invasive sea snail. It was all very good.
Sun! We had a lovely sunny day today. The high temperature was only 56° but the blue skies and sun made it a very pleasant day. This morning we went for a walk along the coast of the Black Sea.
Out for a walkWe walked out on the pierPantheon of the Fallen Antifascists
This afternoon we went back and had another pastry at the pastry shop we went to yesterday.
Our pastry
For dinner we went to a nearby restaurant called Tony Gigi Burgas.
Duke’s main course Prawns, steak, asparagus and mashed potatoes
When I was looking at the map of Burgas yesterday I saw a park nearby with what were described as Book Benches. It was grey and rainy this morning so we didn’t go out exploring until about 1:00 pm. Our first stop was to check out the Book Benches.
Book Benches in the little park across from our hotel.
Next we visited the Burgas Archaeological Museum. The museum is small but full of treasures. All the signs were in both Bulgarian and English so we learned about all the civilizations that have lived here over the centuries.
The sign says that these Lily-shaped ceramic vessels date from the first half of the 5th millennium BC.
When we were done in the museum we went to a pastry shop across the street and had coffee and a pastry. Our chocolate pastry was delicious.
Our chocolate pastryAfter our coffee break
For dinner we went to a nearby restaurant called Zlatna Ribka. We had one of the best meals of the trip.
French salad to shareHot garlic bread right out of the oven.Duke’s mixed seafood grill.
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