Veliko Tarnovo

We sailed all night and finally pulled over to dock during breakfast. There wasn't much time to gather our things and hop on another bus headed for the interior old capital of Bulgaria - Veliko Tarnovo.

On all these excursions, they stop somewhere along the way, usually at a big commercial rest area or a hotel for a bathroom /coffee break and a chance to exchange some money and buy some souvenirs.  They provide some little biscuits or cookies and coffee or tea. This is a typical four-star hotel from the communist times.

This part of Bulgaria is more mountainous than the southeast was, as these are the foothills of the Balkan range, and Veliko Tarnovo is a very tight old hillside town, running from a river up to a high castle, Tsarevets, on the hilltop, probably at least a thousand feet above the valley floor below. 

Between the hotel, the castle and the tight, twisty, hilly streets, I thought this place would make a great set for a James Bond movie and car chase. The church on top of the castle was reconstructed during the communist time, but because religion was frowned upon, concessions were made, and the frescoes inside are quite modernistic in style.

After lunch they took us to another small town nearby, Arbanassi, where they showed us an ancient church completely covered in frescoes on the inside, while looking very low key, in no way like a church on the outside because it was built during the time of Ottoman domination.

This is a typical Turkish style house, very similar to one we toured in Mostar, Bosnia five years ago. No chairs anywhere, the inhabitants sit on raised platforms in every room. I also got a photo of the toilet which I can show you individually if you care.

In the afternoon we drove back to the ship passing many donkey carts and storks' nests along the way. Note the guy with the cell phone.

We pretty much sailed right away after boarding the Imagery and sailed all through the night.