Today was a day for tourism. Our Romanian friends strongly recommended we visit Brasov. It is famous for its Black Church and its charming old town. After a mostly driving and working day yesterday, I didn’t mention we washed clothes yesterday, we slept in a little today. Before heading into town Ton prepared a nice breakfast made up mostly of stuff leftover from Bulgaria.
We believe these ladies are Roma, who make up about 1% of the population in the area. This is the first time we have seen Roma in the traditional costumes associated with them.
We started the day by going to the biggest attraction in town the Black Church. It is called the Black Church because after a major fire in the 1600’s the exterior was coated with soot and the stone turned black.
The exterior of the Black Church. The white blocks are a result of several restorations recently and in the communist era that used non-matching stone.
The church began as a Roman Catholic Church founded by the German settlers in the region. During the reformation Brasov was an early adopter of Lutheranism and in the mid-1500’s the Church became Lutheran.
The interior of the Black Church.
I was surprised that it was not classified as a Cathedral as it is the size of a Cathedral, but the history of the church indicated that it was over built in order to try to advance the status of the city. We were lucky as the organist for the church was practicing while we were inside so we got to listen to the very impressive organ.
The organ sounds as impressive as it looks. If you look carefully in the right center of the picture near the bottom of the organ you can see the organist playing.
As is typical with Lutheran churches they are much more austere than Catholic churches. Brasov was a trading center between western Europe and the Ottoman Empire, so the walls of the church were lined with Turkish rugs from the Ottoman empire. Most of the rugs hanging in the church were from the 1700’s.
Some of the pews from the church. Each guild had its own set of pews. You can also see some of the Turkish Rugs in the background.
Something we learned today was that seats were not provided by the church. Each guild sat together and provided their own pews. The location and the quality of the pews was determined by the wealth of the guild. The guilds competed for the best locations in the church. They also tried to design pews to represent their trades. Once we understood this we made another tour of the church to look at the different pews.
One of the original gates for the town. The walls have been torn down, but this one gate was kept as a landmark.
After the church we took a pass thru town. Like many European cities the main square and one of the roads are pedestrian only. This is a feature we really enjoy as it makes for a nice relaxing way to see the town, and allows for a lot of outdoor dining for the restaurants.
A section of the Strada Republicii, with the outdoor dining that we love. If only we could get them to make a least part of it non-smoking!
We popped into a small pub to sample a local beer. We ended up having a nice conversation with the server because Ton noticed his Las Vegas Raiders hat. He was very proud of the beer, they have revived a local beer using a recipe from 1893. It is a Lager, but a little maltier than modern Lagers. He really appreciated our praise and gave us a run down on other craft producers in the region.
A locally produced beer using a recipe from 1891.
After refreshing ourselves we headed towards Strada Sforii, or Rope Street. Apparently there is a list of narrowest streets in Europe with official measurements and everything, and Strada Sforii is the third narrowest in Europe at 1.3 meters (about 4ft). It was left in place to allow medieval fire fighters a quick passageway between main roads.
The narrowest part of Rope Street. Too bad about the graffiti.
Next to Rope Street we found the Jewish Synagogue. The building survived the war, though unfortunately most of the Jewish population of the town did not.
The Synagogue and the communal dining for the local Jewish community. There was a touching memorial to 10 young men from Brasov who were killed in the 1973 Israeli-Arab war while fighting for the Israelis.
We had our first Romanian meal. Ton was really happy with her stuffed cabbage and she also liked my goulash. I am going to be open minded but so far I think I like Bulgarian and Greek food better.
The stuffed cabbage with sour cream and polenta is a local specialty. The Mustata Beer (Mustache) is the other local beer in town.
There are places whose name brings forth images that make you feel like you have accomplished something. Today we are in Transylvania, how cool is that.
The interior courtyard of the fortified church in Harman.
Today was one of the days that I think makes traveling like Ton and I do so special. The day started terribly as we got caught up in rush hour traffic leaving Bucharest. We were crawling along at 15 to 20 kph for about 40 minutes. Then I managed to miss two consecutive turns because the Romanians have an interesting way to do interchanges that is not used any where else in the world; for good reason. After we managed to escape Bucharest the next couple of hours were busy but we were moving along at a fair pace.
The church tower of the fortified church of Harman.
We then entered the southern Carpathian mountains and passed thru a succession of pretty mountain towns that were geared for skiing and tourism. But we were focused on making it to our stop for the day in Harman. I had read about a campground that is located within the walls of the rectory of the fortified church of Harman.
The view of the church from our campsite.
After a stressful 4 hours of driving we arrived at the campsite, and I was immediately happy. The grounds of the campsite are within the walls of the rectory. The manager of the campsite welcomed us and gave us a tour of the facilities of the campsite, they utilize the buildings of the rectory which is really cool. He stated that the profits from the campsite go to maintaining the church across the street so we immediately felt even better about staying here. On top of that they had a friendly cat who thought she owned the campsite and allowed us humans to use her space as long as we were willing to pet her when she was ready for it.
The bell tower of the church reminded us of Burgundy in France because of the colorful tile designs.
The fortified church of Harman was originally established in the late 1200’s by German immigrants from Saxony who moved here at the request of the Hungarian rulers of the region. The region was at the edge of the Hungarian empire and was often attacked by Mongols and Ottomans. So the church in the city was surrounded by circular walls that acted as a fort when the attackers showed up.
The interior of the fortified walls. The windows on the right are to allow the defenders to shoot arrows and dump boiling oil on the attackers.
The walls are extremely well preserved. I am not sure if they have been rebuilt but they feel like you would expect a castle wall to be. Of the many castles we have visited in our turns around Europe these walls felt the most original and authentic. You could imagine yourself defending the place against the Mongols.
In the center is one of the seven towers that are part of the fortifications of the church.
The church is not spectacular, but instead feels sturdy. But it felt authentic to the era because it was not overly ornate. One of the touches I really liked was that the seats were mostly rough hewn benches instead of elaborate chairs.
The split log seats in the church were something I have never seen in a church anywhere in Europe.
The church allowed access to the bell tower which was about 60 feet in the air. I climbed to the top, and one of the sets of stairways consisted of logs with flat notches cut in the center. Again this felt much more accurate to the era than anything we have seen before.
The staircase to the bell tower. The handrails are modern but the stairs felt like what you might have seen a few hundred years ago. While navigating the steps I was grateful for the modern hand rails.
The final thing that made this place special was one of the seven towers of the wall had been originally built as a chapel, but was converted to a fortification. The frescoes in the chapel/tower have been recently uncovered and were quite beautiful.
One of the frescoes from the fortified church of Harman.Ton loved these frescoes.
We had never heard of the Fortified Church of Harman, and if we had not selected the campground we stayed in we would never have visited the site. But it turned into one of the most memorable places we have visited in Europe. Finding places like this is why we put up with navigating rush hour traffic in places like Bucharest with bizarre interchanges and signs we cannot read. It is all worth it when you stumble on to a gem like this. And as a bonus it is in Transylvania.
The exterior of the chapel that the frescoes are in.
We woke up to a pretty solid rain. A quick check of the weather showed rain on and off all day. Earlier in the trip we probably would have just hunkered down for the day and waited for better weather. Now we are feeling time pressure, so we decided that after all we are from Oregon, so we broke out our rain gear and headed out for the day.
Rain covered street in the old town of Bucharest.
We started the day by heading to the old town in Bucharest. This part of town has some of the few 19th century buildings that survived the communist government. It is a small area, but now has a nice mix of shops and restaurants. We enjoyed walking around and enjoying the sites.
The touristy old town. Things were a little slow today due to the early season and rain.
We took in a couple of pretty churches, and some of the larger buildings left over from the 19th century including the Bank of Romania, and the Art Museum.
We both liked this building though we never did figure out its name. The literal translation of the words around the clock is Economy Registration Deposit House. I wonder if it was the central bank.
It was starting to rain and we had passed a beautiful looking restaurant called Caru’ cu Bere. Ton said it was a beer hall and was the oldest restaurant in operation in Romania. Between the beer and the rain it looked like a good place for a break so we headed in.
The entrance to Caru’ cu bere. A beautiful beer hall and restaurant.
I was immediately glad that the rain drove us inside as the interior of the building was stunning. We both stood and just looked around for a few minutes. At first we intended to only get a beer, but we decided to order a light meal to go with our beer so we could enjoy the interior of this beautiful building. The food we picked was ok, but we really did enjoy the interior. I think it was nicer than any of the beer halls we went to in Munich.
The interior of Caru’ cu bere. Like a church for beer lovers.
Ton loves book stores and she said she wanted to stop at Carturesti Carusel as it was supposed to be a great place. It was a short walk from Caru’ cu bere and it was as nice as advertised. It is 6 stories of books, art, and coffee. We really enjoyed exploring every part of it. The interior of the building is incredible by itself, and the way the store is decorated enhanced the beauty of the interior. It really is a special book store, which unfortunately are a dying breed.
The interior of Carturest Carusel is incredibly beautiful, it is the perfect place for a book store.
Our last stop for the day was an area called Central Civic. During the communist era the dictator of Romania visited North Korea and was inspired by the monumental architecture of Pyongyang. He returned and ordered the construction of several large avenues and gigantic buildings to emmulate what he saw in Korea. To do this he destroyed a large section of the 19th century buildings in the center.
Part of the Palace of Justice along the river in the Central Civic. The scale is enormous, but it is dwarfed by the Palace of Parliament.
The main feature of his monumental downtown is an immense building called the Palace of Parliament. This building is enormous. To give you a feel, when I told google to take us to the building the path it choose was closed off by a security post. Not knowing which way to go we ended up walking to the back of the building. From the center of the back of the building it would take 1.4 kilometers (nearly one mile) to walk to the front. It is not a particularly handsome building, and the Romanians seem to have very mixed emotions about it. Apparently in addition to destroying much of the existing downtown hundreds of workers died building it.
The Palace of Parliament from behind. We never made it to the front.
We started to head to the front, but were drawn to a large Cathedral on one side of the Palace. When we got to the National Cathedral it was closed as it is going thru a major renovation, but it is a striking building.
The National Cathedral closed for a very major renovation.
However on the grounds of the Cathedral was a beautiful wooden church. There was a long line of people lined up in front of an icon. Eastern Orthodox churches usually have metal icons that people will kiss and then say a short prayer. Today one of the icons had a long line of people waiting to say a prayer.
This beautiful little church is on the grounds of the National Cathedral.
We were still a kilometer from the front of the Palace of Parliament and it had started to rain again. When we were going to the city in the morning our driver told us that if we didn’t head back before 3 pm that we might as well stay downtown until 7 pm because the traffic would be crazy. When we finished at the church it was about 2:45 so we decided to head back to the campground.
We have not seen wooden churches or wooden crosses like this anywhere we have traveled before arriving in Romania. We like them they have a simplicity that appeals to both of us..
Today we moved north to Bucharest. We are not quite done with Bulgaria, but we decided to pop up into Romania for a couple of weeks. The drive was short, and the border crossing was a simple. Ton was even impressed that the Romanian border officer smiled at us, after several weeks of Bulgarian poker faces.
The fishing lake next to our campground.
After we set up and settled in, Ton sent me off to find a bank to get some Romanian Lei. The only bank nearby robbed us on the exchange charging 8%. But as Ton said we needed the money. We just won’t be recommending the Austrian Raiffeisen Bank to anyone. Over our years in Europe we have always felt comfortable changing money at ATM’s and the rates have always been fair. Today was an exception to the fairness we have experienced. I noticed that there was both a Kaufland and a Lidl nearby so our first afternoon in Romania was spent window shopping groceries, the only thing we bought was a liter of water, but Ton enjoyed herself.
Ton and I have been married 41 years but we still mis-communicate with each other. The plan this morning was to head to Bucharest and we were just about done packing up by 9 am. Ton said she was going to call her friend in Thailand before we took off, so I went and sat down and was enjoying my coffee and taking in the incredible view in front of François.
Art from the box wine of a winery near us.
As I was sitting there I was really enjoying myself and decided to propose a day off to Ton, while she was still speaking to Dang in Thailand I stuck my head in and said lets take today off. Ton immediately agreed, and went back to talking to Dang, and I went back to my coffee.
Vines and Roses.
What I meant by a day off was sitting around listening to the birds and enjoying the view while relaxing and having another coffee, then maybe a nap and a short walk. What Ton meant by a day off was a 70 km round trip drive to Ruse, to walk the town, wash François, and do a final Bulgarian food shopping expedition at a Lidl. Anyway we were off for Ruse about 30 minutes later for our day off.
Part of our day off was a very nice wine tasting at a winery about 15 km’s away.
We accomplished everything on Tons list but the walk thru Ruse as I could not find parking in the city center of Ruse. Instead we substituted a wine tasting at a winery on the way back from Ruse. The wine tasting was nice and interestingly it involved only wines taken directly from the vats, or barrels which we enjoyed.
The tasting room of Rabchev Winery.
Next time I ask for a day off I am going to have to be a little more specific!
The image above is from the front window of François tonight. Its places like this that make the whole motorhoming/RVing thing worth while. For those who are following you will remember that yesterday we were sitting on the Black Sea. Today we are obviously not on the ocean.
We have left the Black Sea behind.
Every one of our trips has the same pattern. The first month we meander along taking it easy, spending several days in one place because we like the vibe or are just feeling lazy, and then at some point something kicks in and we feel pressure to get moving because we have ground to cover. That tipping point happened last night.
If you have been following along you will know Ton loves Canola fields. Bulgaria has nearly as many as France, so Ton is very happy.
The debate last night was whether to head up the coast to the major city of Varna which is the main port for Bulgaria, or head towards Bucharest. Our first exposure to the Black Sea did not wow us, and while we are sure that Varna is a nice city that probably deserved at least a day of visiting, we were not excited about going there. So we decided to push on towards Bucharest.
The Ruseneki Lom National Park in Bulgaria.
We were not completely ready to leave Bulgaria. We have been really enjoying ourselves here, so I looked for a place near the Romanian border we could move to. Some research came up with a highly rated campground called Koukery Campground and it said it was next to the Ruseneki Lom National Park, and a UNESCO site called the Rock Hewn Churches of Ivanovo. So that is where we are as I write this.
These wood carvings represent the Koukerys that the campground is named after.
The drive over was about 200 kilometers and a large part was back tracking over the same ground we covered yesterday to get to the Black Sea. But as Ton said if we had not gone and seen the sea we would have been disappointed. Hopefully, we will return to the Black Sea again in the future.
I’m point man on the trail and chasing away the vipers!
After an easy three hours we arrived at the parking lot for the Rock-Hewn Churches. Around 1270 monks began occupying the caves in this area and converting them into sanctuaries. Eventually there were three hundred caves occupied and 4o small churches had been carved out of the caves.
Many of these caves were occupied by monks for 400 years from the 1200’s to the 1600’s.
There were two sections to the caves, the main cave that most tourists visit and three smaller caves that most tourists do not visit. I chose to take Ton to the three smaller caves first. Traveling to these caves involves walking along a natural trail thru the National Park. Ton was a little nervous as we were the only one on the trail and it was pretty wild. I kept telling her not to worry as the trail was well used so I was sure nothing could happen. Right after reassuring her that all was well we came upon a snake on the trail. It was only a couple of feet in front of us and I could hear it hissing at us which means it was pretty agitated. I stopped short and backed away bumping into Ton. The snake slid off into the brush on the side of the trail. I do not like snakes, but I told Ton it was no big deal as I didn’t think they had poisonous snakes in Europe. Later when I googled snakes in Bulgaria the snake that looked like the one we had almost stepped on was a common European viper, and vipers are poisonous.
The ladder up to one of the minor caves we explored.
When we got to the first of the minor caves it was quite a climb to get up and view it. After we climbed up we were disappointed to see that it had been closed off with a gate. Ton got a picture of the interior of the cave which I think was a living quarter.
The interior of the living quarter for one of the monks residences.
We went on to visit the other two caves on the trail, but the climb up to them was even steeper and higher so we passed. At this point we decided to turn around and head back to the Rock Hewn Church.
You can see the enclosure for the front of the Church, and a balcony that was added to the church.
We headed up to the church site trying to stay ahead of a tour of 40 Romanian tourists. We got there just ahead of the tour group and ended up with about 15 minutes in the church by ourselves, as the tour group negotiated with the Bulgarian ticket takers over what currency to pay for the tour with. The Bulgarians wanted Lev or Euros, and the Romanians wanted to pay with Romanian Lei. I am not sure how the negotiation turned out but it allowed us to enjoy the interior alone.
The interior of the cave that makes up the Rough Hewn Church with the Frescoes on the ceiling and wall of the cave.
The interior was beautiful. The space is small, and some of the Frescoes are quite weathered, but the effect is special. Ton and I wandered around the cave in awe of the beauty.
A frescoe we believe is of the last supper.
I am not particularly spiritual, but this place impressed me. The dedication to convert a cave on the side of a cliff into a church takes a spirit that most people do not possess. We have seen a lot of religious art on our travels thru Europe and sometimes we become a little jaded. But today I was really awed.
More of the art from the Rock-Hewn Church.
Our time alone with the church came to an end, so Ton and I headed down from the cave back to the valley floor. On the way we stopped to take in some of the views we had rushed by to get ahead of the tour. They were also magnificent.
Another mural from the church.
Yesterday we felt like we were just making a tick mark on our travel itinerary. Today a place that was added to the itinerary on a bit of a whim turned into the kind of day that motivates us to do this kind of traveling.
Another set of images from the roof of the cave.
The cherry on top of a great day was arriving at the campground. Greta Garmin insisted that the best way to the campground was on a dirt track thru some wheat fields. After I double checked her using Google Maps and turned around Greta refused to recognize the paved road Google picked even existed.
The village below the campground in the river gorge carved by the Rusenski Lom River.
The owner of the campground welcomed us with open arms. In addition to running the campground here he also teaches traditional Bulgarian dance in the city near here. He and his students have represented Bulgaria multiple times in international folk dancing competitions. It was great to talk to him and Ton is proud that he is going to add the Thai flag to the 31 other flags on display in the office representing the nationalities of all of the people who have visited here.
We made it to the Black Sea. After a slow departure because we had to say good bye to several new friends we reluctantly moved on from Veliko Tarnovo towards a campground on the Black Sea. The drive over was quiet most of the way. As we were passing thru a large town we saw a Lidl and turned in to stock up on food. We forgot it was Saturday and the parking lot for Lidl was packed and there was no where to park François. We were about to give up on getting food when I noticed a Kaufmans which is another big chain and they had room in their parking lot. An hour and a couple of hundred Lev later we were back on the road.
We’ve been seeing signs warning of horse and buggies on the roads, but today we had our first encounter with them. All together we passed about 6 on todays drive.
We learned from Nick and Nicki that the full on tourist season in Bulgaria doesn’t begin until June 1, and there is almost no shoulder season. Today that bit us a bit. The campground we chose is in a small sea side resort with 8 or 10 hotels. As we pulled in we noticed that despite it being a weekend the place was pretty much dead. All of the hotels seemed empty, and when we pulled up to the campground the gate was closed. There was one guy cleaning up the site, but he was not interested in dealing with us, so we needed a plan B.
The river near our campground.
Park 4 Night listed a campground about 40km’s away that said it was open on May 1st, there hadn’t been any reviews this year to confirm this and we have learned that the open and close dates are not always accurate on the app, but there was one in May of last year so we bet on it. When we arrived we were met by a very nice man and his dog and we became his second customers. The campground is located on a river and is also only about 200 yards from the Black Sea.
Guys were launching these boats and I suppose going fishing. The pier behind me is another communist era mystery. The water is not deep enough for an ocean going ship, it is too tall for a ferry, and it does not look to have been built for recreation.
After dinner we took a walk along the beach and the river. The beach was nice, but dead. The river does not need people to feel alive so today the river felt more interesting and beautiful.
We don’t know the name of this river but at this point it is only 300 yards from the sea. The boys were fishing from the bank.
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.
Ton pointed out that the images in the Orthodox icons never show any emotion either, so the lack of smiles is cultural.
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.
Part of the charm of Arbanasi besides the churches is it its a spruced up version of a typical Bulgarian village.
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.
The exterior to the chapel at St. Mary Monastery.
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.
Looking down on Veliko Tarnovo with the snow capped Balkan Mountains in the background.
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.
St. Nicholas the Miracle Worker Church.
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.
The entrance to St. Nicholas.
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.
We have been cheating a bit in our planning for Bulgaria. One of Ton’s best friends from Thailand is coming to Bulgaria with a tour in June and she sent Ton her itinerary and we have been using it to plan our trip. Dangs group had several locations in Veliko Tarnovo on their itinerary, and our friends the Howes told us we must come to this city. We want to thank both of them as it was a great day today.
The gates leading to Tsaravets Palace with the Patriarchal Cathedral in the background.
One of the highlights for me today was at the beginning when I successfully negotiated a 12 hour rate with the parking lot attendant. He didn’t speak much English, and I don’t speak any Bulgarian but when we arrived at the lot he showed me a sign that said each hour was 3 Lev for motorhomes and he gave me a laminated number and manually recorded our license plate number in a ledger with our time of arrival. He then let us in. He seemed like a bit of a character and his pantomime was pretty good. I asked Ton how long she thought we would be in town and she said 4 or 5 hours which gave me an idea. On the sign that said each hour was 3 Lev it also said 12 hours cost 12 Lev, so my thought was if we paid for 12 hours and stayed 4 we broke even and if we really enjoyed the town and stayed 5 or more we would be ahead if we paid for 12. I went back to the attendant with my laminated number and asked him using google translate how much would it cost if we stayed 5 hours and he said 15 Lev. I then pointed at the sign that said 12 hours cost 12 Lev and asked to pay for 12, after a minute he got my point, smiled and took my laminated number from me, made some entries in his ledger and produced a receipt. I gave him 12 Lev, he then hit us with a rapid burst of Bulgarian basically telling me to make sure we keep the receipt safe in case he was not on duty when we came back. With a big smile he sent us on our way.
Looking down on the Yantra River. The complex of buildings near the top of the hill is the University.
Veliko Tarnovo was the capital of Bulgaria during the second Bulgarian empire from 1185 to 1393. The ruins of the palace and the fortifications of the city dominate a hill above the city. The walls of the fortifications are largely intact and quite impressive. Since I was determined to spend at least 4 hours in town we covered almost the entire length of the walls.
The Patriarchal Cathedral.
After our extended tour of the walls we visited the Cathedral inside the fortifications. It is a new building built in 1981 to celebrate the 1300th year since the founding of the first Bulgarian state. It does not look like it is used as a church, but it does have some really interesting artwork that has some Christian scenes in it, but mostly seem to celebrate Bulgarian nationalism. The art is very interesting and reminds me of War posters from the Soviet Union during WWII.
One of the large murals on the interior of the Patriarchal Cathedral.
The building was well constructed and followed the style of Orthodox Churches but did not seem to have an altar. Instead of Icons of saints and Jesus normally found in Orthodox churches, there were these very stylized scenes from what I assume are Bulgarian history. It was a very different church than any we have seen since we entered the Balkans, more of a museum.
The door of the Patriarchal Cathedral, some form of metal relief art. Very intricate, Veliko Tarnovo is known for it metal working.
Having now used up 2 of our hours we headed into the town itself. Our first stop was Samovodska charshya where many of the craftsmen have set up shops. After a little wandering we found it, and it was a charming little stretch of road. We enjoyed looking at the silversmith shop, and a metalworking shop that was producing containers mainly to hold coffee and tea. The workmanship was meticulous. There were also some typical tourist shops. We had just walked into one to look for a couple of small glasses to drink Rakia, when we suddenly were surrounded by about 30 5th graders on a school outing. The store instantaneously turned into chaos and the store owner was perturbed until she realized they all were buying a small souvenir of their trip to Veliko Tarnovo, she suddenly lost interest in us and headed to the cash register.
Samovodska Charysha street, the main tourist shopping street in town.
By now we had walked quite a bit and were hungry. Ton had picked out a restaurant that she said served traditional food. When we got there it was a very modern restaurant, that was serving contemporary takes on traditional Bulgarian food we were also the only customers which is not a good sign. But we were famished so decided to stay. The food turned out to be excellent, and by the time we finished eating another 5 groups had turned up.
Gurko Street, the best collection of 19th century buildings left in the city.
Leaving the restaurant we stumbled on the last landmark of the city we wanted to see. Gurko street is named after a Russian General who liberated Veliko Tarnovo from the Ottomans in 1878. He is an important fellow in modern Bulgarian history, but what is cool about the street is that it was the main street in the 1800’s but over time the commercial district moved up the hill, but the buildings that made up the old commercial district in the 1800’s survived largely untouched until today. There were a lot of well preserved old buildings to look at as we slowly walked back to François in our 4th hour of touring the town.
There were three of these large works of street art on the main street of town. They look like a new project and are really well done.
We arrived at the parking lot and met my new friend who was still on duty. He met me with another blast of Bulgarian and a smile, so I think we won our 3 Lev bet (3 Lev is about $1.55).
Last night was the coldest night of the trip. In addition to a hard rain the temperature dropped into the low 40’s for the night. We both got dressed pretty quickly once we got out from under the blankets and while it was chilly the rain had stopped.
There was a Bulgarian military base down the road a bit so I walked down in the morning to take a look. As I was shooting this photo the sentry came out and gave me a long look, so I moved on. The jet is a Mig-19.
We had about 130km’s to transit thru the Balkan Mountains to our next campground Camping Veliko Tarnovo. This campground had been recommended to us by our friends Rick and Kathy Howe as they had stayed here during their trips thru Bulgaria, and had made good friends with the owners who were just starting up the campground when they visited.
After a pretty but uneventful drive over the Balkan Mountains we arrived at the campground around 12:30 and settled in. We spent some time talking to Niki the owner about tips on things to do and I asked for a place I could find a new headlight bulb for François as he has blown one of the ones we just replaced in Montenegro in the fall. Niki and her husband Nick are a nice British couple who moved here in 2009 with the intention of building a campground as they saw an opportunity when they toured thru Bulgaria in 2007. They have built a first class campground. Business has taken a hit since Covid, but hopefully it will rebound this year. Nick is now the head of the Bulgarian campground organization, and they are starting to do some national marketing to make sure people are familiar with what is available for campers in Bulgaria.
Dragizhevo didn’t seem to have a proper church, just this bell tower.
Niki mentioned there was a village down the road about 1 kilometer so Ton and I walked in to see what we could see. The countryside around here is beautiful, rolling hills with mountains and very green fields. In fact the whole country has that verdant green that comes with spring.
While the village had some nice houses on the edge, the center felt a little neglected. Many of the buildings were unoccupied and run down. This is a pattern in rural Europe where between a declining population, rapid urbanization and in countries like Bulgaria emigration to more affluent countries in the EU a lot of the villages are emptying out. In a town that once looked like it had a sizable population we only saw two small markets and two coffee houses/bars.
Today has been an interesting day. We woke up to rain, and it has continued to rain all day. We decided to head into the Balkan Mountains to check out an area called the Rose Valley. One of Bulgarias major agricultural products is rose oil which is used in cosmetics and perfumes and this area is the center of production for the roses.
A very lonely François at the campground near the rose oil factory in the Balkan Mountains.
When I punched the campground into Greta Garmin it was only about 120 kilometers so today was going to be an easy drive. Since we had time and the weather was pretty dreary we decided to stock up the refrigerator before leaving Plovdiv. We joined rush hour traffic into town to go to a grocery we had seen the last couple of days from the bus and were there in a few minutes.
A still used to produce rose oil.
Having stocked up our pantry we set out for the Rose Valley. The drive was uneventful but slow as we were on 2 lane roads the whole way. The quality was pretty good, but there was a fair amount of traffic so progress was slow but steady. It rained all of the way and as we climbed up into the Balkan Mountains the temperature started to drop into the low 50’s. We arrived at the campground around noon and were startled by what we found.
A Moscow sedan produced in the Soviet Union during the communist era. This was the luxury car for the Soviet Bloc.
We pulled into a nearly new very posh looking campground, but there was no sign of life at all. There was one trailer on site but it looked like it was in storage. Ton and I wondered if it was open, when we saw a head pop out of one of the buildings. It was open but we are the only customers. All of the buildings are nearly new and there are spots for 100 campers. It is a little lonely, but the showers are clean and the free internet is lightning fast so we are enjoying our solitude.
As we were walking to the Rose Oil factory we spotted this Soviet era armored car on display. I told Ton oh look, a BRDM. Later I double checked to make sure I identified it correctly and I am proud to say that even 25 years after retiring my armored fighting vehicle recognition training is still fresh. It is indeed a BRDM-2.
Our other interesting experience was at the Damascena Ethnographic Center. Next to the campground was this very impressive looking building. As we walked up there was a parking lot that would hold a couple of hundred cars and places for 8 to 10 tour busses to park. The parking lot was completely empty so once again we wondered if it was open, it was and we were the only customers.
This statue of an ancient Thracian queen greets you as you enter the complex. The long building in back is a coffee house that can seat about 100 people, occupied by 4 very cold looking employees.
The region we are in was the center of ancient Thrace so the complex we were in was advertised as both a rose oil factory and a museum about Thracian culture. The building was striking and it had a large grounds with water features and statues. It looked like something you would find in Las Vegas.
A mural from the Rose Oil production area.
The complex was extremely luxurious. It had an outdoor coffee shop that could easily seat 100 people. There were 4 very cold looking workers huddled under blankets and no customers.
Rose oil tanks on display, I am not sure they are currently in use as the area looked a little uncared for.
The interior was marble and glass and quite large. There was some artwork on the wall depicting scenes from ancient Thrace, and a few photographs of relics from archaeological sites around the area. As a museum it was not very impressive, but the building was fantastic.
The artwork was eclectic, some statues of figures from ancient Thrace, some statues of guys from the late 1800’s who we think had something to do with Rose cultivation, and this knockoff of the famous statue from Brussels of the peeing boy.
The floors were highly polished marble, all of the railings were hand made iron. The furniture was hand made wood of really high quality. We found a restaurant that looked like it could seat a couple of hundred people in high luxury. There were a few workers about but not much being done as we wandered around, they almost seemed startled that there were customers in the building.
This painting reminded Ton of pictures you see of Freida.
There was also an amphitheater on site that looked like it could seat 500. All of this looked like it had been built in the last 5 years. The only thing missing was roses. We bumped into the guy who sold us the ticket and he explained that the roses used for oil production only bloom from mid-May to mid-June so we were a week too early. We could see the fields but there were no sign of roses.
Ton liked this tapestry of roses .
He then showed us a small vial of frozen rose oil. He explained that pure rose oil will freeze and form crystals and is stored that way. He then warmed up the vial in his hands for a couple of minutes and it turned to liquid. He put a couple of drops on our hands and it smelled wonderful. The vial of about 1 ounce costs €25. To produce one kilo (2.2lbs) of oil he said takes 3.5 tons of Rose buds that have to be picked by hand. So we now understand why it costs so much.
I am not sure what this statue is all about. It looks like lady Liberty is morphing into some kind of monster and is chained to the Earth. I guess it is some kind of political statement.
We did make some purchases in their gift shop as they had some very nice Rose oil based products. We also bought a bottle of Rakia made from rose oil that we tried with our dinner. Ton loved it and regretted we did not buy more.
Plovdiv definitely needed another day, so we headed in late morning. Today is the final day of a long weekend, most of the stores were open, but the roads were pretty quiet heading into the center. We got off the bus near the town center and heading for the fountain in the main square. The pedestrian mall was still full of people out enjoying the long weekend and good weather.
The Roman forum site near the main square in Plovdiv.
Without a clear plan except to explore some more and maybe go to a museum we set out to see where the day took us. We came across an archaeological site that was the forum from the Roman era. We joined a large group of Romanian students exploring the area, and after the Romanians left we had it to ourselves. It was uncovered during some construction in the 1990’s like a lot of the Roman ruins in town.
Tsar Simeon park is a nice green space adjacent to the new town.
From the forum we spotted a beautiful park a few hundred yards away so we headed over to see what was there. The park was quite large and held quite a lot of artwork. The trees were mature and we enjoyed the shade. Ton was really fascinated with a temporary exhibit by a local photographer. She had shot a series of photos featuring local women dressed to the nines and posed in front of local landmarks, the catch was that they were all very pregnant. Ton thought the women looked beautiful and she lingered for quite a while looking at the photos.
Plovdiv has a nice selection of street art and I had a hard time picking one for today.
Ton had picked out the Bishops Bascilica of Philippopolis (Philippopolis was the Roman name for Plovdiv) as our museum for the day. In the 1990’s again, the city was doing work on one of the main avenues in the city when they unearthed this site which had been built around 350 AD. It was the main church in town.
You walk on a glass floor a couple of feet above the mosaics, and to help keep the floors clean you step into a machine that temporarily covers your shoes in plastic.
In the Roman empire the mosaic makers of Plovdiv were renowned for their craftsmanship and artistic ability so they took great pride in working on the floor of the Basilica. As the work took place over a century, you can see the development of mosaic art over several generations.
A series of Gordian knots from the middle period of the development of the floor.
When the site was discovered some preliminary work was done to survey the site and archaeologists were very excited about the find. In this period Bulgaria was just emerging from the communist period and the government did not have the money to pay for full scale work on the site so it was covered with a temporary cover and sat mostly untouched for about 8 years. The temporary cover collapsed and the floors that had been preserved for over a thousand years were in danger of being severely damaged.
A later section of the floor, in this period more colors are used and objects are being integrated into the patterns.
The US Agency for International Development stepped up with a grant to begin to work on a proper cover and restoration of the site. The grant eventually became the American Society of Bulgaria that continued to fund the restoration, and the eventual building of the museum we toured today.
A late section of the floor with different birds. Birds had special meanings to early Christians in this area, and are featured prominently in the later stages of the Basilica.
After a long and enjoyable tour of the large Basilica, and a short tour of a smaller Basilica that came with the ticket, we were ready for some refreshment. We turned up at a local beer hall that features Bulgarian microbrews as well as beers from all of Europe. We each had a beer but they did not have any food except peanuts.
The view from our restaurant in the old town.
We remembered a place we had seen at the top of the hill in the old town that seemed promising so we headed back up the hill to check it out. It still seemed promising when we got there. We lucked into a table by the railing with a great view of the city. The place was full of locals (for us a local is a Bulgarian, they may all have been from Sofia for all we know.) Unfortunately, the food was mediocre.
This street art was in an underpass. Plovdiv is sometimes called Lion City.
We headed back to the campground and settled into François for the night just as a thunderstorm rolled in. Plovdiv has been a real revelation for us, we both agree that it is one of the prettiest and most interesting cities we have visited in Europe.
This old communist era building on the hill is visible from all over the city center. We began calling it the ugly building. The various era of satellite dishes and microwave panels don’t enhance its beauty.
I’ve always felt that I was a seasoned traveller who had a pretty broad knowledge of many countries history and geography. I had studied Bulgaria a bit during college and in the military, but not enough. I had never heard of Plovdiv until we started reading that it is a must see during any visit to Bulgaria. It turns out it is the second largest city in Bulgaria, it is believed to be the longest continuously inhabited city in Europe with evidence of habitation going back 8000 years. The fact that I had never heard of it until last month humbled me.
The Roman Theater in Plovdiv. It was only recently re-discovered in the 1960’s.
Our day started with an act of kindness from a bus driver. We were about 100 yards from the bus stop when I saw the bus approaching from behind us, so we started running to try to catch it, but didn’t have much hope as at our age we are not exactly sprinters. As he came opposite us he stopped and opened the doors and let us get on, and then drove the 80 yards to the proper bus stop.
The central fountain in Plovdiv, on the weekends in the evening they light it up and play music.
We stumbled onto a free tour of Plovdiv and decided it would be a good way to get oriented to the city so we joined up. Plovdiv has undergone a bit of a renaissance in the last 10 years as neighborhoods that had deteriorated under communist rule have been revitalized thru good urban planning.
Part of the 1.8 kilometer pedestrian zone thru central Plovdiv.
The biggest contributor was converting a major road and a section of old shops that had fallen into disrepair to a pedestrian only zone. This pedestrian zone is the longest in Europe and now is thriving with shops, coffee houses, and restaurants. It was especially busy today as it is a long weekend and the weather is perfect. All of the restaurants were packed, and people were enjoying strolling up and down the pedestrian zone.
Milo, was an unemployed worker who frequented Plovdiv in the 70’s and 80’s. He was a character, and eventually became a local icon as it became good luck to run into Milo as you were doing business in town. After he died they put this statue up so people could still run into Milo for good luck.
With 8000 years of continuous inhabitation Plovdiv has its fair share of ancient sites to look at. In the new town a Roman stadium was located during construction in the 1980’s. Part of it is on display and it is well preserved, the rest of it is still there but it runs exactly under the main road of the town and it turns out many of the 16th and 17th century buildings are built directly on top of the viewing stands, because of that it has not been fully uncovered as the buildings themselves are also rich cultural heritage.
The entrance of the stadium and some of the seating uncovered for viewing along the main road in Plovdiv.
Our next stop was the old town which is on one of the seven hills that make up Plovdiv. The buildings are mostly from the 18th and 19th century so they are not nearly as old the Roman ruins, but the name was given before most of the ruins were discovered and at that time they were the oldest buildings in town.
Many of the buildings in the old town were built right on top of the Byzantine city walls. This arch was preserved because it was integral to the home built on top of it.
The old town was where the wealthy residents of the city lived and the homes are very large. They are built in a style called Bulgarian National Revival. They have been restored and we enjoyed seeing a different style of architecture than we have seen in other European countries. The differences are small, but make for a totally different feel.
A beautiful home in the old town.
After the tour was over we headed into town to try to find lunch. The first restaurant on our list told us they could not accommodate us until tomorrow. We noticed all of the restaurants were absolutely packed and began to wonder if we would get in anywhere. Our second choice restaurant had one table left, and while it was not great we took it. Right after we got our beer and appetizer the sun umbrella next to our table got hit with a gust of wind and tumbled into our table. Ton caught a glancing blow as it landed. Somehow our beers did not get knocked over, but the vinegar jar did and some of it got onto Tons favorite hat. The staff reacted weirdly though. After finding out we were ok, they began repairing the damage and cleaning up the mess. They did move us to another table, but other than that they never acknowledged the incident again, no apologies or anything.
The entrance to this Mosque is thru the coffee shop in front of it.
Having survived lunch we took another turn thru town looking at sites and mostly people watching. When we got back to the old town there were several couples getting their wedding photos done. The light must be better in the afternoon.
The Bulgarians do street art very well.
We headed back to the campground in the afternoon having discovered a beautiful culturally rich city neither of us had heard of before last month. To make up for it we are going to go into town again tomorrow to check it out again.
We decided to move on to Plovdiv this morning. We debated whether to go back into Sofia for one more day, but we were afraid that it would be crazy with the military parade and all of the other St. George Day festivities, so it was off to Plovdiv.
We got an early start, and even though the freeway was busier than any we had seen in Europe except Germany we arrived at our campground before noon. We are staying at the Plovdiv Glamping Alliance which is absolutely the most high tech campground we have ever stayed at in either North America or Europe. George at the campground in Sofia warned us that we needed to book in advance because you need a QR code to get access to the site. So last night we picked our spot and got our QR code.
One of the cool cabins at the “Glamping site”. The hotel in the background is accessible, but completely empty including staff.
The first step went ok as our QR code got us thru the two sets of gates, we found our spot and began our well rehearsed set up procedure for François. After I located the electric hook up behind a shrub and crawled on my back to get at it I yelled for Ton to verify we had electricity. She said no so I crawled back into the shrub and confirmed everything was ok, but still no power. This happens sometimes and our standard procedure is to shift to another spot and see if the power works there. In this case we were committed to this spot, and even though the place was about 80% empty I wasn’t sure we could just move. So I decided to set off to find a human to talk to.
As I was walking towards the 4 story hotel that the Glamping is attached to I saw a German camper and asked him about the electricity, or if there was a human around. He said I could check the hotel but he hadn’t seen anyone all day. My QR code got me into the hotel, but in fact there was no one there. It was kind of weird wandering thru a brand new hotel by myself, but they really take this contactless stuff seriously here. After some research I discovered I had to activate the electric on a website and as soon as I did the power came on.
They also had a washer/dryer combination machine and we decided we’d do a quick load of clothes before heading into town. After some more on line gymnastics our QR code was updated to allow us access to the washer/dryer. We loaded our clothes and started the cycle and the timer said it would be 5 hours and 48 minutes to completion. At first we thought it was a mistake, but we noticed the other washer that was running showed over three hours to completion so our thoughts of going to town were dashed and we ended up spending the day in François and chatting with our German and Korean neighbors. I think you can take this high tech stuff too far, and they may have accomplished that here.
I had low expectations for Sofia. I think my views of the former Soviet Bloc countries are sometimes skewed by my experience serving in the US military during the cold war. I expected a cold, ugly downtown, and Sofia was not that. Ton on the other hand had done research on Sofia and she expected a pretty city center with lots of gardens and flowers. Her expectation was correct and mine was wrong.
An example of why Tons vision of Sofia was correct, lots of flowers and interesting buildings.
Last night was the chilliest night of the trip, so neither one of us was in a big hurry to get out from under the covers in the morning. Eventually we got moving and after some coffee we headed downtown. We took the subway from near our campground and the fare was the equivalent of 80 US cents each.
The street scene where we popped out of the metro station. Hip street art on the side of a McDonalds and a Mosque dating back to the Ottoman Empire on the other side of the street.
As the capitol Sofia has its fair share of monumental buildings, and we spent time trying to figure out what they were. We identified the building that the parliament meets in, and the Ministry of Defense. But there were several other important looking buildings that we could not figure out, including the one the two soldiers in the cool uniforms with big feathers were guarding.
This is the building the Bulgarian National Assembly meets in. The building on the left is the building the Prime Minister and his cabinet occupy.
After we got all of the big buildings out of the way we headed to the main Cathedral. Along the way we passed thru a series of nice parks that were full of Tulips in full bloom. Ton really enjoyed the gardens and I kept losing her as she would see something and stop for a photo. I finally had to walk behind her so I could keep her in sight.
The tulips were in full bloom in the parks.
Tomorrow is St. Georges day which is a national holiday. As we were walking there was suddenly a low pass by about a dozen different aircraft from the Bulgarian Air Force who must have been rehearsing for tomorrows parade. Later in the day they repeated the low pass and flew over us in the campground at about 500 feet.
This is a statue of St Sofia who the city is named after. In 2004 it replaced a statue of Lenin that used to occupy the column.
Alexander Nevsky Cathedral occupied the center of a large square. It is one of the largest Orthodox Cathedrals we have seen. The interior is interesting because a lot of the pictures of the saints are rendered in a more modern, less rigid form than most Orthodox art.
The exterior of Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.We have noticed that most Orthodox Churches have chandeliers in them, but I have been unable to find out if they have any particular religious meaning, or is it just how they lit them before electricity.
After the Cathedral we headed to the main shopping street with the intent to people watch and find some food. Ton had a traditional tavern in mind she had found on line last night. After walking down the long pedestrian street with the normal mix of high end stores and coffee shops we found our restaurant.
Our meal for two hanging from hooks above the table. In this photo I am trying to figure out how to eat it without making a mess. It made for a cool photo, but once the photo was done the waiter came back and recommended we put it on the table to actually eat it much to my relief!
We ordered a meal for two which consisted of a large skewer of kebab, some pork cutlets, chicken and sausage plus coleslaw, potatoes, and to Tons delight grilled peppers. Ton pronounced the meal the best she has had on this trip, as the coleslaw and chicken reminded her of Thai dishes, and the peppers were very tasty, but a little mild.
The Hall of Culture and fountains leading to it. This building was probably built by the communist government, it has that Soviet Monumental feeling to it.
We enjoyed Sofia it had a nice mix of impressive buildings, nice parks, and a vibrant street scene. After Greece it felt cleaner and there is certainly less graffiti. For Ton it was exactly what she expected, and for me it was not at all what I expected.
There is a square where water from hot springs naturally flows into a series of fountains that people from the city come and fill water containers. We tried the water and it is warm and has a distinct taste of minerals.
Once again we woke up and realized we were nearly halfway thru our trip and had not reached the country we had picked as the country we were going to visit on this trip. We have gotten very comfortable with Greece, and Nikos had recommended several other places we should visit, but we decided we needed to get to Bulgaria as that was the country we had intended to visit and time was running out.
So we woke up a little early, checked out of the hotel and headed out to the motorhome dealer we had left François at. There was a little drama when we learned from the dealer last night that the warranty against leaks we thought lasted 10 years had expired and they could not do the test. After a quick email with a representative from Knaus we learned that the 10 year warranty started in 2017 and François is a 2016 with a 5 year warranty that had expired last year.
We headed out towards the Bulgarian border for a very quick and relaxing drive on the Greek toll ways. The border was uneventful, except while I was dealing with the Greek passport control guy, there was a knock on Tons door. The guy was not in uniform but announced he was Police and we needed to open the door and let him inspect the interior. I looked at the passport guy and asked him police? When he looked up quizzically the guy not in uniform had been replaced with a guy in uniform so he said yes let them inspect, but I could tell by his face this was unusual.
After I let them in the policeman in uniform told me to open all of the doors and cupboards, but the guy not in uniform said something to him in Greek and asked me to show him the bathroom. While he was looking in the bathroom he asked me where we bought it. He then asked where the kitchen was so I pointed at the stove top and refrigerator. He then asked me how much we paid for it and did we like it. I told him how much and yes we loved it. He then asked if we had enjoyed Greece and I told him Greece was awesome and we would be back soon. He said great and thanked us.
I think the guy might be in the market for a camper van and saw us in line and decided to get a tour of the inside of ours. This explains the confused look from the passport guy, and the other policeman being confused that he did not want to see all of the nooks and crannies of François. The good news was while I was dealing with our “police inspection” the Greek passport guy had handed our passports to the Bulgarian passport guy who he shared an office with and we were welcome to enter Bulgaria.
Our home for the next couple of nights in Sophia.
After weeks of beach front living we are parked in an Aire next to the second busiest road in Sofia and across from a very busy self serve car wash, by the way self serve car washes do not exist in Greece for some reason, so we will be giving François a good bath in the next couple of days. The owner of the Aire lived in Massachusetts for 6 years and said we were his first American customers. He gave us some recommendations for places to visit in Bulgaria and Sofia and we talked about life in the US and Bulgaria for a while.
I liked this muffler shop in a small concrete building.
We started out on a short walk, but it was cold and Ton decided I could finish the walk without her. I went down the road to find a grocery and take the bad pictures for todays blog. Tomorrow we are heading downtown to check out Sofia.
A couple of days ago I wrote about the great weather we have been having and ended it by hoping I didn’t jinx us. When we got to the lobby of the hotel we were both startled when we saw it was raining outside. We had planned a day of exploring the sites of Thessaloniki so rain was not something we wanted to see. I made a quick check of the weather and it showed showers most of the day, so we borrowed an umbrella from the hotel and headed out.
Our first stop of the day was Vlatadon Monastery in the Anopoli district.
The old town district called Anopoli was our first stop of the day. It was a fortified district and a large section of the walls are still intact, the area around the walls is an UNESCO world heritage site. Our second surprise of the day was that it was quite a climb to Anopoli. Just as we arrived in the district Ton spotted a monastery so we went in.
The Vlatadon Monastery was founded around 1300 ad. These frescoes were painted around then, but had been covered. After the monastery was damaged in an earthquake in 1978, they were uncovered.
Thessaloniki was founded around 350 BC and was named after the sister of Alexander the Great who was the wife of the founder. Like much of Greece the region has been under multiple rulers in its history. The history during the 20th century was especially turbulent. In 1900 the city was a multi-cultural city and was known as the only city in Europe where Jews made up the highest percentage of the population. The city was 39% Jewish, 29% Turkish, 25% Greek, and 7% was made up of Bulgars, Roma, and other nationalities.
The walls were mostly built by the Byzantines, but this particular tower was built by the Ottomans.
During the period just before WWI the Ottomans and the Greeks fought a series of wars primarily over control of the region centered on Thessaloniki. Eventually the Greeks won control of the region, unfortunately one of the first ethnic purges of modern times took place after the wars. Even though the Turkish population outnumbered the Greeks in the city they were forced to leave and relocate to Turkey. The Turks also forced out the Greek minority that was located within their borders. These purges still effect the relations between the two countries.
The walk down was easier than the walk up.
An interesting note is that there is a museum dedicated to Kamal Ataturk who is considered to be the founding father of modern Turkey who was born here. But it is not open to the general public, but requires an appointment be made thru the Turkish consulate.
Looking down on the port and the city from the Anopoli.
Unfortunately the history of the Jewish residents of the city is even sadder. After the takeover by the Greeks restrictions were put on the Jewish residents that started a period of high Emigration to other countries. During WWII Greece was occupied by the Germans and the Jewish population was swallowed up by the concentration camps. As a percentage the Jewish population of Greece suffered the highest casualty rate of any country in the holocaust. Today there are only about 2000 Jews left in Thessaloniki.
The Rotunda of Galerius built by the Byzantines as a monument and subsequently used as church and a mosque..
Our next stop was the Rotunda of Galerius built around 306 AD by the Tetrach of Thessaloniki Galerius. He intended it to be his mausoleum and it was adjacent to his palace. However, on his death he was buried elsewhere and it became a church. After the Ottoman Empire took over the church was turned into a mosque and the minaret was added. Then in 1912 after the Greeks conquered the city it was again turned into a church. It is now a museum.
The Triumphal Arch of Galerius.
Not far from the rotunda is a large Byzantine Arch of Triumph also dedicated to Galerius. Galerius led a Byzantine army that defeated the Persians in a war and he had this arch built to commemorate the victory. The relief showing scenes from the war is quite interesting. It originally had one large arch and 4 smaller arches.
Part of the Arch of Galerius depicting scenes from the war with Persia.
Our last stop on our tour of historic sites in Thessaloniki was the White Tower. The White Tower is an Ottoman fort that was built to guard the waterfront of Thessaloniki. Today it is a museum.
The White Tower.
After our long walk we headed down the waterfront to do our favorite thing in Greece, eat. We enjoyed our meal and then headed back to the hotel for a well deserved rest.
Another 14th century fresco from Vlatadon Monastery.
Despite the cold and wet weather we really enjoyed our day in Thessaloniki. We found the history fascinating and enjoyed the vibrancy of the people. The second city of Greece is certainly a fascinating place to visit and deserves to be better known outside of Greece.
The monastery had an extensive aviary for some reason. Is there such a thing as a White Peacock, or is this another bird?
Today we moved to the second biggest city in Greece. Thessaloniki has a population of about 2 million people and is located in North East Greece. We need to get an annual warranty inspection and the only Knaus dealer is located here so our plan is to drop François at the dealer to get the inspections and get a hotel in town.
The waterfront in Thessaloniki with a party boat in the center.
The drive over was uneventful and less expensive as we changed toll companies and suddenly François was a car again. Greek toll ways are interesting. We dropped François at the dealer and were in the hotel by 1pm. About a week ago I lost a filling and the tooth was bothering me a bit, so when we checked in I asked if they had a dentist they could recommend. They booked me into a dentist at 2 pm who was literally across the street. By 2:45 I was back in the room with a new filling for the whopping cost of€50.
Cell phones!
Our new friend Nikos is from Thessaloniki and he gave us a list of places to visit in the city. The first was the central market, which is a can’t miss with Ton. The market was originally built in 1925, but has recently been modernized and is now very chic. We walked around the market and did get some of our favorite cheese from Crete.
These are 14kg cans of Feta, the Greeks do love their Feta. We bought quite a lot less.
By now we were hungry so Ton decided we needed to find a place that was a little less chic. About a block from the modernized market was the old market and Ton was in heaven. Even though it was wrapping up there were still plenty of fish stalls and meat stalls open to inspect.
Sheep heads for sale in the old market.
After the market we had a very late lunch/early dinner and then walked down to the waterfront. After a quick look we decided we would save the waterfront for tomorrow and headed back to the hotel.
The modern waterfront with an Ottoman fort in the background.
After 6 days of enjoying the beach at Drepano we needed to get going towards Thessaloniki. On Wednesday François needs his annual warranty inspection and the only place in Greece that can do is is about 400 miles from Drepano. After trying to find the best route and a place to stay about half way we landed on Ioannina. When I told my new Greek friend Nikos we were going to Ioanina he became very excited and over the next half hour I got 3 texts from him with places he recommended to see while we are here.
Our toll to cross the bridge from the Peloponnesus to the mainland of Greece. The bridge saved us at least an hour for a ferry crossing at the same place, and cost €10 more.
We made the decision to use the toll ways today. There is a parallel free route, but it would have taken more than twice as long, and involved a lot of mountain switchbacks, and small city driving. While it was expensive, we arrived in a little over 5 hours vs 12 hours and I had a nice stress free drive. But man was it expensive, in every other country François is classified as a car, in Greece we are classified as a delivery van and the tolls are twice as much as they would be for a car.
We’ve switched our beach for a big alpine lake with snow capped mountains in the background.
Ioannina is a mountain town so we have gone from sea level to about 1600 feet. The town and the campground are located on a very picturesque alpine lake. It is a very pretty setting. After we got checked in and settled we headed into town to do a bit of reconnaissance for tomorrows exploration of Niko’s must do list in Ioannina.
The remains of the Ottoman library that is currently being rehabilitated.
Ioannina is also a university town, and this is a long weekend in Greece, so when we got to the lake front in town it was swarming with college students and Greek families. All of the restaurants were full and there was a very vibrant vibe to the promenade along the lake. Also, in the entire hour we walked thru town the only language we heard was Greek, except of course when we spoke to each other.
The ferry to the island in the middle of the lake that is on Niko’s must see list. It costs a whopping €2. A real bargain compared to the roads.
After getting a feel for things we were a little hungry, but did not feel up to spending any more money. Instead we headed back to François where Ton whipped up a Thai/Italian fusion dish she called Larb spaghetti, it was delicious.
As we get older we are finding it easier to relax in one place for a few days in a row. Our plan last night was to pack up and move down the road a couple of hours to another campground which is a little closer to our destination on Monday. But when we woke up we decided we liked it here, the campground is clean, the internet is strong, and the neighbors are nice so we decided to stay one more day.
Another shot of the beach that we have adopted the last few days as our own.
The rest of the day was spent drinking coffee, talking to our neighbors and having a couple of nice meals. We took a couple of short walks up and down the beach in between. Maybe we will be able to master slow travel in another couple of years.
This is the last day we can take it easy here. Tomorrow we will be moving down the road a couple of hours to another campground on the beach.
