Friday June 6 - Arbanasi and Veliko Tarnovo

This is one of those days where those going on tours end up at a different port than where you start. We arrived at Nicopol, Bulgaria and took a 2 hour bus ride to Arbanasi. There were a number of huge stork nests with adult and baby storks. The trip took us to a point halfway between the capital, Sofia and the Black Sea. Because of communism, and the economy in general there were a number of towns that are becoming ghost towns. Some kids are bused an hour each way to school since their town no longer has a school due to lack of kids. I wondered if the clay tiles on the roofs, or the bricks on the abandoned buildings and houses could be salvaged and resold in US (if you could ship for a reasonable fee). The area is the bread basket of the country and there are miles of farmland, but few farms as the land is managed by cooperatives.

We stopped at a recently built (2000's) castle that is used for events for a bathroom and coffee break. In addition there were some additional treats. A 5 minute bus ride to the center of town took us to a wonderful old church, built originally in the 1490's . The inside was covered in frescos, and pictures were forbidden. I'm guessing that originally flash photography was forbidden, but tourists are not bright and abused the privilege. We went to a local shop to sample rose oil products and then to a museum that was the original home of a wealthy merchant.

The city was founded by merchants and the buildings were all originally Dry Stone walling. The city is now a protected Architectural zone because of the originally layout and design of the buildings. While some, but not all , of the house is original it was interesting to see how they lived.

We then walked to a restaurant/hotel for lunch. Fresh vegetables, vegetable soup, a chicken dish and yogurt desert were very good. There was a small group of musicians and dancers dressed in local garb for our entertainment.

From there we went to Veliko Tarnovo, there is a university that is named for the brothers who created the Cyrillic alphabet. The city is also the historical and spiritual capital of Bulgaria. Most of our time in was spent going through the shops.

Prior to dinner we had the lecture on packing and getting ready for our hotel stay in Bucharest.