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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,

Bulgaria 2000

Trucoto
2004-02-28 16:14:11

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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 ...