Bulgaria was not on our route at all. We had planned to take the ferry from Romania across the Black Sea to Georgia. But there were no more ferries from there. So we went to Varna (Bulgaria). But this ferry doesn’t run anymore, or doesn’t take any passengers. A second ferry was making new plans and look at this, they were now sailing from Romania, Constanta, no longer from Varna. So went further south, to Burgas (Bulgaria), because there is one that also runs. When, yes, when it is not in the dry dock for repairs. The ferry service is scheduled to resume in 3 weeks.
Back to Constanta, no real alternative.
So we decide to wait. First at the sea, then on a small farm, then in Plovdiv, and Sofia.
Now we are on the train and on our way back from Sofia to the farm, where we left our stuff for the city trips, pick up our luggage and bicycles and cycle back to Burgas. Will the ferry really run? We don’t know. We are supposed to call them on 15th of July, the day of the planned departure. And what do we do if it doesn’t? Do we have a plan C?
This uncertainty is driving me crazy!
Not my style, not something I can control. Spending time here in Bulgaria is wonderful, but for how much longer? We are looking forward to Georgia, to new cultures, landscapes, people.
Bulgaria is great, but it’s still Europe. There are Lidl supermarkets and DM drugstores in every slightly larger town. So somehow everything is like at home. The food is different, but not that different, the people are friendly and helpful. The streets are okay. The weather is terrific and the Black Sea is a blast. We experienced and walked around Varna, Sosopol, Plovdiv and Sofia extensively. And all places are really worth a trip for a short tourist excursion. The Black Sea coasts are touristy, expensive and crowded. Which I can completely understand, because the water and the beaches are a dream.
But that’s not what we set out for. I don’t need a campfire atmosphere, cocktails, party atmosphere, festivals or archaeological finds. Nor are we looking for churches, cathedrals, mosques or synagogues.
We have no interest in religions, traditions for tourists, no interest in restaurants, fish or liquor specialities.
Movement is change and it’s time we moved on!
So for the first step we moved around the country, visiting different places.You can learn a lot about the mood in a country through street art. In Bulgaria, the issues are similar to those in the rest of Europe. But the use of it as a kind of revolution has become thinner here as well. Here, too, it’s mostly about “beautiful” works or just as “many” as possible for visibility.
Less communication than representation. Less rebellion than entertainment.
Of course, we did work through the sights, but above all we cycled through many different districts in Sofia.
A quiet and really clean city.
It’s crazy how a black coffee can cost 25 cents (at the vending machine) or sometimes 2.50 euros in the more hip areas.
And even an ice cream can cost 45 cents or 2.50 EUR.
A few begging people, a few homeless people, but rather few. We wonder where they are.
There is an incredible amount of smoking, but… the cigarettes are rarely thrown on the streets.
My personal reckoning with Bulgaria ? A country to travel to if you feel like hiking, city tours and the sea. The perfect combination.
Only we have to move on soon. If the ferry doesn’t run, we’ll decide whether to wait another week or take the route through Turkey. It remains exciting and I am not relaxed 🙂
Cycling in Bulgaria!
It’s okay. If you take the side roads, the landscape is beautiful, but often a bit “boring”. I have never seen so many and such big fields with sunflowers, corn, lavender and cereals. These huge fields, remnants from the communist era.
The drivers? Respectful, show consideration, see us.
Wild dogs are suddenly history since passing the border from Romania.
But nature still shows its cruel side. Seagulls that hunt cats and abuse them as food or kill their own brood, snakes that drag fish out of the water until they are “suffocated”, people who kill cats, dogs, snakes, sheltopusik by riding their cars. And, of course, lots of bugs, birds, turtles and so on, they run over.
Are you wondering now what a sheltopusik is? This specimen lying on the road was not dead yet and when I wanted to take a picture of it, I saw that the eyes opened a little. Snakes don’t have eyelids, so what was this. Klaus found out that it was a lizard without legs. It looks like a snake, but it’s not. So if you’re on holiday in Bulgaria, this is not a poisonous snake that you have to kill directly with a stone or a spade.
Now I almost forgot the fabulous coffee machines. In almost every corner, at least where the city’s guests don’t have the upper hand and willingly pay at least 2.50 EUR for a coffee, everywhere you go you’ll find these great coffee machines. Sometimes they are outdated, but most of them are rather new. 25- 35 EURO cents and you can enjoy a really good coffee on every corner.
