Bouncin' around Bulgaria
Did you know that if you fly Serbian Air you can click a little box and pay a few extra dollars and they’ll deliver a small chocolate cake and a bottle of bubbles to you? Well, they do. And if that isn’t reason enough to come to the Balkans then there is no talking you into it. 😊
Our first day in Bulgaria started rather late in the day, we told ourselves we’d go grab a dinner and then head back to the apartment to crash. We had THREE tours lined up for the next day and needed to be well rested. So, we found the most adorable Bulgarian restaurant called Mamo and feasted. This part of the world really knows how to cook their meat, yum! Each room was decorated by a different local artist, all women, so each space had its own unique feel. It was a beautiful space. Next up, we needed to stop at an Irish pub, because if you don’t stop at an Irish pub were you even in the country?!
From there we started our walk home but couldn’t help but stop when we saw a tiny mosaic front building. We looked inside quick to figure out what it was and there were about 4 yellow chairs and 3 barstools, which were occupied. It looked cozy and eclectic, and we couldn’t help but stop. The drinks and the owner turned out to match the same description and we had a delightful time.
It was now far past our bedtime, but we were two drinks in and feeling silly. We found a beautiful square and had our own little photoshoot before crashing for bed.
The next day we had three tours lined up! The first was a generic Free Walking Tour which turned out to be incredible! Well, I feel like they usually do turn out to be great, but this one was very much so. Erik had told me the day before that Bulgaria had a huge number of Roman ruins, third in Europe only to Italy and Greece. The tour took us through some very interesting locations, down on old city roads, pointed out churches and preserved walls. He also told us about all the different layers of the city, we started on the modern-day layer, which includes some mixed in orthodox churches but nothing more than a couple hundred years later. We then went down a set of stairs to another church, this one dated to the 13th/14th century. From there we took another set of stairs to get to the Roman city remains. Such an interesting part of the world, that has both a rich long history but also preserves it so well.
After that tour we had a small window of time to grab lunch and then headed to our 2nd event for the day. A wine tasting! We met at Kalin’s wine shop and he served us a few tastings before the tastings while the space got set up. There were nine people at the day’s tasting so we had to go down the street to a friends bar. The bar has US license plates from every single state and Harley Davison artwork all over. It was kind of a bummer to be at a Bulgarian wine tasting in an US owned bar that smelled like cigarettes. Oh well! We had snacks and water set out on the table, which was a delight. And then the pourings started. The people next to us were from Portugal but had only met the day before. And the other five were some early 20’s Belgian guys who had obviously partied too much the night before. Erik and I enjoyed each of the wines that were poured and provided feedback to Kalin, meanwhile the boys cycled in an out of the bathroom or outside for some fresh air. It was obvious they were struggling. Each time someone left it became a joke. It was rather funny, since we’ve obviously been in that same situation before, but it was definitely taking away from the wine tasting. Regardless, it was goofy, the wine was good and the snacks were delicious.
We had to scoot out a little early though to get to our next tour, a Communist Tour. Where we learned one major bit of information, no country in the world has ever fully achieved a communist state. Where food and services are free to all people, everyone is putting in equal weight and everyone is treated equal. What the Balkan area got to was Mature Socialism. So, the rest of the tour was referenced as a socialist tour. We had heard similar stories in the other countries – about people apartments or homes being taken away and turned into a multi-family home. Or about how jobs were starting to be seen as equal, so doctors were paid similar to butchers. Or how people were truly treated equally. Many people still long for the 40-45 years of communism because they were some of the safest years they had ever felt, and that they were just as important as everyone else. Of course, those higher up in the social ladder didn’t care for that – not everyone longed for those days to come back.
It was an informative but very long day, so we got a salad and Bulgarian meatballs to go, picked up some beers and headed back to our apartment to relax.
We had crammed all the tours into one day because the next day we were going to spend some time shopping. Erik really needed some new shoes and we wanted to find some art to bring home. We had no idea what day it was, but we quickly realized it was Saturday. Which, to Americans, should mean that all the shops are open, and the town is bustling, and people are laughing and having a joyous time. But, as we continue to learn, in Europe it’s more of a day of rest. No shops were open, the ones that were we weren’t interested in. Erik couldn’t find shoes and the art was lacking in the limited options we had. We had a scrumptious brunch and headed back to the apartment. We repacked our bags knowing we were leaving bright and early, took a few hour nap and watched a little Netflix. While we are on a four month trip of a lifetime, every minute cannot be filled with extravagant adventures. Sometimes you just need a nap. We dusted ourselves off and made our way to another delicious Bulgarian restaurant but headed back early to rest up for the last leg of our European journey.
