Bulgaria 2021. By cities and resorts!
How easy and simple it is to plan travel during an epidemic, before you had to choose among two hundred countries, where and when it is more profitable, which airlines to fly and where to transfer. Now, only a couple of dozen countries are open, and you fly where the planes fly, that's the whole choice for you. This time our “choice” fell on Bulgaria. We flew with Bazeir, who flew on a plane of the Ryanair Sun company, which is a subsidiary of Ryanair. Moreover, two captains flew at once in the plane. On the one hand, it seems to be more reliable, but on the other hand, how do they determine who makes the final decision during the control of the aircraft? Yes, and the staff on the way back added zest, at first they announced that they need passengers who feel good luck in themselves. So-so request at an altitude of 11.000 meters, and the plane began to sway excitedly from turbulence.
On our board, out of 150 people, two felt lucky, who immediately bought a lottery ticket directly from the steward. I tensed even more, it turns out 148 people either do not feel good luck during the flight, or even worse feel bad luck. Then the steward tried to sell perfume and a watch with a camera, just like on TVs in TV shops. He stood at the front of the plane and, demonstrating the boxes, broadcast to the entire plane. How boring we used to fly, here at UIA on board they will give you a maximum of free water, and here such a show is free, although if you feel lucky, you will have to pay. And in general, this day was interesting for aviation, on another plane, a passenger of one company was bitten off a nail and tore her face. But back to Bulgaria.
It was the first trip that we failed 9 years ago, wizzair then completely canceled this direction and returned the money to us. After 9 years, we still managed to catch a similar action, and now we land in Sofia. Behind the windows are green mountains and bright yellow fields of blooming rapeseed.
And just before landing, a group of lakes flashed by. Bulgaria knows how to conquer us - nature and good weather. The second impression about Bulgaria is the peaks of snow-capped mountains, which will open from different parts of our journey and accompany us to the airport itself. Are we back in Bavaria?
We passed all checkpoints quite quickly and, fortunately, even successfully. We arrived on one of the first flights, when Bulgaria allowed Ukraine to fly in on express tests, so it was very difficult to confirm that it was now possible to get by with an express test, even the embassy at first said that they were definitely not aware of the current rules. The airport employee carefully studied our certificate, then asked her colleague something about the express antigen, she shook her head negatively... well, everyone seemed to have arrived. No, we missed. Here are the goodies. We just didn't know at the time that the Bulgarian negative head nod meant yes. The metro train stops right outside the airport, so for 1.6 bgn ($1) you can get straight to the center in 30 minutes.
And since, thanks to the rules of the rayan, we were quite light, with only two small hand luggage, we were in no hurry to settle. We went to the station immediately to buy railway tickets for the route. The girl wrote out tickets for us, I ran a paypas across the terminal and clarified whether the transaction went through, the girl nodded her head in the affirmative. We waited, she waited, then she asked when we would pay? We didn't understand anything again, we paid in cash. Who knew that the Bulgarian head nod "yes" means no. But suspicions began to creep in that something was wrong around.
We came to the reception, a charismatic guy told us that we should go 600 meters to the right, go through the gate, and there will be two hotels, one on the right and the other straight ahead, we need to go to the one on the right and gave us the keys. It was good that he gestured in the direction, since his right was in the center. We arrived, but the building, which was on the right, generally looks like a hotel weakly, and what is right, because there is no third room, as it is written on the keys. We, like in Fort Boyard, sorted out the keys and doors, but without success. I called the reception and explained the situation, the guy was very surprised that the brown door was right and not on the right. We switched from Russian to English, now he didn’t understand anything about these doors at all, but he said that he would come and sort everything out. He came and confidently led us straight. I told him that he told us that we need to go to the right, he nodded negatively... But what is happening? Needless to say, that in Bulgaria not only not, and yes, places are reversed, but also right with right ?? ? But even with all this, why didn't our keys fit any of the doors? The answer turned out to be banal - he mixed up and gave the keys to another room, which was neither on the right, nor directly, and not even from the one on the right. Now it’s even clear why his gestures with the direction of the hotel did not match the words.
It was tough, we are only the first hours in the country, and have already experienced such an immersion. Even at that moment, we still did not understand what was happening, why everything did not converge so much, understanding began to come only with time, when the relationship between the word “yes” and a negative nod of the head began to be traced. And at the very end of the journey, we even got our hands on a guidebook, in which the description began with these two rules. But thanks to such moments, adventures in travel begin. In general, from the very beginning we were worried that Bulgaria might be similar to Serbia, from which we had just returned, but in fact we still need to look for such two different countries.
If I almost assigned the status of a gastronomic paradise to Serbia, then in Bulgaria the picture changes dramatically. Bulgarian restaurants cook very tasty, but there is one big BUT. You have to fight for food. Finding a breakfast restaurant in the morning is the worst thing in the world. During the day, the search for a restaurant with food, not drinks, can drag on until dinner. And the few restaurants that serve food are either overcrowded, or as we were told: “You can’t sit at a table for four together”, “Do you have a free table for two? ”, “Unfortunately not! ”. Or the second case, when a restaurant has a sign that now they have breakfast and there are free tables, they refuse you, because they already have a big load. But I repeat, if you still manage to miraculously get into a restaurant, then you will get a dish of almost Michelin level to your taste. Once we were served such a tasty and beautiful dish that we pounced on it without even having time to take a picture. Perhaps after the start of the tourism season the situation will change, but for now our diet for the week is banichki, ayran and milinkas.
For a change, you can buy pizza, but it is not as beautiful as Serbian, although it is also inexpensive. But back to the cities, there are many beautiful places! Since we had a whole week at our disposal, we decided to see the maximum number of popular cities and resorts in the country. We started with an evening walk around Sofia.
Summer already reigned here, the night weather was comfortable, we walked along the central pedestrian street and the night park, life was in full swing here.
I would really like to see all this in daylight, but we will not get such an opportunity until a week later, when we have completed a route of ten cities.
An interesting fact - the route was planned to be shorter, but improvisation is everything!
Plovdiv
In the morning we took the train to Plovdiv. Trains here travel slowly, so even a journey of a hundred kilometers can drag on for hours. Such crossings will be excellent respite on the route. Plovdiv met us with clear skies, sunshine and a green park.
I went to the store to buy coffee for myself, our discussion with the saleswoman about what kind of coffee is better to make turned into a recollection of school years, learning languages, then we discussed Pushkin and even recalled the verse “I remember a wonderful moment... ”. Well, of course, we came to the conclusion that I need a cappuccino. Dasha reproachfully asked me why it took me so long to buy coffee, and I proudly replied that I was listening to the recitation of Pushkin's poems! We went deep into the city. This is a very cute and friendly town.
These must be on the itinerary. This is a city where you can wander randomly through the streets and get aesthetic pleasure, and those who want to touch the local culture even more can visit various master classes of artisans. They have a whole street allotted for this case.
We noticed a mountain for ourselves and climbed higher on the fortress to admire the town. And he's not that small.
The only problem here was just to find a free restaurant with food.
We had about five hours to the city, they flew by at the speed of light. It's time to move on. A few hours of rest on the train and the next stop.
Stara Zagora
Here we have about an hour and a half, part of which could be spent in a large green park near the station. The park turned out to be dug up: it seems that they tried to find gold here, a lot of equipment, and everything was in pits and fences. Well, we will be without a park, yet we travel light with our handbags. A beautiful walking street awaited us further. Its length was just enough to pass an hour and a half. And it is so interesting that this is a small town, located in the outback of Bulgaria, but there are a lot of people and they live here, walk every day. Everything seems to be logical, but there are so many interesting things around, if I were them, I would go somewhere every day. And they just leisurely walk and enjoy life in a small and cozy city. This is how you follow their measured steps and the longing begins to take over that you need to go further, if only you could live here so leisurely for a day. But time is merciless and from our week in the country with every second there is less and less. Bought pizza and went on the train further.
Now it was about three hours to go. There were few people who wanted to, the train consisted of only two cars. At first we had a personal compartment, and then a personal carriage, and possibly a whole train. Outside the windows, fields of yellow rapeseed gave way to mountain landscapes, we drove in and out of tunnels, going deeper into the mountain range. It was already quite clear that we would come to a beautiful mountain town, but I could not even imagine how chic it would turn out to be!
Veliko Tarnovo
If you don’t have much time to visit Bulgaria, then this city should be one hundred percent on the itinerary in priority over resort towns located on the coast. We got off the train, the city was already immersed in the warm night air. It took about an hour to walk to the hotel, the route ran through the main streets, whose houses are located on a sheer cliff.
While we were getting to the hotel, the main discussion of the first acquaintance with the city was reduced to the word “Wow! ”. This city is somewhat similar to our beloved Kamenetz-Podolsky, but at the same time it is completely different. Our housing was also unusual. From the outside, the unremarkable hotel was like a castle inside with an unrivaled view of the church from the window.
And in the hall from the second floor hung a wooden chandelier like in cowboy movies. More like morning! In the morning, the views became even better, now all the beauty and grandeur of the city was visible.
We even saw an inaccessible transport bridge, which we naively tried to get to at night to shorten the route. It's good that we have a lot of time here and still see enough of the city.
The only place where we managed to have breakfast is the “bakery”, in general, jars and ayran, everything is as usual. It’s good for us, we love ayran, but what about people who don’t like it. And in general, advice, before traveling to Bulgaria, eat well at home before leaving. But fast food also has its advantages, it's fast and doesn't take up part of the day. Now we decided to walk our night route in daylight.
The city looked very different. And we generally identified some places only on the map, that this is it only during the day. Still, of course, the wow effect was added by the fact that you do not expect such an unusual city from Bulgaria. Walked up the streets, seen enough views, now you can climb the castle. We climbed almost in the truest sense of the word.
All normal tourists go from the main street, which smoothly passes into the bridge. We are not looking for easy ways, the central streets are very simple for us. We were on another hill, a cliff separated us from the castle. We felt like real medieval conquerors who would now take the castle under siege. We were also followed by a faithful lion! It was a guide dog, it appeared unexpectedly and had the appropriate coloring.
Dasha and I were just discussing the fact that Bulgaria has a lot of things connected with lions, probably not without reason. The sudden appearance of the "lion" almost threw us to flight! But we had a goal - a castle! You can’t retreat, they took the lion with them. The lion happily wagged his tail and ran around us. True, when we pulled out a tick from him, he decided to keep us at a distance.
The castle turned out to be really impressive both in size and in the views from its walls. Although there are no problems with views in the whole city)))
At the same time, you can see the Bulgaria Park in miniature for free from a height. And from such a height, you get a miniature in miniature.
Everything seems to be great, there is a castle, there is a height, there are views, but our attention is not the first time caught by a distant mountain, on which people flicker. How did they get up there? And why are we so low relative to them. We have an iron rule when traveling, if there is a mountain nearby, we must climb it! Perhaps that is why we do not fly to Nepal, otherwise we will have to climb there for several weeks, and not everyone survives. And I, unfortunately, do not make friends with mountain sickness. So this is the plan, now let's get down from the castle, eat at the restaurant, and start the journey!
There are only two cities to go to that mountain. Near the castle, oddly enough, there was an almost empty and open restaurant. The food there is really tasteless and the portions are small. But for restaurants in Bulgaria, this was a big exception to the rule, with portions and taste there are no problems here. But I tried the Bulgarian okroshka tarator. Taxi, refreshed. The navigator shows that he believes in us, and we will be able to reach that mountain.
Days and nights passed, empires developed and fell around us, the borders of countries changed, technical progress was inexorable steps, and we all walked along the highway. Neither heavy snows, nor brutal winds, nor earthquakes, nor even volcanic eruptions could stop us! It was the most tedious and dull 50 minutes of the route up the track. Yes, when will it end. And how do people get to that mountain? The answer was not long in coming, in front of the path leading up the mountain, there was a clearing full of parked cars. And another tourist, approaching by car, could not find a place and went back. At least some advantage that we reached on foot. Now the route lay on the top of the mountain. We chose the very first hill with a panorama and made a long halt there.
I lay on the grass and was literally charged with the forest air and the rare rays of the sun breaking through the clouds. Dasha settled down on one of the stone ledges and watched so that the lion would not attack us. I was wrapped in a sweet dream. But as they say, we will rest somehow in Egypt. Let's hit the road! What we saw next can be safely listed in the top places on our planet. It's like our Zalishchiki, only much bigger. I hope the photos convey at least a particle of this beauty. And if before that the day was cloudy, then for the real conquerors of the peaks the sun always shines!
Now the sky is clear, everything is flooded with light. At the final review, a surprise awaited us - a swing over a cliff. It hangs quite safely, even if you fall, you won’t fly into the abyss, but what an unusual feeling it is to ride it. The whole plateau moves closer and further away from you with every movement. And even on the way back, when we returned to the forest, I once again ran to the open part of the panorama in order to absorb as much of this beauty as possible.
Since we still have half a day ahead, we can not rush to return to Veliko Tarnovo. Let's go for a walk in the neighboring Arbanasi. It turned out to be a town with almost no people. We tried our best to find at least something interesting here, but at first I was not at all sure that there was anyone alive here. Although in the very center there were two themed restaurants and even a shop. Apparently, the entire population of the city was just here in the restaurants. We also sat down here for coffee with baklava. The baklava had an unearthly taste, but it's a pity that the last piece.
And there was a big rarity - tea. Apparently, this drink has not yet been invented here, if earlier Dasha reproached me for being a coffee addict, now we have switched roles, she is a tea addict in a country where there is practically no tea. And even in those few places where we managed to find it, it was always more expensive than coffee drinks. And you can always drink a semblance of tea in street coffee machines. By the way, the number of coffee machines in Bulgaria is so large that it is quite possible that the uprising of robots will begin with them. They are located on almost every street in every city. And I want to note that they make quite tasty freshly ground coffee. Well, visiting is good, but home is better! It's time for us to return to our Veliko Tarnovo in the golden rays of the evening sun.
Everything is so beautiful and sincere, but we are well aware that now there will be another search for food. We had no idea how difficult the task would be this time. There are only a couple of restaurants, and the number of tourists, as it turned out, significantly exceeds their capabilities. And in the end, we found an excellent restaurant overlooking the gorge, where there was no one at all, it was located on the territory of the hotel. Here we first got acquainted with the local brandy, in Russian it is brandy. The drink is quite strong, but, oddly enough, we liked it. After dinner we had a short break in the room. Unfortunately, the physical capabilities of the body do not keep up with all desires. On the other hand, our daily itineraries have grown many times over compared to the itineraries we made 9 years ago. I remember at that time my legs were not ready for such sprints at all. But our planet is so big that we simply do not have time to hesitate. It's good that we live on Earth, and not on a giant like Jupiter. Well, we begin our final exit to the evening show. The show is held on weekends at 21:15, you need to watch it on the square at the entrance to the castle. It was noticeable how people were gathering along the streets. It was completely unexpected for us that there are so many of them here. During the day, these are practically deserted cities, with the exception of a couple of restaurants packed and an evening show.
Fortunately, there was enough space near the castle to keep the covid distance. Although it seems that she was only worried about us here. The lights turned off and the light and music performance of the castle began. It was quite interesting and certainly unusual, especially the scale. I would not say that for the sake of the show you need to go to the city, but since the city should be on the list of mandatory places in Bulgaria, then the show should be included in the program accordingly. Well, now the whole plan for Veliko Tarnovo has been fulfilled and even exceeded. Initially, we planned to leave this city for another half a day, but now we have corrected the plan and jumped on the bus in the morning and drove further to the seaside resorts.
Varna
It was our first resort town on the coast. All the way from the bus station, we could not even imagine that the sea would be here now. It seems to be the most ordinary city. But closer to the embankment, its full potential opens up. You begin to feel the atmosphere of the resort town.
Then relaxation envelops you, and you wander aimlessly along the paths of the park near the embankment with pleasure. And sea! The sea is always joyful, even though it is now icy, like our ardor when we are looking for restaurants in this country.
Dasha, meanwhile, set herself a goal - to drink a very rare drink - tea. As a result, in the one place where we found it, it was for tea that a separate menu was served in French. Despite the fact that it was a small takeaway coffee shop.
In French, we only know the phrase “I haven’t eaten for six days” and, apparently, the seller too. We chose tea by the color of the bag, purple turned out to be quite similar to tea.
We really appreciated Varna, looking ahead I will say that this is one of the best resorts on our route. But since Varna was not in our plans at all, it was time to move on - to Burgas. Comfortable buses ended, between the resort towns there were cramped minibuses.
But, oddly enough, masks are relatively strict here: we even witnessed how a driver with a mask on his chin shouted at two passengers who were traveling without masks.
Burgas
Here we were waited by truly royal apartments on the seventeenth floor, with a very hospitable host. Who immediately took us to a large market by car and even offered to leave us a car for free use during our stay here. Now it was really a pity that we do not drive. This would make it much easier for us to move between cities. I can say just a few words about Burgas, despite the cool name, the city itself is significantly inferior to Varna. But for active travel, it is just right, since minibuses depart from its station to the cities we need. Now we have apartments, looking for dinner and breakfast is now a thing of the past. And most importantly, we have local lutenitsa sauce.
I just started to get used to it in Serbia, but they didn’t let it in manually. Now you can eat it in our rooms with a panoramic view of the sunsets. We had all the following days in a semi-active mode due to the rarity of minibuses. We started the route at about 10:30 and already at 19:30 were in the room. Another part of the time was taken away by the road, nevertheless, we managed to shove several cities into this interval. But the route was complicated by the rarity of minibuses, they went here about once every three years. And sometimes that only minibus got so full that you had to change plans on the go. As a result, every day it was a mystery for us where exactly we would go today, and sometimes there was a complete mystery of how we would return back.
Nessebar
Luckily, the neighboring towns are within an hour's drive at the most. The city conditionally consists of two parts - interesting and dull. The bus stops at the second, fortunately, it was very close to an interesting walk. There is also a third part - Sunny Beach, but you need to go there only in season)
Nessebar turned out to be so cozy that we decided to stay there for dessert. This time we had baklava and turkish kadaif. Another Turkish mood was added by a cat, which immediately became our best friend. Now our task is to catch the bus that runs every three years. It seems like there is even a schedule with minutes, but absolutely throughout the city at all stops the same bus arrival time.
Now there is hope, as quite a lot of people are sitting at the bus stop. According to the schedule, the bus was already supposed to arrive, but apparently this is not the right year. But a private bus arrived, in which absolutely all the people plunged and left in an unknown direction. They did not take us, they said, only for their own. Now we sit alone and sunbathe. Oh, it's coming! We rushed on.
Pomorie
Have you seen the movie "Eurotrip"? Do you remember how the guys came to Bratislava? Then they were also told that it might seem a little depressing in winter... In fact, everything was not so bad, for a change, you can look in once. But it just doesn’t fit in our head why, instead of Egypt or Turkey, people fly to the resorts of Bulgaria, which are also usually more expensive.
However, for wild travelers who are just watching the world, I can recommend Bulgaria. The country is really different from others, which makes traveling around it interesting. So, we wandered around Pomorie a little, looked at hotels that were not yet open and went to dinner at sunset on our favorite 17th floor, tomorrow we will have a great hike.
Beglik-Tash
In a good way, we had to take a minibus to Primorsko and ask to be dropped off in the middle of the way, but there are no easy ways here. It was this minibus that was driving along a large detour, passing many villages. She rode everywhere, except for the tracks we needed. The idea of going out on the track was even more convenient because there it was theoretically possible to go on a boat safari along the river. And then on foot to Beglik-Tash. But no, we are now in Primorsko itself, and our Beglik-Tash has remained in the mountains. Well, okay, we have legs, we'll walk.
By the way, the sea in Primorsko turned out to be even very, very, despite a strong storm. Here we happily arranged a morning meal of boreks on the beach. At first, the beach was all ours, then a guy appeared who was walking towards the sea in beach clothes, is he really going into the water now ? ! But the guy did not even dare to approach the raging sea. By the way, the beach here is located behind the sand dunes, I think here you can shoot films about oases in the desert.
The dogs in someone's private estate were barking displeasedly, it seemed to them that a sea monster had crawled out of the sea and was bloodthirsty making its way to the road. We were so badly hurt and scratched as we climbed up. When the dogs saw us, they immediately stopped barking - just a couple of people they were not so afraid, unlike the roar that we generated. Now let's pull some thorns out of ourselves and we can again keep the route to the goal. The route was simply the most picturesque. These were green endless expanses, and flower fields and coniferous forests with an observation deck. At the very top, huge stone boulders, a ticket kiosk and a small snake-snake were waiting for us.
It looked like there was a big one in the bushes, but we only saw the tip of the tail. But the real snake adventures were waiting for us in just a couple of cities. We did not go out along the main road, but as if from the side. But the vigilant eye of the ticket attendant saw potential visitors, and she immediately turned us around to buy tickets. After selling tickets, the woman got ready, folded everything, and after 5 minutes closed the kiosk and went home. That's how timely we got out of the thicket! Otherwise, you would have to look at these marvelous stones for free.
Huge boulders are Beglik-Tash - a Thracian sanctuary of the 16th century. Let's just say - for the sake of boulders, such a route is not worth doing, but for the sake of the very beauty of the route, you definitely need to go here! There are also tourists here. We had plans to still walk to the cherished river on foot and find out if they are conducting a safari, and then hitchhike to catch a car to Burgas. But right next to us, two tourists began to get into the car and happily agreed to drop us off at some city along their route.
This city turned out to be Primorsko again, it does not let us go and that's it. The guys were very interested in how we ended up on Beglik-Tash without a car, and were very surprised by our walking route. I understand it's rare for someone to get here without a car. The return and the only evening bus to Burgas will be in 15 minutes. Now the plan is this: from the window of the minibus, determine whether the boats are floating and ask us to drop us off on the highway if they are. This minibus also circled the route through a number of villages. Well, the river does not want to take us and that's it.
Ravadinovo
Now Bulgaria surprised us to the fullest. In the midst of an inconspicuous village there is a luxurious and beautiful castle. The castle is only a few decades old, so it cannot be said that it is real. But it looks exactly like real castles should look like.
It has all the attributes of a cool castle: a wine cellar, a monument to the owner, armor of knights, a zoo, a lake, numerous fountains, a fish in a pond and a church with a very beautiful ceiling, which depicts the appearance of the universe. The castle continues to be built, not all modules are open yet and not all fountains are running, but the wow effect is waiting for you here.
Personally, I wrote down this castle for myself in the list of the best castles I saw, it will be in my second place of honor after the German Neuschwanstein. Although it's hard for me to compare and choose personally. How does Bulgaria manage to be so different in general?
Near the castle, a very tasty shawarma was waiting for us. When we wanted another one, it turned out that it was the last one and it will not be this tasty again! Now on foot to Sozopol!
Sozopol
There were several kilometers to Sozopol through green paths, forests and flowering fields. We walked the first part of the road in euphoria rejoicing at the beauty, Dasha even collected a bouquet. But everything is not so sweet here. It all started at the moment when I got stuffy in my nose and I closed my eyes to sneeze. Dasha pushed me hard in the back. Dasha has a good reaction to danger, and such a push could mean only one thing. I started screaming in horror and took the biggest step forward. We ran away, I looked at Dasha, frozen in horror, and my guesses were confirmed, there was a snake on the path that I did not notice. I did not have time to see her, but according to Dasha's description, she was quite large. We caught our breath and began to move on and discuss what it could be and once again spoke the rules of action in the event of a snake attack. One of the points is to have time to photograph her so that the doctor can pick up an antidote. As soon as we discussed this, the bushes near us began to move menacingly, something big crawled into the distance, but then changed its trajectory and about five meters from us a hefty snake crawled out onto the road. Dasha, with incredible manual dexterity, turned on the camera, switched the lens to active mode and managed to take three shots.
Now the road turned into a horror, we were afraid to approach the bushes, and in some places the paths became very narrow. Now on Dasha's route there is a large green lizard. I did not know how to tell Dasha about this in such a way that now we would not start another hysterical cry. “Just don’t be afraid, but ahead... ” This phrase, of course, did not save me from a strong fright. How happy we were when we ran out onto the track. Then we saw more snakes in the bushes. But we did not enter the green trails anymore. As soon as we got to the Internet, I found out that the query “Sozopol snakes” is very popular. It also turned out that these were not snakes, but legless lizards with the affectionate name "yellow-bellied".
But I want to say that for the sake of Sozopol, a few snake adventures can be experienced. Despite all the gloom lurking in the name of the city, we brought the city itself into the top of the beautiful cities of Bulgaria. There are ancient streets, and shed houses on cliffs overlooking the beautiful sea, a painted embankment and even a long bridge along the cliff so that you can continue to admire the views while trekking. And the coolest thing is that there is no shortage of restaurants here, you choose a prettier view for yourself and start a gastronomic paradise.
We were not particularly in a hurry to Burgas, so when we ran out of the streets of the old city, we went to explore them in the second circle, without snakes it is so comfortable to walk! If I had been shown a photograph of the city long before the trip, I would never have guessed that this is Bulgaria, and even more so Sozopol))) We walked to the last bus and left by taxi! I agree, the decision is unexpected, but drivers also need to return to Burgas, and they are taken in a taxi at the price of a bus. There was one downside to this great idea. This night we will travel by train, which is still a long time away, we would have traveled longer in the bus and in warmth.
And so vzhuh and we are in the evening cool Burgas. We handed over things to the storage room and went to look for a more interesting restaurant, where we will while away the time before the train. Luck turned to us this time. The restaurant we occupied was simply excellent! So in the end, the most delicious impressions about this resort will remain. Now, when a lot of time has already passed, when I remember this city, I return to those cozy, equipped apartments, where we prepared various interesting things for ourselves and ate all this with traditional Bulgarian sauce.
Sofia
With night trains in Bulgaria, it is a little difficult, since only people of the same sex are accommodated in compartments. But if you are a family, then during the epidemic you can buy a three-seat coupe in the first class for two people at the checkout. And the third will not be accommodated due to coronavirus restrictions. On the site, it seems like you can also do it by specifying one gender, but the idea is somehow muddy. I don’t know what’s in the lower classes, the first-class coupe is made so that suddenly you don’t feel too comfortable, it’s good that no one is snoring next to you. True, for starters, you need to kindly escort the passenger whom the conductor wanted to check into our compartment before we got there. But one night you can sleep, at such moments I always remember my cozy home mattress. But in fact, I just have too high requirements for comfort during sleep, I try to lower them.
Early, early in the morning, our train arrived in the capital. Today, our good friend of our youth Kat, as well as her family, were waiting for us. The meeting was sincere and warm. It was insanely interesting to hear about the Bulgarian life and compare with her husband a collection of Coca-Cola glasses, I lost this competition, it turns out that not only I have such a hobby. Katya said that she ordered us the national dish “banichka” if we suddenly didn’t try it yet, but during the trip, probably 90 percent of our diet consisted of banichka))) It was curious that there are even restaurants where they make especially successful banichka and there is a full house for delivery. Even at six in the morning the courier was overloaded with orders. Now we even tried the branded delicious jar from a cool bakery!
On the way to work, Kat gave us a tour of Sofia with stories of interesting facts and even gave us a piece of the city. I would divide Sofia into two cities: the night one, which we saw at the beginning, and the day one. As for me, these are two completely different cities and each has its own atmosphere. Although, in our opinion, for a closer acquaintance with the country, it is necessary to go to the depths of the country.
Travel Information
Date of travel: 06.05. 2021-13.05. 2021
Flights: Ryanair
Hotels: Booking
Excursions: All by yourself
Difficulty of the trip: 4/10 (There is little information on the Internet about buses and trains)
