April 2024. Veliko Tarnovo. Our third Bulgarian city, a third characterful hotel under £40, the snappily titled HiStory INN unique guest house (Houses of Olden Times) in Veliko Tarnovo was a cracker, at the end of the ancient houses of cobbled Gurko Street. A smiley face above Mrs RM’s name on the room door, a… Continue reading THE CHURCH OF SAINTS PETER AND PAUL, VELIKO TARNOVO (NCSS 4.5)
KAVARMA
April 2024. Veliko Turnovo. Our third and final stop on our whirlwind wizz (actually with Ryanair) round Bulgaria, as we arrive at a bus stop 2 miles west of Veliko Tarnovo* (pop. 71,502), perhaps the Shrewsbury of Bulgaria. Reader, I did allow Mrs RM a taxi to the centre (£2.50). One slight problem, the driver… Continue reading KAVARMA
BREAKFAST IN STARA ZAGORA
April 2024. Plovdiv – Veliko Tarnovo. Mrs RM’s plans saw us ticking Bulgaria with a circular route starting and ending at Sofia, and taking in two other of the “must-see” cities. I’d never heard of Veliko Tarnovo, never heard of Pleven or Ruse either to be honest, but it would turn out to be the… Continue reading BREAKFAST IN STARA ZAGORA
OUR BIG FAT BULGARIAN CRAFT NIGHT
April 2024. Plovdiv. For a city the size of Nottingham or Newcastle, Plovdiv seemed remarkably compact, bar the slog of a walk to the outer bus station in unseasonably hot weather. Back in Kapana from the museum-heavy Old Town, we spent our lone night ticking the craft, because it’s what my readers expect. Our £35… Continue reading OUR BIG FAT BULGARIAN CRAFT NIGHT
PLOVDIV OLD TOWN
April 2024. Plovdiv, Bulgaria. Mrs RM was a bit knackered by the time we got back from the northern bus station, a half hour walk resulting in a Bulgarian lady scribbling down the time of the next day’s bus to Veliko Tarnovo (which I’d already told her) but ignoring the request for tickets. Because they… Continue reading PLOVDIV OLD TOWN
PLOVDIV CRAFT BARS – 13% IMPERIAL STOUT AND “DOPAMINE HITS”
April 2024. Plovdiv. Only a night in Plovdiv, so a bit of a shame we spent (2) hours walking the duller suburbs to check out the location of our 8:30am bus the next morning. Bulgaria was easy to negotiate even with the impenetrable language (no worse than Sutton Coldfield to be fair), but booking a… Continue reading PLOVDIV CRAFT BARS – 13% IMPERIAL STOUT AND “DOPAMINE HITS”
INTO PLOVDIV
April 2024. Plovdiv. An ancient city, possibly the oldest in Europe, built on seven (7) hills (remind you of anywhere ?), Bulgaria’s second city promised everything bar hand pumps. The minibus driver was doing a tour of the city and the monasteries but we were just hitching a ride from Sofia so he dropped us… Continue reading INTO PLOVDIV
THE BULGARIAN VERSION OF LITTLE CHEF (R.I.P.)
April 2024. Sofia to Plovdiv. We awoke on Tuesday to find the temperature had plummeted from 31 to 18 degrees. Our coach driver told us joyfully that Monday had been a record temperature (by some 6 degrees), so some folk welcome their global warming doom. Mrs RM had done a masterful job planning hotels, buses… Continue reading THE BULGARIAN VERSION OF LITTLE CHEF (R.I.P.)
“Where IS everyone ?”. DEPOPULATION IN BULGARIA.
April 2024. Sofia. “How many people live in Bulgaria ?” asked Mrs RM. I had 10 million in mind. Blimey. 9 million in 1985 before Communism crumbled; 6.5 million and falling now. And further Googling revealed plenty of commentary on the ageing and depopulation of Bulgaria, the result of migration, falling birth rates (1.6, same… Continue reading “Where IS everyone ?”. DEPOPULATION IN BULGARIA.
“No plans to grow”. “We sell lager”. HIGH FIVE, SOFIA.
April 2024. Sofia. The last pub of our (first) night in Sofia, before heading east to Plovdiv in the morning. We’d ticked the churches, the graffiti, the art, the Communism, the old trams (more were shiny and new to be fair); and been pleasantly surprised by the vibrancy of the bars on a steamy Monday… Continue reading “No plans to grow”. “We sell lager”. HIGH FIVE, SOFIA.
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