Our day started with a visit to a local mechanics shop recommended by Nick and Nicki from the campground. Nicki called ahead to say we were on the way. When we arrived we were guided right in. The mechanic took about 10 minutes to install the bulb, and we purchased a spare bulb for the future and we were on our way. Bulgarians don’t smile to strangers and we both laughed when we left as while the guys at the garage were professional and courteous not one of them showed any emotion what so ever. One guy at the end did say “good day”, which we took as a small victory.
We wanted to visit the village of Arbanasi, which has several small churches and monasteries in it. It happened to be close to the mechanic so we were there in a few minutes. From the road it is not an imposing looking place, a slightly nicer version of the village the campground is located near. We found a place for François next to the village recycling and headed off on foot.
We set off on foot to the St. Mary Monastery because I picked it at random. When we arrived a lady was tending the garden near the entrance. We tentatively stuck our heads in to see if they were open and without smiling she said come in. She then carefully rolled down her trousers and led us to the chapel and opened the door. I asked her if photos were allowed inside and she said “no” and took us to a sign in Cyrillic and pointed to it and gave us an explanation in Bulgarian to prove she was not making up this restriction. The interior was typical, but it is too bad that photos were not allowed because two women were working on restoring the murals inside and it was very interesting to watch how they worked.
We set off to find the center of the village and knew we had when we saw three tour busses parked up. A quick walk thru the shops in town sent us off to another monastery. Ton has been admiring Bulgarian embroidery for the whole trip, and one lady had set up a stall at a strategically placed cross roads that we kept passing in our walks thru town. After some one way negotiating we walked away with a very pretty blouse.
Our last stop in the village was St. Nikolay the Miracle Worker Church. It looked to be the biggest church in town. The churches in Arbanasi are some of the oldest in the area because after the Ottomans captured Veliko Tarnovo a lot of the Christians fled to the hills around it. The rule was basically as long as the churches were small and modest they would be tolerated by the Ottomans.
The grounds of the church were pretty. Unfortunately the church was locked up. At one point a lady stepped out of one of the buildings and shouted at us in Bulgarian. When I replied in English she shouted back OK turned on her heel and went back into the building and never reemerged. After poking around the grounds for a few minutes we headed back to François.
It was a short drive back to the campground. We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out and talking to Nick and Nicki about life in Bulgaria. We have been following a British couple Dave and Amanda who are traveling around Bulgaria in an Airstream. They invited us to join them for drinks later in the day so we ended the day with a nice chat with them and an Australian gentlemen who is traveling with his daughter in laws father. The talk was fun and everyone enjoyed exchanging stories about being strangers in strange lands.
