And Jake Makes 3

The best thing about this stage of our trip is that we have acheived a major milestone. 3 years ago we visited Ireland and stood on the spot that is the farthest point West that one can go in Europe before falling into the Atlantic. Now we are on the most Easterly coast in modern Europe, so apart from using the ferry to cross from Ireland we have driven the entire breadth of Europe. As Bulgaria and Romania only joined Europe this year, I guess not many people can claim to have acheived this feat.

The weather has been good the last couple of days and we are topping up our suntans nicely. We can still eat outside in the evenings, staying out at the restaurant until 9pm, even though dark, it is still warm. 

Saturday 22nd September

We decided to go to a town called Lovech today. It is about 120km West of VT. There is an old part of the town known as Varosha, which, like parts of VT, has buildings from the National Revival period (mid 19th century).

We walked up an old cobbled street that leads to a museum dedicated to Vasil Levski who was a famous leader of the revolution in 1876. This revolution eventually brought about the end of Ottoman control of Bulgaria. Further up the street there is a statue of Vasil Levski and more steps leading to a hill from where you can see a panoramic view over the new part of the town.

Lovech is famous for its covered bridge (Pokritiyat Most) which was built in 1872. It has been renovated twice and now hosts small cafes and craft shops. At one end is a lovely square with restaurants and cafes and the other end comes out on to the main high street opposite some lovely colourful houses.

We really enjoyed our few hours there and also the drive to and from Lovech as the scenery along this stretch of the Sofia to Varna highway is spectacular; I imagine even more so in the Winter.

It was a very poignant day to go to Lovech as that was the headquarters of the revolutionaries because today, 22nd September, is Independence Day. This day in 1908 Bulgaria finally rid itself of the Ottoman rule and the King was crowned as Head of the Bulgarian Kingdom. This is a special day but nowhere more so than in Veliko Tarnovo where the King was actually crowned on Tsaravets Hill. There were Military parades today and then in the evening a large ceremony in the Tsaravets Square. We cheated and watched it on TV but we did go outside to watch the tremendous firework display. This was really moving even for us none Bulgarians as all the fireworks were Red, White and Green, the National colours. Our landlady, Rumi, watched it with us. She is a very proud and patriotic lady who loves her country and its heritage.

Saturday 6th October

Unbelievably the weather here is still very pleasant. Although it is Autumn the Sun is still shining and we have had temperatures in the high twenty degrees most days. The forecast is for cooler weather tomorrow but we shall see.

We have been doing a bit more sightseeing and yesterday we went to Dryanovo Monastery.

This is about 20km South of Veliko Tarnovo on the way to Gabrovo, one of the larger towns in the mountain foothills. The monasteries here are not the stark granite built mausoleums that you see in other places, instead, they are built very much in the renaissance style of the 18th century buildings of the area. Lots of dark wood and white walls with the roof made of sandstone slabs. They are built in peaceful areas usually in the mountains’ valleys beside rivers or waterfalls. This one is nicely situated, with pleasant walks around an eco trail and some other interesting sites nearby including the Bacho Kirov cave. Bacho Kirov was a revolutionary in the 1870’s, one of the leading figures in Bulgarian history.

Many monasteries are held in reverence by the Bulgarian people, not necessarily for the religion but because they played a major part in the revolution which brought an end to 500 years of Turkish rule. The Old Bulgarian language and traditions thrived in the mountains and monasteries untouched by the oppression of the Ottoman regime. When the Ottoman Empire started to weaken and the Bulgarians sensed the time was ready for them to regain their country, many of the leading revolutionaries would use the monasteries for sanctuary because they tended to be inaccessible for the Turkish troops. At Dryanovo there is a memorial to the locals who died here in the war and also a large sculpture commemorating the 100th anniversary of the 1876 uprising.

During the past few days, Veliko has been host to the World Arm Wrestling Championships for the first time ever. Walking around the streets you could see many of the competitors taking in the sights. We have seen people from several countries including Brazil, Italy, Spain, Greece and Sweden, plus competitors from many other countries. The best part was having the privilege and we must say honour, of meeting a Russian family who were here to compete. They were staying at the Tsaravets Hotel and John first met them when he called in to send some emails. The family consists of Dad, Mum and 3 sons, 18,20 and 22 years old, and they were all competing except the father who was their coach. They were a really nice family and we are pleased to say they had a very successful time. The mother, who competed in the ladies under 60kg category won a silver and bronze medal and the youngest son, who was also in the 60kg weight, became a double world champion, winning his class at both left and right arm. He very proudly showed us his medals last night when we visited the hotel. The family now face a 5-day train journey back to their home in Russia. We wish them well.

Sunday 7th October

Also a first today. We had our first Scorpion in the house. Not the deadly sort!!!!!!!!!!! Just a little fellow come in from the rain. He was about 2 inches long and very sedate, John was able to pick him up on a sheet of paper and put him back outside. YES I did say rain, not torrential just drizzle but it is the first we have seen for quite a while.

 Weds 31st October

The past 3 weeks have been topsy-turvy for us. We have been approaching the end of our legal 90 day stay in Bulgaria (EU citizens can stay 90 days without visas) and had to make the decision of what to do next. Do we return to the UK, do we travel again and visit one of the many countries between here and the UK or do we stay here in Bulgaria? We have had many strange days where in the morning we awake with the conviction that we should return to England only to enjoy the day here in such a way as to go to bed convinced we should stay longer.

Finally we have come to the decision to stay for a further 6 months to spend a Christmas here and to see the Winter in all its splendour – snow and all.

We have therefore spent many hours looking for a suitable place to stay for this time. We do not want to buy here as many British people have done as we do not intend to stay here indefinitely. Houses do not seem to sell quickly and therefore we could have to stay longer than we want, just trying to sell the house.

Finally, after looking at several houses and apartments to let we have settled on an apartment in the South Western outskirts of Veliko Tarnovo. It is within walking distance of the main town centre whilst being near to parks for Winter walks. The main Sofia to Varna highway is very close allowing easy access to other areas of the Country. We still intend to travel to other parts of Bulgaria when the weather permits as there is still much more that we want to see.

To allow us to stay we have had to apply for temporary residency, a procedure not to be undertaken lightly. Along with many other bureaucratic procedures there does not seem to be a unilateral policy between municipalities as to what is required for the application. We have heard so many stories of discrepancies between regions in the way this is done. We tried to cover all eventualities and took copies of everything we thought the office would require – wrong! They decided the contract for our rental was not sufficient in English so we had to have it translated, along with our marriage certificate. We also had to split the money between our bank accounts as there is no such thing as joint accounts here and they would not accept all our money being in just one name so we had to wander across town with 10,000 leva in a carrier bag just to satisfy them. Even our interpreter was unimpressed, saying things seem to change day to day and how right she is. We returned to the immigration office 5 days later to be told everything was fine and we didn’t even need our marriage certificate let alone have it translated. Still all is well that ends well and on 1st November we shall become LEGAL immigrants not the illegal ones we have been for the last 2 weeks or so. Now we know what it’s like to try to remain legally in another country. No wonder there’re so many illegals in UK.

To follow our further stay in Bulgaria see the NEXT CHAPTER.