Early
morning pickup at our Bucharest hotel by our Bulgarian driver Angel for our
drive to Sofia Bulgaria. One hour south west of Bucharest we crossed the Danube
and entered Bulgaria at Ruse. Our first stop was at Veliko Tarnova, perched on
the rim of a gorge in the Balkan Mountains and shaped like a natural
amphitheater...we were dropped off in the Old Town and followed the cobbled
streets to up the hill to the 13th century Tsarevets Fortress ruins. I hiked up
to the top of the hill to the see the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Holy
Ascension of God...the church was reconstructed in 1981...the frescoes inside,
painted in a dark modern contemporary effect rather than in a traditional
Orthodox style, depict conventional Christian subjects as well as dramatic and
tragic moments of the Second Bulgarian Empire...unfortunately the elevator
operator was on break so I was unable to go up into our the steeple. We made our
way back down to the old town to meet our driver and leave for Sofia....this
was a nice stop to see the fortress and the traditional Bulgarian houses. For
the short time we have been in Bulgaria it was evident and sad that the ravaged
remains of the Communist era still exist...Bulgaria is one of the poorest
countries in the European Union. We had a picturesque drive to Sofia through
the Balkan Mountains. Arrived in Sofia, dropped our gear and went for a quick
orientation walk about and dinner...had an excellent massage before finishing
the blog. Looking forward to our Sofia city tour tomorrow and Serbia.
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