Bulgaria
This is a small collection of pictures from the trip we made to Bulgaria on 2000.
(Click on the pictures to
enlarge them. In the text, some links point to pictures and some to
related websites)
We have some friends in Bulgaria (Ina and
Marty) so we went there a couple of times and we spent a wonderful
time. Though Bulgaria is a beautiful country to visit, I have no idea
how a regular tourist could do it, as it is not very touristic friendly
in general terms. We rented a car with our friends and followed them to
a great variety of places, all of them fascinating. Sofia, the capital city, has no
great things to offer, and all the fun is in the rest of the country.
The first place to visit is very near from Sofia, an ancient monastery in the Rila
(Рила) mountains. The monastery is very well preserved, and the
frescoes are awesome. The contrast between
the colourful paintings, the black and white archs and the green tall trees outside is
breathtaking. It is one of the rare places in the world that is unique
and incredible to see, but it is not ruined by tourists. There are a
couple of them, to be honest: always a Japanese here and there with his
camera taking pictures of everything, but not the flood of people you
would usually find in the Sixtine Chapel, for example.
The surrounding mountains are an
incredible context for this place, that was saved from the destruction
of the Turks thanks to them. Most of the Bulgarian culture survived the
five centuries oppression of the Turks hidden in monasteries, that is
why they are so important. Another monastery we visited is the oldest
Monastery in Bulgaria: Bachkovo
(Бачковски манастир), that it is a bit closer to what the real life of
a monastery looks like. They have priests and animals and it is not so
touristic, so prepared to amaze like the one in Rila. People visit it
because of its religious values, rather than for a touristic urge. The
church itself is small and lovely, full of wood and looks very ancient.
The priests are naturally very different from those we catholic risen
people are used to. The Slavic world is normally forbidden for the
common European tourist, and religion is one of the things that make
the difference. You will not see here the rich catholic churches full
of marble and gold: wood and frescoes are all the ornamentation, and it
looks more reasonable this way. Luxury is not a thing that should
belong to church. We got fed up of that in Rome, precisely in the
Vatican. As a nonbeliever, I see all of this from the outside,
naturally. The Slavic tradition and religious culture had a great deal
of its beginnings with the Bulgarian brothers Cyril and Methodius,
who invented
the Cyrillic
alphabet (and the Glagolitic
as well), still used by many Slavic languages (up to fifty)
like Ukrainian, Russian and of course Bulgarian.
The best preserved churches and monasteries
are in places difficult to get to. We even found a Russian church in a
very unlikely place, the Shipka
Temple (храм Шипка). In fact it's not unlikely from the historical
point of view: many Russians died during the liberation of Bulgaria,
but you don't expect a church there. Other monasteries we have been to
are high (or carved into) in the mountains, like that of St. Kirik
(Свети Кирик), Drianovo (Дряновски манастир) or Aladja in front of the
Black Sea. The former was turned into a hotel, by the way. Another
example of ancient buildings in the mountains is the Asen's "fortress" ("Асенова
Крепост"): after a long way up, we reached the fortress or what is left
of it: a small church in the middle of an impressive landscape at the
Rhodopean mountains.
The
Golden Age
When we first saw it, we had no idea how we
could get that high. The
story of this place is related to the times when Bulgaria was a
very important nation inside the European mosaic. Before the Russians,
before the Turks, Bulgaria was a great country, and that greatness can
be barely seen or guessed today in the ruins of the old castles. In our
way to the Black sea we found many places where you could see the
remains of that Golden age (Златен век), a time when the country was
much bigger than it is now, back in the 9th century AD. I think the
best place to visit and attest that is an old capital called Veliko
Turnovo (Велико Търново), where a big castle is still preserved. The castle is huge, and
the place where it was built is amazing, with an awesome view. There is
the big entrance with a lion, and an ascending road to a church. 
The castle was rebuilt and a great deal of
how it looked like can be seen these days. The church itself has a
strange detail: all the frescoes and art inside are modern things,
something I have not seen in no church whatsoever. It was impressive.
The style had something to do with Francis Bacon, so imagine how
weird is to find that in a church. The city also is pretty nice to
visit. Another old capital is Veliki Preslav (Велики Преслав). 
It is not that well preserved as Turnovo: some columns and walls are all
that is left from destruction and time, but still is impressive (there
is a beautiful selection of pictures from the ruins here).
Near there, an awesome archeological museum surprised us, in the middle
of nothing. To reach Preslav itself was not easy, and I imagine almost
impossible for a foreigner. But just because of that, nobody is
visiting the ruins, and they are all for yourself. You can walk here
and there, and the silence transports you to that time when Preslav was
full of people, medieval times. That is one of the most beautiful
things about Bulgaria: I felt more than once as if it was just me and
the past: you are alone with ancient places and buildings, you have the
chance to actually let yourself go with your thoughts. A similar
sensation I had in Hissar (Хисаря), where once there was a large Roman
city.
Romans and
Thracians
Today huge Roman walls from the times
of Emperor August are extended for about 5 km, with over 20 mineral
springs, a really lovely town. The modern people live near the ruins,
and I had the sensation that they are unaware of them. I went alone to
walk inside the ruins, and I found a painter. At first I thought he was
just being inspired by the ruins, that he was painting a view of them.
When I came closer, I realized that he was copying a small portrait of
a woman, a clip of a magazine. He noticed me, and tried to speak with
me. My ignorance of the Bulgarian language and his ignorance of the
English language prevented the communication. I just kept walking, and
thinking on the very idea of Roman people walking in the same paths. 
It did not take too long, and I was in
Roman times, in a Roman bath or something. There was nobody there to
deny it: just my clothes, and a vague sensation that I did not belong
there. Back to reality, there are Thracian tombs well preserved in the
surroundings. The Thracians lived in Bulgaria in the 7th century BC,
and there is a lot of archaelogical things to see about that important
people. One of the most outstanding places is Plovdiv (Пловдив), where
they have an old amphitheatre
that is still used today for some events. In Plovdiv they have a strong
touristic-awareness: and so they charge to see the theatre, concerts
and plays are held inside it, and in the city everything is "friendly",
to say it somehow. For example, we found a clay worker and he made some
pottery in front of us, very interesting. He even had a business card,
written in English. The city itself is an old and charming place, full
of streets faced by old houses.
But this "touristic-friendliness" did not charm my friends, who told me that
is kind of artificial in Bulgaria, but it was a beautiful view in any
case.
Small Towns
Small country towns like Etar (Етъра) or Bozhentsi
(Боженци) are closer to the real thing. They are as cute as a
children's tale. In Etar I bought a tambura, a kind of Bulgarian
mandolin, and we had a very folkloric coffee (it was raining) in a
pretty small house. Everything was made of wood. Not far from there we
slept in Bozhentsi, in a cottage, and that was much better than any
other European hotel. We were served by a very nice man -who played
also the accordion- we ate excellently and had an even better
breakfast, full of cheese and things that tasted strange for us, but
undoubtely good. They use cheese and yoghurt in many different dishes,
and that was one of the highlights of the trip: the excellent food.
Especially something called guyveche (гювече), that is a dish prepared
in a special (and individual) ceramic saucepan where it is finally
served. It is delicious. I have bought a couple of those casseroles to
cook the dish at home. One of the recipes is that guyvech prepared
at the Rila Monastery. But back to Bozhentsi, we felt as if we were
in a tidy small town that could belong to any age, and the people
living there were as timeless as the houses. We have been in many towns
in Bulgaria, and they are very of very different kinds: Sofia has that
typical communist gray colour, Gabrovo (Габрово) seemed more colourful
and even more modern, as Turnovo. Plovdiv and Varna, more prepared to
attract tourists. We visit also a couple of cities of historical
interest: Karlovo (Карлово), the natal place of Vassil Levski, the
national Bulgarian hero who headed the revolution against the Turks,
and Kalofer (Калофер), with the house of Christo Botev, a major poet
and also hero from the revolution. Every city I have visited had
nothing to do with those I was used in the "western world", if you
want. I mean, when I was in Rome or London, I noticed they had a unique
and distinctive character, but somehow they were familiar, to say
something. That was not the case here.
The Seaside
Perhaps the most "normal" city is Varna
(Варна), where we met the beaches of the Black Sea. The seaside is
beautiful, more beautiful than any beach in Argentina, naturally. The
water is green and blue, but the sand is crowded. Probably this is the
most touristic place in Bulgaria, and that tourism is business is
something notorious. For the first time in our journey I heard people
speaking in several languages, and local people knowing how to speak in
English to please the tourists. The hotels are up there, and the prices
too. There is seafood, and McDonalds. Totally different from the rest
of the country. One thing that surprised me is that topless is
something common there. While we hot Latins are supposed to be liberal
about these things, we were amazed see all those naked bodies in the
beach. We were prepared, somehow, by the fact that the regular
Bulgarian girl is very uninhibited to dress, but this was a delicious
surprise, I must admit. In any case, we swam in a place with rocks in the sea
(and therefore less crowded), and we verified that the water was warm.
Another perfect day. Near Varna there is another monastery, this time
carved in the rock. 
There is a big wall of rock almost in front
of the sea, and the "monastery" is a horizontal hole drilled in the
side of it, of about one meter deep. The monks lived there, and went
down only to find some food. A really wild life, bereft of symbols to
distract the life of the religious man. I stood there and thought that
those monks should necessary be closer to God than their brothers in
the regular churches. An ascetic life in the rock, you and the wind and
the sea below, that must be something closer to a religious experience,
even if you are not a monk. Now there are ladders and banisters there,
but when the monks lived there nothing prevented them to fall, and to
climb that high using just the hands, mmhh... By the way, the place is
called Aladja (Аладжа манастир). Also not far from Varna is the Rider
of Madara, a carved horseman in a tall cliff, about a hundred meters
high, from 800 AD. We could not see much, because the inscriptions were
surrounded by a special construction to keep the rocks from the
erosion. And the beautiful journey ended in Varna, and we took the
plane to Sofia again, to flight to Hungary. Bulgaria is one of the most
beautiful countries I have ever seen, it is just a pity that is a bit
closed for tourism. Or not: perhaps the best secrets are to be kept
forever...
(If you're interested, there's a
detailed map of the whole trip here)
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