THE MOST CORRECT REVIEW
Bulgaria is a country of miracles!
Is it about Moldova?
In general, we decided to go to Bulgaria in Overview.
Since there are no direct flights from Odessa, as they say, from Moscow for 100 bucks back and forth, so we decided to consider the option of a bus tour and an independent search for a Hotel.
Taking into account the limited budget, everyone was looking for something cheaper, like a Hotel, so that the Room had its own kitchen, and a bus operator.
Break through the Internet in search of a tourist cabdecided to stop at the service BUSFOR.
It is much more convenient here than with a single operator, but what immediately surprised me very much was that the prices of different operators differed, if not several times, then by 50% for sure, which caused certain doubts about the reliability of the information. . . The average price of a trip is 30-35 Euro.
We can immediately give a few TIPS, based on our experience for those who may encounter the same difficulties, which may seem a bit ridiculous to an experienced tourist, so it's very "please" not to be very strict with us , namely:
1. when choosing a bus tour, the BUSFOR service offers a large number of different transportation operators, some of them DO NOT just buy a ticket, but you need to WAIT for confirmation, so we are faced with one of these - we are waiting for confirmation from them until today... Therefore, ADVICE: if in within a reasonable time (no more than 1 day) there is no confirmation - feel free to book a trip with another operator!
2. with a ticket already purchased, it turned out that not only the bus can change, but also the date of departure and, most importantly, the place of departure, more on that:
2.1. if the bus departs from the location of the bus station - this is the most acceptable option for travelers who love comfort and stability (invariance of agreements), which we consider ourselves to be, that is, with any changes, you will still be picked up from the bus station and everything can be found out on place,
2.2. in our particular case, everything turned out to be a little different, so on this trip we automatically became lovers of extreme sports, although we didn’t know this before, namely: the original departure of the bus was supposed to be from the bus station near the railway station and in the morning, which was changed to departure from gas station on the bypass road and the departure was in the afternoon and the bus was changed, that is, no one guaranteed us the purchased seats near the windows...
2.4. if you are faced with the same situation as we are, or you were initially warned that your bus departs exactly on the Odessa bypass road, then we immediately draw ATTENTION that gas stations are a landmark where the bus will be waiting, there are 2 of them (two) in the area of TWO PILLARS, and they are located on opposite sides of the track and at a sufficient distance from each other. The funny thing is that we, of course, arrived not at the one we needed, but taking into account the suitcases, it seemed to us that the one we needed was already very far away, so ATTENTION - buses stop exactly at the bus station located on OPPOSITE side of the cemetery!
2.5. and another TIP, since departure from the bypass road is not a station for you, where everything is on schedule, so TIP: additionally take the phone of the accompanying guide, who is located exactly on your bus (unless, of course, his phone number is not immediately reported to you when selling the ticket) .
A separate ADVICE is the purchase of insurance, as it turned out to be needed when crossing the border, that is, they asked about it, so you can buy insurance separately (just check with the insurer if it applies to your trip on the bus) and then you can ask the carrier to sell you a ticket WITHOUT insurance - save a little on tickets, I’ll tell you right away it didn’t work out for us - we “in hindsight” then got confused when we saw that many on the bus had tickets without insurance and they explained to us , as we now describe to you why this is so.
And the standard TIPS - take water, food and a pillow: pillow, you are my pillow, where were you when we went to Bulgaria? ! That is, we HIGHLY recommend taking at least an inflatable one.
A separate ADVICE - do not take things in cardboard boxes with you, like we do, and it is advisable not to go with bright suitcases, like we do, because for some reason customs officers of all countries are very interested in cardboard boxes and bright suitcases, therefore, at each border well, all people, like people, and only the passenger from the 41st seat, that is, one of us, was called each time to show the contents of both the box and the suitcase!
What else should be noted that when crossing the border with Romania, despite the fact that you pass it in transit when traveling to Bulgaria, you will be told early on about restrictions on the import into Romanian territory: lard, milk, eggs and , of course, cigarettes. What is most interesting is that when traveling to other countries, we know that you can carry with you in your luggage up to 10 (ten) packs of cigarettes, that is, 200 (two hundred) cigarettes, but when crossing Romania, it seems like no more than 2 (two) packs which really surprised us. We re-read the sea of reviews and when boarding the bus in Odessa, the guide said the same thing - in Romania, at the border, they can not only take away the excess smoke, but they can make you pay a fine of something around 65 Euros. Of course, we did not believe it, but when we saw that smokers began to shove their packs of cigarettes over other passengers who did not smoke, somehow they began to doubt that it was really possible to carry no more than 2 packs ? ! Then, upon returning home, we were once again interested in this issue and separately found out that, for example, tobacco products as sticks for IQOS, when converted to the weight of tobacco, you can carry something about 6 or 8 packs, but this is all from the Internet and according to information from friends. CONCLUSION - it's better not to take risks and not take more than 2 packs of cigarettes with you on such a trip, but in general, as they say: "stop smoking, get up on your skis! ".
ATTENTION - for some reason, on the bus we were traveling on, and as we asked experienced travelers, the same thing often happens on other buses, namely: toilets do not work, that is, stops only at bus stations or gas stations and at the same time they give so little time, as if we were going to a record - many were late (evil tongues on the Internet even write that in such cases some tourists who were late for toilets were left and the bus left).
By the way, as for the food on the bus, ours didn't even offer drinks, let alone some sandwiches, but there was WI-FI.
IMPORTANT - on the way back home, for some reason, everyone is attacked by zhor: personally, we ate everything before the Romanian border and then bought more food at each gas station.
Therefore, since, as we saw, that the same situation was with almost everyone who rode with us on the bus, TIP: stock up on food with a margin on the way back!
Everything else is standard when traveling by bus - we got a chic bus there and back, and only 5 passengers were traveling with us on the way back.
By the way, before the trip, we tried to find recommendations on how best to get from Varna to Obzor, while our friends flew by plane to Varna, so we looked at how they could get from the airport to the center of Varna or we could get from Varna to the airport, nothing found, so we were a little nervous - this is still not a tour, but we all went on our own, so what can we tell:
It's actually very simple.
All buses pass through stops Cathedralor a little further Printing(one from the other is approximately 500 meters away).
Buses, as it turns out, go not only to Varna, but further across Bulgaria, so when buying a ticket, look at the bus route and if you need, for example, to Obzor, then DO NOT, as we did, get off in Varna, but immediately buy a trip to the city you need.
From the Airport to the center of Varna (if you look at the Cathedral, there is a yellow building on the right hand of it, next to which there is a bus stop) there is a bus every 15 minutes, it is definitely cheaper than a taxi.
If something is unknown or incomprehensible, then on the opposite side of the Cathedral is the Information Center, where they speak Russian, English and, of course, Bulgarian, where you can get not only the information you are interested in, including , for example, call a taxi, but you can also take a map of the city or the whole of Bulgaria or flyers for upcoming events.
By the way, if you go around the Information Center on the right side, then on the back side of the building in the basement there will be the most interesting place (water closet).
If you got off in Varna or there were no tickets directly to Obzor, then from the side of the Cathedral at the Polygraphy stop, buses and minibuses often (at least once an hour) run along the coast, that is, to Obzor.
Arrival in Obzor by the tourist bus (which we rode) does NOT go to the bus station, but 100 meters further, so you have to return.
But regular buses from Varna to Obzor come directly to the bus station, which is very convenient - since you don’t have to carry suitcases and the cardboard box mentioned above.
BUS STATIONObzor is small, there are several grocery stores and cafes, including on the territory of the Station.
There is no toilet, it is to the left of the Vocal and it is paid!
The territory of the Station on (by analogy with the toilet on) is clean on. Lots of greenery. On the right side of the Station there is a miniature park - very beautiful.
In general, the first impression of Bulgaria is a big country, a lot of greenery, very narrow roads along a serpentine of mountains and hills, a lot of light, endless fields of wheat and sunflowers, it was windy and very hot, although we ourselves are from the south and love the heat, but here it was somehow very warm, but in general the weather is somewhat similar to the weather in Morshyn, Ukraine - first the sun, then a little rain and again the sun, warm and humid.
So, the city OVERVIEW:
Historical and reference in general:
Obzor (Bulgarian. Obzor) - a city in the Burgas region of Bulgaria, a resort on the Black Sea coast. It is part of the Nessebar community. It is located about 22 km northeast of the center of Nessebar and about 49 km northeast of the center of Burgas. As of the 2011 census, 2.117 people lived in the city. City Day is celebrated annually on June 24 (the day of John the Baptist).
The history of the city has about 3 thousand years. The beginning of the city was the Thracian settlement of Navlachos. In the first millennium BC. e. Heliopolis (“City of the Sun”) was founded in its place by Greek settlers. After the Roman conquest in the 1st century BC. e. a temple of Jupiter was built in it, and the city received the name Theopolis ("City of God") or Tempul Yovis ("Temple of Jupiter"). The remains of this temple are still preserved in the city center. After the division of the Roman Empire into Western and Eastern (Byzantine) in 395, the city was the summer residence of the Byzantine emperors. Later, the Bulgarian fortress Kozyak was built. After the conquest of Bulgaria by the Ottoman Empire, the village of Gozeken (“Review” in Turkish) arose on this territory. Obzor received its current name in 1936, and the status of a city on September 9.1984.
The town is small, the center is divided by a highway that runs along the city and passes through the Bus Station. There are many shops along the Central Street.
As for us, apart from silver, there is nothing to see, mostly tourist utensils (slippers, flip flops, souvenirs) and very strange fakes of world brands.
And as we noticed throughout Bulgaria and in Obzor, there are also hard rock metal shops with the appropriate theme.
So, after promising and warning signs, our acquaintance with Bulgaria in general and Obzor in particular began.
So after what we saw, we decided to not beep and look!
First of all, we really liked the installation of flags, which is located just before entering the city.
The whole city is simply immersed in the luxury of emerald green vines, trees, various shrubs with the brightest flowers, clusters of juicy Bulgarian tomatoes looking out from the courtyards of the private sector, warmed by the warm Bulgarian sun and carefully groomed by the owners, I was struck by the cleanliness of the streets and the variety of styles of the centuries-old history of the city , you can feel the influence of different cultures in the style of buildings and the design of small cafes that just beckon you to come in and enjoy the national cuisine of Bulgaria.
In the center of the city there is a clock tower near which there is an open-air exposition of ancient artifacts that serve as silent proof of the three thousand years history of the city.
Here in the center of the city is the Orthodox Church of St. John the Baptist. This small Orthodox church was built in 1918, after the end of the First World War, on the site where the old church used to be, which had to be demolished due to dilapidation. Above the main entrance of the temple there is a single-tier bell tower, which announces the beginning of the service. In front of the temple there is a white arch with the image of a saint.
There is also a small grocery supermarket and several good shops on the central square, for example, with Italian backpacks - prices from 40 Euros, by the way, although Bulgaria, prices for tourists are not in leva, but in Euros.
For memory, you can buy inexpensive souvenirs, of course, Bulgarian rose cosmetics or small paintings.
We decided not to show off and settled on handmade silver, by the way, nowhere else in Bulgaria, including Nessebar, we have not seen anything like it in Obzor. Prices of bracelets start from 90 Euro (there are, of course, cheaper ones).
By the way, in Obzor, in the jewelry store, which is located near the Bus Station, they offer Sultanite products. Yes, the same Sultanite, whose homeland is Turkey. Prices are even slightly cheaper than we saw at the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul: about 5 Euro per gram, that is, this is not the price of ONLY a stone and an ENTIRE product with a stone, for example, earrings for about 25 Euro, a men's ring - 40-45 Euro, a child ring – 7-8 Euro.
Shopaholic reference:
"Sultanite has an alexandrite effect - that is, the ability of the crystal to change color depending on the nature of the lighting - an integral property of the Sultanite stone. Red, in bright natural light, in the light of incandescent lamps, the tones of Sultanite change to green.
The sultanite stone is rare and very expensive, which is why they learned how to synthesize sultanite. The first began to synthesize it in Turkey. Synthetic or hydrothermal (g/t) sultanite is not inferior to natural stone in its chemical and optical properties.
Sultanite h/t is easier to process, and most of the processed stones end up in jewelry inserts.
The price tag for natural sultanite is out of reach, and g/t sultanite is quite acceptable for purchase.
Pay attention to the jewelry tag, which is a certificate for the product. If the inserts say “Sultanite g / t”, then this stone received its life with the participation of a person. If there are no clarifications in the name of the stone, then you have a natural stone sultanite. Now pay attention to the price. The price of natural sultanite exceeds the price of diamonds. The price of sultanite g / t is quite affordable, it can be compared with the prices of topaz, garnet, citrine, etc.
A sales consultant will help you understand the origin of stones in jewelry. It gives you clear and reliable information about products and inserts. ".
Special attention should be paid to ice cream - there are many different types of it and everything is very tasty, prices start from 2 Euro.
If you go along the parallel Central street from the city center towards the highway, there will be a large supermarket ALDO. In front of the supermarket they sell fast food sandwiches and boiled and fried corn. Considering that we were savages, lived in apartments, that is, we cooked for ourselves - a supermarket is a very necessary thing on such a trip, especially since the supermarket has a decent selection of Bulgarian wine - prices bite a little (8-9 lev), but you can find wine at the sale for 3.5-5 lev.
After walking around the center, it was already time for us to go to our Hotel - Obzor beach resort (apartments).
By the way, from the Observation Center to the Hotel there is an electric shuttle bass for 1.5 leva per person. Of course, you can walk - the road will only take up to about 15 minutes, but by the end of the vacation, our legs simply refused to walk, so we repeatedly used this service, especially at the end, before leaving, we remembered several times what we didn’t buy in Obzor stores and several times before returning back went to the Observation Center.
So OBZOR BEACH RESORT HOTEL.
The locals told us that the Swiss built the Hotel for their own, but then something went wrong, the Turks completed the Hotel, and then the Russians began to buy the apartments.
We don't know if this is true or not, only we were the only Russian speakers - all the other Norwegians and Germans. In general, we got the impression that when Europeans do not have enough money for Spain, they go to Bulgaria.
Taking into account the specified contingent, the prices at the Hotel, as for us, are a bit overpriced - a glass of beer or a hamburger costs 5 Euro, which is probably a little expensive.
Our room had its own kitchen, in the first building of the Hotel there was a small shop and near the Hotel there is a supermarket ALDO, so we didn’t spend much on restaurants - we cooked ourselves: it turned out oh, how tasty we can cook!
The hotel consists of several separate buildings, each has its own access to the sea (in general, the hotel itself is located on the coastline, which is very good, and not like following it just in the field). There were no sunbeds in front of our building - only a bar and a beach, which was more acceptable for us, since foreign guests after yesterday appeared on the beach no earlier than 11 am, and in the evening there were none at all, so we were almost always alone on the beach.
The reader may be interested in the question, so what was in that very cardboard box that we brought across all the borders and did not give to anyone, so now we will reveal the secret, namely: since we are from Odessa, we need we had everything with us, and so: in order not to go anywhere and bask on the beach in Bulgaria, we decided to immediately bring drinks with us and were not mistaken - judging by the prices of the Hotel, so we drank at least three trips on the beach!
If you walk along the coast from the Hotel in the opposite direction from the center of Obzor, first there will be several other Hotels and then there will be a beautiful embankment. Unfortunately, it was not safe to walk along the embankment at night when we were there - there is no lighting.
INDEPENDENT TRAVEL IN BULGARIA.
Of course, you can rent a car - there are advertisements along the entire route, and when we were at almost every site there were several cars.
We decided to go by public transport.
But when we arrived at the Bus Station, we ran into a small problem - you can go anywhere you want during the day, but you can’t always return on the same day, or vice versa, having arrived in Nessebar, you can return to Obzor only by the next bus, which leaves in just an hour, then you can stay in Nessebar for only an hour. The cost of the trip is 6-9 lev.
IMPORTANT - when buying a ticket on the same day, they began to explain to us that since the buses are passing, it is likely that there will be no seats, so after listening to this information in Bulgarian and asking again in English, we were again repeated everything was in Bulgarian and then we spoke Russian, and they spoke Bulgarian to us, in the end we decided to go to Nesebarthe next day, so that there would definitely be seats on the bus.
Tip - it’s better to immediately buy a ticket THERE and BACK, because when boarding a bus in Nessebar, travelers with tickets first come in, and then all those who want to also get home and with us two or three people were not allowed in: there were no seats .
So NESSEBIR.
Help:
" Nessebar (Bulgarian Nessebar, until 1934 Mesemvria) is a Bulgarian city located on the Black Sea coast of Bulgaria, on a rocky peninsula 850 m long and 300 m wide, 37 km north of the city of Burgas. Nessebar is divided into two parts: New Nessebar, where most modern houses and hotels are located, Sunny Beach resort complex and Old Nessebar, located on a small peninsula. The city of Nessebar is one of the oldest cities in Europe. It is the successor of an ancient Thracian settlement called Messembria, which existed from the beginning of the first millennium to In 510 BC it was turned into a Greek colony.
From antiquity to the present day, the ruins of the fortress wall, towers, gates, reliefs have been preserved. In 1983, the area of the old town of Nessebar was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. In the old part of the city, intensive archaeological research is underway. During the excavations, the ruins of a church built in the 9th century AD were discovered. e. , as well as the remains of Byzantine terms. ".
We were interested in the old Nessebar, the beauty of which can be endlessly talked about - walking along the ancient streets, immersed in the greenery of flowers, looking out at the most beautiful embankment, passing by beautiful ancient ruins and old buildings, beautiful traditional houses, you cannot stop admiring all this beauty and here you want to come back again and again.
Church of Hagia Sophia.
In the heart of the Bulgarian city is the ancient church of St. Sophia (Old Metropolis). This three-aisled basilica, dating from the 5th-6th century, is 19 meters long and 13 meters wide. The church is divided into two rows of pillars into naves, each row has five pieces. The middle nave, in the east, ends with an impressive covered apse and is almost 10 meters wide.
Established on the site of an ancient Greek agora and the ruins of an even more ancient temple, the Church of Hagia Sophia is the oldest in the city. It was here, in the Middle Ages, that the residence of the Metropolitan of Nessebar was located, as well as a monastery, which, unfortunately, has not survived to this day. However, the church itself also suffered significant damage when it was plundered by the Venetians. Subsequently, much of what was stolen was found in the church of San Salvatore, located in Venice. However, in the 19th century, the Old Metropolis completely fell into disrepair, and was completely abandoned.
The church, it still arouses admiration and amazes with its former beauty. A marble slab hangs on one of the walls of the basilica, the inscription on which is a biblical prayer: "And let my cry reach you".
Central Square, it has a source of drinking water and there are many shops around. Small alleys radiate from the central square along which there are an innumerable number of shops.
Cafes and restaurants in Nessebar - there are so many to choose from - we especially liked one of them with a vine-covered summer terrace and a superb view of the bay . We recommend everyone to try mussels - after the Black Sea, that is, ours, Odessa, probably one of the most delicious!
A small embankment along which boats and boats are located is amazing in its appearance, and the fishermen's boats pulled ashore even remotely reminded us of the shores of our beloved Sri Lanka!
Moreover, it is worth noting that there are seagulls everywhere in the city, just everywhere, which at the same time still argue with each other to take the highest point, and when you eat in one of the cafes, there is a chance that you will have to share with one of them , since the seagull did not leave us and squealed loudly until it received a piece of bread and fried fish, after which, grunting, probably thanks, only after that it left us alone.
The view of the bay is also undoubtedly amazing - there is nothing to add to the shore of which you can go down the stairs - we were told that there is a beach in Nessebar, but we did not go to it.
In the construction of fortifications, thermae and buildings, a Roman trace is visible: a mixed laying of brick and stone, the so-called opus mixtum (Latin opus mixtum). And judging by the seals found on the bricks, the building material was delivered from Constantinople. Fragments of the fortress have survived to this day and are part of the main gates of the Old City.
SHOPPING in Nessebar, in principle, you can find almost everything: from regular dust collectors to leather jackets. This time we decided to be practical and bought women's shoes for the summer for 38 Euros, for example, the Ipanems store is located on the square where the bus terminus is located, we also bought men's flip-flops for 5 Euros, wristbands for 2 Euros and a leather jacket for 50 Euro.
On the last evening before the trip home, Obzor gave us the warm sea, an unforgettable sunset with the last ray of the warm Bulgarian sun through the clouds - photos such that you can even send them on postcards!
We returned from Obzor to Odessa again via Varna - the bus picked up from the Information Center opposite the Cathedral. Since there was enough time before departure, it was possible to take a walk near the cathedral. To the right of the information center is the monument to Tsar Kaloyan - one of the most significant rulers of the Second Bulgarian Kingdom, who in 1201 conquered Varna from the Byzantines and annexed it to Bulgaria.
Behind the information center building there is a beautiful square, which houses a theater.
And of course, in Varna, as well as everywhere we have been, you will see seagulls, which, like yard dogs, wander right through the park with all their appearance showing that they are local!
That's about it!
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