Bulgarian Rhapsody

One of my treats this past Sunday was getting an impromptu phone call from Wendy. Wendy is my pal Suzanne's mother, and we call each other from time to time. When I was growing up, Wendy was the Interesting Mom who taught foreign languages at a local Tidewater college, practiced Transcendental Meditation, and served green spaghetti with green sauce to her daughter's unsuspecting guests. She is still filled with a love of learning, and took a Japanese language course as well as folk dancing lessons following her retirement from a Norfolk university.

One of the topics Wendy brought up was her daughter's upcoming trip to Bulgaria - had I heard about it? Yes, I had. Wendy expressed her concern that Suzanne would decide to move to Bulgaria, because it would make calling her by phone even more inconvenient because of yet another time zone differential. She did allow, however, that the folk dancing opportunities would be richer. Suzanne currently lives in Amsterdam, after spending about six years or so in Spain.

Suzanne and her boyfriend, Brett, have made several forays to various places in Europe, but Bulgaria is the most obscure country they have included in their travels. I had a vague idea about its location, knowing it was near Greece, but had to look it up on a map to pinpoint it. Oh, there it is, on the Black Sea! It's not a country I hear mentioned much in the news, but I remember hearing about a change in their political climate several years ago. Tourism in Bulgaria is growing, and I was eager to hear from Suzanne about her impressions of this wallflower of Europe. This morning I got my wish when Suzanne sent me a message from her hotel, and I asked her if I could share it with all of you. I think you will find it an interesting read, so here you go without further ado.

WOW!!!

We're fascinated. This is really something different! We are day two in Veliko Turnovo. It took us just about a day to get here from Amsterdam. On the down side, the town is shrinking and a bit decrepit, lots of faded paint jobs and abandoned buildings. On the up side, gosh so much. What's not to love. The people are gentle and curious, eager to learn English and friendly.

The town's history is considerable, and monuments dating back to this city's glorious medieval heritage dot the surrouding hillside. We are staying in a very upmarket hotel by Bulgarian standards. Ninety euros a night is exorbidant in a town where the best rooms go for 50 euros a night, and many a room can be had for 20 euros or less. However, this must be the most modern, chic, lovely, well-equipped hotel in a 100 mile radius, and we are well-pleased to be paying the rate. When visiting a depressed area, it's kind of nice to come back to something upmarket at the end of the day. This is really in the chic boutique hotel category.( I cringe to think of the horrid hotel room you could end up with in Amsterdam for 90 euros a night.)

Things are astoundingly cheap here. Brett and I dined at a lovely local tavern last night. I had a crisp white Bulgarian wine, Brett a local lager. He had some local dish of pork Kavarma, a stew sort of a thing, and I had an innovative stuffed trout. We sat on a spotless patio at a cute polished picnic style table next to a box of bright impatiens and gazed over the clay rooftops at the nearby lush green hills. The entire bill came to 24 leva, or twelve euros. In Amsterdam we pay more than that for a snack from the local taco hut. Brett and I figure on paying around 45 euros when we dine out at a restaurant, and we don't go to the Ritz.

While dining there an American approached us, astounded and grateful to hear English. He was visiting VT with his wife, who is from here. He told us the name of another town that sounds intriguing, Povdiv, with Roman monuments and a thriving art community, but three hours from here, so we'll save that for the next trip.

We saw the Veliko Turnovo light show from the rooftop of our hotel last night. It's a breathtaking light and music extravaganza that involves the entire excavated fortress collection of buildings...and ...I can't even begin to describe it. Maybe I was tired, but I was moved to tears, it was so beautifully executed, so professionally done. There seems to be a native intelligence among the people here. I find it interesting that they excel, as a nation, in mathematics.

We've observed that the native television shows have better production values, especially where lighting is concerned, than homegrown Netherlands TV.

We're off to explore the fortress. Just in to escape a sudden sun shower, but it seems to have cleared.

Ciao!
Your Wandering Expats
Suzanne and Brett