 |
| Electrical Box, Veliko Tarnovo |
Ok, so that’s not what really happened. The parking spot to the left of our car was
empty and we thought we could make it out.
So, I got out and helped AD not back into the chain behind us or the car
on our right and through a 15 point turn, we successfully left the rental car
lot. The first of many “driving in
Bulgaria” adventures on this trip.
We made it back to campus and about half an hour later we
were on the road to Veliko Tarnovo. I
quickly became an important driving assistant as I unwrapped AD an Oreo and
successfully extracted the annoying driver’s side floor mat from under her
feet. We talked about a myriad of
topics, including (much to EL’s chagrin), what MD’s ideal wedding dress will
look like.
After about an hour, I had to call ahead to RB and KP’s car
(Britney Spears) because someone in our car (and they shall remain nameless)
already had to pee. My dad would have
been really annoyed and banned all drink consumption, but we were a more
understanding bunch and all secretly wanted chips anyway, so it was fine.
As we drove down the road listening to AD’s mix CD’s we also
got to hear a lot of AD’s swearing. This
was mostly due to more “driving in Bulgaria” adventures. Every time a stereotypically black Mercedes
came up behind us at 100 mph and tail gated us until it found an appropriate
curve or hill to pass on (seriously, how we don’t see a car accident every time
we go out on a road is beyond me), we were privy to AD’s most poetic
outbursts. All that aside, we made it to
our hotel, where the guy told us to back into the garage. At that point AD just gave up and EL backed
it in for us.
That night we went out to eat dinner at Shtastlivetsa, the
number 2 restaurant in town according to Trip Advisor. It was very good (I had spaghetti) and had interesting
antique-y décor. Then we continued down
the main street and found a rock and roll bar, but it was quickly vetoed as we
were not the appropriate clientele. We
ended up at the Irish bar for a little while before we headed back to the hotel.
The next morning, SG and I were the first people down to
breakfast. It was very good, but there
were cats everywhere (ok, only 5ish). I
don’t mind cats except I am allergic to them.
That might be an understatement.
I have nose-running, eyes swelling, face itching, throat scratching
reactions to those things even if they never touch me. So, after everyone else came down, I couldn’t
stay until they were done because the sniffles were starting and my whole face
was itching just from being in the same room with those creatures (the cats,
not the people).
Our first stop that day was Tsarevets, the old fortress and
castle. During the Second Bulgarian
Empire, it was the primary fortress and protected the royal palace. It fell to the Ottomans in 1393, marking the
end of the Bulgarian Empire and the start of Ottoman rule, which lasted until
1877. On the fortress hill, 400
residential buildings have been discovered.
There were also 22 churches and 4 monasteries. It was very large. Some of it has been reconstructed, but most
of it is in ruins.
On the way up the hill, you pass through the gates and climb
up past some bells (clearly modern and not original) to a reconstructed church
on top of the hill. The inside of the
church was painted in 1985 and is really modern and interesting. It was unlike any other church I’ve ever
seen. EL took pictures for us, but I
haven’t gotten them from him yet, so here’s a link.
The group split up from there. EL, SG, and I explored the rest of the
fortress and I made friends with a stray dog.
On the way out, SG and EL paid 4 leva each to dress up in armor and ride
a fake horse. Best pictures of the trip. We then headed back into the town towards an
island-type formation that holds the Monument of the Assens and the art
gallery. 
The Monument of the Assens was built to honor the 800th
anniversary of when Veliko Tarnovo became the capital of Bulgaria. It depticts Bulgarian kings Assen the 1st,
Peter, Kaloyan, and Ivan Assen the 2nd. These four kings ruled from 1185-1241, which
was the high point of the Second Bulgarian Empire. It is an interesting monument mad of metal
and stone that depicts the kings riding their horses into battle. It also features Mary and Jesus (we knew it
was Jesus because he was doing the “Jesus hand”), but it was weird because it
looked like Jesus was coming out of Mary’s chest. Hmmm.
Moving on.
We went through the art gallery. The paintings were nice, but even better, it
was cool in there. Afterwards, we walked
back up to the older part of town and through a main shopping street before we
went back to the hotel to shower and get ready for dinner.
We were leaving at 6:30 and at 6:10, MD walks in to have SG
braid her hair. I am sitting on my bed
watching YouTube (ah, productivity) and sorting out some of the letters of
recommendation I had to write. She looks
at me and what I’m wearing and points out that we’re leaving soon. She hasn’t known me long enough yet to
recognize that other than changing out my leggings for jeans, I don’t put that
much effort into my “clubbing” look.
We ate dinner that night at Ego, the #3 restaurant in
town. I got some approximation of Asian sesame
chicken that was pretty good and our waitress really handled our indecision and
disorganization well. From there, we watched
the Manchester United game at the Tequila Bar down the street before heading to
Club Spider. Best thing about that place
was that my shoes and teeth glowed under the black light, they had musical
instruments on the ceiling and the front of a car on the wall. The music was loud, so I ended up putting
tissues in my ears (rolled like earplugs, not just hanging out).
The next morning, we headed out and had “driving in Bulgaria”
adventure #4. There was a Hummer parked
so close to the garage, that once again, a 20 point turn was needed to get
out. Eventually we were on our way. Britney’s occupants (RB, KP, EL, and MD) were
going hiking, but our car was heading to Shipka Pass.
Shipka pass is a slightly scary road through the Balkan
Mountains (elevation 3820 ft) that takes you by Shipka Monument. The monument was built in honor of the Battle
of Shipka Pass during the Russo-Turkish War in 1877 and 1878. Built in 1934, you reach it by climbing 900
(not exaggerating here) steps. Or, as we
discovered 900 steps later, YOU CAN DRIVE TO THE TOP. However, I guess the exercise didn’t hurt
me. From the top of the stairs, you can
see the monument, which houses a museum, and a great view of the surrounding mountains,
including Buzludzha, our next stop.
We took the stairs back down and started along the really
run down and narrow mountain road from Shipka to Buzludzha (elevation 4728 ft). We parked at the Torch Monument below and
began to walk up yet again (and I would like to point out, again, that it is
possible to drive to the top).
This mountain has seen a lot of action. It was the site of a battle against the Turks
in 1868 and the location of a secret meeting in 1891 where Dimitar Blagoev organized
a socialist movement. In 1981, the
Bulgarian Communist government opened the Buzludzha Monument to commemorate the
100 year anniversary of this meeting. The
monument is a building that looks a lot like a space ship. It is abandoned and in disrepair now, but when
it was built, it had great views of the surrounding mountains and the
inside was covered in mosaics and marble.
Apparently, the Bulgarian government recently turned ownership back over
to the socialist party, but they haven’t yet agreed what to do with it.
As we headed back to Sofia, we were trying not to buy gas
until we had to return the car, but Garmin took us a weird way back to the city
and we ended up stopping at a Shell station where we were informed by the
rudest gas station attendant I’ve ever encountered that “This is Bulgaria.” No. Kidding. And here we had all been thinking we were in
Kansas. He also yelled at AD because she
didn’t know which side the rental car’s gas tank was on. It was a rental, sheesh.
Anyway, we did make it home and, gas station man aside, it was
a great weekend.
