About to begin the long journey home.

From Plovdiv we made an excursion to Perperikon, a Thracian settlement discovered in 2000. It is still a working archeological site.

Hard at work at Perperikon.

Iron Age ceramic pots found at Perperikon.

Is this the world's smallest minaret? A lot of the villagers in this part of Bulgaria are largely Turkish and most have a simple mosque.

Still a few horses and carts on the road.

But the hay is bailed rather than stooked as in Romania.

Lots of wildflowers, although because of the heatwave we missed the rose harvest.

Rila monastery founded by St Ivan Rilsky in the 10thC it has been burnt to the ground twice and the existing buildings date from the 19thC. Once there were hundreds of monks but now there are only a few.

Heaven as depicted on the exterior wall of Rila Monastery.

And below heaven is Hell.

 

Thracian pots from before the time of the Potter's wheel.

Thracian gold from  the Panagyurishte treasure found in 1949 near Varna. It dates from about the 4thC B.C.

More Thracian gold. This horde had more than 6 kg of gold objects.

The cathedral of Alexander Nevski in Sofia. It was designed by a Russian architect and built in memory of the 200,000 Russian soldiers who died fighting for Bulgaria's independence in the Russo Turkish War of 1877 - 78.

Guards at the Presidential Palace in Sofia.

The rotunda of St George dates from the 4thC when Sofia was the Roman city of Serdica and the seat of the emperor Constantine. It claims to have a fragment of bone from St George.

Next to St George's church are yet more Roman ruins,

I hope you have found some things of interest in my blog. We certainly found the area fascinating and met some lovely people and enjoyed good food and wine..

The blog is once again going into hibernation.

Wet day in Sofia, June 18th, 2015

We have been away a month, and this is the first really wet day!
My last post was from the Danube delta and we have covered a lot of ground since then. We crossed into Bulgaria last Sunday and it was an immediate challenge. Bulgarian is a Slavic language and they use the Cyrillic alphabet, so even after having laboriously sounded out the words I am often not much wiser. We were sad to leave George at the border, but it was an easy crossing and changeover of vehicles and guide.

I will let a selection of photos tell the story:-

View of the Tulcea waterfront from our hotel.

 

 On the left is our 'small ship' or 'tinnie'. It was ideal for exploring the channels, but i did get rather sunburnt and wind burnt.

 

Typical delta scenery.

 Some of the birds the delta is famous for.

 After crossing into Bulgaria our first stop was Nicopolis ad Istrum built by Trajan in the 1st C A.D. As is usually the case, the locals have reused the nice square Roman stones so there is little left except the giants slabs of the road. A golf cart was a wecome option for touring the ruins.

 

The 16thC Church of the Nativity in Arbanassi near Veliko Tarnovo. Under the Ottomans the floor of a church had to be below ground level and the top of the roof had to be below that of a mounted Turkish soldier. The outside is very plain, but inside frescoes completely cover the walls and ceiling.

 

Ginka, our hostess for dinner in Arbanassi. 

 

Our hotel in Veliko Tarnovo. The town was the first capital of independent Bulgaria afterthe Ottoman's were overthrown in 1878. It is on a steep hill and the streets are all up and down on different levels.

 

 4thC B.C. frescoes in A Thracian tomb near Kazanlak. Soldiers digging an air raid shelter in 1944 found it by accident.

 The unusual fresco in our room at the Renaissance hotel in Plovdiv.

 

 Plovdiv was called Philippopolis after Phillip of Macedonia (Alexander the Great's father) who conquered it in 342 B.C. These fragments of Roman mosaic were visible beside the underpass near our hotel.

  

Nice architecture in Plovdiv

The 15thC mosque in Plovdiv. Bulgaria was under Turkish rule for 500 years but now there are only 2 mosques left.

The large well preserved ampitheatre in Plovdiv. It is still used today including for an annual Verdi festival.

The Ethnographical museum of Plovdiv is housed in an elegant 19thC merchant's house.

Belt buckles

Fancy hand knitted socks - sadly slightly out of focus.

How's this for a good size kebab and the meat chicken and pork was tender and succulent.

I have not got to Sofia (with the pictures) but it will have to be a second installment tomorrow.

Tulcea, Danube Delta, June 12th

Since I last posted we have covered a lot of ground and are now at Tulcea on the Danube delta. our room looks out over the Danube, but we found the aircon confusing - if you want cold air you press beach umbrella not a snowman!

The new customs and Traditions museum in Guru Humorului

Another diorama of the traditional dressups at New Year's Eve which grafts together pagan customs to Christian festivals.

 

The dramatic Bicaz Gorge in the Carpathian mountains. Wherever the road widened the were souvenir sellers, but they were not pushy.

 

Clara, a gypsy lady in her home. In the background is part of her dowry. These gypsies look North Indian and dress in bright Indian fabrics and appear to have many of the same customs including a caste structure and arranged marriages with the girls often below the legal marriage age. Education does not appear particularly highly valued.

Clara's young sister who is 14 and has left school and ready to marry. When she marries she will take the ribbons out of her plaits and cover her hair.

 

The fantastically complicated lock - 19 locks in one in a room at the church in Biertan. Local lore says feuding couples were locked in with only one set of cutlery and one bed. If they had not resolved their differences in two weeks they could get a divorce. In 400 years only one couple did.

The clock tower in Sighisoara.

 Impromptu dancing in the square in Sighisoara. The Saxons established

a trading town here in the 12thC and fortified it against amongst others the Turks. The houses are connected by tunnels and according to legends this is where the Pied Piper brought the children of Hamelin.

 

Casa au Cerb, our hotel on the Square in the Citadel.it is a lovely place. There is a photo of Prince Charles on the reception desk.He is trying to help save Romania's forests.

 

An over restored citadel which looks better from a distance.

 Bran Castle also known as Dracula's castle. originally built in 1377. It was a royal residence and Queen Marie had it extensively restored in the 1920s.

 

 Inside Bran castle

 

 The first printing press in Romania in Brasov dating from the 16thC. Recently during restoration of a church several thousand books from the 11thC on, but mostly 16th and 17thC were found including the first bible in Russian.

The town square in Brasov. with the 1420 Council House on the left.

Black Church in Brasov. Inside is a huge collection of Anatolian prayer rugs gifted to the church by the merchants of the town. During the uprisings in 1990, people sought sanctuary in the church, but they were fired upon in the doorway and you can still see the bullet holes in one of the columns inside the church.

Peles castle was begun in 1875 as a summer palace for the king. It was the first castle to have electricity, an elevator, central vacuuming system all provided from its own hydroelectric plant. The decoration is mind boggling, lots of beautiful woodwork.

Waiting to tour Peles castle.

Fresco in one of the courtyards.

As we got near the Danube delta there were forests of wind turbines funded by the EU.