Bulgaria & a last dance
It’s not that I didn’t want to explore Bucharest more, it’s that I was too lazy to do it. I meandered around the restaurant/bar area, where literally cafes & pubs line a 10 square block radius, but I was also knew I would never come back this way again, so I opted for a day tour to Bulgaria. It was one of the best decisions I have made lately. If you’re ever in doubt as to what to do, check out day-tours from either Viator or Get-Your-Guide (both international companies) & let them lead you around for the day.
I was to meet the tour guides outside Casa Capa Hotel at 7:20 a.m. & of course I’m there at 7 o’clock sharp. At 7:30 I’m getting anxious that they’ve forgotten me, but a few minutes later a smaller van pulls up & I jump in, excited to meet the other passengers & start off to explore another country.
The tour guide, Carmen, is a bit of a train wreck. She’s a woman in her 50’s, overweight & dressed from head to toe in hot pink. Hot pink tight jeans, hot pink tight tshirt, hot pink long frazzled dyed hair & hot pink dirty runners on. I love her immediately. Dressing like that takes some balls, & you have to admire how people just wear whatever makes them happy. The driver, whose name I never catch, is massive & super friendly. We set off, six people from various parts of the world & these two local misfits, to see what we can see in Bulgaria.
As we make our way across the Danube River towards the border, I notice semi-truck after semi-truck after semi-truck parked for miles & miles along the side of the road. I inquire to the driver what’s going on with that & he tells me it’s all due to corruption & paying levies. It’s some hatfield’s vs mccoy’s kinda feud with Romania & this stubbornness is also preventing them entry into the Schengen Zone. I’m thrilled we’re not in the Schengen, but that is because I can only stay in those Schengen countries for a combined total of 90 days & then out I go for 180 before I can re-enter. I have to watch my VISA time limits, so darting into non-Schengen counties makes me feel confident I can come back in early this spring if I find a country I absolutely fall in love with. Crossing the boarder is quick & painless, but it really shows the soviet era isn’t in the past too long ago. Again with the demolished infrastructure & concrete jungle…& garbage wasteland!
We continue on to see the coolest old church monastery carved into the side of sheer rock. Basarbovo Monastery, carved into this rock cliff in the 8th century, is really amazing, with these old Bulgarian monks walking around dressed all in black with big bushy beards. We climb the old stone steps, carved out of the rock that is holding everything up, to get to this small room where there are pictures of “Jesus” & you can write a wish or prayer on a piece of paper & cram it into a crevice between the rocks & the priest will pray for you later. I’m not sure how much praying these guys actually do because every crevice is crammed with little pieces of paper, but mines up there too. I wrote down something dear to my heart that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately, so we’ll see how that goes. We all want our wishes to come true!
We continue on to another monastery, in Arbanasi which is a zillion years old & has the most insane religious art completely covering every square inch of the inside of this rock structure. People take their religion seriously here! When we leave the church there are people with tables along the little street selling crap…cheap homemade jewelry, some embroidery souvenirs & this one old man had a table full of old antique things. I saunter over to the old man’s table & take a look. My eyes almost pop out of my head. He’s got a lot of authentic Nazi memorabilia…a ring with the death head & swastikas on each side, a silver pocket watch with a bronze case with swastikas & the death head engraved on both. Various SS medals. A SS Nazi helmet & cap. A riding crop with the swastikas on it. Something you will never see again. He asked me where I was from & with my best accent, I said, “Scotland” & walked off. I dunno…I didn’t want him to embrace me as a comrade. Haha…
We drove into the small city of Veliko Tarnovo, which was the capital of the second Bulgarian empire & absolutely rich in Bulgarian culture. There we had the opportunity to pass craftsman whose shops had been passed down through generations of families to preserve the old traditions. There was a fully functional copper blacksmith,a candle maker, soap factories, stone jewelry shops & so many little stalls of food. We climbed up Tsarevets Hill with the castle remains still standing. The fortress was a royal palace for the patriarchal church of the Bulgarian kings. So much history!
We finished up with a stroll through Arbanassi & the streets lined with houses & churches dating back to the 1500’s. It was all really cool to see, albeit a very poor country & one that needed its butt kicked for throwing garbage EVERYWHERE. Very similar to Albania that way. Zero respect for the environment.
The ride home was uneventful, although I talked non-stop with a couple from Brazil who were really nice. I wasn’t aware that people from Brazil spoke Portuguese, so I learned some words to say for when I’ll be in Portugal at the end of November. We talked about food non-stop & exchanged instagram addresses to keep in touch…inviting me to pop around & see them the next time I was in Brazil. Haha. By the time they dropped me off I was tired, but wanted to spend my last night in Romania at Caru de Bere as it was close to my apartment & had such a good vibe. I walked there briskly once I dropped off my purse, tucking my cash into my bra & keys in my pocket. I lucked out with the coveted seat at the bar & watched people with relish. The women dress so garishly in these Eastern European countries…tight clothes, big cheap jewelry & they swing themselves around like they’re really something else. All polyester & pleather. Like Albania, they just blatantly stare & look people up & down with the look of obvious dissatisfaction on their faces…they don’t hide their emotions at all. Of course, I’m getting eye-balled…blonde with tattoos & *gasp* alone. I make friends with two girls from Lithuania sitting beside me & they took videos of me dancing with the professional dancers who, after they put on their show, grab audience members to dance with. I danced the first night I happened along this pub to the cheers from the gay Swiss guys I made friends with & again I was asked to dance by one of the young dancers. My Dad always told me to never refuse a dance!
After saying goodbye & exchanging instagram addresses, I walked home to climb the five flights of worn old concrete steps up to my apartment, pack my suitcase & try & get some sleep before I’m off on another adventure to Spain!
