Bulgaria through Bucharest Aug 7 to 13th

Aug 7: Up early --what a great view to sip coffee and enjoy-- Usually just Wes, Lyn, George, and I are up-- the others tend to sleep in---and stay up later!!! We had breakfast-- did some laundry and caught a bus to Varna with Lyn. It costs 3 lv to ride and a bus attendant takes your money and issues a ticket. Varna isn't far away---pleasant drive on the road overlooking the Black Sea. There are many hotels here--and quite a few under construction. When we got to Varna, we agreed to meet each other at 4:00 pm at the McDonald's--an easy placeto find....but I still hate seeing them all over the place. We found an internet cafe first, had a coke and were in the cool booths for an hour or so--doing the blog and trying to confirm the bus. No luck on that, but caught up on the news around WA. Varna is the center of rose oil production, for the world's perfume and for whatever else one uses rose oil! There are a zillion rose bushes in the city--but they must actually have production level fields of them somewhere. We walked through the old town square, stopping to listen to a Native American/Peruvian band-- great sound and the crowd liked them! In a cordoned off street, there was a dance contest going on-- some of the young women had their high-heeled shoes taped to their feet! First time I've seen that! The buildings are very picturesque and in the French style as is much of Bucharest. There are huge advertising signs at the top of some of the old buildings--sort of spoils the look to see "COCA COLA" on the top! The theater in the town square was gorgeous--wish we could have gone inside. We saw a very large Orthodox Cathedral just beyond the square, but didn't tour inside it. The cross-walks on some of these larger intersections, as in Bucharest, are underground. There are shops, restrooms (called WC or Water Closets here), produce market places, and crafts--a little underground shopping district! We made our way through the neighborhoods, heading for the beach. We passed a very old Catholic Church in a sad state of disrepair---it was fenced off and I hope they were going to rennovate it, but the windows were broken, which means all kinds of bird nests are throughout the rooms. Found the beach and a bit of shade and just enjoyed the view---some big tankers and other ships to the south of Varna and could see other big hotels and towns down the seaside. There is an old communist-era structure on the beach--appears to have been a hotel or resort. Back up to the square and sat listening to the music for a while, until Lyn found us just before 4:00pm. Caught the bus with her and now we know the bus stop-- it's the Panorama bus stop and the last one on the north end of town--we actually go around the bus turn-around and our stop is right there. Walked down to the shops and bought a little honey pot to bring home--great pottery. We decided to shop on the internet when we got home and buy two place settings of dinner plates from each country we visit. Can't take them with us now--too heavy and I think they might break. Had dinner at Magdelenas and lingered over wine. Walked down the promanade in the evening.

Aug 8: Thunderstorm last night--much cooler morning. Woke up in time to see the sunrise--nice wind from the north cooling everything off a bit. Joined Wes, Lyn, and Harry for an early breakfast--brought our bananas down, as they ripened fast and needed to be eaten. Wes and Lyn had banana open-faced sandwiches for breakfast! We hiked right from our lodge intending to take the forest trails just west of the house to a small monastary near Golden Sands and headed uphill a few hundred meters north up the road. We started up a trail through the forest which is national parkland. It was cool under the trees as we wound uphill on a trail (Wes calls it a "track") until we encountered a road trace. Following the road trace, we made it to a paved road where we decided to head west (right). The pavement ended, leaving a double tracked primitive road--went through forests of alder and oak for the most part, some pine trees and Mimosa (which has thorns--). The underbrush is low, but some of it is thorned--there is a blackberry-like vine, burdock, cow parsnips, chicory, and lot of wildflowers that I can't identify. We passed by a gate for the power company and followed some lines with very rusty towers across the hill. The road dwindled to a double-path, sometimes muddy and very slick, as this is a mixture of clay and limestone. It wound through a small meadow as we came down off the top of the hill. Very hot and lots of gnats--which left us when we got off the hill a bit. The track still showed traces of ATV wheel marks. We could see a town in the far distance and a smaller collection of houses in the near distance, so headed downhill. We crossed a small creek and the track became a small dirt road again as the terrained opened up into meadowland and in the open--which made the going hotter and a bit harder. We brought water, fortunately--because we realized now that we must have gone further than planned and had missed the monastary entirely! We headed toward the nearest homes on narrow dirt roads. Passed by two men tending a herd of dairy cows--all clustered in the valley near a stream. They were all in the shade--where one should be this time of day in the summer. As we neared the first house a young Bulgarian couple got out of their car--I think they were surprised to see us walking up the road! I gestured drinking from a cup and asked where we could get a drink. He talked and motioned that he would take us there--so we followed him through the outskirts of the village and brought us to the back door of the local tavern. After hiking in the heat for two or three hours, we were so grateful to go into the dark and air conditioned bar as we were getting overheated--it was at least 90 degrees and full sun-- no clouds to be seen. The bar owner spoke German and Bulgarian and appeared to be German. The bar itself was intimate, with dark wood booth seating around the edges of the tiled room and a wood bar at the end of the room. There were beams in the ceiling and carved wooden ceilings over each booth area. The posts were also carved at the top, creating a very old Bulgarian pub feel to the place. We ordered salads and drinks--and filled our water bottles. I had a great cold salad of plain yogurt, cubed cucumbers, dill and other spices--tasted great! George had the Shoppske salad we decribed earlier. We asked the bartender where we might catch a bus and he responded "Me--no English-- my woman--no problem--she will come later to talk." She was a Romanian woman who brought us our salads--and was very nice. She said she was cooking something for a party and would be back later to talk with us. The pub regulars were at one end, laughing and joking-- and smoking (because, of course, there is no smoking ban here--everyone smokes everywhere!). We were just enjoying being cool again and soaking up the atmosphere. When we were finished--and the regulars had gone out, the bartender (whose English was rough, but we certainly were able to make ourselves understood to one another), invited us to see the larger room in the bar. He and three friends built the whole bar building from local stone. It is post and lentil construction with thick stone and masonary walls--and the large beams with tiled roof. As we passed through the inner courtyard, he described the storm that hit last night-- ruined his flowers and lifted his umbrella right out of the rack! This walled in area held a small lawn with flowers lining the walk and a little Shetland pony grazing in the shade! The back bar area had a long table with wooden chairs covered in sheepskins. An open brick fireplace was at one end and a platform for musicians at the other end. There was a saxophone hanging from the back of the piano! The fireplace had a separate chamber off the side--he was building a great bed of coals in it. It had an insulated door to the chamber to keep the heat in. His wife was preparing a lamb to cook for a gathering that evening in Varna. We returned to the little bar and he showed us the bagpipes made of antelope hides (and played them for us -he was great)! He insisted we try it--I got some sounds out of it and it was very fun! I think I sounded like a dieing sheep--- He also played wonderfully on a pipe--I couldn't even get a note at all, but enjoyed his playing--had a deep whispery sound, like pan pipes. When his wife was done cooking, he left to put the lamb in the oven and we discussed options of what to do next with her. We could have gone back the way we came, but it is quite hot and bushwhacking up that hill didn't appeal to either of us. We could walk 4 Kilometers to the next town and catch a bus, or we could hang out at the bar and they would take us back to Golden Sands at 5:30 pm. We opted for hiking for the bus, after thanking them profusely for their kindness to us! They gave us directions through their village, Kitchevo, which I wrote down. We set off through the town--great old stone construction, well-tended gardens--lots of grapes and fruit trees. Crossed over a stream and headed back into the fields with no shade. We had walked about a mile when an ancient BMW jeep loaded with schoolboys from Kazakstan stopped and asked if we wanted a ride. Of course we hopped in and hung on!! The boys were very sweet--all dressed in white shirts and shorts. They all properly introduced themselves in perfect English and proceeded to bombard us with questions. One boy said he wanted to go to Los Angeles someday! They asked if they could take our photo--- so we'll be in their holiday pictures! They were all a part of a resident camp--and loved it. We were closely followed by another Jeep of singing girls, who also shouted things at the boys, who returned the taunts. Turns out that this was a commercial "Jeep Safari" tour and there were at least eight of them. They were racing each other and sliding around the corners on the dirt roads. George's door kept swinging open!!! We were hanging on to rope handles and the boys were standing up, holding the metal frames. We all had a great time! They dropped us off in Garnival and we snapped a quick picture before they got away! Found what looked like a main road and chatted with the first people we saw-- two elderly men in an outdoor cafe. I asked where we could catch a bus--then he urged us to stay and eat with them! We said we were full--and he said the bus was 200 meters up the road. Found it easily and waited for some time until we talked with a couple of woman, who told us what to look for--we had missed several and we were sitting a little out of sight, so they passed us by. When we got up by the turn out in the road, a car pulled up and offered a ride-this was not a taxi, so we asked 'How much?" There are driver entrepreuers all over the place, so it's a bit of a shadow economy. He said "6 LV"-- which was reasonable. He took us right to the bus stop directly below Bambook! So we had made our way home depending upon the kindness of strangers! Only the woman at the bar truly spoke English--everyone else had enough for us to get what we needed across and for us to understand! What a great adventure! We were glad to get "home" to shower and grab some dinner. A storm was blowing up--the cooler winds were wecome to all of us. Chatted in the patio area before crashing.
Aug 9: Another storm blew through last night---the window was banging during the night until we finally figured out how to secure it tightly. The winds cooled things down and bit and the cloud cover helped make it better to walk around! Went down to the "strip" (area along the beach with small shops), with our main goal of the day being to confirm where and when we catch the Leon bus back to Bucharest. We kept asking people and not getting much information, so decided to wait for the Leon bus that comes daily and talk with the driver. We finally confirmed everything around 2:30 pm! Strolled back down to the beach and had a cup of raspberries for lunch--and stopped at Magdelena's for a wine and beer. Made our way uphill to Bambook---Wes is finishing another room to rent!! George cooked dinner-- his famous Kung Pau Chicken for Wes and Lynn. We all enjoyed it! Calm evening, nice breeze-- good vacation so far!


Aug 10: Another great leisurely breakfast with long conversations. Wes drove us to Albena where we tried to get to the top floor of the hotel, but it was locked. He said there were great views from up there. We were able to get some pictures from the 16th floor of the gardens, pool below, and surrounding countryside. Good place to get some more cash and stop at the "loo." We walked around the gardens and establishments nearby--great walk. There was a compound of small A-frame cabins which looked like a resident camp or perhaps families rented the cabins-- looked like a lot of fun! There was also a huge double soccer field--stadium, really--bleachers and concessions. This resort area is mainly used by Bulgarians, rather than foreign tourists--lots of motels, but not quite as posh as Golden Sands. We made our way down to the beach--it's a shallower, much nicer beach than the Golden Sands area, which is quite steep. Swimmers can walk out a ways and still be waist deep--much better for children. It was easier to walk along the water's edge, too. The waves would occasionally splash up-- felt great! We walked through river areas coming into the sea and the water was refreshingly cool. The beach was lined with umbrellas and chaise lounges to rent and places to rent paddle boats and wind surfer boards. We watched a couple of guys learning how to do it--sure need a lot of upper body strength to manage this! I was tired just looking at them! They also rent this large plastic bubbles with a zippered entrance to "walk on the water" inside the bubble-- don't think I would want to get in one of those! the wind was quite high, so no parasail boats were out--saw a few air mattereses heading out to sea--flipping over and over in the wind! We walked along the beach to Kranevo and had an ice cream on the way up the hill. Found the place at "Top Market" Wes described and waiting for the bus to Panorama (the stop below Bambook). A driver stopped by and took us for the same price, 2 lv, as the bus, so we took the opportunity. Hiked up the hill--showered-- at came down to Magdelena's for our last dinner here in Bulgaria. I ordered two chicken skewers, as the picture in the menu made it look small--in fact, it was huge! I couldn't even finish one of them! George had the fried whitefish-- we shared a cold cucumber soup whcih was similar to the salad I had at the bar-- probably added milk to the mix. Definitely will have to make it at home. Makes a great summer dinner on a hot day! Wandered the beach a bit before going back up for the usual evening caucus -- wonderful to compare views with folks from around the world--lots of laughs!

Aug 11:

Up with the sun--a red ball in the east--Sat on the patio enjoying the cool morning breeze while other folks woke up. Nice leisurely breakfast with Lyn and Wes. Packed up our gear and said sad goodbyes to everyone. Wes drove us up to the Melia Grand Hermitage about 12:30 to catch the bus to Bucharest and we have a nice place to wait for the bus out of the sun--and enough of a breeze to keep the heat down. We had been told by the driver of the bus we took to get to Golden Sands (Leon Bus Company) that it arrived daily at 1:00 pm, the folks at the hotel said it came around 2:15 pm and folks waiting said it was more like 3:00. However, when 2:30 pm rolled around and there was no sign of the bus, we caught another busline headed to Bucharest for 20 Euros each, forfitting our round-trip from Leon lines. This driver said the Leon bus had overheated and may not come today at all. We decided to get on and pay rather than wait--and the whole thing could have just been a big story designed to fill his bus--but, oh well, we were on our way to Bucharest! The bus driver had to wait while George ran into the hotel to find a place to get Euros---but it all worked out. The bus was air conditioned and comfortable. We had no trouble at the border and arrived in Bucharest at the big parking lot in front of the People's Palace just as the sun was going down. We hailed a taxi and went to the address in the tour book of the Butterfly Hostel. After we were dropped off with our packs, we rang the bell for the house-- a man's voice asked what we wanted and when we said we were there for the hostel, he said (not too kindly) that this was no longer a hostel. So, we were in a small dilemma--but found notes off the internet of a different address (it had, indeed, moved), made our way back to the busy street, got another taxi, and found the new address with some difficulty. We finally got to our place---a stone's throw from where the bus left us off-- well after dark. Our dorm room was ready for us-- the two of us were in a small narrow, former bathroom on bunk beds. We didn't care--it was so good to be settled! We found a small market nearby and bought some fruit and cheese. Good enough for me. The hostel is more on the party-on-down side, but we were so tired that the laughter and loud talking right below our open window really didn't keep me from falling asleep quickly.

Aug 12: Today was warm from the time we woke up!! We met a couple from Australia having breakfast outside in the courtyard. They are headed to Croatia and are trekking for six months! We are so jealous!!! We are traveling similarily, except they are using the air travel much more effectively. Next trip, we will be looking into that more ahead of time as the commuter fares seem pretty reasonable. Makes for less spontanity, but might lessen the time spent getting places we want to tour. We walked over to the People's Palace and signed up for an English Tour at 2:30 pm. Saw Bill and Adrian there-- they had an earlier tour. While we waited for the tour, we walked down the promenade, through huge government buildings--mostly built in the 1980's, in French style--so they appear to be older than they really are. The outside of the People's Palace also appears older, as the concrete parts seem to be wearing away rather quickly. We found a good market and purchased lunch, which we ate sitting along the street. It was good to get back to the tour area, as the heat was rising and we hoped the Palace would be cooler inside! However, when the tour started, we found the inside was cooler, but not as much as you would think, given the thick walls and immensity of the place. As we entered the building, we had to relinquish our passports (always unnerving for me!) and wear an indetification tag. They explained that this is a current government building, so added security was needed. The tour was wonderful-- each room was lavish and every detail was cared for--the carpets matched the colors of the fabric in the furniture and mirrored the detail in the ceiling. Rooms were decorated in various styles--French, German, Turkish, etc. We weren't allowed to take pictures in the palace, but we did got some of the view from the terrace. Everything in the palace came from someplace in Romania. All the crystals in the chandilars, all the various woods, and all the rugs were handmade in Romania. The carpets were so large that they had to be cut apart and restitched upon installation. In one huge foyer, there were two staircases sweeping down from either side, designed to have Coucescue and his wife entering to greet their guests. The stairs were specifically calibrated for his length of step and ease of descending the stairs and had to be rebuilt five times before he liked it! It is all white marble. There is pink marble in many places, that being the more desireable color. The tour was over two hours and well worth it--we did get our passports back with no problems! Went back over to the market and bought food to cook for dinner. Ate in the courtyard and visited with Bill. They had walked the full length of the boulevard (Calea) in from of the palace--quite a ways! Adrian caught a nap while we yakked away. We planned to hit some museums with them tomorrow.

Aug 13: Up at a reasonable hour, packed our stuff and had a quick breakfast. Bill, Adrian, George, and I walked through the neighborhood with the various ambassadors houses from different countries. Passed the Canadian and United States ambassador houses! The US house had two guards in front of the gate--we chatted with them a bit. Found the Peasant Museum and really enjoyed seeeing the stove tiles, textiles, various authentic outfits, and many displays of handiwork. There was a whole reassembled house to view in one huge room--showed the way the roof tiles and decorations were constructed, common household objects, and farming/gardening tools. One sobering room featured names and information about the lives of those who were sent to Siberia or sent to relocation camps--pictures of children in the 1950's who were sent in groups. We spent a couple of hours examining artifacts and looking at displays, then found a nice, air conditioned restaurant and had a nice lunch together! Really enjoyed their company and hope they stay safe in all their future travels. They went on to another museum and we decided to head back to the hostel and pack for the bus ride to Moldova. Got all checked out and over to the Gara De Nord (North Train Station) and waited for the bus. 6:30 came and went, and no Chisenau bus arrived --we asked several folks in the area, but no one had heard of the bus leaving from there (despite our repeated confirmations at the hostel!!!). A taxi driver came over to talk, having noticed we were there for quite a while (two hours!). He knew where the bus was and said it left at 8:30 pm--so we were in time to catch it. He tried to charge us 80 lei for the trip--ended up giving him more than the trip was worth, but not 80 lei (should have been about 10 at the most)--but he did get us to the right place, so we tipped him well. I noticed mid-trip that he did not have his meter on, so I should have said something earlier--but, live and learn! The bus was comfortable and left at 8:30pm. Slow going through town and the two-lane roads are not always straight, so drivers cannot go very fast. We had a few rest stops and got snacks along the way at little markets very similar to our gas stations with stores. Managed to sleep a little bit, but the movies played at a pretty good volume and it's just not all that comfortable to sleep sitting up!