Category: Europe and Africa Spring 2024

Today was a gorgeous sunny day. This morning we had breakfast in the same place as yesterday. I just ordered a medium coffee instead of a large which was a much better choice! Then we went for a long walk along the Black Sea. I am so glad we got to see Varna and the sea with the sun shining.

After our walk we checked out of our hotel and started our drive to Ruse on the Bulgarian Romanian border.

Tonight we are in Ruse. Our hotel overlooks the Danube and Romania across the border. The rental company picked up our car a bit after 4 and then we went for a walk.

For dinner we went to a nearby restaurant, Terassa. We had an excellent meal.

Today we explored Varna. We started by looking for a place to get coffee and a pastry. So far on this trip when I order a large Americano coffee I frequently get the equivalent of a double espresso. So it was quite a surprise and a bit fun when today I ordered a large Americano and when the coffee came it was LARGE! The cup even had two handles!

It definitely feels like Spring is here. We walked through the park on the way back to our hotel and the tulips were starting to bloom.

This afternoon we went for another long walk. This time towards the port.

We stopped for a snack at a restaurant overlooking the port. It was fun to watch the cranes loading grain into a ship and a navy ship coming in. It was also great to sit outside and enjoy the very pleasant weather.

For dinner we went to a nearby Italian restaurant and shared pasta and pizza. It was very good.

It is not often that one has breakfast overlooking an ancient Roman Stadium! We got a relatively early start this morning so we could explore Plovdiv before checking out of our hotel. The front desk clerk suggested that we park at the Ramada in the center of Plovdiv and walk from there. Soon after we parked and started walking we came to the ancient Roman Stadium. There is a restaurant overlooking the site so we had breakfast there.

Plovdiv is the site of the ancient city of Philipopolis. They have done an excellent job of uncovering some of the remains of the old city and incorporating them into the new city

We walked through the old town to the Roman Theater.

Then we walked back to the car, checked out, and drove to Veliko Tǔrnova where we are tonight. The hotel where we are staying, Bey House Royal hotel, is opulent.

We had a wonderful dinner in the restaurant.

It rained quite heavily during the night and according to our phones the temperature was below freezing overnight. Duke had hoped to have a massage at the Orbita Hotel Spa this morning. Unfortunately he couldn’t get an appointment before 2pm. So we will look for another opportunity.

Hotel breakfast buffets are very different from country to country. I think you will know you are in the Balkans when every breakfast buffet includes cucumbers and very tasty tomatoes.

Even though we don’t read or even guess at what Bulgarian writing means the signs for the cheese made it clear what kind of cheeses these were.

From Blagoevgrad we drove through the mountains to Plovdiv, Bulgaria’s second biggest city, and according to Rock Steves, its most beautiful. We are staying near the airport so we won’t see the historic center until tomorrow. The nice thing about being in a more upscale part of town is that we get to see more of middle class Bulgarian life. We went to a store near our hotel to get a few snacks and a big bottle of water. It tuned out to be what looked like the Bulgarian equivalent of out Costco.

There is a German restaurant right next to our hotel. We ate dinner there. It was great and we really enjoyed their home brewed beer and the tasty food.

When you order you never know quite what you are going to get. It’s part of the fun of travel.