VELIKO TARNOVO, BULGARIA

2015-10-25, 17:00, THORIN

STAY: HOSTEL MOSTEL, VELIKO TARNOVO

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Taking a bus to Veliko Ternovo, we got into the town mid-morning on October 12th, 2014. We had initially planned on going to Varna, but were dissuaded from doing so by various locals in Sofia as they say that, past tourist season, not only is it hard to get to but also completely dead. Since we were en-route to Bucharest, we decided to go to the centre-north of Bulgaria to the historical capital, Veliko Tarnovo. It turned out to be a good decision. The city is stunning, built straddling a river. Overlooked by some amazing castle ruins (UNESCO i believe, although isn't everything these days?) we spent the rest of the 12th and all of the 13th there. It was fantastic, and I would definitely suggest anyone in that neck of the woods venturing over.

The first day we went to Veliko Tarnovo castle. It was excellent. If you like looking at old things disintegrating on hills then this will hit the spot. Might I also add that this is one of the few castles I have been to were we saw more than one lady wearing stilletos traversing the cobblestones. Slavic Europe never sacrifices class over comfort.

We spent the next door wandering around Veliko Tarnovo. Let me tell you about cake in Bulgaria. They have cake cafes. As in, they sell coffee and then literally 30 different kinds of cake off a laminated menu. I was sure they were taking the mick, so I asked if they had all the cake. The lady was like '...yeah...'. I then ordered some decadent looking piece, and it came back and was FANTASTIC! Some of the best frosted cake I have ever had. Real story.

Apart from cake bliss, we walked across the bridge adjoining the 'lower' part of the city with the upper. Magnificent. Pics below.

Next stop, Bucharest! We got on this stunning train (with a squat toilet over the traintracks) with these two Aussies and two Germans. The Aussies insisted on shortening every word they used, and one German kept asking if there would be a 'lady serving crepes' who would stop by the carriage. Because a country that can't afford trains post-1980 has French-delicacies dispersed throughout the service. Sadly, no crepes arrived. Germans most dissapointed.