Veliko Tarnovo
BULGARIA
Bulgarian Charm
By LYNDI
Saturday, February 24, 2018
Before heading into Romania, Aaron and I decided to make one last stop in Bulgaria to enjoy the country’s history, charm, character and – of course – cheap prices for one more night.
Veliko Tarnovo was an easy choice – it was enroute to Bucharest, has a cute historic center, and a giant medieval fortress to boot. The Tsaravets fortress was home to the Second Bulgarian Empire between the 1100s and 1300s and housed a castle, church, royal residences and an infamous “executioner’s rock” where prisoners were thrown from the top to their death. Yikes.
Tsaravets is a large complex, but it’s historical significance greatly outweighs its size – it is said that it was as “magnificent” and important as Rome and Constantinople back in the day due to its location and the power of the Bulgarian Empire. Today it is pretty well preserved and you can walk through and around the grounds only a short walk from the Veliko Tarnovo town center.
To get there from Plovdiv, we took local bus 99 to the “Sever” bus station and bought a 20 leva (~$11USD) ticket to Veliko Tarnovo. We had a bit of a wait until the bus left, so we passed the time at the nearby supermarket and bought strong coffee from one of Bulgaria’s ubiquitous coffee vending machines. It’s more fun to watch than to drink, but watching the automated styrofoam cup, thick coffee sludge, hot milk and stir stick all pile on top of each other one after another is fairly entertaining. When you’re really bored at a foreign bus station, that is.
So we got our tickets and then looked on in dismay as Bulgaria’s ugliest “bus” pulled into the station. It was less a bus and more a van with ripped curtains and carpeted ceilings.
Yep.
But it got us to where we were going. The van pulled into the outskirts of Veliko Tarnovo to drop off passengers, meaning Aaron and I would be faced with our arch nemesis: the taxi driver. So – steeling ourselves from what would inevitably be a bargaining/correct directions/final price showdown, we hopped in with the only taxi waiting at the station. To our surprise, he turned on the meter, took us right to our hotel, and wished us a pleasant stay.
We had booked a room at the Hotel Premier Veliko Tarnovo, seduced by the photos of spas, saunas, pools and outdoor patios. It is rare that we stay in actual hotels rather than inns or guest houses, but with the favorable exchange rate and promise of luxury and relaxation, we were in. And also hardly surprised when we found that all the amenities were closed. No spa. No sauna. No pool. In their defense, they did have an outdoor patio, it’s just not something we would have enjoyed in 20 degree weather.
But our room did have a gorgeous view of Tsaravets fortress in the distance – so we put down our bags and headed out the door for the 45 minute walk through town. We were using my phone’s MapsMe tool, and it somehow took us off the main street and along a quaint and narrow road called Ulitsa General Gurko. Traditional Ottoman-Bulgarian houses squeezed in tightly along the cobblestone road, and despite the cold winter weather, boxes of flowers abounded in windowsills.
When we got to the fortress, we bought our tickets and wandered around – I had a handy Lonely Planet to describe the different parts of the ancient complex, and it was a good thing considering all of the signs were in Bulgarian, German and Russian. I speak zero Bulgarian or Russian, but I used to speak German. Twenty years ago. And unfortunately, the signs were describing ancient battles and political dynasties instead of something I could follow (like how to get to the library or asking someone for the time), so we were left a little bit in the dark.
Because it was low tourist season, we had the place nearly to ourselves. And the view from the top of the hill was impressive as it overlooks a vast valley in all directions. On the way back from the fortress, we walked along the main street lined with tourist shops and restaurants and even got to stop in for another bottle of Mavrud. Aaron rolled his eyes and held his breath while I stopped in a few tourist shops (even though he hates it – I need someone to follow me in and tell me I would never use a traditional Bulgarian garden spade) and picked a semi-fancy restaurant along the touristy route for dinner. It was the first time we had treated ourselves to a “real” dinner in Bulgaria that we chose for atmosphere and menu rather than desperation or frugality, so we enjoyed the splurge.
Despite the closed amenities at the hotel, we did have a jacuzzi bathtub in our room, so made the most of the limited luxury. We had really enjoyed Bulgaria, but were excited to see what awaited us in Romania for our last week in Europe.
