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.