• traveled 17 years ago
Road from the airport Have flown! Varna Airport, small, small, like a toy compared to the Pulkovo terminals, zones. Everything is compact here: passport control - 3 booths, then a spacious hall for baggage claim, to the left is a toilet. We received the luggage, went to the representatives who were meeting us, distributed ourselves among the buses, drove off .
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Road from the airport
Have flown! Varna Airport, small, small, like a toy compared to the Pulkovo terminals, zones. Everything is compact here: passport control - 3 booths, then a spacious hall for baggage claim, to the left is a toilet.
We received the luggage, went to the representatives who were meeting us, distributed ourselves among the buses, drove off ...The representative from the Neva began to bring us up to date, what, where and how much, she told who and where they were getting off, my husband and I would be the last to leave, well, well, let's see other resorts. And I got so carried away with my story that I forgot to drop off the couple at the resort of St. Helena and Constantine, what started here ....until they were brought back and dropped off, the entire bus listened to a squabble with profanity. I don’t understand: so what, we drove, we returned back, we rode for an extra half an hour, that’s the problem too! And ruined the mood for everyone!
So, everyone came out and even our tour rep. firms.
We were alone, we had been driving for two hours already, we looked at the resorts of St. Helena and Konstantin, Golden Sands, Albena, Kranevo in the night haze. And then the driver turns to us and asks: “Guys, where should we go next? ”, that's fun, and we thought you knew! Adventure number one, that's it! Found! And Balchik found our hotel. Everything! Dovidane!
Thank you for the first story about Bulgaria, how resorts are slowly dying out of the season, how Bulgarians go to earn money during this difficult period in France, Germany, how little you can earn in Bulgaria, an average of 200 Euros per month. How sociable, open, good-natured these Bulgarians are!
Our hotel. Holiday Beach ***.
However, my opinion about this hotel will not be useful to anyone, so in short: spacious, light beige rooms, with good furniture and decoration, lovely open balconies overlooking the snow-white yachts and the sea, a huge wall with access to the balcony is completely glass.
How magical in the morning, opening a heavy curtain to see the sea and yachts! These are the delights of a vacation at the resort!
An interestingly shaped pool, without heating, was already icy, after all, it was already mid-September! Therefore, near it, we only sunbathed a couple of times, swam in the sea.
The breakfasts were disgusting (this is the only thing that filled out from the negative), terrible soy sausages, cold coffee with grains, tasteless cereal, at first cheese cheese pleased, and then it turned out that it is added in Bulgaria, almost all food, after a few days the thought of breakfast caused an unpleasant cramp in an empty stomach, brrr ...at first we regularly went to "breakfast", and then waved our hand and ate our favorite coffee on the seashore.
The hotel would have been built in 2005, brand new, but already at the time of our arrival, the workers were taking furniture out of the rooms, dismantling it, preparing the hotel for demolition, now the construction of heaped penthouses should be in full swing there. So, we are one of the last Magikan guests! It's a pity!
Balchik as it is
It consists of a resort area that is near the sea and residential.
It is located as an amphitheater to the sea, stone staircases made of shell rock, twined with green spit, lead upwards, then snow-white mountains and a blue sky. Small, cozy, provincially quiet, immersed in greenery, with red tiled roofs and small donkeys, as if bowing his head before the Lord of the blue sea, this dear Balchik! The soul here wants to enjoy peace, local color. And the population, just wonderful, like in the villages of your grandmother, everyone is happy to see you, everyone is ready to help, everyone is glad that you came!
Many, many hundreds of years ago there was a sea here, now a city.
The receding sea gave people snow-white mountains, which used to be corals and shells. Very unusual!
I was very touched by donkeys, I don’t know where I got such a craving for these animals, they are so touching, there are a lot of them in Balchik, eared, small, just lovely. I pounced on every animal I met with a camera, catching the right angle, I imagine myself from the outside!
The amount of Soviet automotive technology was somewhat puzzling: kopecks, three rubles, fives, old Volga, a lot! Once in Varna they took pictures of a street, then they discovered that a row of a dozen Soviet cars was parked outside the house. Well, at least somewhere this scrap metal is popular! The roads are similar - we have potholes, potholes, they have serpentines, turns!
From among the national customs, it is very unusual to see in the city: on poles, houses, trees, gates there are memorial notes in A4 format, with a photograph, a mourning wreath, and words of grief for the dead.
Everything is pasted over with them, at first it is perceived quite hard, you walk like in a cemetery, and then you get used to it, you get used to everything over time.
From Balchik you can easily get to other cities by minibuses, they run according to the schedule, which you can see at the bus station (Avtogar), you can pay for the ticket at the box office or the driver himself, stopping the car on the street. The minibus goes to Dobrich (half an hour, we went there with Zoya), Varna (40 minutes), Kavarna, Tsaritsyno, Sofia (4.5 hours). BUT: keep in mind that public transport stops working at 7.8 pm, then only a taxi, which is very expensive (we paid 600 rubles at 10 pm to travel 20 kilometers; although there are exceptions - in Albena we paid 100 rubles to a taxi driver who took us to our Hotel, it was just on the way).
The only time we encountered in Bulgaria with undisguised rudeness, which almost ended in a fight, taxi drivers in Bulgaria are extremely intrusive, and this guy even began to threaten, you can imagine! When he realized that we were not going to go with him, which was repeatedly told to him, he called us Russian g ....m, and began to advance menacingly, I don’t know what it cost me to stop my husband, Thank God it worked out! Zoya immediately began to ask where it happened and the number of the taxi, she said that it was necessary to contact the police or threaten him, he would not behave like that, people there hold on to work. But we were not ready for this! In Bulgaria, everyone is very responsive, I have never seen, at least one of the tourists looked unfriendly. And this guy is just "unsettled". As they say in the family...
What, where to eat...
I also liked the shark dish. The waiter served us the same, he knew our taste preferences well, and tried his best to help in choosing new dishes. Well done! On the second floor, they often ordered pizza, took it with them to the room.
Walking to the Hungarian residence of Queen Mary...
Yes, yes, on foot, very close, and even along the embankment, just a stone's throw away, 15 minutes, no more! Well, in general they say that there is a palace, but for me, a layman in St. Petersburg, this is too loudly said, the palace is Catherine, Peterhof, Gatchina, etc. And this is a residence - stone, entwined with greenery, with an interesting design idea, with old Greek vases , waterfalls, a rose garden, an alley of cacti, sculptures, there is something to see and admire! Honestly!
Antique Christian crosses with half-erased Latin letters, stone descents, forged patterned gates, unprecedented early flowers, colorful butterflies, nimble lizards...
as I wander through the garden now! And below the snow-white "palace" and the blue sea!
A touching story about the boundless love of the Hungarian queen for the Turkish man, whom she waited day and night on her stone throne, peering into the sea distance. An absurd, tragic death at the hands of her own son ...she bequeathed to leave her heart in Balchik, in a small chapel, but ...her heart is in Hungary, where she was born, and not here where she lived, loved, yearned, died! The world is cruel! These stories evoke sadness, so peering into every bench, vase, leaning against a tree, you involuntarily think about her tragic fate...
Even the waterfall does not give the impression of a formidable, impetuous force, it seems to be lazily, sadly sliding down, mourning its mistress.
And this is far from the only story of the garden, there are many interesting things (in Russian) on the information stands.
From what I've read:
Nymphaeum (previously called the sanctuaries of nymphs, revered as deities of spring, healing water) is a temple of water, here the queen celebrated her birthday and name day. This is the most romantic place of the park complex, with a beautiful view of the sea.
Small source of Ayazmoto - clears thoughts and drives away fatigue, etc.
Near the sea, the appearance of the residence changes dramatically, sadness is replaced by delight from the beauties seen.
The personal, intimate, secret, is replaced by a ceremonial, bravado, something that was supposed to impress visiting European diplomats. Produces, I want to tell you!
The cactus alley is striking in its grandiose size, not in area, but in height, where have you seen a cactus of five, six meters? ! And we saw, and not one, curious.
Then there are several alleys, clearly thought out, planned, beautiful, this is already similar to our gardens, but less exciting.
In fact, there is nothing to do in the palace itself, very modestly, especially after the garden, it even somehow lands the impression.
Y-yes, another interesting fact, when purchasing a ticket to the garden, you MUST still buy a ticket to the palace, otherwise you will not be allowed into the garden, but you will find out about this at the entrance, go back and buy another ticket. Total: 400 rubles! Below, by the sea, there is the Korona restaurant, through which you can get into the garden for free, I know, many do this, we were also advised, but somehow my conscience would not allow me, otherwise I would not enjoy the beauties of the garden, but stealthily looked around Well, what a vacation! There is no money, but the conscience is calm!
Help and support in Balchik!
Before going to the garden after breakfast, we went to the ZORA travel agency. Before leaving for Bulgaria, I wrote several e-mails to local agencies, I wanted to calculate how much money I need to take with me for additional excursions and clarify their list, choose something in advance.
They answered me from one - this is Zora (zora_tour@abv. bg; ICQ 232-629840 skype: zora_tour).
We were greeted by a lovely woman, Zoya. She is Russian, has lived in Bulgaria for 26 years, is married, has two adult children, and has her own travel agency.
You have no idea how grateful I am! I associate Bulgaria with her, with the positive emotions that she gave us, her advice and support helped a lot. She is smart! I understand that it sounds like an advertisement, but I can’t write anything else.
She immediately handed us a guidebook, told us about the precautions that should be taken, outlined a plan for excursions, and then there was not a day that we didn’t go to Zoya, at least just to say hello, talk about impressions, ask for advice, and just look at her - a long blond braid, energetic, curvy, striking in its dynamics, emotionality. She became our family! Zoya, thank you very much! (I know, you will read it later - this is a couple of newlyweds from St. Petersburg Olga and Andrey).
yacht picnic
On the morning of September 16, Zoya brought us to the pier, we went to a wild beach - sunbathe, swim, relax.
We were seated on board the yacht Aurora, we were under the irrepressible hubbub of German pensioners, but as soon as our captain, in order to amuse the audience, sharply tilted the yacht to one side, the pensioners switched to their native Ukrainian language! Here is the transformation!
Attention! It's mid-September and 10 am, dress warmly! We warmed up only after a few hours of being on the beach under the hot sun.
The swim will last about two hours, along the coastline, where you can see all the beauties of the resorts, tiled red roofs, cottages, hotels, white rocks, large white jellyfish are periodically visible in the sea.
Then you will find a wild beach where communism reigns - everything that is there is free, but there are: swings, fins, masks, sun loungers with umbrellas, beer, soft drinks, fruits, lunch, consisting of grilled fish and sausage, salad, potatoes . It's delicious in the air!
A small, neat beach is shrouded in a white stone ridge, which is very typical for Balchik and its environs, because the sea used to reign here, now these are huge boulders of shell rock! A very picturesque place for a photo shoot - the blue sea, white rocks, beautiful yachts on the pier in the sea!
If it were not for mid-September, perhaps everything would be just great, but at this time of the year, the sun leaves early and is replaced by strong gusts of wind from the sea, forcing people to wrap themselves in clothes in the late afternoon.
At about 7 pm we landed at our pier, ran quickly to change clothes and ran to dinner at the Blue Lion.
Well, let’s run, it’s said quickly, you don’t particularly run in Balchik, the stone road from the embankment leads up in serpentine, it is all entwined with greenery, and you get the feeling that you are in a stone jungle, personally, these stone steps evoked thoughts of lost Mayan settlements in me, I am such a dreamer!
At first, in a foreign country, you want to try literally everything! In Balchik, it's all BRYNZA! It is added to salads and side dishes, and to main dishes, at first you savor it, and later you hate it with fierce hatred, it is everywhere! It is difficult to find a dish on the menu without her direct participation! After all, we actually lived not in a resort, but in a provincial (local) town!
But in the first couple, clay pots with all sorts of baked and fried goodies are very well used, of course with the participation of cheese, Meshana salad (tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, cheese), soups are very tasty and they are very cheap.
The gentle morning sun has already woken up, not a cloud in the sky, the blue of the sky is reflected in the sea and sparkles on the stage of cozy restaurants, located mainly at the very edge of the water, their open stages go into the sea, if you look at the water, you can see hundreds of fish flocks, white albatrosses are located on the stones nearby, multi-colored sails are visible on the horizon! Romance!
A fly in the ointment right away ...in addition to all these beauties, there are still packs of cats sitting next to the table, there are small cute kittens, there are tricolor fluffy cats, there are seasoned skinned cats, but there are dozens of them and everyone looks with hungry eyes !! ! And the worst thing is that for every piece of food they are ready to tear each other to shreds, because they know now the season will pass, the tourists will leave and hunger awaits them and it's terrible!
I still remember their muzzles with a shudder in my heart, because most of them have torn muzzles, ears, and the worst thing is that their eyes have been scratched out!
Naturally, most of my portion went “under the table”, for which I regularly received a reprimand from my husband, but how different, because they want to eat! And I can help them, at least while I'm here, and then ...it's better not to think about it!
So I won’t talk about bad things anymore, cats are the only thing that evokes sad thoughts, otherwise everything is magical!
We had breakfast, sometimes lunch and of course we dined now only in Starata Boat! Their chef is a magician and a magician! Once we really tried to cheat on them with another restaurant, but after tasting the food, we ran back in disgrace, having agreed that now our stomachs belong entirely to this place!
I highly recommend: Moussaka casserole, fried white shark, they cook pizza on the second floor, but actually everything is delicious, if my husband was pleased! It costs a lot! (Rereading my note, I saw that I had already recommended them twice, that's how I liked them! )
After breakfast, we went to Avtogara (parking lot of scheduled minibuses), to see the routes, cost and frequency of movement, from the "Boat" you need to go a little to the right and up (actually everyone will tell you) for 10-15 minutes. There are direct buses to: Dobrich (every 45 minutes), Varna (30 minutes), Kavarna, Shabla, Sofia (8:45 and 21:15). There is a building opposite Avtogar, there is a fruit and vegetable mini market in it, everything is cheap and tasty, we bought goods there almost every day.
By the way, when I went to Bulgaria, I bought a phrasebook (here, fool), I never opened it, everyone understands and speaks Russian perfectly, perhaps, excluding the younger generation under 20, they prefer English, but no one will pass by if you ask to show or explain something!
During the day we walked around Balchik, it was very hot, about 25 degrees, by the way, few tourists know that the city stretches up for a lot of kilometers (we walked uphill for more than an hour), but frankly there is nothing to do there, there are five-story old houses or wooden houses, donkeys and geese walk in the gardens, as in a village, ripe chestnuts fall on their heads! Yes! Chestnuts are a separate story, there are a lot of them in Bulgaria, whole parks, alleys, by mid-September they ripen, and shamelessly strive to fall on their heads, there is no salvation.
While we were feasting on buffets, an entertaining action was unfolding on the stage: dance ballet demonstrated national Bulgarian dances, jugglers, acrobats, magicians, illusionists, singers, who were not there! We even got to dance!
While the performance was going on, the photographer walked around the guests and photographed them in a cowboy hat, the photos turned out to be very bright! We liked it.
The performance ended, traditionally, by walking with the icon on hot coals, by the way, my friend went to Bulgaria before me and in her pictures - a girl standing on hot coals - completely transparent, you can clearly see a number of people standing behind her! Curious! It didn't work out that way for us, but hot coals heaving from the touch of the feet (in absolute darkness) produce the proper shocking effect, plus the corresponding music! Definitely recommend!
18.09.
POBITI KOMANI. Mountain monastery Aladzha.
Also on September 15, t.
That is, the next day after arrival, we agreed with Zoya the schedule of our excursions for two weeks in advance, very convenient! After all, we must not forget that it is already the end of the season, there are not many tourists anymore (and even more so in Balchik), therefore, most often our excursions were individual, i. e. we traveled in a Ford Fokus I car, on the way the driver answered the questions we were interested in questions, upon arrival he paid for the entrance himself, and then waited for us as long as we needed, brought us to unusually beautiful places a couple of times, it is clear that these places are known only to local residents. There were several advantages at once: we were given huge discounts in comparison with the prices of other tour agencies and there was plenty of time on the spot, there was no need to rush.
In the morning the car was already waiting for us at the entrance to the hotel, Zoya wished us a good day and we set off ...
The first destination is to "drive in the stones", a natural phenomenon, as they call it here.
On the territory of a couple of kilometers there are stone sculptures of the most bizarre shapes and sizes, inside they are floors and one can only guess how far their “roots” go into the ground, as the local guide said, an attempt was made to dig one of the stone pillars, but having gone a hundred meters into earth, scientists never got to its beginning.
I somehow don’t really like stones at all, what could be interesting in them ? ! But there are so many shocking scientific phenomena and myths lurking around this place that I decided that it was worth a look in order to form my own personal idea of this place.
So, my personal idea: the stones are really unusual, as always it is a “glazed” shell rock, if you dig deep into the pores of this pillar, you can peel off a couple of shells, it seems to me very, very old, I don’t know, it seems to me that they are prehistoric.
He behaved too infantile, spoke with the air of a man who was already tired of everything here, showing a photograph, he said “this is an elephant”, “this is a poodle”, “this is the devil”, “but this is a gap through which only a sinless person can crawl through " etc.
After his story, my husband pointed to one of a couple of hundred stones and said “this is an elephant”, “or maybe this one”, “this one is definitely an elephant”! We definitely found a gap for sinless people, I climbed halfway, in fact a person of size 42-46 can climb through there, who is not afraid to leave a couple of shreds of his clothes there and put sand dust on the suit. My husband was not afraid and I immediately became an object of suspicion!
They say there is a wonderful place where all video and photo equipment is turned off, I don’t know, they haven’t seen anything like that, everything was functioning properly!
Perhaps, heading there, you need to take drinking water with you, badan on your head, protective cream and closed sandals, it bakes very strongly from the sand, they also say there are snakes, it is clear that stones and sand attract them, there are also hordes of small nasty flies, the first sometimes there is no escape from them, and then you get used to it.
You can see a lot of zigzag stripes on the sand, as after the snake, noticing them, I started to get nervous, and then we saw large green lizards, they leave such a mark. But you better be careful!
Zoya said “look carefully at the sand, if you see a stone that looks at you and you have a desire to take it, take it, it will be your amulet, ” people say there they find completely precious stones or with veins. Seashells looked at me and I dutifully chipped them off!
After the “stones”, the thirst was incredible, the water in the local stall was worth its weight in gold (literally), I had to spend money.
The driver took us to the spring (if you look at the stones from the road, then immediately to the right behind them there is a country road leading to a small forest, there again to the right), where you can stay with your feet, hands, in general, wash off the sand and dust.
It’s worth going there once, I’m not sure that I went, I would go again, although ...
Now we were heading to the monastery "Aladzha" (XII-XIV centuries)
We got off at the parking lot next to the monastery and headed up the stairs. At the entrance there are ticket offices, then the museum premises, catacombs and directly the Aladzha rock complex itself.
At the entrance to the grotto of the museum, very solemn church music plays, beautifully ...and creates the appropriate mood.
From what I read in the museum:
“The rock monastic cloisters, hollowed out and additionally decorated in natural caves, far from populated areas, amaze with an exceptional variety of construction methods and architectural solutions .....
There are both single cells carved into the rock, and large complexes located on two or more floors, connected by passages, platforms, terraces and stairs dug into the rock.
“The premises of the rock monastery are hollowed out on two levels, in a sheer almost 40 meters high limestone rock. On the first level there is a monastery church, monastic cells, a refectory and a kitchen, a funeral church, a crypt (tomb) and utility rooms. The second level is a natural rock niche, at the eastern end of which there is a monastery chapel. Communication between the two levels was carried out through a twisted wooden staircase. »
“The real name of the monastery is not known. The name “alaja”, meaning “variegated, multi-colored”, is of Arabic-Persian origin and probably appeared during the period of Ottoman rule in the Bulgarian lands. »
“About 600-700 meters west of the rock monastery is a group of caves located on three levels, known as the Catacombs. The best preserved level here is the second level, which consists of one large room of unknown purpose (possibly an early Christian crypt), next to it is a chamber for five burials. Both rooms are associated with the early Christian cult of the dead. The proof of this is two crosses embedded in the walls with the letters "alpha" and "omega". »
The museum exhibits the attributes of church life and service to God found in the complex, icons, crosses. Everything is accompanied by a description, including in Russian, accompanying people are not needed here.
After the museum, having received the appropriate mood, we headed to the Catacombs. It is a pleasure to go to them after a hot desert with stones, the road passes through a shady forest.
All levels are fenced with a strong protective fence, you won’t be able to fall out, don’t even try! : ) The vault of the cave is covered with soot, there are niches for flares and torches in the walls, it seems that where the fence stands today, there used to be a solid stone wall, and the monks used only the light from the fire.
At the first level, niches for icons and places for installing candles are clearly distinguished in the walls, everything is made of stone - ledges for sitting, eating, sleeping, apparently even the most primitive furniture was not used here.
Stone steps inside the second level lead to the first, there are cells.
Inside there is another staircase, it used to lead to the third level to the chapel, but today it is destroyed, so you need to go back to the modern staircase and climb up.
On the third level, closer to the chapel, from all the small niches of the rock, small notes with requests stick out, judging by the number, there are a lot of people here. A small bell hangs to the right of the chapel, you can reach it without much difficulty, and everyone who comes here tries to hit it, to which the guards immediately appear, we tried to swear - they don’t swear, but they look menacingly!
At the exit from the monastery and below in the parking lot there are souvenir shops, the prices are reasonable, they sell icons carved in wood (from 1500 rubles) and simply scorched (from 30 rubles) from very small to huge.
The national icon in Bulgaria is the Mother of God of Three Hands, the baby is supported by two hands and the third from the holy spirit. There are also a lot of personalized icons for sale.
On the way back home, we were taken to an open cliff from which a stunning view of Albena and Balchik opened! Thanks a lot!
Dinner with fried shark, a bottle of wine, walking and sleeping. Tomorrow is a new day!
To be continued.. .
Have flown! Varna Airport, small, small, like a toy compared to the Pulkovo terminals, zones. Everything is compact here: passport control - 3 booths, then a spacious hall for baggage claim, to the left is a toilet.
We received the luggage, went to the representatives who were meeting us, distributed ourselves among the buses, drove off ...The representative from the Neva began to bring us up to date, what, where and how much, she told who and where they were getting off, my husband and I would be the last to leave, well, well, let's see other resorts. And I got so carried away with my story that I forgot to drop off the couple at the resort of St. Helena and Constantine, what started here ....until they were brought back and dropped off, the entire bus listened to a squabble with profanity. I don’t understand: so what, we drove, we returned back, we rode for an extra half an hour, that’s the problem too! And ruined the mood for everyone!
So, everyone came out and even our tour rep. firms.
We were alone, we had been driving for two hours already, we looked at the resorts of St. Helena and Konstantin, Golden Sands, Albena, Kranevo in the night haze. And then the driver turns to us and asks: “Guys, where should we go next? ”, that's fun, and we thought you knew! Adventure number one, that's it! Found! And Balchik found our hotel. Everything! Dovidane!
Thank you for the first story about Bulgaria, how resorts are slowly dying out of the season, how Bulgarians go to earn money during this difficult period in France, Germany, how little you can earn in Bulgaria, an average of 200 Euros per month. How sociable, open, good-natured these Bulgarians are!
Our hotel. Holiday Beach ***.
However, my opinion about this hotel will not be useful to anyone, so in short: spacious, light beige rooms, with good furniture and decoration, lovely open balconies overlooking the snow-white yachts and the sea, a huge wall with access to the balcony is completely glass.
How magical in the morning, opening a heavy curtain to see the sea and yachts! These are the delights of a vacation at the resort!
An interestingly shaped pool, without heating, was already icy, after all, it was already mid-September! Therefore, near it, we only sunbathed a couple of times, swam in the sea.
The breakfasts were disgusting (this is the only thing that filled out from the negative), terrible soy sausages, cold coffee with grains, tasteless cereal, at first cheese cheese pleased, and then it turned out that it is added in Bulgaria, almost all food, after a few days the thought of breakfast caused an unpleasant cramp in an empty stomach, brrr ...at first we regularly went to "breakfast", and then waved our hand and ate our favorite coffee on the seashore.
The hotel would have been built in 2005, brand new, but already at the time of our arrival, the workers were taking furniture out of the rooms, dismantling it, preparing the hotel for demolition, now the construction of heaped penthouses should be in full swing there. So, we are one of the last Magikan guests! It's a pity!
Balchik as it is
It consists of a resort area that is near the sea and residential.
It is located as an amphitheater to the sea, stone staircases made of shell rock, twined with green spit, lead upwards, then snow-white mountains and a blue sky. Small, cozy, provincially quiet, immersed in greenery, with red tiled roofs and small donkeys, as if bowing his head before the Lord of the blue sea, this dear Balchik! The soul here wants to enjoy peace, local color. And the population, just wonderful, like in the villages of your grandmother, everyone is happy to see you, everyone is ready to help, everyone is glad that you came!
Many, many hundreds of years ago there was a sea here, now a city.
The receding sea gave people snow-white mountains, which used to be corals and shells. Very unusual!
I was very touched by donkeys, I don’t know where I got such a craving for these animals, they are so touching, there are a lot of them in Balchik, eared, small, just lovely. I pounced on every animal I met with a camera, catching the right angle, I imagine myself from the outside!
The amount of Soviet automotive technology was somewhat puzzling: kopecks, three rubles, fives, old Volga, a lot! Once in Varna they took pictures of a street, then they discovered that a row of a dozen Soviet cars was parked outside the house. Well, at least somewhere this scrap metal is popular! The roads are similar - we have potholes, potholes, they have serpentines, turns!
From among the national customs, it is very unusual to see in the city: on poles, houses, trees, gates there are memorial notes in A4 format, with a photograph, a mourning wreath, and words of grief for the dead.
Everything is pasted over with them, at first it is perceived quite hard, you walk like in a cemetery, and then you get used to it, you get used to everything over time.
From Balchik you can easily get to other cities by minibuses, they run according to the schedule, which you can see at the bus station (Avtogar), you can pay for the ticket at the box office or the driver himself, stopping the car on the street. The minibus goes to Dobrich (half an hour, we went there with Zoya), Varna (40 minutes), Kavarna, Tsaritsyno, Sofia (4.5 hours). BUT: keep in mind that public transport stops working at 7.8 pm, then only a taxi, which is very expensive (we paid 600 rubles at 10 pm to travel 20 kilometers; although there are exceptions - in Albena we paid 100 rubles to a taxi driver who took us to our Hotel, it was just on the way).
The only time we encountered in Bulgaria with undisguised rudeness, which almost ended in a fight, taxi drivers in Bulgaria are extremely intrusive, and this guy even began to threaten, you can imagine! When he realized that we were not going to go with him, which was repeatedly told to him, he called us Russian g ....m, and began to advance menacingly, I don’t know what it cost me to stop my husband, Thank God it worked out! Zoya immediately began to ask where it happened and the number of the taxi, she said that it was necessary to contact the police or threaten him, he would not behave like that, people there hold on to work. But we were not ready for this! In Bulgaria, everyone is very responsive, I have never seen, at least one of the tourists looked unfriendly. And this guy is just "unsettled". As they say in the family...
What, where to eat...
I also liked the shark dish. The waiter served us the same, he knew our taste preferences well, and tried his best to help in choosing new dishes. Well done! On the second floor, they often ordered pizza, took it with them to the room.
Walking to the Hungarian residence of Queen Mary...
Yes, yes, on foot, very close, and even along the embankment, just a stone's throw away, 15 minutes, no more! Well, in general they say that there is a palace, but for me, a layman in St. Petersburg, this is too loudly said, the palace is Catherine, Peterhof, Gatchina, etc. And this is a residence - stone, entwined with greenery, with an interesting design idea, with old Greek vases , waterfalls, a rose garden, an alley of cacti, sculptures, there is something to see and admire! Honestly!
Antique Christian crosses with half-erased Latin letters, stone descents, forged patterned gates, unprecedented early flowers, colorful butterflies, nimble lizards...
as I wander through the garden now! And below the snow-white "palace" and the blue sea!
A touching story about the boundless love of the Hungarian queen for the Turkish man, whom she waited day and night on her stone throne, peering into the sea distance. An absurd, tragic death at the hands of her own son ...she bequeathed to leave her heart in Balchik, in a small chapel, but ...her heart is in Hungary, where she was born, and not here where she lived, loved, yearned, died! The world is cruel! These stories evoke sadness, so peering into every bench, vase, leaning against a tree, you involuntarily think about her tragic fate...
Even the waterfall does not give the impression of a formidable, impetuous force, it seems to be lazily, sadly sliding down, mourning its mistress.
And this is far from the only story of the garden, there are many interesting things (in Russian) on the information stands.
From what I've read:
Nymphaeum (previously called the sanctuaries of nymphs, revered as deities of spring, healing water) is a temple of water, here the queen celebrated her birthday and name day. This is the most romantic place of the park complex, with a beautiful view of the sea.
Small source of Ayazmoto - clears thoughts and drives away fatigue, etc.
Near the sea, the appearance of the residence changes dramatically, sadness is replaced by delight from the beauties seen.
The personal, intimate, secret, is replaced by a ceremonial, bravado, something that was supposed to impress visiting European diplomats. Produces, I want to tell you!
The cactus alley is striking in its grandiose size, not in area, but in height, where have you seen a cactus of five, six meters? ! And we saw, and not one, curious.
Then there are several alleys, clearly thought out, planned, beautiful, this is already similar to our gardens, but less exciting.
In fact, there is nothing to do in the palace itself, very modestly, especially after the garden, it even somehow lands the impression.
Y-yes, another interesting fact, when purchasing a ticket to the garden, you MUST still buy a ticket to the palace, otherwise you will not be allowed into the garden, but you will find out about this at the entrance, go back and buy another ticket. Total: 400 rubles! Below, by the sea, there is the Korona restaurant, through which you can get into the garden for free, I know, many do this, we were also advised, but somehow my conscience would not allow me, otherwise I would not enjoy the beauties of the garden, but stealthily looked around Well, what a vacation! There is no money, but the conscience is calm!
Help and support in Balchik!
Before going to the garden after breakfast, we went to the ZORA travel agency. Before leaving for Bulgaria, I wrote several e-mails to local agencies, I wanted to calculate how much money I need to take with me for additional excursions and clarify their list, choose something in advance.
They answered me from one - this is Zora (zora_tour@abv. bg; ICQ 232-629840 skype: zora_tour).
We were greeted by a lovely woman, Zoya. She is Russian, has lived in Bulgaria for 26 years, is married, has two adult children, and has her own travel agency.
You have no idea how grateful I am! I associate Bulgaria with her, with the positive emotions that she gave us, her advice and support helped a lot. She is smart! I understand that it sounds like an advertisement, but I can’t write anything else.
She immediately handed us a guidebook, told us about the precautions that should be taken, outlined a plan for excursions, and then there was not a day that we didn’t go to Zoya, at least just to say hello, talk about impressions, ask for advice, and just look at her - a long blond braid, energetic, curvy, striking in its dynamics, emotionality. She became our family! Zoya, thank you very much! (I know, you will read it later - this is a couple of newlyweds from St. Petersburg Olga and Andrey).
yacht picnic
On the morning of September 16, Zoya brought us to the pier, we went to a wild beach - sunbathe, swim, relax.
We were seated on board the yacht Aurora, we were under the irrepressible hubbub of German pensioners, but as soon as our captain, in order to amuse the audience, sharply tilted the yacht to one side, the pensioners switched to their native Ukrainian language! Here is the transformation!
Attention! It's mid-September and 10 am, dress warmly! We warmed up only after a few hours of being on the beach under the hot sun.
The swim will last about two hours, along the coastline, where you can see all the beauties of the resorts, tiled red roofs, cottages, hotels, white rocks, large white jellyfish are periodically visible in the sea.
Then you will find a wild beach where communism reigns - everything that is there is free, but there are: swings, fins, masks, sun loungers with umbrellas, beer, soft drinks, fruits, lunch, consisting of grilled fish and sausage, salad, potatoes . It's delicious in the air!
A small, neat beach is shrouded in a white stone ridge, which is very typical for Balchik and its environs, because the sea used to reign here, now these are huge boulders of shell rock! A very picturesque place for a photo shoot - the blue sea, white rocks, beautiful yachts on the pier in the sea!
If it were not for mid-September, perhaps everything would be just great, but at this time of the year, the sun leaves early and is replaced by strong gusts of wind from the sea, forcing people to wrap themselves in clothes in the late afternoon.
At about 7 pm we landed at our pier, ran quickly to change clothes and ran to dinner at the Blue Lion.
Well, let’s run, it’s said quickly, you don’t particularly run in Balchik, the stone road from the embankment leads up in serpentine, it is all entwined with greenery, and you get the feeling that you are in a stone jungle, personally, these stone steps evoked thoughts of lost Mayan settlements in me, I am such a dreamer!
At first, in a foreign country, you want to try literally everything! In Balchik, it's all BRYNZA! It is added to salads and side dishes, and to main dishes, at first you savor it, and later you hate it with fierce hatred, it is everywhere! It is difficult to find a dish on the menu without her direct participation! After all, we actually lived not in a resort, but in a provincial (local) town!
But in the first couple, clay pots with all sorts of baked and fried goodies are very well used, of course with the participation of cheese, Meshana salad (tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, cheese), soups are very tasty and they are very cheap.
The gentle morning sun has already woken up, not a cloud in the sky, the blue of the sky is reflected in the sea and sparkles on the stage of cozy restaurants, located mainly at the very edge of the water, their open stages go into the sea, if you look at the water, you can see hundreds of fish flocks, white albatrosses are located on the stones nearby, multi-colored sails are visible on the horizon! Romance!
A fly in the ointment right away ...in addition to all these beauties, there are still packs of cats sitting next to the table, there are small cute kittens, there are tricolor fluffy cats, there are seasoned skinned cats, but there are dozens of them and everyone looks with hungry eyes !! ! And the worst thing is that for every piece of food they are ready to tear each other to shreds, because they know now the season will pass, the tourists will leave and hunger awaits them and it's terrible!
I still remember their muzzles with a shudder in my heart, because most of them have torn muzzles, ears, and the worst thing is that their eyes have been scratched out!
Naturally, most of my portion went “under the table”, for which I regularly received a reprimand from my husband, but how different, because they want to eat! And I can help them, at least while I'm here, and then ...it's better not to think about it!
So I won’t talk about bad things anymore, cats are the only thing that evokes sad thoughts, otherwise everything is magical!
We had breakfast, sometimes lunch and of course we dined now only in Starata Boat! Their chef is a magician and a magician! Once we really tried to cheat on them with another restaurant, but after tasting the food, we ran back in disgrace, having agreed that now our stomachs belong entirely to this place!
I highly recommend: Moussaka casserole, fried white shark, they cook pizza on the second floor, but actually everything is delicious, if my husband was pleased! It costs a lot! (Rereading my note, I saw that I had already recommended them twice, that's how I liked them! )
After breakfast, we went to Avtogara (parking lot of scheduled minibuses), to see the routes, cost and frequency of movement, from the "Boat" you need to go a little to the right and up (actually everyone will tell you) for 10-15 minutes. There are direct buses to: Dobrich (every 45 minutes), Varna (30 minutes), Kavarna, Shabla, Sofia (8:45 and 21:15). There is a building opposite Avtogar, there is a fruit and vegetable mini market in it, everything is cheap and tasty, we bought goods there almost every day.
By the way, when I went to Bulgaria, I bought a phrasebook (here, fool), I never opened it, everyone understands and speaks Russian perfectly, perhaps, excluding the younger generation under 20, they prefer English, but no one will pass by if you ask to show or explain something!
During the day we walked around Balchik, it was very hot, about 25 degrees, by the way, few tourists know that the city stretches up for a lot of kilometers (we walked uphill for more than an hour), but frankly there is nothing to do there, there are five-story old houses or wooden houses, donkeys and geese walk in the gardens, as in a village, ripe chestnuts fall on their heads! Yes! Chestnuts are a separate story, there are a lot of them in Bulgaria, whole parks, alleys, by mid-September they ripen, and shamelessly strive to fall on their heads, there is no salvation.
While we were feasting on buffets, an entertaining action was unfolding on the stage: dance ballet demonstrated national Bulgarian dances, jugglers, acrobats, magicians, illusionists, singers, who were not there! We even got to dance!
While the performance was going on, the photographer walked around the guests and photographed them in a cowboy hat, the photos turned out to be very bright! We liked it.
The performance ended, traditionally, by walking with the icon on hot coals, by the way, my friend went to Bulgaria before me and in her pictures - a girl standing on hot coals - completely transparent, you can clearly see a number of people standing behind her! Curious! It didn't work out that way for us, but hot coals heaving from the touch of the feet (in absolute darkness) produce the proper shocking effect, plus the corresponding music! Definitely recommend!
18.09.
POBITI KOMANI. Mountain monastery Aladzha.
Also on September 15, t.
That is, the next day after arrival, we agreed with Zoya the schedule of our excursions for two weeks in advance, very convenient! After all, we must not forget that it is already the end of the season, there are not many tourists anymore (and even more so in Balchik), therefore, most often our excursions were individual, i. e. we traveled in a Ford Fokus I car, on the way the driver answered the questions we were interested in questions, upon arrival he paid for the entrance himself, and then waited for us as long as we needed, brought us to unusually beautiful places a couple of times, it is clear that these places are known only to local residents. There were several advantages at once: we were given huge discounts in comparison with the prices of other tour agencies and there was plenty of time on the spot, there was no need to rush.
In the morning the car was already waiting for us at the entrance to the hotel, Zoya wished us a good day and we set off ...
The first destination is to "drive in the stones", a natural phenomenon, as they call it here.
On the territory of a couple of kilometers there are stone sculptures of the most bizarre shapes and sizes, inside they are floors and one can only guess how far their “roots” go into the ground, as the local guide said, an attempt was made to dig one of the stone pillars, but having gone a hundred meters into earth, scientists never got to its beginning.
I somehow don’t really like stones at all, what could be interesting in them ? ! But there are so many shocking scientific phenomena and myths lurking around this place that I decided that it was worth a look in order to form my own personal idea of this place.
So, my personal idea: the stones are really unusual, as always it is a “glazed” shell rock, if you dig deep into the pores of this pillar, you can peel off a couple of shells, it seems to me very, very old, I don’t know, it seems to me that they are prehistoric.
He behaved too infantile, spoke with the air of a man who was already tired of everything here, showing a photograph, he said “this is an elephant”, “this is a poodle”, “this is the devil”, “but this is a gap through which only a sinless person can crawl through " etc.
After his story, my husband pointed to one of a couple of hundred stones and said “this is an elephant”, “or maybe this one”, “this one is definitely an elephant”! We definitely found a gap for sinless people, I climbed halfway, in fact a person of size 42-46 can climb through there, who is not afraid to leave a couple of shreds of his clothes there and put sand dust on the suit. My husband was not afraid and I immediately became an object of suspicion!
They say there is a wonderful place where all video and photo equipment is turned off, I don’t know, they haven’t seen anything like that, everything was functioning properly!
Perhaps, heading there, you need to take drinking water with you, badan on your head, protective cream and closed sandals, it bakes very strongly from the sand, they also say there are snakes, it is clear that stones and sand attract them, there are also hordes of small nasty flies, the first sometimes there is no escape from them, and then you get used to it.
You can see a lot of zigzag stripes on the sand, as after the snake, noticing them, I started to get nervous, and then we saw large green lizards, they leave such a mark. But you better be careful!
Zoya said “look carefully at the sand, if you see a stone that looks at you and you have a desire to take it, take it, it will be your amulet, ” people say there they find completely precious stones or with veins. Seashells looked at me and I dutifully chipped them off!
After the “stones”, the thirst was incredible, the water in the local stall was worth its weight in gold (literally), I had to spend money.
The driver took us to the spring (if you look at the stones from the road, then immediately to the right behind them there is a country road leading to a small forest, there again to the right), where you can stay with your feet, hands, in general, wash off the sand and dust.
It’s worth going there once, I’m not sure that I went, I would go again, although ...
Now we were heading to the monastery "Aladzha" (XII-XIV centuries)
We got off at the parking lot next to the monastery and headed up the stairs. At the entrance there are ticket offices, then the museum premises, catacombs and directly the Aladzha rock complex itself.
At the entrance to the grotto of the museum, very solemn church music plays, beautifully ...and creates the appropriate mood.
From what I read in the museum:
“The rock monastic cloisters, hollowed out and additionally decorated in natural caves, far from populated areas, amaze with an exceptional variety of construction methods and architectural solutions .....
There are both single cells carved into the rock, and large complexes located on two or more floors, connected by passages, platforms, terraces and stairs dug into the rock.
“The premises of the rock monastery are hollowed out on two levels, in a sheer almost 40 meters high limestone rock. On the first level there is a monastery church, monastic cells, a refectory and a kitchen, a funeral church, a crypt (tomb) and utility rooms. The second level is a natural rock niche, at the eastern end of which there is a monastery chapel. Communication between the two levels was carried out through a twisted wooden staircase. »
“The real name of the monastery is not known. The name “alaja”, meaning “variegated, multi-colored”, is of Arabic-Persian origin and probably appeared during the period of Ottoman rule in the Bulgarian lands. »
“About 600-700 meters west of the rock monastery is a group of caves located on three levels, known as the Catacombs. The best preserved level here is the second level, which consists of one large room of unknown purpose (possibly an early Christian crypt), next to it is a chamber for five burials. Both rooms are associated with the early Christian cult of the dead. The proof of this is two crosses embedded in the walls with the letters "alpha" and "omega". »
The museum exhibits the attributes of church life and service to God found in the complex, icons, crosses. Everything is accompanied by a description, including in Russian, accompanying people are not needed here.
After the museum, having received the appropriate mood, we headed to the Catacombs. It is a pleasure to go to them after a hot desert with stones, the road passes through a shady forest.
All levels are fenced with a strong protective fence, you won’t be able to fall out, don’t even try! : ) The vault of the cave is covered with soot, there are niches for flares and torches in the walls, it seems that where the fence stands today, there used to be a solid stone wall, and the monks used only the light from the fire.
At the first level, niches for icons and places for installing candles are clearly distinguished in the walls, everything is made of stone - ledges for sitting, eating, sleeping, apparently even the most primitive furniture was not used here.
Stone steps inside the second level lead to the first, there are cells.
Inside there is another staircase, it used to lead to the third level to the chapel, but today it is destroyed, so you need to go back to the modern staircase and climb up.
On the third level, closer to the chapel, from all the small niches of the rock, small notes with requests stick out, judging by the number, there are a lot of people here. A small bell hangs to the right of the chapel, you can reach it without much difficulty, and everyone who comes here tries to hit it, to which the guards immediately appear, we tried to swear - they don’t swear, but they look menacingly!
At the exit from the monastery and below in the parking lot there are souvenir shops, the prices are reasonable, they sell icons carved in wood (from 1500 rubles) and simply scorched (from 30 rubles) from very small to huge.
The national icon in Bulgaria is the Mother of God of Three Hands, the baby is supported by two hands and the third from the holy spirit. There are also a lot of personalized icons for sale.
On the way back home, we were taken to an open cliff from which a stunning view of Albena and Balchik opened! Thanks a lot!
Dinner with fried shark, a bottle of wine, walking and sleeping. Tomorrow is a new day!
To be continued.. .
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